Good Morning, Sweet Sisters!
We are half way through our study of Proverbs! Keep up the good work. I hope your heart is yearning for more! Here is this week's reading plan: Read Proverbs, chapters 16-20 I want to thank each of you for checking in each week as we study the Bible. The purpose of Redeeming Elegance is to encourage you to spend time with God each and every day, through reading your Bible and prayer. I pray for each of you often, because God knows your hearts and He loves you so much! Keep reading! Joyfully His, Andrea
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As we were growing up, many of us were warned to be careful with whom we made friends. "Don't hang out with the wrong crowd." My parents warned my brothers and I of this and now I'm teaching my children the same. It's not just a warning, Proverbs tells us that as believers, it should be a daily choice and with it comes blessing.
Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble. ~ Proverbs 13:20 The NLT version above, uses the word associate, but most other versions use the word companion. The definition for the word companion is: one that keeps company with another. Who do you associate with? Who gets the pleasure of your company? Our closest friends, the relationships that we nurture, should reflect our faith in God. Why? Because those that we spend time with will help determine who we are and what we will become. "Walk with the wise and become wise." Our friends and our companions should hold the same values. This doesn't mean that we are to be rude to everyone who doesn't think the same as we do, on the contrary. We are to be kind, loving and friendly to everyone. It's the only way to show God's love through our actions. What this does mean is that those we learn from, those we admire, those we want to be like should uphold the wisdom of the Lord. For if we fall into the wrong crowd, we fall into trouble. Proverbs gives us many warnings of following the wrong crowd. Many verses we have read in the past 3 weeks and some we will be reading in the next few weeks. Let's take a minute to look at these warnings. Proverbs 1:10 ~ "My child, if sinners entice you, turn your back on them!" Proverbs 2:12 ~ "Wisdom will save you from evil people, from those whose words are twisted." Proverbs 4:14 ~ "Don't do as the wicked do, and don't follow the path of evildoers." Proverbs 16:29 ~ "Violent people mislead their companions, leading them down a harmful path." Proverbs 22:24-25 ~ "Don't befriend angry people or associate with hot-tempered people, or you will learn to be like them and endanger your soul." Proverbs 23:20 ~ "Do not carouse with drunkards or feast with gluttons." Proverbs 28:7 ~ "Young people who obey the law are wise; those with wild friends bring shame to their parents." Walk with the wise, Sweet Sisters. Make sure those you are learning from are striving to serve the Lord and seeking His wisdom. And remember, there are people learning from you, too. Keep reading! Joyfully His, Andrea Can you feel the knowledge seeping into your soul as you have been studying Proverbs these past two weeks? Has the Lord given you wisdom through His Word? Are you loving the time that you are spending quietly with God? I hope that your answer to each of these questions are: yes, Yes, and absolutely YES! :)
I am truly enjoying the wisdom that we are studying through the book of Proverbs. I have to confess, I have always loved the Proverbs and I have read through the entire book many times. But this time around, I feel like I am learning more than I have ever gleaned from it before, and that just excites me! Here is this week's reading plan: Read Proverbs, chapters 11-15. Keep up the good work, Sweet Sisters! Soak up that special time with God each day and bask in His Word. A gracious woman gains respect, but ruthless men gain only wealth. ~ Proverbs 11:16 Joyfully His, Andrea What do your word s sound like to the ears of others? Are your words gentle, joyful and wise? Or are they short, prideful and spoken before you have time to think about them? As I have studied Proverbs this week, the Lord continued to highlight each verse that spoke of our words and our mouths. I have to be honest, my words can be my downfall. Many times I speak without thinking and more often than not, I let my words be spoken with a clip of attitude instead of being gentle and thoughtful.
Proverbs, chapter 10, compares the life, words, actions and blessings of the godly to the destruction of the wicked. At least seven of these verses speak directly to the words of the wise. As believers, we should pray for daily wisdom, discernment and discretion. God will give us the wisdom we seek, if only we ask. Being gifted with wisdom comes with a cost, however, if we ask for wisdom and receive it, we must live it. Proverbs tells us exactly what the words of the wise should look like. Let's look at a few of these verses together and then I encourage you to study and pray over these Scriptures on your own. As believers, our words should: Give life. ~ "The words of the godly are a life-giving fountain..." (Proverbs 10:11) Do your words to your husband, children, parents, siblings, neighbors, co-workers speak life? Be full of wisdom and understanding. ~ "Wise words come from the lips of people with understanding..." (Proverbs 10:13) Do your words come with understanding, or are they spoken with immediate judgement? Be sensible and know when to keep quiet. ~ "Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut." (Proverbs 10:19) Do you know when to keep quiet? Do you pray before you speak and only give your opinion if you are led by God to do so? Be valuable. ~ "The words of the godly are like sterling silver..." (Proverbs 10:20) Do your words have value? Do you speak the Truth? Encourage. ~ "The words of the godly encourage many..." (Proverbs 10:21) Do you speak encouraging words to all who God places in your path? Do those people leave you feeling encouraged and hopeful? Give wise advice. ~ "The mouth of the godly person gives wise advice..." (Proverbs 10:31) Do you give wise advice to others? The only way to give wise advice is to know wisdom. You have to know God, know His Word and pray for Him to speak through you. Speak helpful words. ~ "The lips of the godly speak helpful words..." (Proverbs 10:32) Are your words helpful or hurtful? Do they bring hope and a positive outlook? As you ponder over these words this weekend, my prayer is that God will speak wisdom through each of us. That His words will fill our thoughts, our hearts and will be spoken from our lips. May Your words be spoken through our lips, Lord! Keep reading, Sweet Sisters, God has something special in store for each of us, as we grow in His knowledge and Truth! Joyfully His, Andrea Good morning, Ladies!
