Proverbs 9:12

If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; but if you scoff, you alone will bear it.

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Ever noticed how much of your actual life happens behind your face? Your real decisions don’t start with your mouth… They start with that voice inside your head–the voice no one else hears.

It’s like that moment in The Wizard of Oz when the curtain gets pulled back, and the booming voice yells: “Pay no attention to that little man behind the curtain!”

Bruh…Sis…come on! That’s us. We out here polishing our image, projecting confidence, posting highlight reels— while the one behind the curtain is working overtime trying to make us look all ‘great and mighty’. And Proverbs 9:12 speaks right to that backstage reality:

“If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; If you scoff, you will bear it alone.”

Translation: Your self-talk is steering your future. And nobody rides in your mind but you.

A STORY TOLD ABOUT ‘SELF-TALK’

In the famous story of the Prodigal Son–Jesus didn’t just tell a story about two brothers— He told a story about inner dialogue.

Let’s break it down from Luke 15:12–13

1️⃣ “The younger Son SAID it to himself…”

Before the prodigal son packed bags, hit the road, or broke hearts… he held a conversation within himself. He told himself: “I’d be better off without my father’s boundaries.” And that private thought became a public disaster.

2️⃣ What about The Father’s Self-Talk

After the son’s rebellion, the father rehearsed mercy. Every day he told himself, “Today could be the day he comes back. I’m still looking. I’m still hoping.” His actions revealed the meditations of his heart.

3️⃣ Then there’s the Older Brother’s Self-Talk

He says within himself: “I’ve served, I’ve obeyed… and I got nothing.” Comparison poisoned his inner world long before his words ever came out.

4️⃣ And Then the Turning Point — When “He came to himself.” (vs.17)

This is the linchpin of the entire story. Not when the famine came. Not when he hit rock bottom. Not when the money ran dry.

Redemption began when he had a conversation within himself: “I will arise and go to my father.”

The whole story pivots on self-talk— from disaster to redemption, from distance to return.

See the pattern?

✦ His downfall began with the wrong inner voice. ✦ His restoration began with the right one.

That’s Proverbs 9:12 playing out in real time:

If you’re wise—you benefit first. If you’re foolish—you pay first.

So Do Yourself a Favor

Look at this: The very fact you told yourself, “Let me listen to some wisdom today,” is one of the ways you’re already doing yourself a favor.

Your spirit is feeding right now. Your inner world is strengthening. And that’s going to spill outward into decisions, habits, and healing.

When you are wise— you are the first person to feel the blessing. When you are foolish— you are the first person to feel the burn.

So today, talk to yourself like someone worth saving. Worth loving. Worth guiding. Worth redeeming.

Because you are.

🔥 Remember

You’re the only person who hears your inner voice… but everyone you love will live in the impact of what it decides..

Prayer

Lord, reshape my self-talk; guide it toward honoring You.

Today’s Challenge

Notice one moment of self-talk today. Write it down. Naming it is how you take its power back. Then ask: “Is this voice leading me home… or leading me away?”

Choose the voice that blesses your future self.

About the Author

Fred Lynch is a creative communicator, author, and Christian Hip Hop pioneer. To learn more about Fred and what he’s up to now…click here or you can find him in all the socials by searching the handle: heyfredlynch

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Proverbs 8:14

I am both Insight and the Virtue to live it out.

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Would you rather…

Have the most brilliant idea you’ve ever imagined— a vision so good it could change your life…

OR…

Have the personal strength, discipline, and follow-through to actually build that idea?

If you’re like me, you choose the dream. I dream up new ideas all the time! I’m in my 50s and JUST learning not to chase every whim and wonder that drifts past my imagination.

But wisdom says the real treasure isn’t just dreaming… it’s developing the muscle to make the dream real. Ideas feel exciting. Execution feels exhausting. Insight is free. Virtue costs you something—and that’s why it carries value.

In Proverbs 8:14, Lady Wisdom says: “I don’t just give you ideas… I give you the character to make them real.”

Insight is imagination. Virtue is execution. Most dreams die somewhere between the spark in your mind and the work in your hands. Insight starts the vision. Virtue builds it.

🔥 The Flavor Fest Balcony Story

Last month at the Flavor Fest music festival in Tampa, Tommy Kyllonen—Urban D—took me up to a newly built balcony at his church.

