Guilty – The Saturday Morning Post by Pastor Ted Stahl
Good morning. Guilty in 45 of the 48 counts against him. That’s what the news said. Psalm 37, verses 1 and 2 cry out a warning: “Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.”
Jesus warned, “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!” (Matthew 18:6-7).
I have a hard time even imagining what it was like to stand before a judge and hear the gavel slam down on the bench saying, “Guilty! Period! No if, ands, or buts!”
A good deterrent for crime is knowing the consequences. The wages of sin is death. Do you believe the truths of the Bible: God’s Holy, Infallible Word? Just like Adam and Eve, when we sin, we die inside: spiritually. Physical death will come later. Do we believe that the wages of sin is death?
Read all of Psalm 37: this is a great Psalm. Within this Psalm, there are five directions given. Give heed to them. Understand them. Do them.
Verse 3 tells us to TRUST in the LORD.
Verse 4 tells us to DELIGHT in the LORD.
Verse 5 tells us to COMMIT OUR WAY unto the LORD.
Verse 7 tells us to REST in the LORD.
Verse 34 tells us to WAIT on the LORD.
It is better, when the gavel comes down, to hear: “Not guilty! Case dismissed!”
Peace. (Psalm 37:37-40)
Posted in Devotions by Phil Erickson with 1 comment.
Forgiven
Today’s Passage – Psalms 32 – 35
Second Milers also read – 1 John 4 – 3 John; Psalms 106 – 110; Proverbs 22
Scripture Memory for June – Psalm 139
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 89:1
“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” Psalm 32:1
The Book of Hebrews admonishes us to grow up in our faith and move beyond the foundational truths of the Christian life. That’s good advice: we cannot stay babies forever. However, it is wonderful to be reminded often about the simple truths of the forgiveness that God offers to all those who are willing to put their faith in Him. In this passage, there is a reminder to all of us who are saved. The verse above simply reminds us of the fact those who have their sins forgiven are a blessed people. To think that an omniscient God, who knows every sinful act of my past as well as every evil thought, would be willing to forgive me, and even look at me and treat as if I had never done or thought any of those horrible things.
It gets even better. Notice verse 2:
“Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.”(Psalm 32:2)
It is one thing to choose to forgive the acts of the past; but to also forgive ahead of time all of our future transgressions is beyond comprehension. God loves us unconditionally. He says he will not “impute” our sin. The word impute means to assign to or credit to. God says that he will not assign or credit our debts or sins to our account. Why? Because 2000 years ago he laid all of the debt of my sin upon the His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus paid my sin debt for me. What a wonderful thought. Notice how that happened to David:
“I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.” (Psalm 32:5)
He acknowledged his sin. He did not deny them or hide them. He then confessed them to God and asked the Lord for forgiveness. God could only forgive him because the debt would be paid by Christ. Have you confessed your sin to God, and asked Him for forgiveness? Have you come to the foot of the cross and called upon the name of the Lord for salvation. If you haven’t done so yet, please call upon Him today.
To those of us who have received the forgiveness of God through the remission of our sins, how are we at forgiving each other? God has forgiven everything that I have ever done or will do. What right do I have to withhold forgiveness from others? Just a thought.
Posted in Thoughts from Psalms by Phil Erickson with no comments yet.
Are You Teachable?
Today’s Passage – Psalms 21 – 25
Second Milers also read – 1 Peter 4 – 2 Peter 2; Psalms 96 – 100; Proverbs 20
Scripture Memory for June – Psalm 139
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 55:17
Read a previous post from this passage – “Mountaintop or Valley?”
“Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.” – (Psalm 25:4-5)
It’s really a very simple question, isn’t it? Are you teachable? Can God shew you and lead you as He did David, and countless other men and women in the Bible? I would like to pull some thoughts out of this Psalm that I believe will help us identify some of the problems that most of us have in learning from God. In order for God to teach us, there are some attributes that must be present in our lives:
1 We must first be saved
God will instruct a lost man regarding salvation, but in order for a man to really get to know God, he must first have trusted Christ as his Saviour.
“What man is he that feareth the LORD? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. … The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.” – (Psalm 25:12, 14)
2 We must be submissive
By this, I mean that we must be humble. Most people cannot learn, because their pride causes them to think that they already have all of the answers. God cannot teach the man that is full of himself. None of us knows all that God wants to teach us. We must keep our hearts open to new truths constantly, from the mouth of God and from the instruction of people that God places in our lives. Someone once said, “Every man is my teacher”. That is a true statement. We can learn something from everybody.
