Proverbs___13

Scripture

Proverbs 13:20 NLT

“Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.”

Observation-What does it say?

King Solomon is considered to be one of the wisest people in the Bible. He was said to be the wisest of all the kings. His wisdom was given to him by God. He uses the book of Proverbs to pass along this wisdom he was blessed with to future generations and to anyone who is willing to listen and take heed to it. Here is another one of Solomon’s wise truths.

Understanding-What does it mean?

Show me your friends and I’ll tell you who you are.

It’s a saying we have all heard before. I think it derived from this verse too. King Solomon knew the troubles that would arise if you hung out with the wrong people. He also knew the benefits that associating with the right people can bring.

I can tell you from experience that this saying holds true. When I was younger, I hung out with knuckleheads. Needless to say, I was a knucklehead. I found myself doing things that I really shouldn’t have been doing. I was pretty much a sheep, following the lead of even dumber sheep. It was a life that probably would have had me ending up in trouble with the law, working dead-end jobs barely making ends meet, or even dead! I am glad that God got a hold of me before it was too late! It’s because of God, I was able to get my life together. He surrounded me with the right people, wise people; people in my life who would stick with me no matter what. He put people in my life who would challenge me to be a better person, a better Christ Follower. And let me tell you, because of these people God surrounded me with, (people I hang out with and call my friends), I am who I am today.

In order to be that person God wants you to be, you gotta have that great supporting cast around you. What kind of people are you choosing to surround yourself with?

Life Application

Be part of God’s family. Plug into all that DSC has to offer to connect, even during this Covid season.

At DSC, we still have creative avenues to stay connected to the Body even through quarantine. Here are some of the ways: Sunday Livestream/Chat, Wednesday Worship/Chat, Sermons/Worship/Youth/Kids stuff on our DSC YouTube channel, Pastor Gary’s Christmas devotional (available on Amazon), Monday Zoom Bible studies, Daily Bible readings and Soul Journals, Justin’s Prophetic Zooms, Personal Phone Calls/Texts/Emails/Social Media, FaceTime/Zoom, Special Drop offs (food/gifts), Mail, Sunday Surge (Youth) on Instagram Live, Surge Hangouts on Zoom, Kids Church Zooms, Sunday Zoom Prayer Team, Kids Church teaching, Video/multimedia ministry, DSC Parking Lot stuff (worship, donations, and upcoming Christmas service), etc. 

We must continue to surround ourselves with people who want the same thing as us...to become better disciples of Jesus Christ.

“As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.”-Proverbs 27:17

-Moses Gaddi

Proverbs_12

Scripture Proverbs 12:25Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up. Observation-What does it say? In these Proverbs, King Solomon compares and contrasts wisdom with foolishness, righteousness with wickedness, liars with the trustworthy and lazy with the diligent.  Understanding-What does it mean? Kindness is healing to the heart, so let us spread kindness and cheer instead of stress and anxiety. Life ApplicationBe kind.There are so many people with weighed down hearts that are anxious, depressed and broken. Let us be a beacon of light to those people and allow the Holy Spirit to produce His fruit of Kindness in us this holiday season. In a broken and darkened world, we must allow Christ’s light to shine through us.Dear Lord,Please reveal to us the areas we need to be kind to one another and to the outside world as well. I pray we would be a refreshing presence in a world that is weighed down and thirsty for You. Amen.  -Michelle Gaddi 

Proverbs__11

Scripture

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭11:4‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“Riches won’t help on the day of judgment, but right living can save you from death.”

 

Observation-What does it say?

 

Another set of proverbs King Solomon shares with the readers comparing the godly and the wicked. King Solomon reminds the readers that God looks after the wise, that true wisdom comes from God, and those who seek it/Him will surely find it/Him. And those who choose to live wickedly and trust in their own wisdom are surely doomed to fail.

 

Understanding-What does it mean?

 

At the end of the day, God will hold us all accountable for our actions here on earth.

 

The verse I chose this morning really stuck out to me because it reminds me of one of Pastor Gary’s sermons he taught when I first attended DSC. In that sermon, Pastor Gary talked about God holding us all accountable for our actions here on earth. God will ask us what we did with our time, gifts, talents, and finances that He had blessed us with. How did we use it to further his Kingdom? Will God really care that we used it to buy that dream house, dream car, or even put our kids through that “fancy university”?! Or did we seek God and His wisdom wholeheartedly, asking Him how we can use those things He has blessed us with, to accomplish His mission? 🤔

 

Life Application

 

You can’t buy your way out of this one!

 

We all heard that saying before. We usually hear it when the time comes for us to pay for our actions (usually from our own bad decisions we have made). We receive our punishment. And no matter how hard we plead and beg to get out of it, there is no escaping it...”rent is due”! But why go through with all that when you don’t have to?! King Solomon, considered to be one of the wisest kings of his time, a man who has seen it all and did it all, was granted his wish from God. That was to be blessed with wisdom, true wisdom, wisdom from God. So why not take heed and advantage of what these proverbs say? It’s not just any cheap advice you can get from a fortune cookie with lucky numbers at the end of it. It is godly advice. It comes from a man chosen by God, inspired by the Holy Spirit, that can be used to bring wisdom to those who choose to follow and adhere to it. So the choice is up to us. Will we choose to be wise? Or is doom in our future from our foolish decisions? As for me, I choose to trust and follow God, and receive His infinite wisdom.

 

-Moses Gaddi