We’re standing up there looking out at everyone and seeing everything, enjoying the music, and he turns to me, and he taps his head and says:

“The idea of this balcony was ‘up in here’ for decades…I tried and tried to convince everyone we could build it…make it just like this–and people resisted it for years… and now we’re finally standing on it.”

When he said it…and the look on his face…It hit me so strong. Because that balcony—steel, wood, concrete—was once just a thought, a sketch, a whisper of imagination.

But here’s the part most people don’t see:

I’ve known Tommy, almost 25 years. This brother has always been fueled by ideas.

I remember 15 years ago—he told me he’d walk through malls and see those bright kiosk stations.

And he said:

“Churches should be learning from this.”

I came back the next year… Boom. Kiosk in the church lobby.

He tries things. He risks things. He experiments, fails, learns, adjusts. Half of what he imagines looks “too far out” until suddenly… it’s the new normal.

So when we stood on that balcony, it wasn’t just concrete beneath our feet— it was decades of imagination + decades of virtue finally shaking hands.

That’s what Lady Wisdom does. She becomes the bridge between the idea in your head and the “one day” you finally get to stand right in your dream.

THE ENCOURAGEMENT

Everybody has insight. Everybody has balcony dreams.

But virtue—discipline, consistency, courage, grit— that’s what turns imagination into architecture.

Wisdom doesn’t just inspire you. She strengthens you, steadies you, and stretches you until you can say:

“What used to live in my mind now has the strength to hold me—and hold others.”

🔥 Remember

Dreams don’t come true because you imagine them. Dreams come true because you become the person who can build them.

Prayer

Lord, give me the insight and the virtue for this.

Today’s Challenge

Write down one idea you’ve carried for years. Then write down one action you can take this week that moves that idea out of your head and into motion.

About the Author

Fred Lynch is a creative communicator, author, and Christian Hip Hop pioneer. To learn more about Fred and what he’s up to now…click here or you can find him in all the socials by searching the handle: heyfredlynch

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Proverbs 7:21

He was swayed by her sophistication, enticed by her longing embrace. She led him down the wayward path right into sin and disgrace.

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So let’s talk about this verse. Some scriptures are so poetic. This one? This one hits like fiery bars.

“He was swayed by her sophistication, enticed by her embrace, led down a wayward path right into sin and disgrace…”

If you close your eyes, you can see this like a scene in a film. Because we’ve all watched someone—maybe even ourselves— get caught up in a slick sophisticated, game of love ending up in a broken heart.

BREAKDOWN — Let’s Talk About Sophistication

That word sophistication grabbed me. Because buried inside that word is Sophia—which is the Greek word for wisdom.

But here’s the twist: Sophistication doesn’t always mean spiritually wise. It can mean what the Bible calls carnal wisdom—wisdom dressed up, wisdom accessorized, wisdom that’s more ‘slick…than sacred.’

I remember learning this in high school. When I became a sophomore, a teacher told us:

“Being a sophomore means you’re wise-foolish. Just smart enough to be dangerous… mostly to yourself.”

Man, that checked me so hard. I thought I had leveled up from freshman life— nope. I was just on level “barely wise.”

And that’s exactly what’s happening in this verse. A young man with sophomore-level wisdom— just enough knowledge to be proud, not enough discernment to be protected.

NEGATIVE SOPHISTICATION

The woman in the story isn’t evil because she’s a woman— that’s ancient patriarchy leaking through the narrator.

The real issue is weaponized sophistication: Game. Manipulation. Charm designed for conquest, not connection.

Modern revelation makes it clear: Anyone can run game. Men. Women. People in power. People with pretty words.

Sophistication isn’t the sin. Intent is.

If your sophistication is crafted to hide your motives, to seduce someone into foolishness, to get what you want without honoring who they are— that’s not wisdom. That’s strategic immaturity. That’s foolery with a glossy finish.

And the verse shows the outcome: the “wayward path,” the “sin and disgrace,” the fall that always follows the flirtation with deception.

THE TURN — The Right Kind of Sophistication

There’s nothing wrong with being sharp. There’s nothing wrong with leveling up. There’s nothing wrong with cultivating excellence.

But sophistication without character is elevation without foundation.

The goal isn’t to be slick— the goal is to be solid.

Spiritually elevated, emotionally grounded, relationally honest, and morally aligned.

That’s the kind of sophistication that builds lives instead of breaking them.

💥 Remember

Slick might get your attention. But ‘Sacred’ will keep you in God’s grace.