“The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.” – (Psalm 25:9)
As you read through this Psalm, you will notice that David recognizes that he is nothing without God. Notice how often he asks for forgiveness. Keep in mind that David is seen as a king in the eyes of men, but he knows that the only true king is God.
3 We must be starving for God
God will not instruct those that do not desire to be instructed. As you read through this Psalm, and others penned by David, you can easily see his hunger for God. He wanted all that God would give him.
“O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;” – (Psalm 63:1)
“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” – (Matthew 5:6)
One of the characteristics of true spirituality is that a person will remain teachable throughout his life. We never arrive. In fact, the closer we get to God, the more we realize that we are still very far away; and the more we become like God, the more we recognize that we have fallen short in so many ways. Stay teachable: always growing, learning, and drawing closer to Him.
Posted in Thoughts from Psalms by Phil Erickson with 1 comment.
Just For Ladies by Camille Stahl
Today’s Passage – Psalms 17 – 20
(Second Milers also read – James 5 – 1 Peter 3; Psalms 91 – 95; Proverbs 19)
Scripture Memory for June – Psalm 139
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 51
The Study of Women in the Bible
This Week – Noah’s Wife
Good morning and welcome back to “Women in the Bible”. This week we will be looking at an obedient and faithful women of God with no name – Noah’s wife.
“These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.” (Genesis 6:9)
“But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee.” (Genesis 6:18)
With the fall of Adam and Eve, the world became more and more evil. In Genesis 6, the Bible tells us that it repented the LORD that He created man and He was going to destroy it, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. So God told Noah what He was about to do and asked Noah to build an ark. I don’t know about you but if my husband came home and told me that, well!
A Faithful Woman
Noah’s wife was a Godly wife with much faith in both God and her husband. She stood behind her husband, while the rest of the world mocked him. She must have felt isolation when her friends and other family members walked away from them. She was committed to serving her family for many years in building a huge boat and supplying it with thousands of animals. Oh yeah, and living on it for a year. She was about to preform a task which no other woman was asked to do.
Where did she get great faith from? Maybe it the result of serving God for many years. It could have been because God provided for her family in the past, and she knew she could trust Him in the future.
How can we develop such great faith? Simple, spend time with God. When we take time each day to study His word and talk to Him, we learn to hear that still small voice. We grow closer to Him and learn His way for our life. Trusting and obeying Him in the small things, gets us ready for the things that seem to “BIG”.
A Righteous Woman
She trained her boys to love the Lord. She taught them to pray. She told them about and Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel and the consequences they suffered. They helped with building the ark and the wives they select also entered the ark. I believe she worked hard training her sons and did a great job. Remember the rest of the world was wicked in the sight of the Lord.
We also should teach others about God. How? By example. Being an example is louder then words.
If they see you pray, they will pray. If they see you do whats right, they will do whats right. Will they mess up? Yes!, but we still should do all we can.
A Compassionate Woman
News about the ark spread quickly. People came from a far to see them building a boat in the middle of dry land. For 100 years she begged and pleaded with them to serve the Lord, but no one listened. They laughed and mocked as they heard the story of the coming rain. I can only imagine how she felt knowing their fate as she pleaded with them to trust in the Lord. Yet she stayed by her husband’s side to finish the work of God. Her heart must have crushed, when she heard the cry’s and screams of the people outside the ark. The waters became, deeper and deeper until —- a hush.
How can we be a compassionate woman?
“There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.” – (Luke 16:19-26 KJV)
Need I say more. We learn John 3:16 and Psalm 23 but I believe these should be verses we repeat to ourselves everyday. If we keep the fire of hell in the front of our minds, it will be very easy to be compassionate to all around us. I ask myself, who is getting on the ark because of me? I will ask you, who will be on the ark because of you?
A Busy Woman
Noah’s wife had 3 sons. That in itself will keep any woman busy, but lets remember the times in which they lived. There was no electric which means, no washer, dryer or dishwasher. No cars or store to buy anything. They had to grow their own food and kill the meat gather wood for a fire to cook. As more and more trees were needed, they had to travel to acquire them. While on the ark, she had to help with taking care of the animals. The list goes on and on. With all she had going on in her life she still had time for God. We know this because the Bible says the Noah found grace in the sight of the Lord. He was a just man, perfect in his generations, and he walked with God. If Noah’s wife was not a Godly woman, she would have never stayed with her family while they were getting ready to enter the ark.
How can we keep our lives in order and still have time for God?
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these thing shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)
Although we ladies of today are busy, God should be a priority. If Noah’s wife did not keep focused on God, she wouldn’t have lived the life she did. Even Jesus instructed Martha to be careful not to miss what was important. Martha complained about her sister Mary not helping because she was sitting at the feet of Jesus.
