NIV Life Applications Study Bible (Link)
Pastor Christopher Harris on Clubhouse (Link)
“My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
turn your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding-”
Proverbs 2:1-2 NIV
I have the NIV Life Application Study Bible (link) and the summary says God is the starting point of wisdom.
“indeed if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
2:4-5 NIV
We have to earnestly seek wisdom (NIV, p.1014). We have search for it as if we are seeking after hidden treasures. We have to pursue it as if it were precious medals.
“then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
For the LORD gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.”
2:5-6 NIV
“Fear” is the Hebrew word yir’a. It means reverence/piety (a deep and profound respect) for God. God is the beginning of wisdom. How do we earnestly seek wisdom? By seeking God. We read the Bible. Exegesis; we learn to critically examine scripture for ourselves. The Bible is meant to come alive in the way we need it and for the season of life we need it in.
I met God on the side of my bed by reading the Bible, fasting, praying, and worship. The tools were given to me by listening to Pastor Christopher Harris on Clubhouse (link). This is the purpose of this blog; that you gather the tools to create a God-space in your life to personally and intimately meet God. Then God begins to grow us spiritually and that growth begins to permeate and mature the other areas of our lives.
“He holds success in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.
Then you will understand what is right and just
and fair- every good path.”
2:7-9 NIV
God’s desires are for us to have success in all the areas of life. The spiritual maturing is meant to bring us physical, emotional, mental, and financial success. We get this by earnestly seeking Him. This happens for the people that get God out of their “Saturday/ Sunday worship only” box. We get this by reading the Bible, prayer, fasting, and worship. We get success in all the areas of life by bringing God into our daily lives. We get this by learning to live life from out of our God “box.”
“For wisdom will enter your heart
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.”
2:10 NIV
This is emotional maturing. What does emotional maturity look like? Emotional maturity looks like the ability to regulate and control our emotions, empathy, establishing healthy boundaries with others, and learning stress management. A big sign of God emotionally maturing us is the ability to handle rebuke.
“All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV
Scripture is meant to come alive in the way we need it and in the season of life we need it in. Learning to read the Bible, exegesis, leads to our maturing. So that we can better serve ourselves and others.
“Discretion will protect you,
and understanding will guard you.
Wisdom will save you from the ways of the wicked men,
from men whose words are perverse,
who have left the straight paths
to walk in dark ways,
who delight in doing wrong
and rejoice in the perverseness of evil,
whose paths are crooked
and who are devious in their ways.”
Proverbs 2:11-15 NIV
Our spiritual maturing leads to physical maturity. God gives us discretion and discernment. However, the best of all…
“For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.”
Deuteronomy 20:4 NIV
The Old Testament is written to give us hope and to learn the character of God (Pastor Dharius Daniels). God goes into battle with us. He gives us the strength to handle the battle and persevere; He also begins to wage war on our enemies, on our behalf.
“Wisdom will save you from the adulterous woman,
from the wayward woman with her adulterous words,
who has left the partner of her youth
and ignored the covenant she made before God.
Surely her house leads down to death
and her paths to the spirit of the dead.
None who go to her return
or attain the paths of life.”
Proverbs 2:16-19 NIV
This is mental maturity. This can be sexual sin and the harm it causes. This can also be any sin that trips us up and gets us off the path that God desires for us. How does He do it?
“All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of the flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive in Christ even when we were dead in our transgressions- it is by grace you have been saved.”
Ephesians 2:3-5 NIV
We come with our faith in Jesus (and still in sin) and God gives us salvation. He also starts to pour grace (unearned favor) and mercy (forgiveness of sin). We get this at the start of the relationship with God, because he uses it to strengthen us mentally. We begin to make different choices in the world as he changes our taste for the world.
God is able to do this for any person and for any sin. This is the difference in following rules of religion vs. living in the freedom of God. This is how we learn to not be a stumbling block for ourselves and others. This is available to every person if they choose it.
“Thus you will walk in the ways of the good
and keep to the paths of the righteous.”
Proverbs 2:20 NIV