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324 | Conversations - Lessons from Proverbs 3 · The Woman at the Well Ministries Podcast

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  Music.
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  Music.
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  In this episode of the Woman at the Well Ministries podcast,
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  join Kim Miller and Erika Close in a conversation as we walk with Jesus.
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  In today's conversation, we continue a series on the book of Proverbs,
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  and in today's podcast, we discuss the lessons learned in Proverbs chapter 3.
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  Well, hello, everyone. My name is Erika Close, and I am here with Kimberly Miller.
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  Hello, and thank you, each of you, for joining us today in this podcast.
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  We are so excited to go over Proverbs chapter 3, so I'm going to start reading,
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  and then about halfway through, Erica will finish up.
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  My son, forget not my law, but let thine heart keep my commandments.
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  For length of days and long life and peace shall they add to thee.
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  Let not mercy and truth forsake thee. Bind them about thy neck.
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  Write them upon the table of thine heart.
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  So shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
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  Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding.
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  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
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  Be not wise in thine own eyes. Fear the Lord, and depart from evil.
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  It shall be health to thine navel, and marrow to thy bones. Honor the Lord with
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  thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase.
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  So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with
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  new wine. My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, neither be weary of his correction.
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  For whom the Lord loveth, he correcteth, even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.
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  Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.
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  For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver,
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  and the gain thereof than fine gold.
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  She is more precious than rubies, and all the things that thou canst desire
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  are not to be compared unto her.
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  Length of days is in her right hand and her
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  left hand riches and honor her ways are
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  ways of pleasantness and all her paths are
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  peace she is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her and happy is everyone
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  that retaineth her the lord by wisdom hath founded the earth by understanding
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  hath he established the heavens by his knowledge and the depths are broken up
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  and the clouds drop down the dew.
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  My son, let not them depart from thine eyes. Keep sound wisdom and discretion.
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  So shall they be life unto thy soul and grace to thy neck.
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  Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.
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  When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid. Yea, thou shalt lie down,
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  and thy sleep shall be sweet.
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  Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked when it cometh.
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  For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.
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  Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.
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  Say not unto thy neighbor, Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give thee,
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  when thou hast it by thee.
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  Devise not evil against thy neighbor, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.
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  Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm.
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  Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways.
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  For the froward is abomination to the Lord, but his secret is with the righteous.
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  What a chapter. What a chapter. There's so many things in here.
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  There's so much. He's telling him many duties that he has. And it's around verse
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  13, he picks up about wisdom and how important that that is.
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  But I love the exhortation that he gives to them that says, forget not my law.
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  In verse 1, when he tells them to not forget the law, that they are to keep the commandments.
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  Have his heart keep it. Not his mind to recite them, but his heart to keep them.
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  Believe in them. let there be something that is important to you let it be a
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  conviction let it be a core value,
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  and then he says don't let mercy and
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  truth forsake thee but bind them about thy neck write them upon the table of
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  thine heart i love that for both of those like exhortations that he says to
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  forget and to write in verse two he says that for length of days and long life
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  and peace shall they add that when we do these things,
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  there's a return, right?
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  There's a return of length of days and long life and peace.
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  And then the second one that you read about writing them upon the table of thine
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  heart, you will therefore find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
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  And I think that we're always wanting to know what's in it for us.
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  And I'm telling you, you can't out give God. And when you know the word of God,
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  when you write it on your heart, you believe it, you know it,
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  you live it, you understand it.
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  It's what guides you. It's your boundaries.
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  Then you do have peace. And you have favor because you understand the joy that God has for you.
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  And 5, 6, and 7 are verses that I quote on a regular basis.
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  And remind myself all the time we
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  need to trust in the Lord with your whole heart and
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  that means you really believe that what he
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  says he will do and we know who he says he is
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  he is absolutely and we don't lean into our own understanding so easy it's to
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  lean on what we know and what we've seen and what we've experienced in this
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  earthly world but that isn't ever the whole story and he says that we are to
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  trust in him to direct our paths.
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  And that's what happens is we live a life where we have a choice.
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  Are we going to call the shots in our lives and lean on our own understanding?
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  Are we going to trust God completely and allow him to lead us in the way everlasting?