Prayer

Lord, refine my motives so my sophistication reflects Your wisdom.

Today’s Challenge

Identify one place you’ve been trying to impress instead of align. Shift it today. Choose character over charisma. Choose elevation over manipulation.

About the Author

Fred Lynch is a creative communicator, author, and Christian Hip Hop pioneer. To learn more about Fred and what he’s up to now…click here or you can find him in all the socials by searching the handle: heyfredlynch

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Proverbs 6:13

signaling their deceit with a wink of the eye, a nudge of the foot, or the wiggle of fingers.

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In The Matrix Reloaded, there’s that famous moment where Neo meets the Architect, and before Neo even forms the decision in his mind, the Architect sees and says:“Already I can see the chain reaction—the chemical precursors that signal the onset of an emotion designed to overwhelm logic and reason…”

And basically he’s saying, “Your choice is already known. Your body language gives you away.”

That’s wild… because thousands of years earlier, Proverbs 6:13 said the same thing:

A liar leaks the truth through their body. A wink of the eye. A foot twitch. A finger flick.

The Bible is saying: People signal deceit without even knowing they’re signaling it.

🗣️REAL TALK: “Tells” Are Real

Psychology confirms it: Your body has tells.

You know, tells — the tiny, involuntary reactions that poker players study to read the truth hiding behind a bluff.When we lie, blood rushes to our nose.When we are embarrassed, blood moves to our ears.When we’re falling in love, the chest warms.

Truth flows freely.A lie has to fight its way out.

And every time you lie, the first person you betray… is yourself.

You have to override your own nature to do it.

We were formed from the earth— from something honest, simple, grounded. And to lie is to rebel against the earthiness God made us from.

That’s why deceit always leaks. The body confesses what the mouth refuses to say.

💡THE BIG IDEA

Before you deceive someone else, you have to disconnect from your own soul.

You have to split yourself. Silence your conscience. Override your own inner nature.

Lies don’t just break trust— they break alignment.

And Proverbs is warning us:

“Don’t become the kind of person who gets ‘told on’ by their own tells.”

👉🏽 I’m Telling You

The beautiful truth? Awareness is a muscle.

If you choose truth— truth with yourself, truth with God, truth with people— your inner world and outer world come back into alignment.

The more honest your life becomes, the fewer pieces of you leak out sideways.

You become whole again. Integrated. At ease. Your “yes” means yes. Your “no” means no. Your body and your soul finally tell the same story.

💥 Remember

A lie fractures you.

But the truth puts you back together again.

Prayer

Lord, quiet my reflex to perform—help me stay present.

Today’s Challenge

Before you explain yourself today, pause. Hand over mouth. Tap your fingers. Feel the space between reaction and reflection.

You don’t always have to make it rhyme or right. Just real. Because sometimes the most honest prayer…is the sound of your silence.

About the Author

Fred Lynch is a creative communicator, author, and Christian Hip Hop pioneer. To learn more about Fred and what he’s up to now…click here or you can find him in all the socials by searching the handle: heyfredlynch

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Proverbs 5:18

May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.

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What a verse! Straight up—when I was a teenager, I read Proverbs 5:18–19, especially verse 19…

“Let her breasts satisfy you at all times!”

And I was like: “Lord! I have no problem obeying this command!”

In fact, Lord… “Can I put this scripture on a poster above my bed when I get married? I just want to be faithful, Lord!”

But with time, I learned: Yes, this text and many others speak uncandidlyabout physical love…yes…SEX!

And we’ll get to that—but physical love is just the doorway to something deeper: covenant, joy, companionship, history, and blessing.

So this episode here… is dedicated to the one I love—my wife, D’Ann—because her birthday is tomorrow. And I just gotta talk about her.

Our Story — The Altar Moment

I’ll never forget the first time we met. We were in church. She was at the altar praying, crying—having her moment with God.

And with all the 19-year-old smoothness I could muster, I walked up, dropped my voice to a Barry-White-level tone and said:

“Praise the Lord.”

She looked up—eyes red, nose running— and said, “Oh… hi,” then immediately turned back to praying.

Now I thought, “Dang… she kicked me to the curb in church.”

But later she told me: “Boy, I thought you were cute, but I was crying, my hair was a mess, and the Holy Ghost was dealing with me. I needed at least 30 seconds to get myself together.”

And that’s how it began— awkward, funny, real, and full of God’s fingerprints.

