Today’s passage: Proverbs 23

Helpful thoughts:

• We are children of the King, no other ruler should be able to lure us away from our allegiance.
• Verses 10 and 11 remind us of Boaz the kinsman redeemer for Ruth and Naomi.  Even if there is no family left to redeem the family’s legacy and land, God Himself will intervene.
  • People might get away with injustice in this world and in this lifetime.  God will prove to be the perfect judge.
• It is not unloving to discipline a child.  It is unloving to allow them to go into the world without discipline.
  • God disciplines His children because He loves them. (Hebrews 12:5-11)
• The “redness” of the wine in verse 31 refers to the higher concentration of alcohol.  If there was less water diluting the fermented mixture, the drink would be a darker red.  This is also referred to as “strong drink” in the scriptures.
  • One of the many dangers of drunkenness is that it seems to soften the blow of the negative consequences of our actions (Verse 35).  Like a self-prescribed medication for the pain caused by our sin.  When we don’t feel the pain, we won’t seek the cure (In this case, repentance).

Questions to consider:

1. If we work our whole lives to be rich, how will we view possessions and people?  How might we treat them?  How would we measure our success in life?  How would that compare or contrast to the commands to love God and love our neighbor?
2. What are we forgetting we already have when we begin to envy the lost?  What is sadly true about their hopes and the greatest things they may obtain?  How long will they last?  How can we be truly content (Philippians 4:10-13)
3. Which proverbs stuck out the most to you?  How can you put it into practice today?

Prayer:

Lord, we praise you!  You are our Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer, and King!  You have loved us in our sinful condition.  You have purchased us through the blood of Jesus.  You have given us eternal life.  You have called us to live lives that will matter for eternity.  You have promised us eternal reward as joint-heirs with Christ.  Nothing on the face of this earth could ever compare to what you have already provided to us.  Nothing on the face of this earth could ever compare to you.  May these truths ground us and give us a pure and abounding contentment as they should.  May they drive us to pursue righteousness.  And when we do sin, though we often would rather mask the pain, Lord instead please grant us repentance for the good of others around us, for our own good, and for your glory.

Today’s passage: Proverbs 22

Helpful thoughts:

• A good name can be earned through personal kindness and love toward others and it can also be inherited.
  • Our families pass down a name (e.g. Even older siblings to their youngers at school).
  • Our church has a name in the community.  We are all contributing to it and we will give it to the next generation.
• Our children learn from what we say, how we say it, by what we do and by how what we say correlates with what we do.
  • And when they are old, they will not depart from it.
  • Remember, this is a proverb.  A wisdom saying.  This verse can be misused to ask why kids didn’t turn out the way a parent wants…but when we expect kids to grow up and turn out “perfect”, we need to be humble, honest with ourselves, and realize that its only by the grace of God any of us are growing in righteousness.
• The “ancient landmarks” of verse 28 refer to boundary lines in ancient Israel.  The verse is discouraging trying to altar family property allocations.
• There is a competition going on for your mind.  Hearing from the world results in learning their ways and snares being set for our own capture.  Hearing from the Lord (Inclining our ears and applying our hearts to understand imply effort on our part) results in learning his ways and walking in righteousness and freedom.

Questions to consider:

1. How does 1 John 4:18-19 answer the proverb in verse 13 of this chapter?  Do the lazy really fear lions in the street though?  Is the problem fear or a lack of love for others?  What does the lazy person want most?  What are the greatest motivations to work hard?
2. Does a child have to learn foolishness or did we all come by it naturally (Verse 15 & Psalm 51:5)?  What should be the parents’ motivation and goal for discipline (Hebrews 12:5-11, Ephesians 6:4)?  Do parents punish or discipline?  What would the difference be?  What is God’s goal for our discipline?
3. What proverb stuck out the most to you? How could you put it into practice today?

Prayer:

Father, if my children grow up to be just like me they will need a savior.  Thank you for Jesus Christ!  And thank you for the work you have done in our lives that would allow our children to see you working in and through us.  May we remember to point them to you when they see good in us, knowing that if they are to see good and growth in their lives, it will be just as much of your doing and your grace.  May we remember to point them to you when they see the bad in us, reminding them that our hope and security rests in Jesus’ righteousness alone. And may they see us inclining our ears and applying our hearts to understand and obey your word.  Thank you for your word.  Thank you for your wisdom.  Thank you for our salvation.

