Good Morning - This is a daily study so don't feel bad if you miss a day and have to go back and catch up or just move on to the present day. We could do this book every month and not glean all that is in it, so just keep up as you can. I believe one of the lies the enemy tells us is that we aren't keeping up or don't have time, etc. Just do what you can and before you know it you will be finding time you never knew you had and the Lord will bless you! "Start where you are" as Pastor Rick from Washington says!!!
We are already on chapter 3:
My Bible title is "Trusting in the Lord" but my study title is "Wisdom is a Heart Issue". Both are true and really the same. You can't trust in the Lord if your Heart isn't centered on Him!
vs 1-2 Forget not and let you heart retain...commandments
vs 3-4 Wear mercy and truth around your neck and written on your heart.
vs 5-8 Trust in the Lord with all your heart...He will direct your paths...and renew health
and vitality to your body
a. Lean on Him
b. Be confident in Him
c. In all your ways...know Him
d. In all your ways...recognize Him
e. In all your ways...acknowledge Him
f. Don't be wise in your own eyes
vs 9-10 Honor the Lord with the first fruits of all your increase...
a. Storage will be filled with plenty (provision)
b. Overflowing with new wine (joyful heart)
vs 11-12 Do not get discouraged or disheartened when the Lord disciplines you...for the Lord
corrects those He loves.
vs 13-21 Happy, fortunate, enviable is the person who finds wisdom (heart) and gains
understanding (head)
a. profit better that silver
b. wages better than gold
c. more precious than rubies
d. nothing can compare to the value of Wisdom
e. length of days are in her right hand
f. riches and honor are in her left hand
g. she will guide you down pleasant paths of peace
vs 21-26 Don't lose sight (out of your heart) of wisdom and discretion... hang on to them
a. they will fill you with life
b. Bring you honor and respect
c. Keep you safe and secure
d. Keep you from stumbling
e. Sleep without fear and enjoy pleasant dreams
f. No fear of sudden terror or panic from disaster that comes upon the wicked
g. The Lord is your strong and firm security
h. The Lord will keep you from being caught in a trap of danger
vs 27-35 Do not withhold good (heart issue) from those who deserve it, when it is in your
power to help....
a. If possible, help your neighbor immediately
b. Do not plot against your neighbor, they trust you
c. Do not contend with someone who has not wronged you
d. Do not envy violent people or imitate their ways
e. His confident communion (friendship) and secret counsel are with the godly
f. He declares blessed (joyful) the home of the upright but a curse is on the home
of the wicked
g. He gives undeserved favor to the humble but scoffs at the scoffer
h. The wise inherit honor and good...fools are put to shame
Wow - what a great chapter! This is one I return to over and over again. The verse I live my life by is verse 5 & 6 - "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own under-
standing - in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path." When my heart
becomes full of fear all I do is quote this scripture to myself and His peace comes over me.
How is wisdom a "heart" rather than just a "head" issue???
What are the benefits of not losing sight of wisdom and discretion??
What are some of the practical ways to "do good" to your neighbor???
Any one of these questions will cause you to put this chapter into your life in a practical way.
Which verse spoke to you?
3 comments:
To do good to our neighbors, we can be building them up and not tearing them down in our words. I think if we are humble and build one another up, the Lord will also be gracious to us. My Bible says in verse 34, the Lord mocks the mockers but is gracious to the humble. We all have our own shortcomings and issues that we deal with personally, but instead of pointing them out in other people, we can be humble and lift them up in our words and actions. To their face and behind closed doors. A church full of people who are continually building one another up is a powerful church!
The thing the Lord spoke to me this morning is regarding the "heart" issues, starting right from the beginning. We can have head knowledge of the Lord, and we can know the right things to do, but something special happens in our lives when we "write" His will and Word on our hearts. It is so much more than something we know, but something we live. It is hard to be passionate about something we just know about, but easy to be passionate about something that we would live and die for, something written on our hearts, something that is more than we just know, but we have burning in our hearts.
I also noticed the verse about wisdom and discretion. I think about the word "discretion" alot. I love Proverbs, especially these first several chapters b/c it is all about wisdom and its benefits. We talk about faith so much and being people of faith, but according to the Bible, faith and wisdom go hand in hand. We can't exercise faith without also exercising wisdom. They are inseparable. It's like the heart and the veins, one just can't operate without the other. I find it interesting that Proverbs talks so much about discretion also....you can't exercise wisdom without discretion. I've seen many people have great wisdom into situations, circumstances, people's issues, but when they can't combine the wisdom without discretion, the wisdom almost becomes unrecognizable. It makes the wisdom undigestible. I know I've been guilty of wisdom without discretion in my life and have had to learn some lessons in that area and it is ongoing. Discretion is using tact, refinement, intent, purpose, right judgment, even right timing, discernment, etc. We need wisdom, but we also need to mix it with discretion. Just like faith and wisdom. It is like a chemist that mixes the right chemicals and it causes a powerful reaction...that is what happens when we combine faith and wisdom. We get a powerful reaction. Same with wisdom and discretion....when we are able to exercise discretion, we allow wisdom to move forward in a situation, and we can communicate wisdom in a way that people can receive and respect. I love how just before verse 21, it talks about how God, by WISDOM founded the earth and by UNDERSTANDING established the heavens. It doesn't say by faith, or great words, but by wisdom. We need wisdom and we need to know how to exercise it so we can be women of faith, and we need to know how to use discretion so we can be women of wisdom and we will see a powerful result in our lives!
Great comments - what I like about wisdom is that all we have to do to attain it is to ask! Jesus always makes this attainable when it is a good thing. I know when I am in a situation that I am having a hard time knowing what to do, I stop and pray and ask God for "wisdom". In other words, "What is Your way that I'm not seeing thru my eyes?" And usually I find I haven't been looking at things God's way.
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