Good Sunday Morning - This chapter in Proverbs is a one that describes the benefits we gain from having wisdom.
vs 1-6 Pay attention and listen in order to gain and to know..... (I will list several things I saw)
a. take the Word to my heart
b. develop good judgment
c. don't reject the Word
d. don't reject Wisdom she will protect me
vs 7-13 Getting wisdom is the most important thing you can do...(here are a couple of benefits)
a. develop good judgment (again)
b. prize wisdom and she will promote you
c. if you listen to her she will give you a long life
d. she will guide you so you will not stumble as you run
vs 14-19 Do not do as the wicked do or follow their pattern of life......
a. avoid their haunts
b. do not go there!!
c. turn from it!!!
d. pass by and go somewhere else
e. the path of the wicked is complete darkness...they have no idea what they are
stumbling through
vs 20-27 Formula for Success: Listen carefull to Wisdom
a. consent and submit to my words
b. Eyes: do not lose sight of my words
c. Heart: le my words penetrate your heart
d. Flesh: life, health and healing to all who discover their meaning
e. Heart: guard you heart because it affects everything you do
f. Mouth: avoid perverse talk and dishonest speech
g. Eyes: fix your eyes with purpose on what lies ahead
h. Feet: mark a straight path for your feet and stay on it
i. Feet: do not get sidetracked.... remove your foot from evil
In your own words describe the formula for success found in Proverbs 4:20-27
What I see as a way to succeed is to let the Word of God and the Holy Spirit be
my guide in everything I do. Not just in a spiritual sense but to allow my spirit
to lead me as it is being led by the "Holy" Spirit. That affects my eyes, mouth, heart,
feet, hands everything about me. To serve the Lord and not myself!!!
4 comments:
The thing that struck me the most this morning about Proverbs 4 was verse 23. Basically the same as mentioned above... "Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life." It is so true that if I continually ensure that the Lord is occupying my heart above all else, it will effect the course of my life! It will effect daily decisions I make and it will even effect the decision I make concerning my household and children, which will effect THEIR lives! How important it is to guard our hearts and make sure the Lord is the center of our passions!!
Proverbs is all about the heart. Kirsten commented the other day about the same thing. No wonder some people read this book every month!!!
I love these first four chapters of Proverbs. I feel like it is so hard to just comment on a few parts, because I feel like I can meditate on each verse and really get it into me. verse 3 says "let your heart retain my words." I have a good friend who is SO full of the word...every time we talk, she gives me word after word, almost like she speaks in scripture, but not in the weird or religious way. It is the most encouraging, life giving thing b/c she has literally let His words be retained in her heart. His word is so deep in her heart that it just flows out as she speaks and it practically waters people's spirit. I love these proverbs b/c they are all about the heart....and jsut like my friend, Casey, I think something powerful happens when His words get "retained" in our heart, especially after years and years of His word becoming life inside of our hearts.
I also love all the benefits of wisdom. Those are so powerful and life giving and just reading it ministers to my spirit. One of my favorite verses in the Bible is "guard your heart with all diligence for out of it flows the issues of life." This is one of those verses that can be applied in so many areas of our lives and it is such wisdom. I quote this verse to our youth all the time....many of them probably have in memorized b/c I have said it so many times. This is obviously saying that our heart is so important and keeping a guard over it is so vital to how we respond to life's issues. I think I could go on and on about what it means to me to guard my heart, but that is practically a whole bible study in itself. Anyway, the heart is what keeps us living both physically AND spiritually. It's vital to our walk with God and our destiny is directly connected to our heart condition!
One more thing....I was also thinking about verse 2 that says "for I give you good doctrine...." It's saying that doctrine is important, but the heart is really the heart of the matter. Doctrine determines what we believe, but in our heart comes character. It's like the totally central thing to what we'll do and how we'll handle life, how we respond to God, and either good or bad can come out of it. The things we let get into our hearts affect our heart condition and our heart condition affects everything in our life. That's why we guard what "goes in", we guard our thoughts, we guard our purity. It is so much more than just "good doctrine". It's vital to our character and our character determines responsiveness to God, decisions, etc. that ultimate affect our destiny. I love this word today!
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