As ladies, no matter if you are young or old, married with children or not, the most important thing we can do for our families is to sit at the feet of Jesus. I hope to see you there!
Thank You
1 John 5:13
Posted in Guest Posts by Phil Erickson with 2 comments.
Does God See?
Listen to yesterday morning’s message by Evangelist Taylor Gillespie. There is 15 minutes of singing by Vessels of Honor, a tour group out of West Coast Baptist College before the message.
Today’s Passage – Psalms 9 – 16
Second Milers also read – James 1 – 4; Psalms 86 – 90; Proverbs 18
Scripture Memory for June – Psalm 139
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 48:1 & 2
“He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.” – (Psalm 10:11)”
The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD’S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.” – (Psalm 11:4)
“For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.” – (Psalm 11:7)
“For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.” – (Proverbs 5:21)
“The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.” – (Proverbs 15:3)
“For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” – (1 Peter 3:12)
The simple answer is yes – He sees. I believe the Scriptures referenced above make that clear, and there are many other verses we could include. Yet, little man thinks that somehow his actions and his thoughts are hidden from the eyes of God, but He sees it all. There is both a negative and a positive side to this principle. The negative, of course, is that God is aware of every evil though that we contemplate, and every sinful thing that we do. The positive side, however, is that God also sees all of the things that we have done for His glory. Whether any man ever sees it or not is not important. We know that God knows, and we also understand that God will reward us for all that we do for Him. Just a thought.
Posted in Thoughts from Psalms by Phil Erickson with no comments yet.
Kiss the Son
Today’s Passage – Psalms 1 – 8
Second Milers also read – Hebrews 10 – 13; Psalms 81 – 85; Proverbs 17
“[11] Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. [12] Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.” – (Psalm 2:11-12)
I have enjoyed our reading in the Book of Job but I am also excited now that we are exploring the Psalms. My though this morning comes from the second Psalm. In this Psalm we get a glimpse into Heaven and we hear from the throne of God; but we also have a view into the earth where we see that the rulers of this world have set themselves in rebellion against God. In verse 4 we see that God laughs at this. Who does little man think he is in comparison to an almighty God. The rulers of this world may think that they have power and authority, but few of them realize that it was God that gave them their power, and God could remove it at any time.
As we get closer to the end of this present age we will see the mighty men of this earth become more brazen in their fight against God. At times it may seem that God is absent or even powerless to fight back; but don’t lose heart, He is in full control of His universe, and His patience with the rulers of this present world is quickly running out.
God’s warning to the kings of the earth holds true for the common man as well. He tells us to “serve the Lord with fear” and to “kiss the Son”. If you have not yet received Christ as your Savior you need to “kiss the Son” by receiving the forgiveness that only He can give you through His shed blood on the cross of Calvary. If you are saved, you still need to “kiss the Son” by living your live in complete submission to His will.
Posted in Thoughts from Psalms by Phil Erickson with no comments yet.
And I Caused The Widow’s Heart To Sing For Joy – The Saturday Morning Post by Pastor Ted Stahl
Good morning! My wife was listening to, and reading, her Bible a few days ago. It’s good to have a wife who loves God, and loves His Word. As I listened, Job chapter 29 was being read. The narrator said, “…and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.”
Now losing a child is the second devastating event that could happen to a person. If you lose a child, you don’t go through that pain alone. But, if you lose a spouse… that has to be the number one bummer of a lifetime. But Job caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
Chapter 29 gives us a little glimpse of the type of man Job was. Verses 12 through 17 tell us, “Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out. And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.”
God called Job, His servant. How the Lord described Job is found in Job 1:8: “And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?”
There was nobody like Job. He was complete, and upright. He feared God, and hated evil. How would God describe you? Would He call you His servant? I think about the example that Jesus gave us in John chapter 13, “He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all. For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean. So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.” (John 13:4-17).
We should be more like Job, who caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. We should be more like Jesus in our attitude towards others: our servitude. Can you imagine what the world would be like if Christians cared about each other? Lifted each other up? Edified each other? There would be an abundance of hearts singing for joy.
Peace. (John 13:17).
Posted in Devotions by Phil Erickson with no comments yet.
