Deeply Rooted (When I Read Your Word)

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 3:27-30 27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act. 28 Do not say to your neighbor, “Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”— when you already have it with you. 29 Do not plot harm against your neighbor, who lives trustfully near you. 30 Do not accuse anyone for no reason— when they have done you no harm. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?   This is some straightforward stuff. I love it when the Bible just lays it down. Basically, when people deserve to be treated well, treat them well. When you say you're going to do something, do it. Don't break other people's trust, and don't lie. Don't try to hurt other people.  I think we can all get behind these things...but then...why is it so hard to do? THINK ABOUT IT: 1. Seriously, why is it hard for you specifically to treat other people well, to follow through, and to be honest? Which of those three things do you do the best? The worst? 2. Why do we sometime

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 3:19-26 19 By wisdom the Lord laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place; 20 by his knowledge the watery depths were divided, and the clouds let drop the dew. 21 My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight, preserve sound judgment and discretion; 22 they will be life for you, an ornament to grace your neck. 23 Then you will go on your way in safety, and your foot will not stumble. 24 When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. 25 Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, 26 for the Lord will be at your side and will keep your foot from being snared. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?   When we think about God's wisdom, it usually involves some sense of knowing the difference between right and wrong and being morally strong. While this is true, it is easy to overlook God's wisdom in His creation. Only God could create something as maj

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 3:13-18 13 Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, 14 for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. 15 She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. 16 Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. 17 Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. 18 She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her; those who hold her fast will be blessed. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?   Once again, we see wisdom described as a woman (remember way back in chapter 1?). Here, we see wisdom portrayed specifically as a woman that people should be seeking after. Solomon describes wisdom as beneficial to whoever has her in many ways. Whoever has wisdom gains things more valuable than gold, silver, or rubies! Remember, Solomon was a king who had more wealth than anyone ever before him. Solomon understood exactly how valuable worldly wealth was, yet he still saw wisd

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 3:11-12 11 My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, 12 because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?   Earlier in the book of Proverbs, we talked about being teachable ! Teachability is so important when trying to listen to what God says. If we want to live a life glorifying God, we have to listen to what He says no matter how we feel about it. Sometimes, I do not like what God is asking me to do, and I can be hesitant to do what He says. But, once I do what He is telling me, I can see why He gave me that wisdom.   God gives us wisdom because He is doing what is best for each of us individually. We may not understand why God is giving us a task that we don't like at first but, we won't know why until we take action. Let's say YES to the challenge! God gives us the tough love we all need. He is going to continue to push our boundaries so we can grow, being

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 3:9-10 9 Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?   Alright squad, who here has heard of a paradox?! It's basically when something sounds like it couldn't be possible but it actually is possible. For example, a good paradox is "If I know one thing, it's that I know nothing."  The above proverb is its own kind of paradox. It's saying if we give up what we have to God, we will actually have more. How can we have a bunch of stuff if we give up all of our stuff? That doesn't make sense...but it does! There have been times in my life where I thought to myself, "I physically do not have the time to talk to that person right now because I have so much homework and other things." But, then, they would be sad or have something they needed to talk about, and because I knew Jesus wante

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 3:7-8 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. 8 This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?   Similar to the verses discussed yesterday, Solomon continues to tell us to trust in the Lord. The main focus of these verses is to distrust our own wisdom because it does not even come close to the wisdom God gives us. Many times, we find ourselves making decisions off our own intellect. These decisions end up hurting us in the long run, since they are often made to benefit ourselves rather than to give God glory. We need to turn against evil and turn to God. When we do this, we set ourselves up for success, since God is all knowing and on our side! Solomon says that when we do this, we not only receive spiritual benefits, but also physical ones. God gave us one body, and we should take care of it. For example, if we are given a choice between donuts or healthy foods, our own selfish desire would

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 3:5-6 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?   These are some classic verses from Solomon... maybe you've heard them before! There's a lot to break down here, but I think the word that sticks out to me is all ! We have two big challenges in these verses: trust in the Lord with ALL our heart and submitting ALL our ways to the Lord. This first challenge is hard because it requires a lot of humility. Solomon writes that to trust God with ALL of our heart means that we must learn first that our understanding is not the best. Ever been stuck in traffic before? Sometimes, we can see roads that look like that can get us out of traffic, so we take them, but we end up taking even longer to get where we want to go! But God is like a helicopter way above us that can see the best paths for us to take to get to where we need to

