Proverbs (2013)

What do you fear most? Tornadoes? Hurricanes? Losing your job? Cancer? The death of a loved one, or even your own death? Proverbs tells us one thing we should really be fearing. Listen to this lesson to understand the true meaning of the "fear of the Lord" and the many blessings and benefits that follow. Discover how being oriented to the authority of God is the glue that holds everything together. See the importance of governments having leaders who fear the Lord.

Want to save yourself a lot of trouble? Then listen to this lesson in Proverbs to learn how to wise up. You won't find the answer on TV or in college classrooms or from a mystical spiritual guru. Instead discover how studying God's written word, the Bible, shows us the solution to all of life's problems. See how God makes His plan clear so no one has an excuse to say they didn't know what to do. Find out the only two choices available: one leading to happiness and success and the other to foolish and senseless blunders.

Are you just snoozing your way through life? Not actually sleeping, but are you clueless about what really matters? Listen to this lesson to learn how to steer clear of three traps you set for yourself that lead to misery. See how watching ants can teach us diligence and find out the caution against taking responsibility for another's debts. Observe the seven characteristics of troublemakers that God hates.

Run! Get away and out of here as fast as you can! This is the advice Proverbs gives when we're tempted to have sex outside of marriage. Listen to this lesson to learn the difference between Joseph's notable showdown with adultery and David's foolish, sinful downfall. Find out three categories of devastating end results to sexual sins and see how God's corrective prescription leads to genuine sexual fulfillment in marriage.

This lesson also includes Proverbs 7:1-27.

Decisions! Decisions! Decisions! How many decisions do we make in just one day? Added all together these make up the texture of our lives. This lesson in Proverbs tells us that we need to have a focus of listening, studying, learning, and obeying God's Word to shape our decisions. Listen and learn how having the right priorities lends a richness to everything we do that nothing else can. Find out the thirteen actions we can apply that include our tongues and our eyes.

Warning! Danger Ahead! Signs like this alert us to looming disasters. Fathers are told in Proverbs to teach children what will keep them out of blind alleys and detours. With the wrong mental attitudes they can be run over by the things that happen but by choosing to follow the wisdom in God's Word they are able to stand up and walk through life's storms with their heads held high. Listen to this lesson to learn the difference between a proverb and a promise. Accept the challenge of not growing weary and giving up but keeping on traveling the path that shines ever brighter to the end.

Does it take a village to raise a child? This misguided notion insists that training children must be a joint effort of schools, families, and government organizations. Proverbs 4 places the teaching of good judgment and clear thinking solely on the shoulders of parents. Listen to this lesson to learn the role of the father in the generational transfer of wisdom and how fathers should develop a plan to instruct their children from infancy to adulthood. Learn what wrong thinking lies beneath the beliefs of Plato, Rousseau, and others who hold that children belong to the community. See how wisdom is not always a matter of right or wrong and common sense is not so common.

Doomsday scenarios can strike terror in hearts in the middle of the night. Stock market crashes. Attacks on our country. Personal problems. Proverbs teaches us that when we focus on the Word of God we can sleep without fear. Just as God used His infinite wisdom to create the world, He offers wisdom to those who make learning and applying His Word a priority. He promises protection and the security that our steps are ordered by Him. Listen to this lesson to learn how creation is the foundation to everything else in the Bible. See how we are to treat those who ask for help with generosity and why we shouldn't envy the wicked when they prosper.

"Bless you." "Have a blessed day." Are these just airy greetings with little meaning? When we think of blessing and its synonym, happiness, we think of money in the bank, a big salary, vitality, and brilliant relationships. Proverbs tells us that God is offering us wisdom, which is worth more than all of these things and leads to true happiness. Nothing we wish for can hold a candle to wisdom. When we attain wisdom, we are promised enduring joy, long life, and recognition. The book of Proverbs explains the conditions God has attached to gaining His wisdom. Listen to this message to learn nine ways to help develop wisdom in your life and the ability to enjoy the exciting blessings that come with it.

This passage is organized into a verse with a command followed by a verse with consequences, and ends in two verses regarding correction. There are a number of irresistible consequences for obedience to God’s commands. You would think no one could consider turning away from such a positive, rewarding course resulting in a life with wisdom, guidance from God, lack of fear, direction over our finances and protection leading to abundant living. The reality of disobedience is God’s experience with man, so in the end He encourages us even when correction becomes the exercise of His love for us. God’s correction assures us that abandonment of His own is not a part of God’s nature, and because of that, we are blessed even in His chastening.