Proverbs 23:18

For if you keep these words, you shall have offspring,
And your hope will not depart from you.

Personal Challenge

So, does this mean that if I keep the words of the Proverbs, the wisdom book, that I will have children? Not necessarily. God’s wisdom is given to us so that we can grow in the image of His Son. Our hope that comes from God can be one of the offspring in our lives that comes from keeping His word! Glory be to God!

Ephesians 4:1-3

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Personal Challenge

We are called to be actively walking worthy of our calling if we desire to be followers of Christ. This means that we live our lives with lowliness humility and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, and endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. This is a far cry from what we are seeing in the media today with regards to people proclaiming to be Christians. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have money! Lord, have mercy!

Proverbs 22:17-19 (22:20-22)

Incline your ear to the words of the wise and hear my word,
And establish your heart, that you may know they are good.
And if you apply them to your heart,
They will gladden you and at the same time be upon your lips;
That your hope might be in the Lord,
And His way might be known to you.

Command With a Promise

We are given here various things to do in our life following Christ that will result in clear consequences. We are to incline our ears to the words of the wise, hear his words, and establish them in our hearts, knowing that they are good. The results will be that they will gladden us and they, the words, will become our words as well. Our hope will be in the Lord and His way will be made known to us. Glory be to God!

Ephesians 3:14-19

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Encouraging Words

In the final days of Jesus, He prayed for unity in His Church. Here we have Paol bowing to his knees and petitioning God on our behalf again. He is asking that God will grant, according to His riches, that we might be strengthened in our work for Him, that Jesus Christ will dwell within our hearts, that we will be rooted and grounded in love, and comprehending how much God loves us. Finally, he asks that we might be filled with the fullness of God. What a wonderful petition. Glory be to God!

Proverbs 21:21 (21:20)

The way of righteousness and mercy shall find life and glory.

Personal Challenge

I believe we all desire to have full lives with some glory sprinkled in there every once in a while. We find here in this Proverb a recipe for that. Live righteous and merciful lives and we shall find life and glory. It also works out that if we are living this way, we will not take advantage of the life and glory that we receive, but we will share it with those in our lives. Glory be to God!

Ephesians 2:19-22

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Encouraging Words

It is quite amazing, when you think about it, that because of who Jesus is, and what He has done, that those of us who follow Him, are fellow citizens with saints and members of the household of God. We are no longer strangers and foreigners in His kingdom. This also means that we are now foreigners in this earthly kingdom that we dwell in today. We are His ambassadors and as such must be demonstrating to those around us what the kingdom of God is and why everyone should become citizens there. If we are looking and acting more like citizens of earth (and the United Sates) than we are citizens of heaven, then we are serving the wrong master. Glory be to God!

Proverbs 21:3

To do righteous things and to speak the truth
Are more pleasing before God than the blood of sacrifices.

Personal Challenge

What have we done to our culture and our world? As followers of Christ, for over 2,000 years we have a history of changing the world. It started with one, Jesus, who took 12 men and totally turned the world upside down. We have a long history of men and women who have given their all, including their lives, to change the world by doing righteous things and speaking the truth. How is it that we, so many who claim to be the followers of Christ, have helped create a culture that thrives on lies and falsehoods? How can we claim to be followers of Christ and also engage in things that He would never approve of. All of our sacrifices of going to services and giving to our churches are for naught if we are not doing righteous things and speaking the truth. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Ephesians 2:8-10

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Personal Challenge

As followers of Christ, we must always remember that it is by God’s gift of grace that we are saved from death and separation from God throughout eternity. There is no work that we can do, no matter how good or noble, that can earn this for us. There is no amount of knowledge that we can acquire, no matter how godly it appears, that can do this for us. We can only boast in Jesus Christ, who He is, and what He has done to make this gift possible. Glory be to God and God alone!