This is a small group that was following the plan to read through the Bible one chapter at a time with Good Morning Girls. Good Morning Girls is on an indefinite break. But will we continue reading through the Bible.
Each Monday go to the Weekly Reading Plan or the Bible Study Thread for our current book to see the introductory post for the week and the weekly reading passages, discussion questions, and memory verse.
Be sure to come here each day to see what the members of the group are sharing. Try to participate in the discussion with a post at least once each week to share with us what God is teaching you. Posting on the forum helps motivate all of us to keep reading by seeing the others persevering and it provides additional insight and learning.
Each Friday we will attempt to share a Friday Devotional that addresses some of the topics we have read that week.
Please also take time to read the Group Overview post that provides some ideas on how to get the most out of your study here! You can find this post in the the "Bible Study" section of the board.
- TBG
- Administrator
Offline
Re: Proverbs
kennejb wrote:
Much of this chapter spoke to me but I SOAKed Proverbs 1:7, "The fear of The Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction." It was interesting because I spent a lot of time reading the footnotes in my study bible about what it means to fear the Lord. "To honor and respect, to live in awe of his power, to obey His word." Then,tonight at Bible School, a 4th grader looked at me and said, "What does it mean to fear The Lord?" I asked what he thought it meant and of course he thought we were supposed to be afraid of God. Thanks to the words God showed me in my Bible Study today, I was able to share with him that fearing The Lord meant recognizing that he was powerful in our lives and that we should respect his power, honor Him, and follow his guidance.
That is great kennejb. It says to be always ready to give an answer. And because of your faithfulness to be in the Word you were ready to share His truth with a child. And that is so important that the kid does not grow up with a wrong understanding of his relationship with God. That is a praise report that you were able to plant that seed in his heart.
- TBG
- Administrator
Offline
Re: Proverbs
Proverbs 2
Scripture 2:1-5
My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God.
Observation
Verse 2 in various translations says, incline heart, apply heart, concentrate heart, set your heart
Incline – have a preference or a tendency to do something; tend to in character; to be disposed towards something; from Strong’s concordance: to stretch out
So, the heart should have a preference to embrace understanding; it should stretch to grab it; it’s bent or leaning or habitual tendency should be towards understanding.
Treasure – treasure of store up; to retain carefully or keep in store
If we become attentive to listening for God’s wisdom, seek it, and cherish it as most valuable, then we will develop a fear and reverence for the Lord.
Application
I need to store carefully God’s commands in my mind and heart. The results of doing so will be that I will become the type of person that starts listening for and being attentive to His wisdom.
If I want to cultivate this fear or reverence for God and live a life of wisdom, I need to seek out His wisdom with understanding and discernment. I need to seek out God’s wisdom because it is a most costly treasure. If I lost an expensive engagement ring, I would seek for it night and day and not lay around watching TV or cruising the Internet. So, do I seek out God’s wisdom as a most costly treasure or do I do it begrudgingly or spend most of my time and energy on media?
So, the start of living an upright life and making wise choices is to carefully seek, meditate and cherish God’s commands; to hold them in our hearts and minds and to focus on what His words say in our circumstances throughout the day.
- •
Thread Starter- Theresnoplacelike Home
- Member
Offline
Re: Proverbs
“He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;
He guards the paths of justice,
And preserves the way of His saints."
Proverbs 2: 7
" God never promised us a rose garden but he did plant a seed in all of us”
Author unknown
We all will suffer trials in this life it was never meant to be a bed of roses. However, God does offer protection and deliverance. He directs are paths and guides us towards the knowledge we need in each season of our life when we seek Him with our whole heart.
This verse describes characteristics of a good person they are: Upright, just, and a saint.
I think my first steps are towards changing my attitude and then my actions to be under the protection of God.
God thank you for never giving up on me…and help me to fix my eyes on you…the author and finisher of my faith.
Theresnoplacelike Home
Last edited by Theresnoplacelike Home (6/16/2015 10:14 am)
- rloskoski
- New member
Offline
Re: Proverbs
Scripture: "He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk uprightly" Proverbs 2:7
Observation: The word "upright" is used twice in this verse. Upright behavior means to be honorable and/or honest. If we are honest and we are careful to do what pleases God, then God will give us wisdom
Application: I need to do the best I can to glorify God. I need to continue to grow and make sure I am doing the right things. I know God will continue to make me wiser.
- Michelle
- Member
Offline
Re: Proverbs
Scripture
if you seek it like silver
and search for it as for hidden treasures
the you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find teh knowledge of God (Proverbs 2:4-5)
Observation
The Lord is gracious to give us wisdon, but we must first seek it. And if we seek it diligently we will have a greaer understanding of God.
Application
I know that prayer time is important to seeking the Lord's wisdom and I struggle here. I need to get better about focusing my mind and spending time with God in prayer.
- Passionflower
- Member
Offline
Re: Proverbs
I really appreciate all the comments on this forum – they have really inspired me and made me think. Pamela’s comment about God calling out to us if only we could block out the background noise so we could hear Him really spoke to me. However, all this extra thinking has meant that I kind of fell behind with the study already! Not such a bad thing but to catch up I did Proverbs one and two in one go, during my break at work today. Here are my notes:
- God’s wisdom is delivered loud and clear in the pages of this book, however, the voices of those who would distract you from it are just as loud. God warns us here that making the wrong choices will lead to destruction and death yet following the right one will lead to the blessings of righteousness, justice and equity Proverbs 1:3, protection Proverbs 2:1-12 and life without fear Proverbs 1:33.