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  I love that in verse five, he says, you know, don't lean into your own understanding.
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  In verse six, it's all about acknowledging him. And then we have seven.
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  Don't be wise in thine own eyes. Right. It's in many ways, it's saying the same
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  thing sort of over and over and over again. Right. It's it's about him.
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  It's not about our understanding.
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  You know, it's not about what we know are in our own wisdom.
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  It's about who God is. And I love that. And part of that is verse six,
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  it says, in all thy ways, acknowledge him.
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  And then in nine, he says, honor the Lord with a substance with your firstfruits of your increase,
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  not what you have left over, not just when you've spent all of your energy and
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  your effort and your brainpower and all your money, then just give him whatever
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  little pieces are left over. No, he says, start with me.
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  And he says, when you do that, you'll have plenty. I think it's important to
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  notice here that we have this.
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  There's a number of places like we talked about in the beginning where we're given a...
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  The writer of Proverbs gives us a sort of a commandment, but then we get the
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  return. Like you talked about what's in it for us.
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  There's a promise that's coupled with so many of these pieces of wisdom.
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  It's never just do this, do this, do this.
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  It's do this because, do this because the Lord never leaves us with just a set of instructions.
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  He tells you why. He tells us why. And what's in it.
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  When I look a little bit further, this is the part that gets a little bit ouchy.
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  When he says, you know, don't despise the correction or the chastening of the Lord.
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  And don't be weary of his correction because that's his job.
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  He wants what is best for us. We don't have this set of laws and commandments
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  to be punitive or restrictive.
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  They're honestly there because this is the best life possible by following those that you can have.
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  And so he says the Lord loves you, so he corrects you.
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  You know, he doesn't want you to do the wrong thing, and he wants you to have
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  the abundant life he's promised you, so he keeps you in the lane.
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  Because it's about protection.
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  Right? All of those commandments are about protecting us from going off the
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  deep end or just doing the wrong thing.
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  And I think so many times people think that the commandments of God are punitive.
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  But when you really trust him and love him, you can fully see that they are really blessings.
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  Because they are the ways and the directions we need and the instructions to
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  live the best life possible.
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  I think it's important there that he notes that when the Father chastises us,
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  he compares it to the way a father does the same thing, but he doesn't talk
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  about the Father punishing the Son.
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  He says, even as a father, the Son in whom he delighteth.
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  He makes it clear that the relationship between the Father and the Son is one
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  of delight and of love, and that that's where where that chastisement,
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  that correction comes from.
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  It comes from a place of absolute love.
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  And then in verse 13, he switches the gears to wisdom.
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  And he says, happy is the man that finds wisdom and the man that get us understanding.
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  He's telling you, learn in this life. Because he tells you to learn of me, my yoke is easy.
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  Because what we gain from wisdom is better than anything else, right?
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  He said the merchandise, right? The return on wisdom is so much better than
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  the return on silver or the gain that we would get with gold.
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  Wisdom is so much more valuable than any of the most precious substances we have.
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  And he continues on to say more precious than rubies. and all the things that
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  you could desire are not to be compared to wisdom.
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  And you know, we spend a lot of our time trying to get, get,
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  get, get, but usually it's material things or wealth or money or something.
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  But what Proverbs 3 is telling us here is that we need to spend our time to
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  get wisdom and understanding, and then the other things will fall into place.
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  We'll get the length of days and we'll have riches and honor.
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  We're going to have the abundant life because we're not going to do something
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  stupid that kills us or loses our fortune.
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  We're not going to have to toil in useless, wasted motions and moments.
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  But if we have the wisdom and the understanding, and wisdom is the knowledge of God.
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  You know, wisdom is knowing how to use knowledge. knowledge,
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  but wisdom comes from the Lord.
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  And he's telling us that we need to get wisdom and we need to use wisdom and.
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  We need to keep wisdom and we need to seek wisdom because wisdom leads to pleasantness
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  and peace. There's that peace again.
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  And in verse 18, wisdom is referred to as the tree of life. Oh my.
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  Right. It's the, like, like it's the giver of all, like it's the giver of all
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  things, it's that from which true life emanates.
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  Wisdom, it's huge.
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  And happiness, again, comes, as you said, pleasantness and peace,
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  the tree of life and happiness is to everyone that retains wisdom.
