Good evening y’all. Today we are studying proverbs chapter 3.

Be blessed 🙂

Verses 1 – 2

“My child, never forget the things I have taught you.
    Store my commands in your heart.
If you do this, you will live many years,
    and your life will be satisfying”. (NLT)

God is reminding us to never forget His word and make sure we keep it in our hearts. Our hearts is the seat of judgement or decision. If we have God’s word stored up in our heart, we will make wise decisions which will help us live a long satisfied life.

This reminds me of Joshua 1:8…..
“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success”.(NKJV)

Verse 3 – 4

“Never let loyalty and kindness leave you!
    Tie them around your neck as a reminder.
    Write them deep within your heart.
  Then you will find favor with both God and people,
    and you will earn a good reputation”. (NLT)

Who wants favour with God and man and a good reputation? The secret to it is found in these verses. When we make being loyal and being kind to people our ambition in life; what we strive for everyday, then we will find favour with God and man and earn a good reputation.

Verses 5- 8

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
    do not depend on your own understanding.
  Seek his will in all you do,
    and he will show you which path to take.
   Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom.
    Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
  Then you will have healing for your body
    and strength for your bones”.(NLT)

I have to admit these are my favourite verses in this chapter. I’m sure most of us know these verses off by heart but my question is: how many of us apply these verses to our lives on a daily basis? Do we run to God first or is He the last option when all has failed? We are clearly being instructed here to trust God wholly with all our being and seek his counsel for every area of our lives. God knows us better than ourselves. He created us and He is the Almighty. He knows everything and sees everything. He even knows how a situation will end from the beginning! That’s why He is called the Alpha and Omega; The Beginning and The End.  He is Omnipresent – Everything Everywhere. With all of these attributes common sense tells us God is the best person to go to for direction or guidance 🙂

Never ever think you know better than God…that’s just pride in all of its glorification!!!. It won’t get you anywhere. Instead we are told to fear God and run from evil. When we do these we would enjoy good health.

I love the message version of these verses…enjoy it 🙂

“Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
    don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
    he’s the one who will keep you on track.
Don’t assume that you know it all.
    Run to God! Run from evil!
Your body will glow with health,
    your very bones will vibrate with life!” (MSG)

Verses 9 – 10

“Honor the Lord with your wealth
    and with the best part of everything you produce.
Then he will fill your barns with grain,
    and your vats will overflow with good wine”. (NLT)

Honor God with the best of all we have including our wealth. There is a promise here that when we give God the best of all we have including our wealth, He will in return bless us till we overflow. Don’t forget all we have belongs to God anyway. Don’t think there is anything we can pay Him back even in cash that can match the price He paid for us.

Verses 11-12

“My child, don’t reject the Lord’s discipline,
    and don’t be upset when he corrects you.
 For the Lord corrects those he loves,
    just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights”.(NLT)

God disciplines those He loves. No earthly father will sit back while their kid goes astray and not say anything. How much more our heavenly Father.  Everything He does is for our benefit cos He loves us dearly. So let’s submit to His discipline. In my personal life, I’ve learnt that even in discipline God still shows mercy and always supplies the grace to go through the discipline. That’s how loving God is 🙂

Verses 13-18

“You’re blessed when you meet Lady Wisdom,
    when you make friends with Madame Insight.
She’s worth far more than money in the bank;
    her friendship is better than a big salary.
Her value exceeds all the trappings of wealth;
    nothing you could wish for holds a candle to her.
With one hand she gives long life,
    with the other she confers recognition.
Her manner is beautiful,
    her life wonderfully complete.
She’s the very Tree of Life to those who embrace her.
    Hold her tight—and be blessed!” (MSG)

Wisdom is far more precious than gold or silver.  Our ultimate goal should be to have wisdom in our life; as a friend and companion.

Verses 27- 32

“Never walk away from someone who deserves help;
    your hand is God’s hand for that person.
Don’t tell your neighbor “Maybe some other time”
    or “Try me tomorrow”
    when the money’s right there in your pocket.
Don’t figure ways of taking advantage of your neighbor
    when he’s sitting there trusting and unsuspecting.
Don’t walk around with a chip on your shoulder,
    always spoiling for a fight.
Don’t try to be like those who shoulder their way through life.
    Why be a bully?
“Why not?” you say. Because God can’t stand twisted souls.
    It’s the straightforward who get his respect”. (MSG)

These verses speak for themselves….God can’t stand twisted soul (that’s deep !!!!)

Prayer
Dear Lord, thank You for today. Pls help us trust You with all our heart; and to not depend on our own understanding. Help us seek Your will in all we do. Thank You Lord. In Jesus Name we prayed . Amen.

Thanks for joining today. Pls feel free to share your thoughts on the chapter

Have a blessed evening 🙂

I’m blogging through the book of proverbs with Good morning girls. Check us out at www.goodmorninggirls.org

***With God all things are possible***