Today’s passage: Proverbs 21

Helpful thoughts:

• No matter who is in “power”, God is in control.
  • No king, no president, no human being could ever hold enough power to tell God what to do.
  • God has the power and ability to change the heart of any human being.
  • Even military might is no match for God’s sovereign will.
• It is joyful to do what is right and pleasing to God when our hearts are right. (Verse 15)
  • Sometimes, we have to do what is right even if we don’t feel like it.
  • Sometimes, our heart is in the right place and we will feel like doing what is right.
    • A growing Christian will see their desires increasingly aligned with the desires of God, and therefore their joy in following Him increased as well.
• Quarrelsome is being prone to argue, to be contentious, combative.
  • Verses 9 & 19 are often seen as sort of funny, but it’s actually a vicious cycle.
  • The quarrelsome wife would be the first to say her husband should be a man and lead her spiritually, confronting her when necessary.  Then when the husband seeks to lead her and confront her about being quarrelsome, she responds in a quarrelsome way.

Questions to consider:

1. What makes verse 3 particularly important on this side of the cross?  If we were to try to appease God with a sacrifice today, what would we be saying about the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross?
2. How do verses 23 and 31 go together?  What characteristics might the world (Or us) consider to be strengths that would pale in comparison to the wisdom of God?  How many examples might we even find in this chapter?
3. Which proverb stick out the most to you?  How can you put it into practice today?

Prayer:

Father, forgive us for being fearful and anxious concerning the leaders of this land.  We can rest in you because you are in complete control.  May we walk in wisdom and righteousness because we know you are worthy, because we know it is right, and increasingly because we want to.  Thank you for the joy we can have in this life following Jesus.  And thank you for the eternal joy we will have with you when everything (Including us) is made perfectly right.  While we wait for that day, please give us grace to see our need for growth and change and give us ears to hear when your word and others who love us reveal them to us.

Today’s passage: Proverbs 20

Helpful thoughts:

• Mixture of water and fermented grape juice was necessary to preserve and make the water drinkable.  “Wine” was often diluted with enough water to make it harder to get drunk. “Strong drink” had less water, increasing the alcohol content.
• A wise friend and counselor will ask questions and draw out the thoughts and intentions from the heart.  He will hear the matter before giving any answers to it (Proverbs 18:13).
• A stranger or a foreigner would be much more difficult to do business with, much less likely to track down if they didn’t pay their loans.  Holding their outer garment was a way of ensuring they’d be back.
• There is a big difference between the flatterer of verse 19 and the truthful, honest, loving king of verse 28.
  • The flatterer speaks kindness to people to manipulate them for his own benefit.
  • The king does kindness to people to provide for their benefit.

Questions to consider:

1. Who are your counselors when you have big decisions to make?  What kinds of things might someone ask you about for counsel?  How can you be growing in wisdom and preparing yourself to give good counsel if someone should come to you?
2. There are many things we could be led astray by or that could become snares for us in this chapter.  Which one may be the most appealing to you?  What helps you to see it for what it is and to steer clear?  How could you help others do the same?
3. Which proverb stuck out the most to you today?  How can you put it into practice today?

Prayer:

Lord, none of us can say we have made out hearts clean, or that we have purified our own sin.  Thank you for sending Jesus Christ for our purification and cleansing!  And we thank you even more, knowing that you are fully aware of the inner depths of our hearts.  You know us entirely, inside and out, and you love us…and you have saved us.  You are our merciful, truthful and loving King and your throne will last forever.  May we your people keep our eyes and hearts fixed on you so that we might not be led astray or ensnared.

Today’s passage: Proverbs 19

Helpful thoughts:

• Ignorance is not bliss (Verse 2).
• When a kind person has wealth, they will likely share it.  When a lazy person becomes poor, others will tire of continually bailing them out.
• Verse 16 uses contrast.  To despise your ways is to be careless or reckless.  Keeping commandments is something we do on purpose.  If we simply rely on how we feel at any given moment, things will not go well.
• Parents, be encouraged; Discipline your children for their own good.  It is hard.  It is tiring.  Be diligent and persevere.  Love them.

Questions to consider:

1. Compare and contrast verse 13 and 14.  What can we learn from these verses about the family?
2. What can verse 20 teach us about the nature of wisdom and its fruits?  Is wisdom something we just have all of a sudden…or is it the result of continual learning, application, and growth?
3. Which proverbs stuck out the most to you?  How can you put it into practice today?

Prayer:

Father, thank you for giving us life through Christ!  When/If ever we are unsatisfied in this life, may we know it is because we have valued something else more than what you have already given us (Verse 23).  May we come back to your word to hear from you, listen to your counsel, and be told of your great wisdom and love.  May we be a hard working people.  Willing to spend our efforts and talents…and our spiritual gifts for your glory and the benefit of others.  Love them as you have first loved us.  And may this love be expressed toward our children as well.  Father, thank you for your loving discipline.  You are our good Father and you watch us and work in us to conform us to Christ.  I pray that the parents in our church would love their children in the same way.  Give us grace to persevere and point our children to you.  Please Lord, give them new hearts and a desire to follow hard after you and give us wisdom as we train up this next generation.

