The Book of Proverbs is full of great counsel. It is primarily a collection of sayings from Solomon offering his son wise advice for living. In fact, many of the sections begin with words like, “Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and don’t reject your mother’s teaching” (Prov. 1:8). Look in the verses below …
I had this crazy idea to write a worship album from 1 Peter. It was going to be difficult to complete it in the timeframe, but the lofty goal was exciting to the crew. When I first mentioned the idea, they were all in and we got to work feverishly on it. We decided that …
We are called to examine ourselves to see if we are genuinely believers or not (2 Cor. 13:5). As a parent, how can you thoroughly examine to see if your children are Christians? Even a young man is known by his actions – by whether his behavior is pure and upright. -Prov. 20:11 Parenting is …
A feature of many movies are the inclusion of the deleted scenes. These scenes were scripted, recorded, and edited, but, due to different reasons, they never made it into the final release.
As you watch them, you might notice that that scene wasn’t that great in the first place. Maybe the scene was decent cinematography but just seemed irrelevant to the big story line of the film.
Have you ever wished there were some “deleted scenes” from your life?
If I think of a goal of parenthood, Psalm 112 sums it up perfectly:
Hallelujah! Happy is the man who fears the LORD, taking great delight in His commands.
His descendants will be powerful in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.
This psalm explains the goal of a multigenerational legacy. God desires that parents will fear the LORD in every way. They will not only obey His commands, but they will enjoy doing so because His commands are not burdensome (1 John 5:3).
For the parent that accomplishes this, the desire is that his or her children will live mighty lives marked distinctly by holiness.
This destiny will not happen by accident.
Making money is not an evil thing and can be a thing that God uses to meets the needs of others. But an overly-ambitious heart can lead to greed and the downfall of a man’s wealth and integrity.
Take a moment and read Proverbs 28:21-22:
In raising children, discipline must be involved. We live in a culture though that greatly disagrees in the manner of discipline that should be utilized upon children. I understand why. Many parents have crossed the line and abused children in the name of spanking. And parents who do not believe in spanking have still enraged children with discipline without communication. There are angry kids out there, but is spanking by itself the problem?
How did your parents discipline you? How did that impact you?
Take a moment and read Proverbs 29:15-17 and see what God’s Word says about raising children.
My friend Jonathan never pictured himself unemployed. Obtaining a bachelor’s and masters degree in his field, he was a great candidate for many jobs. Working during his time at school, upon graduation, he was able to receive a great job with a good salary with benefits.
After a few years in this job, he took a stand for something he was right and it cost him. Unwilling to back down from his convictions, he was forced out of his job in a hard economic time. He sent out resumes all over town. Due to family situations, he was unable to look for unemployment outside of the city. For all of his job hunting, he came up empty.
The only place that was hiring was a job that was way below his education or his prior pay scale. It would also be a job where he would be visible and a reminder of his previous job termination.
He had a choice: humbly provide for his family or worry about his reputation?
Marriages are under attack, and one of the ways that many fall is that the intimacy fails along the way. Scripture gives married couples lessons to follow:
Drink water from your own cistern,
water flowing from your own well.
Should your springs flow in the streets, streams of water in the public squares?
They should be for you alone and not for you [to share] with strangers.
Let your fountain be blessed, and take pleasure in the wife of your youth.
A loving doe, a graceful fawn— let her breasts always satisfy you; be lost in her love forever.
Why, my son, would you be infatuated with a forbidden woman or embrace the breast of a stranger?
For a man’s ways are before the LORD’s eyes, and He considers all his paths.
Prov 5:15-21 (HCSB)
Many people imagine God as a fuddy-duddy in the sky who doesn’t want His children to have any fun or enjoy anything in this life. People have a concept of God that says if something is enjoyable, He probably wouldn’t want us to partake of it. Those people have never read Proverbs 5.
Don’t lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyelashes. For a prostitute’s fee is only a loaf of bread, but an adulteress goes after [your] very life. Can a man embrace fire and his clothes not be burned? Can a man walk on coals without scorching his feet? So
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