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 3:1-4 1 My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, 2 for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity.  3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Think back to a Sunday morning game time. We explain the rules, put y'all into teams, and you are getting ready to carry out the best game plan ever created... But then there is that one group that comes up with their own rule but doesn't break a rule we explained earlier. That would leave you kind of frustrated, right? Well, in many ways, we do this exact same thing to God. God provides wisdom and instructions on how to handle different situations. This means we can't find loopholes around what He says. Maybe God didn't say not to do something, but think about what He would do.

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 2:20-22 20 Thus you will walk in the ways of the good and keep to the paths of the righteous. 21 For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it; 22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be torn from it. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?   When a sentence starts with "thus" it is incredibly important to look at the sentence(s) before. The sentences before show that it is important to follow wisdom so that we can turn down temptation. When we can turn down temptation, we can walk in the right ways!  But then something interesting happens in verses 21-22...the way I read it, Solomon drops a mini prophecy on us. Throughout the Bible, there are times where what is written can mean multiple things at the same time. Kind of like this...imagine we are running together and I am explaining a hard situation that I feel like I am finally getting through. While we chat, we get to the top of a hill and look down,

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 2:16-19 16 Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman, from the wayward woman with her seductive words, 17 who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God. 18 Surely her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead. 19 None who go to her return or attain the paths of life. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?   Yesterday, you may have noticed that the verses talked about wisdom saving us from wicked men...just to double down, Solomon makes it clear that wisdom saves us from wicked women as well! But, the point he is trying to make isn't really about the genders of who is tempting us. Yesterday, the temptation was to do evil things just because it is fun. Today, the temptation is to actively leave behind good things for the evil things.  In these verses, the wicked women is someone who actively leaves behind her husband, someone she committed to be with before God, for other people. Somehow, that woman

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 2:12-15 12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, 13 who have left the straight paths to walk in dark ways, 14 who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, 15 whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?   In this passage, we learn about a lot of people that wisdom can help us avoid being influenced by! Here are the different types of people wisdom helps us avoid living like: Wicked people (people who do not live for what is right) People who speak poorly toward one another, whether that is being harsh or being manipulative People who walk away from Jesus's way to walk their own ways People who celebrate doing the wrong thing and praise things that go against Jesus Whether we'd like to admit it or not, we have likely found ourselves looking a lot more like the people listed above than like wise people. Luckily for us, we are loved by a God who l

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 2:6-11 6 For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. 7 He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, 8 for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. 9 Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. 10 For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. 11 Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? When we trust in the Lord and follow His commands, we are given gifts that will strengthen us. It may come as a surprise to you, but WISDOM is one of those gifts! God clears a way for us to live a virtuous life. However, that does not mean it is going to be easy. What it does mean is that God will help us in our decision making if we seek after Him. This gift of wisdom not only benefits us in growing in our relationship with God, but it can also help us be

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 2:1-5 1 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, 2 turning your ear to wisdom   and applying your heart to understanding— 3 indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, 4 and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, 5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?   In order to live out the plan God has for us, we have to do more than passively listen to wisdom! Truly listening to wisdom requires action, otherwise that wisdom will never have an impact… but  how can we apply wisdom if we don't understand it first? Verse 4 hints that understanding wisdom is like searching for hidden treasure! Finding hidden treasure would be hard without clues from the person who hid the treasure!  However, we can use prayer and the good ole Bible as our own clues to understand what God is telling us. If you don't understand what G

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 1:28-33 28 “Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me, 29 since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord. 30 Since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, 31 they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes. 32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; 33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.” WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Remember, the last couple of days, we have been hearing "wisdom" speak. You may have read this passage and thought "Why does wisdom sound so harsh?" Don't worry! I also thought this reading it the first time. The passage can easily be taken the wrong way if we do not take our time with it and understand what Solomon means here. Solomon/Wisdom is telling us that we should be wise in our decision making befo