Scripture Breakdown — The Blessed Fountain

Now… that phrase “let your fountain be blessed” in Hebrew poetry?

Yes—the whole idea of a ‘fountain’ in this context with its ‘fount-ness’ is an explicit sexual metaphor. Ancient readers wouldn’t have missed it…they knew what he was talking about! In fact, Commentators confirm it: This is a literal prayer for a vibrant, joyful, faithful life giving intimate sex-life with one’s life partner. Did you get that part? Spouse…Life-Partner.

A shared joy. An endless love. A union that overflows.

But the fountain is also symbolic of the whole life that flows from a covenant bond where you discover:

* Emotional safety

* Shared purpose

* History built through seasons

* Joy you don’t have to manufacture

* Love that grows up, not just grows old

God is saying: May everything that flows from this relationship be blessed. May your union be a source of joy, vitality, renewal, and life.

Sure it’s about pleasure— but it’s also about partnership. The sacred gift of choosing and being chosen by someone for life.

The Deeper Meaning

At its core, Proverbs 5:18 is an invitation to:

Look at them the way you did at first. To smile at memories. To honor what God is building between you. To treat your relationship not as ordinary, run of the mill… “garden variety love”—Naw…it’s a blessed fountain you get to drink from and pour into.

And for those listening who aren’t boo’d up—(that means you don’t have a partner) this verse is still for you:

Rejoice in the love God has already placed in you— the love you carry, the love you give, the love you are slowly becoming. Nurture that inner well. Because healthy outward love grows from a holistic inner love.

Love doesn’t begin with another person. Love begins with a soul at peace with itself.

Here’s The Point

Attend to love. Because a tended love—romantic or personal— becomes a blessed fountain that never runs dry.

Prayer

Teach me to cherish, honor, and rejoice in real love.

Today’s Challenge

Take five minutes and remember the first moment you knew— really knew— that love had chosen you…for life!

Let gratitude rise. Then tell that person (or tell yourself):

“This smile in my heart… is dedicated to you.”

About the Author

Fred Lynch is a creative communicator, author, and Christian Hip Hop pioneer. To learn more about Fred and what he’s up to now…click here or you can find him in all the socials by searching the handle: heyfredlynch

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Proverbs 4:16

For evil people can’t sleep until they’ve done their evil deed for the day. They can’t rest until they’ve caused someone to stumble.

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Let me say this right off top: This one’s heavy. Real people. Real harm. Real stakes. But sometimes Wisdom steps in because the moment is heavy.

🌀 When Sleep Won’t Come

Have you ever noticed that some people aren’t satisfied until they see someone else suffer? Not inconvenienced… not disagreed with… But hurt…permanent damage.

That’s what this Proverb is describing:

“For evil people can’t sleep until they’ve done their evil deed for the day. They can’t rest until they’ve caused someone to stumble.”

Not cartoon villains. Not movie monsters. But people so driven, so consumed, so unsettled internally that they can’t rest until they’ve created unrest externally.

And sometimes, those people aren’t strangers. Sometimes… they’re in charge.

🧨 Scene — The Headlines Don’t Lie

Look at the investigations unfolding right now — the targeted boat attacks in the Caribbean, the extremist chatter online, people stoking chaos with political or religious justification.

History teaches us this pattern:

When evil can’t sleep, it goes out looking for someone to keep awake with it. Someone to stumble. Someone to fall.

And that’s where this Proverb stops being theoretical for me.

💔 Conflict — My Father’s Stumble

Just days ago, I was talking with a very close conservative friend who was furious at who he called “the Seditious Six” — U.S. Senators subtly signaling to military officers not to follow unlawful orders.

He said, “This is the height of wrongdoing! Somebody needs to stand up.”

And I told him my story.

My father served in Vietnam. One day, his commanding officer ordered him to shoot and kill a young girl. A child.

He first refused and the officer reminded him That he was a soldier and he must follow orders Then the officer said:

“If you don’t shoot her, I’ll shoot you.”

So he followed the order… And it shattered him.

He had a complete mental breakdown. They had to put him in a steel cage to bring him home. Our entire family carried the aftershocks of that ‘stumble’ all of my life.

The officer who gave the order? He probably slept that night.

My dad could hardly sleep for the rest of his life.

That is what Proverbs means by “causing someone to stumble.” When people in power lose their conscience, someone innocent always pays the bill.

To make someone stumble, you have to dehumanize them first — turn them into a target, a category, a problem, something “less than.”

