Bible Study May 8, 2025

We’re back from vacation and aback to doing what I really enjoy (I did enjoy vacation). We’re picking up in Proverbs chapter two and moving forward.

“Act In Wisdom”

Proverbs 2:9 – 15 (ESV)
“Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path; 10 for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; 11 discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you, 12 delivering you from the way of evil, from men of perverted speech, 13 who forsake the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, 14 who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil, 15 men whose paths are crooked, and who are devious in their ways.”

Three things mentioned in verse nine above become an ethical triad for each of us to follow. This knowledge comes from verse six “For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” All understanding we have comes from God concerning the scriptures and how to live an upright life.

If we follow His outline then “wisdom will come into your heart.” But this must be tempered with discretion and understanding. We must search for what is right but do so with discretion in all things. Let me ask you a question. “If you had an opportunity to witness to someone in a bar, would you do it?” I know many people would say “No” because they live a legalistic life but what would you do. There are others that would jump on the opportunity in a heartbeat. Ask yourself wat would Jesus do?

One of the things I have always said and I sincerely believe it that when Jesus changes our hearts we need to take action to make some changes in our lives. If we have an addiction we may well need His counsel and help to overcome it but there are those things we should be able to control like out tongue. We choose our words; we must choose them wisely. By this I mean its time to cut out the words we know we should not be using. Our confession of salvation involves us telling others of the work of Jesus in our lives but our confession is also the words we use – do they glorify or desecrate?  

When our lives are radically changed then we walk out of darkness into the Light. We no longer rejoice in evil or evil things but we are now changed and His wisdom guides us out of our devious ways.

God Bless.

Bible Study May 2, 025

“Wisdom Has Its Own Value”

Proverbs 2:1 –  8

“My son, if you receive my words  and treasure up my commandments with you, 2 making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; 3 yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, 4 if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, 5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. 6 For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; 7 he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, 8 guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints.”

Both wisdom and foolishness has their rewards. The Lord alone gives wisdom and sets our heart on the right path. He does so with the purpose of protecting the path of the one following Him who follows Him out of fear (reverence) and are blessed for their obedience.

However, to gain wisdom is to seek it diligently. Wisdom comes seeking it out, digging for the deeper meaning of purpose. We saw where wisdom was pictured as “calling out in the streets” in 1:20 -21.

These verses indicate wisdom is something that should be sought out. Verse four “if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, 5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” There are times I read a passage of scripture and say to myself “what is being said? When I should have begun by asking the Lord to reveal it to me.

There are both benefits and results to heeding wisdom. The one is found in the verses above. If you seek you will find. Verse seven says He gives it to the upright. Although we seek wisdom it is not given on the merits of the individual but is something that is cultivated in practice.

So why does God grant us wisdom? The answer is found in verse eight: “ guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints.” He grants it to protect His followers.

God Bless.

Bible Study April 30, 2025

Proverbs 1:20 – 33

“Wisdom Calls”

Wisdom is brought to life here being pictured as a woman and who is she appealing to, who could that be? She answers the “simple ones”, “the scoffers,” and the “fools.” She is telling them to heed her words. What she is attempting to do is serve as a mediator between man and God.

Notice in verses 20 and 21 there is a fourfold description of Lady Wisdom’s location. She calls out to those involved in the business of everyday life, where commerce, communication, and legal affairs are conducted.

She speaks to both the naïve and those hardened ones seeking to hang onto their habits rejecting correction.

What occurs here is what happens to all of us who fail to heed the counsel of the wise. Verse 26 and 27 says “I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you, 27 when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.” We will be caught up in our lifestyle unless we make the decision to follow Jesus. Once that is done calamity will cease. Not everything will go as you like because all that we like is not necessarily good for us but we have a hope beyond the calamity of this earth.

Apostacy is an interesting word used in verse 32. Apostacy is by definition “Apostasy is a deliberate act of repudiating Christ and the core teachings of Christianity. I saw it in a denomination where churches have disaffiliated over Biblical truth verses man’s desires. Solmon says “apostasy” will destroy them, I fact it will destroy everything it touches.

But the answer is found in the final verse chapter one “but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.” That is where we want to be.

God Bless.

Bible Study April 28, 2025

“Do Not Be Enticed”

Proverbs 1:8 – 19

How do we avoid being enticed to do wrong – simple answer we avoid the very appearance of evil? Sounds quite simple – stay away from may harm you. However, it is simply not that easy you must be intentional about avoiding harmful things. Guard your heart.

There is so much around us today that entices us to look, act, or do that which is wrong. From television to the internet, to billboards, to many types of advertising. Each of these is designed to draw you into something that will profit the advertiser and in many cases harm you. It may seem innocent enough but if it seems innocent – beware.

This is what Solomon was telling a child in verse eight. He is saying you know your mother’s teaching, you know what she has told you, now it is up to you to heed her warnings. You will succeed and overcome if you embrace wisdom.

He focuses in verse ten if someone entices you to do wrong avoid them, do not consent to their calling for you to do wrong. Take a stand against wrongdoing. I know it is easy to fall I have in the past so it behooves us to stay on guard – Guard you heart.

In scripture the term “sinners” is used to describe unbelievers. For this person sin is continual and often without thought for the consequences that it may bring. Solomon in his writing here uses the sins of murder and robbery as illustrations.