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 1:24-27 24 But since you refuse to listen when I call and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand, 25   since you disregard all my advice and do not accept my rebuke, 26   I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you; I will mock when calamity overtakes you— 27   when calamity overtakes you like a storm,     when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? When we receive wisdom we have two options: listening to it or ignoring it. Verse 24 sets the stage for the consequences coming to those tempted by sin and who do not listen to wisdom. One word used was calamity! Calamity is an event that causes great and sudden damage! In this case, not listening to wisdom creates a little roadblock in your path following God. Personally, I have ignored wisdom because I felt like I was not ready for it or thought I could handle the problem on my own. Ignoring the wisdom given to me in the past ended u

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 1:22-23 22 “How long will you who are simple love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? 23 Repent at my rebuke! Then I will pour out my thoughts to you, I will make known to you my teachings. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? The book of Proverbs talks about three types of people: the wise, the foolish, and the simple. Verse 22 highlights that last group: the simple. I like to think about the "simple" as the "gullible" which is really all of us. If you're a sinner (hint: if you're reading this you are) you probably don't have to think too long to remember a time when you fell for a sin you or others thought that you could never fall for. Proverbs 14:15 says "the simple believe anything but the prudent give thought to their steps." In other words, the simple person does not give much thought to what he/she believes or how he/she operates, and they instead fall for anything.  When wis

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 1:20-21 20 Out in the open wisdom calls aloud, she raises her voice in the public square; 21 on top of the wall she cries out, at the city gate she makes her speech: WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Prepare yourself (especially if you are up early reading this), because English class is starting early! In this passage, we start to see something that happens very often in Proverbs: personification ! Personification is a fancy word that basically means someone is giving human characteristics to something that isn't human. In this case, Solomon describes wisdom as a woman. But wisdom isn't just some lady hanging around doing nothing... she wants to be HEARD. It says here that she is standing "out in the open" where everyone can see her. Then we see her shouting loudly for all to hear in the public square, and finally we see her at the top of the walls of this city. God's wisdom is the exact same way: it is out in the open for us to hear and learn fro

R EAD THIS:  Proverbs 1:17-19 17 How useless to spread a net where every bird can see it! 18 These men lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush only themselves! 19 Such are the paths of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the life of those who get it. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Yesterday, we learned about some tactics the enemy uses to lead us into sin (like making it seem like the sin is something that everyone else is doing or that the sin will lead us to some gain for ourselves). Solomon bursts out here to talk about how ridiculous that is.  Have you ever done something bad that everyone around you told you not to do because it was so obvious that it was going to have terrible consequences? For example, weeks upon weeks in a row, I did not sleep at all, and everyone told me to stop doing that. They knew I was about to make myself sick. But, I didn't listen because not sleeping seemed like the best way to get everything I wanted, like time for homework, friends,

R EAD THIS: Proverbs 1:10-16 10 My son, if sinful men entice you, do not give in to them. 11 If they say, “Come along with us; let’s lie in wait for innocent blood, let’s ambush some harmless soul; 12 let’s swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; 13 we will get all sorts of valuable things and fill our houses with plunder; 14 cast lots with us; we will all share the loot”— 15 my son, do not go along with them,     do not set foot on their paths; 16 for their feet rush into evil, they are swift to shed blood. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Solomon warns of people who will tempt you or peer pressure you into doing things you are not supposed to. The example he gives is about a group of people trying to tempt their friend into killing someone.  In verse 11, Solomon is emphasizing the idea of "everybody is doing it, so you should, too!" No one wants to feel left out, and the enemy uses that feeling against us to do evil. In verse 12, the

R EAD THIS: Proverbs 1:8-9 8 Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. 9 They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Calling all children (plot twist... even parents are children too)!!! We have another reminder from God's word to not only listen to our parents' teaching, but to remember it! But what's all this stuff about garlands and chains? If you didn't know, garlands and chains, especially during this time, were often gifts given by parents to their children. Solomon, the guy who wrote this was a king! If he wanted to give a special gift to his son or daughter, it could look like a nice garland to be worn on their head or a chain to be worn around their neck.  In the same way, instruction from our parents (both the things they have done right and wrong) are gifts that are given to us! But, like any gift we are given, we get to decide if we will accept the gift or not.