Evil doesn’t begin with the action. It begins with the imagination.

🌙 Deep Rest Is a Moral Choice

Where evil can’t sleep because of wicked imaginations, The Bible says God gives His beloved sleep.

Where evil compulsively reacts, Wisdom pauses.

Where evil rushes, The righteous benefit from some of the best spiritual advice anyone ever gave: They “Sleep on it.”

Because when you step back… Rest… Reset… You break the cycle. You stop harm from multiplying through you.

🌅 Resolution — You Don’t Have to Live Restless

If anger is keeping you awake… If revenge rehearsals are looping in your mind… If someone else’s chaos is shaping your spirit…

You don’t have to lose your soul to someone else’s unrest.

Remember: Before you make someone else stumble, let God help you still yourself.

🙏🏽Prayer

Quiet my unrest, Lord. Let Your peace guard my way.

🎯Today’s Challenge

Before reacting to anything today — news, a post, a person — pause. breathe. resist the impulse. Don’t respond until you’ve “slept on it.” Choose the path that lets your soul sleep tonight.

About the Author

Fred Lynch is a creative communicator, author, and Christian Hip Hop pioneer. To learn more about Fred and what he’s up to now…click here or you can find him in all the socials by searching the handle: heyfredlynch

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Proverbs 3:6

In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

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This right here? Classic verse. And it has personal history for me. Proverbs 3:5-6 was one of the first scripture passages I ever memorized on purpose — back when I was 14-years-old…just falling in love with Jesus for real, and trying to figure out how to walk this thing out for real.

And as a kid, I read the word “acknowledge” in the old King James (cause that was all we were allowed to have back then…don’t be coming up in here with none of them ‘paraphrases’...no paraphrases, no parachurches, no ‘para-nothing’…just Jesus!!(Oh, I’m sorry, had a religious flashback) but when I saw the word “acknowledge” as a kid it felt like:

“Act on the knowledge.”

Meaning — if I act on the knowledge I already have about God… He’ll act on directing my path.

It felt like a two-way system, and honestly? Now at 58, after decades of ministry and caring for souls, that teenage logic still checks out — but with a richer, deeper frame around it.

🧠 Acknowledging God = Acting on What You Already Know

Psychology calls this habit formation. Divine Direction isn’t always a lightning bolt — it’s the accumulation of tiny choices.

Whatever you acknowledge repeatedly becomes the groove your life falls into.

Neuroscience calls it neuroplasticity. Every time you re-center yourself on God — even in the small things — you literally carve new pathways in your psyche or your soul.

That’s both spirit and scientific! That’s discipleship.And it all syncs with a principle that’s been echoing through every wise tradition:

How you do anything is how you do everything.

I got that from Richard Rohr but my grandmother said it in her own way: “If you’ll lie about a little thing, you’ll lie about everything.”

The Stoics said it.James Clear calls it “micro-wins.”Zen monks call it ‘chopping wood and carrying water.’”

But the point is the same:

* The small way you acknowledge (or act on the knowledge of) God shapes the big way—that your life unfolds.

If you acknowledge Him in the ‘little’ ways, He’ll direct you in the ‘long’ ways.

Direction is less of a map — and more of a practiced rhythm. A pattern of small acknowledgements that guide your steps one choice at a time.

🌱 You Got This

So stop waiting for the booming voice. Stop waiting for the sky to split. Direction is already happening — inside your next intentional step.

Act on the “active knowledge” you already have… and watch Him direct what you don’t yet see.

💥 Remember

Consistency in the small things creates clarity in the big things.

Prayer

Lord, I act on Your truth now — direct my steps.

Today’s Challenge

Pick one small, ordinary task today — washing dishes, writing an email, meal prep, organizing your thoughts — and intentionally do it while acknowledging Him.

Let that tiny act redirect your whole day.

About the Author

Fred Lynch is a creative communicator, author, and Christian Hip Hop pioneer. To learn more about Fred and what he’s up to now…click here or you can find him in all the socials by searching the handle: heyfredlynch

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Proverbs 2:6

Wisdom is a gift from a generous God, and every word he speaks is full of revelation and becomes a fountain of understanding within you.

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December is here—and you can already feel that it tis the season gift-buying energy buzzing all in the air We’re hunting for deals… scrolling for ideas… trying to find something that’ll make somebody smile… even though, let’s be honest: most gifts today are built for consumption. They’re used up, worn out, forgotten, recycled, replaced.