Today’s passage: Proverbs 18

Helpful thoughts:

• The first verse of this chapter is talking about a person who searches and follows their own heart.  Buying into the philosophy of “follow your heart” will not work out well.
• Being quick to speak and slow (or refusing) to listen is the trademark of a fool.
  • Said positively, a wise person will desire to hear the whole matter and will only delight in speaking if it truly helps another.
• You can’t be everyone’s best friend…no one could possibly keep that up.  But, praise God for a friend who “sticks closer than a brother.”

Questions to consider:

1. What are we to learn from verse 9?  How is lazy work comparable to the act of destruction?  What is the motivation for both?  Who suffers?  What is characteristic of good hard work and who benefits?
2. How could we compare and learn from verse 16, 18, and 19?  What are the similarities?  What is the point?  How are we to treat people with whom we disagree?
3. Which proverbs stuck out the most to you? How can you put it into practice today?

Prayer:

Lord, your name is our strong tower!  We thank you for providing our safety from the destruction we deserve for our sin through Jesus Christ.  You have made us righteous in Christ and you have given us eternal safety in Him as well.  May this truth remind us to be humble, that we would be ready to listen and hear truth from one another.  Thank you for our spouses.  Thank you for our friends.  Thank you for the church.  You did not make us to live in isolation…may we work together in our homes, families, friendships and together as a church toward wisdom and Christ-likeness.

Today’s passage: Proverbs 17

Helpful thoughts:

• People are prone give their ears to those they believe will say what they want to hear.
• Verse 9 refers to gossip.  If someone has sinned in such a way to harm others and break the law, authorities need to know.  There is a difference between calling the police and posting publicly on social media.
• Once water breaks through the dam, your can’t control where it will go or what damage it will do (Verse 14).
• “Makes his door high” in verse 19 refers to flaunting your wealth or success.

Questions to consider:

1. How could verse 22 be a good help in parenting, teaching, leadership, etc.?
2. What do many of the verses in this chapter say about justice?  Should Christians support justice in the world? Why is supporting justice so difficult in this world?  How might the world define justice differently and why?  How might the world disagree with how injustices should be made right and why?  How does understanding these differences (And heeding verses like verse 12) help us to know how or when to engage discussions more wisely?
3. Which proverb sticks out the most to you?  How can you put it into practice today?

Prayer:

Father, thank you for being just.  And thank you for sending Jesus to pay the penalty of our sin, so that we would be declared, “Justified” before you.  Lord, help us to remember that only Jesus can make things right and therefore, to long for His return.  And, may we grow to become more like Him in this world…loving you and loving our neighbors.  Please be with the fathers of our church.  May their children look to them and see their love for Jesus, that when they glory in their fathers, they would glory in you.

Today’s passage: Proverbs 16

Helpful thoughts:

• There is a freedom that we all possess to desire and to plan, and yet everything that is done is under God’s sovereignty.
  • When we are fully committed to following the Lord, our thinking and planning will be informed by God’s revealed will in his word.  When we want to follow the Lord, we will.
  • Wickedness and judgment are part of God’s sovereign plan.  When you share truth and the gospel and it is either accepted or rejected, both glorify God and both accomplish what He sent the word to do (Isaiah 55:11).
• If we want to follow the Lord faithfully and even lead others to do the same, we will want people in our lives who tell us the truth.
  • Speaking the truth in love means we are honest for the benefit of the one to whom we speak.  It’s not sugar coating hard conversations…it’s being kind and supportive (Rooting for their success!) as you constructively tell them what they need to hear. (Ephesians 4:15-16)
  • When we are not willing to speak truth to our brothers and sisters in Christ, we are in danger of becoming whisperers instead (Verse 28).
• Giving thought to the Word of God is like digging for buried treasure.  Except for this, when you dig for gold and silver in the ground, you don’t always find it.  When we dig into God’s Word, there is always treasure to be found!

Questions to consider:

1. By whose steadfast love and faithfulness is iniquity atoned for? (Verse 6)  What is the Gospel?  How does confessing Christ as Lord result in the second half of verse 6?
2. Why is it such a blessing to have a church comprised of older and younger people?  What desires (And whose desires) often result in churches that are only older or only younger?  What do churches miss out on when that happens?
3. Which proverbs stuck out the most to you?  How could you put it into practice today?

Prayer:

Father, thank you for your faithfulness to the First Baptist Church of Mt. Pleasant!  We are here because you are sovereign and gracious.  And, we are here because your people, though imperfect, have been faithful, patient, and loving of others even when some are not.  Lord, we pray for your continued blessing on this church.  May we be a community of people who love you first, and love each other.  May we love your Word, speak to one another in love, listen to one another in humility, and trust you with the results of our obedience and labors.  We thank you for your promise that all of our hard work will abound because nothing we do in obedience to you could ever be done in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).