- It is one thing to know God’s principles but it is another to follow them. He tells us not to give in to evil men who entice us with their words (peer pressure) Proverbs 1:10-11, 2:12
QUESTION?
- How does God suggest we do this?
- In Proverbs 2:20 He says “and THUS you will walk in the ways of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous”. So what does the “THUS” refer to?
- Don’t even hang out with evil men and women Proverbs 1:15 (Practical advice -sometimes they are our work colleagues. OK, but we don’t have to join them at the bar)
- Be intentional in our thoughts Proverbs 1:22 (Practical advice – be aware of peer pressure - don’t just listen to whoever shouts the loudest -in the end, and more likely sooner than later, you’ll be glad you didn’t. ‘If you stand for nothing,you’ll fall for anything’. Know what your principles are and stick by them – INTENTIONALLY!)
- Accept God’s words Proverbs 2:1
- Store up his commands internally(in our hearts) Proverbs 2:1
- Listen to wisdom Proverbs 2:2
- Apply your heart to understanding Proverbs 2:2
- Call out for insight Proverbs 2:3
- Treasure understanding Proverbs 2:3-4
- Fear the Lord Proverbs 2:5
- Find the knowledge of God Proverbs 2:5
Right so I think that means I need to keep going. Keep reading. Seek understanding. Know what God's principles are so that at any moment I am ready to apply that knowledge in order to live wisely, in safety and without fear. Bring it on!
Last edited by Passionflower (6/16/2015 3:17 pm)
- Theresnoplacelike Home
- Member
Offline
Re: Proverbs
Scripture: "He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk uprightly" Proverbs 2:7
Observation: The word "upright" is used twice in this verse. Upright behavior means to be honorable and/or honest. If we are honest and we are careful to do what pleases God, then God will give us wisdom
Application: I need to do the best I can to glorify God. I need to continue to grow and make sure I am doing the right things. I know God will continue to make me wiser.
I love this. It helps me to be mindful of not just the scripture but application. Personally, I can be full of the knowledge of how to behavior but that doesn't mean that I always follow through with the correct behavior. I am definitely a work in progress still learning to walk upright!Theresnoplacelike Home
- Michelle
- Member
Offline
Re: Proverbs
Proverbs 3
Scripture
My son, do not lose sight of these -
keep sound wisdom and discretion,
and they will be life for your soul
and adornment for your neck 3:21-22
Observation
Discretion is defined as, "the quality of behaving or speaking in such a way as to avoid causing offense or revealing private information." It is holding one's tongue. A person who does not practice discrtion is rarely seen as having wisom.
Application
In my life, do I practice discretion? Or, do I sometimes let my tongue go a bit too freely?
- Theresnoplacelike Home
- Member
Offline
Re: Proverbs
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct[ your paths.”
(Proverbs 3:5-6)
We stumble of tack many times even going around and round in endless circles because we are following our own advice. When we hear the call of Christ we cannot stand aside; often what may seem crooked or illogical way to us is the straight way for God.
He will take us through the valley to have us abide on the mountain top. Gideon was a man that experienced this. When he was appointed by God to be a warrior to lead and defeat the Midianites his response was:
Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
This seems absurd in our eyes for God to choose the weakest clan but God’s sees beyond the natural and into the supernatural.
Then, God instructed Gideon to defeat the Midianites by decreasing the number of men in his army. First, he told Gideon to tell all the men that were afraid to go home. Then, he decreased the army a second time by the method at which then men drank from the water.
Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.”
“With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands.
( Judges 7)
Gideon was left with an army of only three hundred, and with this army that seemed as though the odds were stacked against them, they defeated the Midianites!
The bible tells us that If “God is for us who can be against us.” (Romans) When it seems impossible in our minds we must trust God and lean not on our own understanding.
Peter walked on water in his faith in God; he may have fallen, but he did walk out of that boat and into the water.
What water are you willing to step out into today? Although, the water does not have a foundation on which to stand. It may just be the safest place if God calls you out into the water…
[img]data:image/png;base64,R0lGODlhDwAPAKIHAP+goIoAAf9YWOoDA//X19nj797o9AAAACH5BAEAAAcALAAAAAAPAA8AAANCeLrcG/BFFoAQ4QQCQFYVQVwbR2qAyHXsNUCpyHbuG8qzMOww3uo81IoGfBlAudrncWkGHQHny8F8UkHT66KwZCQAADs=[/img] Angela
- rloskoski
- New member
Offline
Re: Proverbs
Scripture:
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths" Proverbs 3:5-6
Observation:
I love how this verse says "He shall direct your paths." These two verses are so relevant today. There are always things that pop up throughout the day that require trust in God. Sometimes we are faced with a situation where we have no clue what to do. Those are times when we just have to be still and let God work. He will take care of everything. The only thing we have to do is trust him.
Application:
This is a verse I try to use in my everyday life. There are times when I don't know how or when certain things are going to happen. There are times when stress comes up and I don't know exactly what to do. I have to be still and rest in God. I just have to remember that He always working and that he has his plans. His wisdom is perfect and he is directing my paths. It is a huge blessing to have God, who loves us so much, directing my paths.