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  Wisdom is something that is worth holding onto.
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  It says in verse 19 that the Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth.
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  By understanding hath He established the heavens. I think that's to speak to
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  the power of wisdom, right?
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  By the Lord's wisdom, He knew how to create this entire planet.
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  Why wouldn't we want to understand Him and to have that kind of wisdom? Amen.
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  It goes on in verse 20 that talks about, By His knowledge the depths were broken
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  up and the clouds dropped down the dew.
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  All of creation came about because of the wisdom of the Lord. Amen.
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  He used that wisdom. And I think it's amazing that he lets us know that we can
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  have that same wisdom. This is all in the same section.
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  The wisdom of God, the understanding of what to do with the knowledge that we
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  have of him, the wisdom of how we're supposed to operate in this world and how
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  we're supposed to treat others and respond to others. It's all the same wisdom.
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  And he tells him not to let it go away from his eyes. Look around and see the
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  wisdom and understanding of God.
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  Don't let it depart from you. See it and understand it and keep wisdom ever close to you.
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  So close to you that wisdom is life to you and grace to your neck, right?
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  He wants you to keep wisdom very close to you, like right around your neck.
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  And I love, he says in 23, when you have have done this, then you will walk
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  in the safe way and your foot shall not stumble because you'll be in the way of the Lord.
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  And the Lord says in John 14, 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
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  No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
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  When we have wisdom and understanding, we seek the Lord and we seek his understanding.
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  Then we're going to walk in the way that he wants us to walk.
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  And in verse 24, also, that when we have wisdom, we'll lie down and not be afraid.
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  We'll lie down and our sleep shall be sweet.
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  I'm certain that just about everyone
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  who's listening to this podcast understands the gift of sweet sleep.
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  He suddenly says, just be not afraid of sudden fear, the desolation of the wicked
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  when it comes, for the Lord shall be thy confidence and shall keep thy foot from being taken.
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  When you have wisdom and understanding and you're placing your trust that he
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  said in 5, 6, and 7 of the same chapter, and we're not being wise in our own
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  eyes, we are letting the Lord lead.
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  That is when we're going to have sweet sleep.
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  And we're going to have confidence in the Lord, and we're not going to feel afraid.
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  You know, in 27, I think the chapter switches gears again, and it starts to
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  talk about what we are supposed to do to others and how we're supposed to treat others.
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  And I think it's important to note that it's in this section on wisdom.
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  It may be kind of a change of gears here, but it's still about wisdom.
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  When we have wisdom, we treat others correctly. And when we have wisdom,
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  if you look back up in 16, he says length of days is in her right hand and in
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  her left hand is riches and honor.
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  So wisdom and understanding is going to help us have what we need because God supplies our needs.
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  And he also helps us help others because he gives us the strength to do the jobs he's asking.
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  So now he's pulling up and saying, look, this wisdom and this understanding
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  isn't just all about you.
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  If you have wisdom and understanding, you understand your place in relation
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  to others. and God puts us in community and God expects us to love one another as he loved us.
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  And wisdom and understanding is what allows us to be able to do that.
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  I love how in verse 27, it says, withhold not good from them to whom it is due
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  when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.
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  That lets us know that if we know of something good we can do for someone and
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  we have the power to do it, we need to do it.
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  And 28 says, even if it's not convenient, don't tell him to come back tomorrow, but do it now.
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  Exactly. When we know to do good, we need to do good.
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  And you know, the Bible says that to him that knows to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
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  There's a time factor to that. When we know to do the right thing,
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  we need to do the right thing.
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  It's time to do the right thing. It's always time to do the right thing.
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  And he tells us then in 29 not to devise evil against anyone because they're beside you.
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  Now, think of the understanding and the wisdom of that.
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  Don't get your neighbor mad at you because then you've got an enemy right beside
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  you that you're seeing all the time. We should not be getting anyone mad at us.
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  But he's saying the one that's dwelling beside of you, don't cause a ruckus
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  with him because you're never going to have peace in your own home.
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  And I think that harkens back to what you said about the importance of community,
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  right? We are called to live in community.
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  We are blessed so that we might bless others, right?
