Proverbs 24:5 KJV — A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.
Wisdom isn’t “being smart” or “good at school”.
Wisdom is strong.
Walk in wisdom.
Wisdom is more powerful and profound than she may seem.
Walk in wisdom.
Guide your heart in the way
Proverbs 23:19 KJV — Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
Don’t follow your heart. Guide your heart in the way of wisdom. Follow the prompting and leading of the Holy Spirit.
In fact, it’s not your job to guide your heart.
The Lord is your Shepherd and you are His sheep.
Your job is to let Him lead you.
Your work is to to surrender and respond to the Greater One who lives in you.
Make the choice
Proverbs 22:1 KJV — A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.
God will make your name great, but you’ve got to make the choice to have a great name.
God has already provided greatness, health, total forgiveness, abundant wealth, prosperity and restoration through Jesus’ death and resurrection.
You’ve already got all things deposited in your spirit.
But will you make the choice to place a demand on what’s been deposited in your account?
Will you make the choice to be on the outside who God has already made you to be on the inside?
The habit of diligence
Proverbs 21:5 KJV — The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want.
The thoughts of the diligenct tend only to plenteousness.
Thoughts travel down roads called neurones. They connect, intersect, bisect and dissect one another.
Diligence is an identity, a label describing a person who does things a certain way.
Diligence is the byproduct of habit which is an expression and an endorsement of an identity.
“People like us do things like this.”
Diligence is a function of who you are, of how you see yourself as being.
Diligence is a habit that creates and expresses an identity that is continually endorsed and expressed through the way you do things…your habits.
Wake up and open your eyes
Proverbs 20:13 KJV — Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread.
Wake up and open your eyes. Wake up. Open your eyes. See what’s going on. Get into the day. Deploy the rest of your 24 hours in a profitable way. Sow your hours into the land you’re tilling. Tend to your vineyard. Work what’s in your hand. Ignore or kill the lions that would have you waste time hiding in your bed. Wake up and see the opportunities that are readily available to you right now. You’re not waiting on God. God’s waiting on you to get out of bed so you, and He, can possess His promises together.
Chastening in hope
Proverbs 19:18 KJV — Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.
You chasten your kids – instruct and discipline them – while they’re kids, because you’ve got the hope that they will respond to it.
Instruction and discipline are necessary for raising children to adults.
Instruction and discipline happen in the context of hope.
Hope is connected to the truth of the situation and not the facts. Even though your kids aren’t walking in the training, yet, you have a positive imagination and expectation that they will.
Hope pushes past the protests of right now, in order to possess the positive expectations of what’s possible.
Chastening and hope are your partners in raising your kids/skills/anything from where it is, into maturity.
Making room for you
Proverbs 18:16 KJV — A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.
Maybe you do need a room of your own in which you can do your best work and fully express what God has put in you.
But the Word promises that your gift will make room for you, and bring you before great men.
So regardless of how much space you’ve got right now, use your gift.
Use your gift for 1 minute or 1 hour.
Use it with whatever space you’ve got right now, and your gift will do the work of expanding that space in quantity and in quality.
Your gift will bring you out of the corner into the presence of greatness and influence.
We don’t
But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
Daniel 1:8
We don’t. We don’t! No. Uh, uh. We don’t do that. We don’t!
Don’t be intimidated by the expectations of the King or by the culture of the opportunities: People like us do things like this.
Well…we don’t. I don’t.
You have the power to decide in your heart what you don’t do. And using that power is the key to protecting the person we need you be in the opportunity you’ve been given.
Embrace “not saying”
Proverbs 17:28 KJV — Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.
There’s a wisdom in the act of not saying. There’s a wisdom when you wrap a moment in a cloak of “not speaking”. Total silence. No erms, uhs, or other vocal litter that many cast on the pristine beaches of each moment.
Embrace not saying. Embrace not playing. Embrace not speaking. Embrace leaving space for them to count your silence as wise. Embrace offering a space for them to hear themselves think in your presence.
Embrace the joy of allowing the other person to hear the voice of their wisdom in your silence.
Speak the truth
Proverbs 16:13 KJV — Righteous lips are the delight of kings; and they love him that speaketh right.
Speak the truth. Speak what’s right. Say what needs to be said. Speak righteousness. Tune your speech to the key of the Word of God. Speak what’s right.
You’ll anger some.
You’ll delight Kings and influencers.