Proverbs

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HOW DO WE GUARD OUR HEARTS?

January 24, 2024

“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23 ESV). Solomon instructed his son to keep his heart. In other words, he wanted his son to guard his heart, being careful about where his passions and desires led him. Certainly Solomon was an example of a man who

JESUS IS THE ANSWER

December 15, 2023

“Who but God goes up to heaven and comes back down? Who holds the wind in his fists? Who wraps up the oceans in his cloak? Who has created the whole wide world? What is his name—and his son’s name? Tell me if you know!” (Proverbs 30:4 NLT). Proverbs 30 contains the sayings of Agur,

HOW NOT TO ENCOURAGE A HEAVY HEART

October 18, 2023

“Singing cheerful songs to a person with a heavy heart is like taking someone’s coat in cold weather or pouring vinegar in a wound” (Proverbs 25:20 NLT). There are those who have never experienced loss that think the way to cheer up the one who has is by distraction. However, this response is not only

OUR NEED FOR ONE WHO SHEPHERD’S THE HEART

August 11, 2023

“Haughty eyes, a proud heart, and evil actions are all sin” (Proverbs 21:4 NLT). This proverbs speaks to the reality that sin is more than an action, but is preceded by an attitude and heart condition. Jesus addressed this reality in the Sermon on the Mount when he connected the prohibitions of the Decalogue with

THE GIFT OF SPIRITUAL RECEPTIVITY

July 31, 2023

“Ears to hear and eyes to see— both are gifts from the Lord” (Proverbs 20:12 NLT). One can have ears and eyes, yet still be deaf and blind. The Lord has made both the physical and the spiritual ability to hear and see. Both are grace. Both are gifts. The physical is obvious, but few

DISCIPLINE YOUR CHILD WHILE THERE IS HOPE

July 19, 2023

“Discipline your children while there is hope. Otherwise you will ruin their lives” (Proverbs 19:18 NLT). There is a short window of time for teaching children obedience. During this time there is hope that parental discipline might eventually become the child’s own self-discipline. It may seem a lot of work to discipline a child of

GOD MAKES HIMSELF A DEBTOR TO THOSE WHO HELP THE POOR

July 18, 2023

“If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord— and he will repay you!” (Proverbs 19:17 NLT). This is an astounding proverb! God willingly makes Himself a debtor to the one who is kind and generous to the poor. Someone may hesitate to give to a poor person, but who would not lend

TESTED FAITH 

June 12, 2023

“Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but the Lord tests the heart” (Proverbs 17:3 NLT). Faith must be tested. It must pass through life’s furnace, so that impurities may rise to the top and be removed. This testing not only purifies, it verifies, proving faith genuine. Only the Lord can do this. As

BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HUNGER

June 8, 2023

“It is good for workers to have an appetite; an empty stomach drives them on” (Proverbs 16:26 NLT). A wise observation by King Solomon: Hunger motivates work. In other words, hunger can act as an incentive for one to labor for himself. Self-employment is hard, but often the most rewarding, for both the stomach and

HEART SICK FOR HEAVEN

April 19, 2023

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life” (Proverbs 13:12 NLT). Having to wait for any expected good certainly affects our attitude. In this sense, the writer of the proverb accurately observed the growing despondency of the heart that waits unfulfilled. Yet, it is even more intense in