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).

Today’s passage: Proverbs 15

Helpful thoughts:

• It is good to read verses 1, 2 and 23 together.  A “harsh” word can be factual, but a wise person will use their knowledge rightly and in a timely fashion.
• A reverential fear of the Lord and a loving relationship with family and friends is worth more than any treasure this world can offer.  How wonderful it is to be content and happy before, during, and after we either do or don’t gain more possessions!
• The hedge of thorns and the highway of verse 19 refer to the ease of movement in getting things accomplished.  The lazy will get things done slowly, like you were walking through thorns.  The upright’s task list looks more like a highway.

Questions to consider:

1. How can verse 3 help us to grow in our thankfulness for Jesus’ sacrifice?  Is there any sin in us that God missed and therefore Jesus didn’t die for?  What is true of all those who rest in Jesus (Romans 8:1)?
2. Why must humility come before honor (Verse 33)?  What will a humble person do that a proud person will not (Verse 32)?  What does this assume about all of us?  What do we all need to hear?  How many of us are prepared to receive honor in this life without instruction, repentance, and growth?  How does the Lord respond to us as we humble ourselves and follow Him (Verses 8-9)?
3. Which proverbs sticks out the most to you?  How can you put it into practice today?

Prayer:

Father, thank you for your great omniscient love for us!  May we be a humble people who lean on your grace and turn to your word for counsel for everything in life.  I pray that our church would be salt and light in our world and in our country in how we use our words.  The anger is thick around us and harshness seems to prevail.  But Jesus is King and we have nothing to fear.  May we speak words that turn away wrath, use knowledge and disperse it wisely, that give life and joy in due season.  We thank you Lord that the paths of our lives lead upward in Christ!

Today’s passage: Proverbs 14

Helpful thoughts:

• Fearing the Lord precedes walking in righteousness.  Despising Him precedes walking foolishly.
• Verse 4 can be a great encouragement and reminder in our service as a church!  Things may not always go the way we want.  The final product may never turn out exactly as you hoped.  It’s better to have “dirty stalls” and fruitful church than the alternative.
• We can feel very passionately about something and be entirely wrong about it.  (Verse 12)
  • When our feelings line up with truth, more positive feelings will come as we act out according to truth.
  • When our feelings oppose the truth and if we decide to follow our feelings instead, worse feelings will result as we suffer the consequences of our poor choices.
• Righteousness exalts a nation.  Sinfully calling others out for their sin only adds to the reproach.

Questions to consider:

1. Do you think verse 20 is an instruction or a sad commentary on our natural responses?  What would the instruction be if we understand this proverb correctly?
2. What is consistently true of those who are quick tempered or impulsive?  What do these proverbs offer as the alternative to being quick to anger?  How can we slow our tempers down?  How will that bless us and others?
3. Which proverb sticks out the most to you?  How can you put it into practice today?

Prayer:

Father, we pray our church would fear you, pursue understanding, and be quick to love.  That we would regard you highly as you deserve.  We pray that we would love because you first loved us (1 John 4:19).  May we see “dirty oxen stalls” as a blessing because it means they were used to build the kingdom.  May we see our conversations as tools to accomplish good that results in actions and fruit.  Please give us sound hearts, rooted in your wisdom, satisfied with your abounding love, ready to do your work.

Today’s passage: Proverbs 13

Helpful thoughts:

• Our words can build up, strengthen and produce good results, or they can tear down and cause harm. (Ephesians 4:29)
• Our wealth (Or the lack thereof) will not be what brings us happiness and contentment.
• There is a big difference between agreeing with a statement and taking the time to consider it and apply it.  One makes for good conversation, the other changes our lives.
• There are patterns in this chapter today.  One action leads to another which leads to another.  They can all combine to make a downward spiral or great momentum and upward trajectory.

Questions to consider:

1. How could verse 12 be tied together with the rest of the proverbs in this chapter?  (What kinds of desires will be fulfilled for those who will not listen, who are lazy, who are pretending to be rich, etc.?  What kinds of desires will be fulfilled for those who listen and hear wisdom, who are diligent and hard-working, who are wise stewards of their resources and will not flaunt their increase, etc.?)  Do foolish acts (Or wise acts) occur in isolation or do they usually build one upon another?  How will the accumulation of wisdom or foolishness impact our lives and the lives of those around us?
2. How would verse 20 prove true?  What does “walking” with people mean?  How would those relationships affect  us over time?  How does verse 20 impact verse 24?  What kind of people do our children need to walk with in order to grow up wise?  What kind of people do parents need to be for their children?
3. Which of these proverbs stuck out the most to you?  How can you put it into practice today?

Prayer:

Lord, we thank you for the wisdom you give us through your word.  I pray for the parents of our church, that they would walk with the wise, be wise, and share that wisdom with their children diligently as they grow.  May we all work together as a church to build one another up, multiplying in fruitfulness.  Help us to understand that every decision we make affects the next decision and the next decision after that.  Help us to understand that every decision we make affects not just us but the people around us as well.  Father, may we be people who think and act wisely and benefit one another exponentially for our good and for your glory.  And of course, we thank you for the most exponential good act in the history of the world, the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior.  May we remember that our wisdom and obedience and fruitfulness did not originate in our own power, but that they are the fruit of your love and the change you have brought to our lives through Christ.

Today’s passage: Proverbs 12

Helpful thoughts:

• The Hebrew word translated as stupid is used for animals who graze in the field.  The idea is this, something is wrong, someone is trying to warn in love, and the animal just keeps grazing as if nothing was happening.  Being stupid is like sharing the intellectual capacity of a brute animal.
• One repeated characteristic we see in these proverbs is this: The wicked take life and goods from others in ways they think will benefit themselves, only to find destruction.  But the righteous preserve life, deliver those in need, and give themselves for the benefit of others and find life, joy and peace.
  • This is also true of our words…not just our actions.  (See Matthew 5:21-22)
• Verse 25 gives us a great reminder.  The Bible addresses anxiety and depression, their causes and cures.  This verse is not all the Bible has to say about them.  It may require some diligence to find it, but its there.

Questions to consider:

1. Why is it so important to choose good friends?  How can you become a good friend to others?  What role can and should the church play in this?
2. In the contrast of verse 27, what is diligence called?  If diligence is a possession, what does that mean we must do to obtain it?  Is it something you just have or is it something you must obtain?  What will we be if we do not pursue diligence?
3. Which proverb(s) stuck out most to you?  How can you put it into practice today?

Prayer:

Lord, I pray that we would be a people who are consistently pro-life.  Not just in our positions on abortion and euthanasia, but also in the way we talk to and write (or post) about others.  May we be a people who sit under the instruction of your word, heed the warnings and respond in faith and obedience.  May we fight for the life of others, even those with whom we disagree.  Thank you for giving us your wisdom!  Thank you for giving us life in the righteousness of Jesus!  Thank you for working in us to make us like Him!