I wanted to get our reading plan for the week up as quick as possible today: Proverbs, chapters 6-10 Read one chapter a day as you spend quiet time with the Lord. Reflect on His Word, talk to Him and let Him lead you. I wanted to take a moment and recap on last week's reading. My family has had a rough 2 weeks and it has caused me to be more sporadic with posting here, so please pray for us. God knows our prayers and He is in control! The first five chapters of Proverbs has been a classroom of wisdom. It would be so easy for me to look at each and every verse and discuss them all here, because they are so rich in what we need. But, for time's sake, I will have to pick and choose a few of my favorites. :) Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. ~ Proverbs 1:7 True knowledge comes first, from complete reverence and awe of the Lord. Without a redemptive relationship with God we cannot fully know wisdom as He desires for us to obtain. Fearing the Lord comes in a progression from our own actions: 1. Being taught about God- reading the Bible and attending a Bible teaching church 2. Learning about God - There is a difference between being taught a subject and learning something from it. You have to apply yourself to be able to learn something. You study it and you strive to know more. 3. Fearing God - This can only come from what you have learned. You cannot fear the Lord without knowing who He is and what He has done for you. 4. Knowing God - This is a personal, intimate relationship between you and the Lord Himself. 5. Imitating God's wisdom - When you truly know the Lord, you can't help but to live out His wisdom in your own life. When we fear the Lord, our words, attitudes and actions should express that. Will we do it right every time? No, we will stumble, but our desire should always be to obey the Lord and live out His will for us. Chapters two and three are full of direct blessings that come from gaining wisdom. Seek wisdom. Pray for it. God will grant you wisdom, it can only come from Him(Prov. 2:6-8). Wisdom keeps us from temptation(Prov. 2:10-20), it brings a satisfying life(Prov. 3:1-2), it brings physical strength and healing (Prov. 3:7-8) and it brings joy (Prov. 3:13). Many times in these few chapters, Solomon mentioned that He was taught these things by His parents. That is so powerful to me. Solomon's parents were two imperfect people who wanted to serve the Lord. They taught their son to love the Lord and to serve Him. As a mom, that means so much to me. If I want my children to "fear the Lord" and to gain wisdom, I have to teach them. I have to fervently and diligently teach them God's Word. I have to live it out in front of them. God has to be a priority in my life if I ever want Him to be a priority to my children. God has taught me that this week. I have to teach my children and anyone else who is watching my example, so that they can learn about God, fear Him, know Him personally and imitate God's wisdom in their own lives. I'm praying for each of you this week! Keep reading! Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. ~ Proverbs 4:23 Joyfully His, Andrea Good morning, Sweet Sisters,
I am so excited to jump back in the Word and read through the book of Proverbs with you. What a way to start the new year! The reading plan for this week is as follows: Proverbs chapters 1-5 The book of Proverbs is loaded with wisdom; wisdom that comes from having a right relationship with God. In fact, the words of Proverbs reflect a person's relationship with God, themselves and others. The book of Proverbs was written and compiled by Solomon, the wisest man to ever live. The wisdom that is shared with us, is to be taken seriously and we should strive to follow its direction. Beginning today, we will read one chapter a day. Read it, pray over it, journal it, soak it in. Please share your thoughts on the reading in the comments section and check back here through the week for study notes. Or subscribe to the RSS feed on the sidebar to receive email updates when a new post has been published. I'm praying for you this week. May God's Word bring life and abundance to your heart and godly wisdom for your soul! Joyfully His, Andrea |
For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. " AuthorHi! I'm Andrea, wife to my handsome hubby, homeschooling mama to my 7 amazing blessings, and daughter of the King of kings. I am so glad you have stopped by my little piece of the web. My prayer is that the Lord will use this blog to encourage you in your personal, daily walk with Christ. Archives
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