But Proverbs 2:6 is different.

It says God gives wisdom — and not the consumable kind. Not the “use it once then toss it” kind. It’s generous. It’s abundant. It multiplies. It’s the gift that keeps on giving — not corny… but cosmic.

Because every word He speaks becomes: “a fountain of understanding within you.” And what does a fountain do? It flows. It pours. It keeps going. It doesn’t run out.

That’s the fractal nature of the Divine — one truth birthing another truth, one insight multiplying into ten more, one word of wisdom becoming a wellspring inside you.

And while we’re buying gifts made to be consumed, God gives gifts designed to renew, refill, and reproduce.

🎶 Now… about that song.

If we’re talking about gifts that give long after the moment has passed, we have to talk about Stevie Wonder’s monumental song “As.”

It dropped in 1976.

Critics have long noted that Stevie wrote “As” to feel eternal — a looping generosity of melody, emotion, and spiritual uplift. Did Stevie even know that 48 years later his song would ripple out into thousands of moments, thousands of families, thousands of memories… giving joy every single time it plays?

Let me share one of mine.

A few years ago, at my mother’s 75th birthday party, I had one of those divine moments that tattoo themselves on your soul. They played “As” — and we all got on the dance floor and suddenly I wasn’t a 55-year-old man anymore. I was a kid again, dancing with my mom, my brother, and my sister — our little family of four who made it out the mud, journeyed through life, and now stood hand-in-hand on the dance floor…and we were ‘dancin’ y’all

Laughing. Crying. Holding each other. Being held by a song that keeps giving joy every time it plays.

That’s the power of a true gift. A gift that multiplies. A gift that grows. A gift that gives again every time it appears.

🌊 The Divine Fountain

And that’s what Proverbs 2:6 is pointing to:

God doesn’t just hand you wisdom — He plants a fountain in you.

So your creativity flows. Your compassion flows. Your insight flows. Your generosity flows.

You become a source because you’re connected to The Source.

And that’s the invitation of December: Don’t just buy gifts that expire. Become the kind of gift that pours.

💥 Remember

What God gives you doesn’t run out — it runs over.

🙏🏽 Prayer

Make me a fountain, Lord, pouring wisdom, joy, and grace

Today’s Challenge

Give one gift today that can’t be consumed — a word, a prayer, a call, a moment of attention. Something that multiplies. Your very ‘presence’ is the best present you could ever present.

About the Author

Fred Lynch is a creative communicator, author, and Christian Hip Hop pioneer. To learn more about Fred and what he’s up to now…click here or you can find him in all the socials by searching the handle: heyfredlynch

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Proverbs 1:22

How long will you who are simple love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?

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🎯 Twelve months gone. Just like that.

2025 has thirty days left. Do you believe it??

Every December, you know what happens people start taking stock of their lives— what worked, what failed, what got ignored, what was whispered to them but was never followed through on.

And then Wisdom steps into the room and asks the most uncomfortable… the most necessary… the most New-Year’s-Eve-before-the-year-even-ends question:

“How long?”

Not “How long will it take?” But:

How long will you stay in the same patterns… when you should know better by now?

🧠 What “Simple” Really Means Here

Today’s idea of “simple”? Noble. Minimalist. Grounded.

But “simple” in Proverbs? Not zen. Not soulful.

It meant being asleep at the wheel — uninformed on purpose… avoiding nuance… loving easy answers… choosing face-value thinking because real wisdom requires real work.

And the verse exposes the deepest layer when it says:

“How long, you who are simple, will you LOVE your simple ways…”

Ahhh that hits.

Because some people are romantically attached to staying shallow.

It’s the inner fight of the fundamentalist: They over romanticize the past and resist the flow of the present Longing for “the good old days” They want things back the way they were, When in reality ‘the good old days’ were never all that good —unless you were a land-owning white male with privilege, power, and permission to call oppression “order.”

It’s nostalgia for a past that never existed.

It’s that “Make America Great Again” myth when the real call is: make ‘wherever you are’ greater than it has ever been.

Then Proverbs hits round two:

“…mockers delight in mockery, and fools hate knowledge.”

Bro… that’s a scroll through X on a Tuesday. That’s the comments section of almost anything.