Do not be deceived there are far more enticements that await you and they are subtle. One of the greatest evils of the day when used improperly is that of peer pressure. Peer pressure can be both positive and negative. People want to fit in yet Paul said, “Stand firm against the evils of the day.”

There will always be those who want to take you down with them – avoid them. Sheol is the pit the place of darkness where there is no escape. Sheol can be a number of sins in the life of an individual. As an example fentanyl can mean the end of life and it is peer pressure that brings a person to decide to use it and in many cases there is no escape.

Avoid evil enticements at all costs.

God Bless.

Bible Study April 25, 2025

“The Beginning of Knowledge”

Proverbs 1:1-7 (ESV)

“The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: 2 To know wisdom and instruction,     to understand words of insight, 3 to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity; 4 to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the  youth— 5 Let the wise hear and increase in learning,  and the one who understands obtain guidance, 6 to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles. 7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

For a change of pace I thought I would share from the book of Proverbs written by Solomon, the wisest man on earth. Proverbs seeks to sharpen our minds He even uses the word “riddles” in verse six.

We will find in reading this book there are certain themes that will pop out to us as we proceed. As an example in the first nine chapters we will see a theme of reverence for God. It becomes our foundation for all spiritual knowledge. We may j=know some things but we do not have true knowledge until we come into a relationship with Jesus.

John MacArthur says there is a progression found in this book. It is: (1). Teaching, (2). Learning about God, (3). Fearing God, (4). Knowing God, and (5). Imitating God’s wisdom.

The fear of the Lord is one’s state of mind toward attitudes, feelings, deeds, and goals which we exchange for God’s relationship.

Verse seven seems to wrap it all up in a nice package for a start. 7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

I hope you enjoy our walk through this book of wisdom.

God Bless.

Bible Study April 24, 2025

Romans 15:13 (ESV)

13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

I picked a book up yesterday from my bookshelf and went to the patio to read. It is by Erwin Lutzer titled “When A Nation Forgets God.” Dr. Lutzer was the Senior Pastor at Moody Bible Church in Chicago for many years. I first heard of him facilitating GriefShare groups at Cornerstone in West Chester, Ohio. He is brilliant man and worth reading.

Here is a quote from his book. “We shall discover that we always find ourselves caught between our responsibility as citizens of this earth and citizens of heaven. The church has always been poised between two gods and two crosses. On the one side is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who died on a Roman Cross, executed for the sins of the world. On the other side are any number of lesser gods and crosses that promise a false salvation. These other gods are almost always embodied in the state; the most often come to us in the garb dressed as Ceasar. And in the end they are committed to crushing religious freedom.” That is one true perspective concerning church and state. Government often goes where it needs to stay out.

But often an equal amount of damage is done by the church itself. I had a conversation yesterday over lunch with man of God whom I both love and respect. In our conversation we mentioned a message by John MacArthur concerning a well-known speaker in Houston who leads a large church. I am putting the link at the end of this study in case you might be interested in listening to MacArthur, I believe the clip is around six minutes long and worth listening to. You can form your own opinion of what he says.

My point here is subtle things and subtle words can completely mislead us into making poor choices as to what we believe. There are two true sources of light and inspiration: the scriptures and the leading of the Holy Spirt (who still guides and directs us).

God Bless.

Bible Study April 23, 2025

“Choose Life”

Deuteronomy 30:15-20

15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. 16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

There are several passages in scripture that teach us to choose life over death. We have life through obedience and death through disobedience. Disobedience will lead to curse and the nonbeliever will ultimately find death.

Deuteronomy 30:19, really sums it up bests and repeating, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, so that you and your descendants may live”.

God will make no one obey or disobey the choice is ours to make however there are some considerations to look at.

God offers a choice:

God presents individuals with a choice between loving and obeying Him (life and good) or turning away to worship other gods (death and evil). God has allowed His human creation the ability to make decisions. I remember my son’s grandfather saying God is a gentleman He will not force His way where unwelcome.

With choice come consequences of choice:

Obeying God leads to life, blessing, and prosperity, while disobedience results in death, destruction, and loss of the promised land. There are both good consequences to choosing life as there are bad consequences to choosing disobedience.

Choosing life should be our choice:

What is involved here is the importance of choosing life, which involves loving God, walking in His ways, and keeping His commandments. As the old hymn goes “There is no other way but to trust and obey.”

God Bless.

Bible Study April 21, 2025

“What Now?”

Mattherw 27:24 – 56

Each of the Gospels portray the death of Jesus suffering a brutal death by crucifixion. I list Matthew because he goes into great detail about the events of the day.

The question for today is a difficult one for many – “What do I do with the Cross today?” There are many things on can do. We have just celebrated Easter Sunday and hopefully all of you found a meaningful worship service yesterday.

But as the song says “Yesterday is gone” what will I do with the Cross today?

Here are the words to a portion of the song by Chad and Jeremy.

“Wait ’til summer comes again

I hope that you’ll remember when

Our love had just begun

I loved you yesterday and yesterday’s gone

Yesterday’s gone”

There are many options we can take:

• We can endear ourselves to it and make it the  focal point of our salvation,
• We can (along with others ) deny it just say nothing, do nothing,
• We can put it on the back burner until next year when we celebrate Easter on just one day,
• We can share the message of the Cross when God leads us to speak forth on fertile ground He has prepared.

We know Jesus remembers His love has just begun but what about ours? Will it continue into the remainder of our days? I pray that it does in my life and yours. Or do we wait till Easter again?

God Bless.