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  It's about being in communion with those around us that we are in a position
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  where we can share the gospel with them, right?
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  If we're devising evil against our neighbor, that neighbor is never going to
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  listen to us about Jesus. Jesus in 30, it says, you know, don't strive with
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  a man without cause if he hasn't done anything to you, right?
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  Don't be upset with someone when he hasn't done anything. That doesn't make
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  any sense, right? There's no wisdom there.
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  And then he gives the kicker in verse 30.
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  I'm sorry, in verse 31, where he says, envy thou not the oppressor and choose none of his ways.
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  All of us have fallen victim to saying that person has never done a thing right in their life.
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  When you think of Jonah, you know, he gets so, he didn't want the Midianites
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  to have any good because they just said they were so mean and so evil.
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  How could they suddenly in the last moments turn out to be good?
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  And God blessed him. And God really had to work with Jonah and explain to him
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  that that's not the right kind of love.
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  But he's saying, don't want what the enemy has.
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  Don't want the things of this world. Don't want the fleshly desires.
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  Don't get bogged down by thinking, how can this person who's so mean,
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  evil, or whatever be blessed?
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  God says, don't worry about that. And don't do what he says.
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  In verse 32, he says, for the froward, I had to look up froward,
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  but froward is an old English word.
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  It really just means for the disobedient, right? So for the disobedience is
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  an abomination to the Lord, but his secret, that is the Lord's secret, is with the righteous.
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  When you know a good secret, like a surprise secret, it's a wonderful thing, right?
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  I want to know the Lord's secrets.
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  I want to be close enough to the Lord that he tells me his secrets.
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  And I believe that even though he's no respecter of persons and he loves all
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  of us the same, we all don't love him the same.
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  And those who love him with their whole heart, being, soul, mind,
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  and are devoted to allowing him to lead their life, he tells,
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  they know things other people don't know.
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  Because they've taken the time to hear and listen.
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  And in verse 33, there's another one of these, you know, couplets here.
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  The curse of the Lord is in the
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  house of the wicked, but he blesseth the habitation of the just, right?
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  I want to know the Lord's secrets.
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  I want the Lord to bless my habitation, to bless the place that I live.
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  It says in verse 34, he scorneth the scorners, right? I don't want to be a scorner.
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  I don't want to be scorning others.
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  I don't want to throw scorn. I don't know if that's something you can do,
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  but I don't want to throw scorn on others.
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  Right? Because the antithesis of that is at the end of 34, but he giveth grace unto the lowly.
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  And I think the lowly could be interpreted as the humble. The humble. I want that.
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  The ones who have submitted themselves to the Lord and allowed the Lord to lead
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  them and guide them and direct them. whose trust is wholly and solely in him,
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  who are seeking wisdom and understanding that comes from the Lord.
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  And then he says, the wise shall inherit glory, the shame shall be the promotion of fools.
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  So those who do not seek the Lord and do not follow his ways are referred to
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  as a fool in this Proverbs chapter 3, and they just get more and more foolish. That's that promotion.
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  They just get more and more of it. But those who seek after wisdom and understanding,
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  those that keep the law and put it in their heart and write it upon the table of their heart,
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  mercy and truth, the truth of Jesus Christ, and they bond themselves by that,
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  by letting the word of God be their boundary.
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  Those are the people who will inherit glory.
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  I love that there are so many things in this chapter that talk about gaining
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  wisdom, seeking wisdom, finding after wisdom, going after wisdom.
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  But then at 35, it says, but the wise shall inherit glory.
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  We can be wise and we can be wise when we know him. And we are to be wise.
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  Well, I have enjoyed our time in Proverbs chapter three.
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  I hope it has inspired you and motivated you to read through Proverbs and begin
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  to look at what the Lord says to you, but we ask that you would just remember us in your prayers.
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  And if you would like for us to pray for you, you can always go to our app and
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  write in our little prayer section there the prayer requests that you have,
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  and we will certainly be praying for you.
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  And anyone else who is looking at that app will be praying for that as well.
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  But we ask that you would just take a moment to thank the Lord for the goodness
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  that he has given to each and every one of us. and until we hear you again,
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  may God keep you and bless you.
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  Remember you are loved. Jesus loves you.
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  Music.
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  Music.