Remember Periscope? (The early version of IG Live — before IG Live even knew it was IG Live.) I was teaching Proverbs online live back then…I called it ‘Periscoping through Proverbs” and folks from all over the planet (especially Russia for some reason) were logging in just to call me the N-word mid-Bible study.

Chuck D was right: We’re living in an age of Screen-agers —With the emotional maturity of teenage boys that haven’t quite reached puberty.

🌱 But Here’s the Good News

You don’t have to be simple. You don’t have to be stuck. You don’t have to spiritualize ignorance. You don’t have to be allergic to depth.

Wisdom’s been whispering to you all year — through these episodes, through your own stories, through God’s grace that carried you through every single month of 2025.

You’re already wiser than you were. You’re already growing.

And December begins with a choice:

How long… will you stay inside that mess that God is calling you out of?

💥 Remember

The year won’t change for you until you stop treating growth like an option.

🙏🏽 Prayer

Lord, awaken me—end my drift, deepen my hunger today.

🎯 Today’s Challenge

Write down TWO things you’ve tolerated this year that you know you need to grow past. Circle the one that feels the smallest — and begin there.

Tiny shifts today become transformation by December 31st.

Prayer

Lord, awaken me—end my drift, deepen my hunger today.

Today’s Challenge

Write down TWO things you’ve tolerated this year that you know you need to grow past. Circle the one that feels the smallest— and begin there. Tiny shifts today become transformation by December 31st.

About the Author

Fred Lynch is a creative communicator, author, and Christian Hip Hop pioneer. To learn more about Fred and what he’s up to now…click here or you can find him in all the socials by searching the handle: heyfredlynch

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Proverbs 30:26

The rock badgers are a feeble folk, yet they make their homes in the crags.

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Let’s keep it 1,000 % Ain’t nobody out here talking about rock badgers.

So before we unpack this verse, we gotta ask…

What in the world is a rock badger?

Rock badgers — also called hyraxes — are small, soft, defenseless little mammals found in the Middle East and Africa. They’re not fast. They’re not strong. They’re not intimidating.

They don’t have claws like a lion, horns like a ram, or the speed of a gazelle. They’re vulnerable.

But their genius? They make their homes in the crags — (What in the world is a crag?) those deep cracks and clefts inside massive rock formations.

So these smart little animals hide their weakness inside something stronger than their weakness.

That’s…the whole sermon.

🌄 Feeble Folk With Mountain Wisdom

Scripture says they are a “feeble folk”… yet they live with stability, safety, and strategy because of where they place their lives.

Are you smelling what Wisdom is cooking??

Wisdom isn’t about your strength — it’s about your placement.

Rock badgers don’t pretend to be powerful. They don’t posture. They don’t fake it ’til they make it.

They simply choose a home that can withstand what they cannot.

And brother… sister… isn’t that everything?

🌬️ God Through Nature — Tao Whisper Edition

There’s a beautiful resonance here with something John R. Mabry draws out in his book: God as Nature Sees God: A Christian Reading of the Tao Te Ching.

I highly recommend it. Mabry explains (and I’m paraphrasing here):

Nature teaches us the rhythm of dependence — weak things endure when they yield to what is stronger.

Rock badgers “Tao” their way into resilience: They don’t fight the mountain, they fold themselves into it.

They let the Rock be their shelter. They let something greater than themselves hold their lives together.

That’s the Tao… and that’s the Gospel.

🪨 And This Is Your Encouragement

You don’t have to be the strongest cat out there. You don’t have to out-muscle your fears. You don’t have to become your own fortress.

You just need to choose your crag.

Build your inner home inside the strength of God. Anchor your soul Inside something more stable than your emotions. Tuck your hope into the One who cannot be shaken.

Because the wisdom of the rock badger is simple:

“I have weaknesses… so I build a home inside that which is stronger than I am.”

And that’s exactly where you’re called to rest.

💥 Remember

You don’t have to be the rock — you’re called to rest in the Rock.

Prayer

Hold me Lord; be the strength my weakness rests inside.

Today’s Challenge

Honestly name one part of your life that feels “feeble”: your patience, your boundaries, your confidence, your faith, your peace.

Now ask yourself: “What Rock can I tuck this into today?”

A verse. A prayer. A promise. A grounding practice.

Place it in the crag — and let the Mountain hold you.

About the Author

Fred Lynch is a creative communicator, author, and Christian Hip Hop pioneer. To learn more about Fred and what he’s up to now…click here or you can find him in all the socials by searching the handle: heyfredlynch

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