R EAD THIS: Proverbs 1:1-7 1 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: 2 for gaining wisdom and instruction;  for understanding words of insight; 3 for receiving instruction in prudent behavior, doing what is right and just and fair; 4 for giving prudence to those who are simple, knowledge and discretion to the young — 5   let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance — 6 for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise. 7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?      WELCOME TO PROVERBS!! Proverbs is a book all about knowledge and wisdom. First, let's look at the definitions of these words. Knowledge is studying to understand the facts (or truths) about God, while wisdom is using knowledge to make decisions in life to glorify God.  God has two goals for us in Proverbs: growing our character and thinking how He would. Vers

R EAD THIS:  Ephesians 6:23-24 23 Peace to the brothers and sisters, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? We have reached the END of Ephesians!!!! Tomorrow, we are starting up Proverbs, but for now let's wrap up Ephesians really quick, and this final greeting will help us!  Paul wishes them peace and love with faith and grace to all who love Jesus with an unending love. We learn how to live into peace, love, faith, and grace through this whole letter. First, we learned that God has a final plan for all of us, a plan where everyone, Jew or not Jew, child or parent, boy or girl, can be united in Jesus! Part of why we can be united is through the spiritual gifts God gives us. When we are united, we get to feel peace!  But, a part of accepting those gifts and choosing Jesus means leaving behind our own desires and deciding to live our lives in love of Jesus and

R EAD THIS:  Ephesians 6:21-22 21 Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing. 22 I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? Tychicus? Where did this guy come from? Ty (that's what we are gonna call him from now on) was an associate of Paul! He is mentioned a few times outside of this passage (Acts 20 and 2 Timothy 4 are some examples). Often times, Ty and a few other choice people were used by Paul to be his messengers! These messengers had jobs a lot bigger than passing on the messages they were given. They had to take what Paul wrote and preach it to the people Paul wrote to! Paul literally says here that he "will tell you everything " that Paul wanted to say! Our guy Ty is an awesome reminder that every job in God's kingdom is important. It could be easy for us to look at Ty l

R EAD THIS:  Ephesians 6:18-20 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? We just finished going through all the pieces of the armor of God, but what's interesting is this: verse 18 starts with the word "AND." This whole section is lowkey still a part of the armor. Keep reading in verse 18 and see how it says "with this in mind." THIS is the armor of God!! The armor of God is linked to prayer! If we struggle to put on the helmet of salvation or the belt of truth or any of the others, then the way we go about strapping those on is through prayer! It is the armor of GOD...if we want to wear some

R EAD THIS:  Ephesians 6:17b 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? *REMINDER* We are going to be going over the armor of God for the next few days... piece by piece! We will be showing all the verses for the section each day, but we really want you to focus on the part in bold each day! ALL week, we've been learning about different pieces of armor, but today we finally get to be on the attack in this spiritua

R EAD THIS:  Ephesians 6:17a 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? *REMINDER* We are going to be going over the armor of God for the next few days... piece by piece! We will be showing all the verses for the section each day, but we really want you to focus on the part in bold each day! So, yesterday, we picked up the shield of faith, having confidence that God is who He says He is and that He'll follow thro

R EAD THIS:  Ephesians 6:16 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? *REMINDER* We are going to be going over the armor of God for the next few days... piece by piece! We will be showing all the verses for the section each day, but we really want you to focus on the part in bold each day! When I think of a shield, I tend to think of Minecraft. In the game, you can use the shield to deflect hits from the monsters. S

R EAD THIS:  Ephesians 6:15 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? *REMINDER* We are going to be going over the armor of God for the next few days... piece by piece! We will be showing all the verses for the section each day, but we really want you to focus on the part in bold each day! Back in the Biblical days, Roman soldiers would wear sandals as part of their uniform. This allowed them to travel anywhere they w

R EAD THIS:  Ephesians 6:14b 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? *REMINDER* We are going to be going over the armor of God for the next few days... piece by piece! We will be showing all the verses for the section each day, but we really want you to focus on the part in bold each day! We learned yesterday about how we can seek out the truth and call out lies. Today, we have got a pretty short half-sentence to bre

R EAD THIS:  Ephesians 6:13-14a 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY? *DISCLAIMER* We are going to be going over the armor of God for the next few days... piece by piece! We will be showing all the verses for the section each day, but we really want you to focus on the part in bold each day! Verse 13 does a good recap of what we talked about yesterday, while verse 14 gets into the armor of God. Each piece reminds us of how to