Gird Up Thy Loins Like A Man
Today’s Passage – Job 36 – 38
Second Milers also read – Hebrews 2 – 5; Psalms 71 – 75; Proverbs 15
Scripture Memory for June – Psalm 139
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 34:6
“Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.” – (Job 38:3)
It is now God’s turn to speak. God hasn’t said anything in this book since His earlier conversation with Satan; and the humans in the story were not privy to that conversation. All of this talk that has been going on since chapter 2 has been by people who really had no idea of the true circumstances regarding the calamity that Job was facing. They were clueless. Job’s friends were accusing Job, and Job was defending himself. They were all speaking on behalf of God; yet much of what they said was not true. However, now we will hear from the Source. God is speaking, and we know that everything that God says is true. By the way, you get the idea from the tone of this passage that God is not very happy about all that has been said. It kind of reminds me of a time when I was much younger and I was rebuked by an authority figure in my life. He had some things to say to me, and I was going to listen. God will take 4 chapters to basically remind Job and his friends that He is God, and they are merely humans.
As we read chapters 39 – 42 together tomorrow, pay close attention to God describing Himself, and His magnificent, omnipotent power. Between now and then, however, think a little bit of how much we are like Job and His friends. We are just little humans, trying to understand an infinite God. Let’s start thinking of ourselves as we really are. We are not much. We are pretty small and insignificant in the big scheme of things. And while we are at it, let us also start trusting God’s wisdom in allowing the things that have happened to us in our lives.
Posted in Thoughts from Job by Phil Erickson with no comments yet.
That Which I See Not
Today’s Passage – Job 33 – 35
Second Milers also read – Titus 2 – Hebrews 1; Psalms 66 – 70; Proverbs 14
“Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more: That which I see not teach thou me: if I have done iniquity, I will do no more.” – (Job 34:31-32)
While reading this morning, my attention was drawn to the phrase made by Elihu in Job 34:32 – “That which I see not, teach thou me.” That is a great little nugget of truth, and I believe it is something we should pray to God on a regular basis. There is so much about ourselves that we do not see. We are quick to spot, and point out, the flaws of others; but the truth is, we are often blind to our own faults. I think that the first step to recognizing and correcting specific things about ourselves is to acknowledge in a general way that we have a problem with self-perception. We often have a much higher opinion of ourselves than reality would justify. We need to be open to allowing God, and some trustworthy friends perhaps, to help us with our spiritual eyesight.
A passage in the New Testament that speaks somewhat about this subject is James 1:22 – 25
“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”
I think it would be a good practice for us to come to God on a regular basis, and confess to him the sins that we already know about, and are fully aware of; but I also think it is wise to ask God to reveal to us some things that perhaps we do not see. His Word, of course, is the greatest exposer of these hidden truths about ourselves:
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” – (Hebrews 4:12)
We will never be without fault, but we can allow the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit of God, and some godly counselors, to point out and correct some things about our lives that are interfering with our ability to relate to others, and may possibly be hindering our effectiveness in fulfilling His will.
Just a thought.
Posted in Thoughts from Job by Phil Erickson with no comments yet.
What Are You Looking At?
Today’s Passage – Job 30 – 32
Second Milers also read – 2 Timothy 2 – Titus 1; Psalms 61 – 65; Proverbs 13
Scripture Memory for June – Psalm 139
Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 25
“I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?” (Job 31:1)
In our reading we have been following the conversation between Job and his friends. Job has been declaring hi innocence: not that he claims sinlessness; but he does contend that his sins were open and confessed to God, and that he was not living a double life. His friends, however, are sure that Job must have some heinous secret sin in his life. In this chapter Job seems to be answering a charge regarding his fidelity. Perhaps the underlying accusation was that Job was an adulterer. Job’s answer in chapter 31 is that he had been faithful, not only in not touching that which is forbidden, but in not looking on another woman besides his wife.
In our culture the accepted instruction is, “you can look, but you just can’t touch”. Funny, my wife never bought into that line of reasoning. The fact of the matter is that looking might just lead to touching. Job said that he made a covenant, a commitment to himself and his eyes not to think (let alone look) upon a maid. David said something similar when he said that he would set no wicked thing before his eyes.
Men, we need to do the same thing regarding the opposite sex. We need to determine to keep our eyes and our minds on that which is pleasing to the Lord. Turn off the TV if you have to; get rid of the internet if you must, but do what you have to do to keep yourself from sinning against your God and your wife. It is wise to know your limitations and put up some fences to protect yourself. A little accountability will go a long way. And ladies, your not exempt from this either. Your lusting may not be for the opposite sex per say, but I am sure you have your weak areas as well. Maybe with you the struggle involves seeing things at the mall that you can’t afford. We all need to make this same covenant that Job made to keep us from seeing and thinking about the things that we know are not part of God’s perfect will for our lives.
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