Do You Want To Start Personal Life Change: Devotional
Studies In The Book Of Proverbs?
Proverbs
Lesson 3
Part 3
Psalm 16:11 says God wants to guide us through life. He
wants to be the one that shows us His plan, in His presence, is fullness of joy. At His right hand are endless
pleasures. Jesus wants to lead you through the best possible journey in life.
I want to apply this teachable way that God wants us
to be. What I call it is, taking the book of Proverbs and learning to walk in Christ wisdom.
Go with me in your Bibles to the book of Colossians.
I actually have written down my devotional study like you’re doing. We’re
reading the book of Proverbs prayerfully.
We’re memorizing Proverbs 3:5-6.
5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Look at this, we’re doing a devotional project, either studying 10 verses, 10 topics, or 10 chapters.
Reducing each of the 10 down to one sheet. Now think of it this way, you just take a sheet of paper
and you put a title.
What’s my title?
My title is: Walking in Christ’s Wisdom from Colossians. So, I’d write, Walking in Christ’s Wisdom from Colossians 2.
Chapter 2, verse 6-23.
6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments
of the world, and not after Christ.
9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of
the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath
raised him from the dead.
13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having
forgiven you all trespasses;
14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way,
nailing it to his cross;
15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath
days:
17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
18 Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things
which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
19 And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together,
increaseth with the increase of God.
20 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject
to ordinances,
21 (Touch not; taste not; handle not;
22 Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?
23 Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour
to the satisfying of the flesh.
Then I put all of the observations I make, or the trues, or the principles, and I’d list
those off. Number one, the title. Number two, you have all of these observations. Number three, you write a prayer
of application. Now that, the devotional method is what I’m going to show you as we go to Colossians 2. So, get
in your Bibles to Colossians 2 and what to do. Start reading in verse six. Now look down at verse 6,
it says this. Colossians 2:6 to read it.
6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
My observation was, my salvation came by faith, verse 6.
We are saved by grace through faith. We heard. We were convicted by God. We responded to God’s drawing. We
trusted His word. We acted on His truth. We were lost. Sinners. Saw Christ as our only hope. Cried out to Him.
He saved us and now we follow the same path the rest of our lives. Now, Listen for a second, now that’s a lot.
I’ve been doing this for years. This is how I study the Bible. I actually sit, read, and have my note book right
there. My note book or whatever I’m writing on that day. I meditate on verse 6 in Colossians 2. That’s
what I wrote. My salvation came by faith.
Look at the verse 7. This is what it says,
7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
“rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith.”
God’s truth needs to penetrate my life. It isn’t I just see it. I let it, see in verse 7, rooted and built
up in the faith, abounding in it. What I’ve been taught, God’s truth, needs to penetrate my life. How does that happen?
We need to invite God’s truth to come into our lives and get way below the surface. We need to seek to know,
and experience, and talk, and respond to Jesus like a close friend we text with.
Now here’s the third observation I made, in verse 8.
8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments
of the world, and not after Christ.
Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit.” Look what I wrote, I will beware of tainted ideas.
We must always be on guard.
The world is always devising ways to counterfeit what God wants.
Next verse, in verse 9.
9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
See what it says,
for in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Fourth observation I made; I can live full of
Christ presence. Christ is my link to everything God has promised, and He wants to overflow into every
dimension of my life. That’s every time it talks about fullness, because when I study, I look for repeated words.
Write doen the repeated words.
Number five, I can live full of confidence. Christ makes me
complete, verse 10.
10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
Christ makes me complete.
Even if I’m missing a wife Or a husband. some of you are single and
aren’t married. You’re always wondering if you’ll be married. Or have a child,
maybe you’re married, and you’ve never had children. Even if you’re missing your job, you
don’t have any money. Even if you don’t have a home. Even if you’re missing health or
mobility or comfort. Look at if I have Christ, I already have
the best life that’s possible. Wow.
Six point is this, in verse 11 it says,
11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of
the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
In him you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands.” I wrote down in my note book,
I have a heart that is new. God has given me the ultimate, never need to be upgraded, operating system.
That’s what Ezekiel 36:26 says, a new heart God gave me.
Ezekiel 36:26
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the
stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
Seven Point is this, in verse 12 it’d says,
12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath
raised him from the dead.
Says you were “buried with Him in baptism.” I have a past that’s buried. God says my sins are forever gone.
I wrote those verses where the Bible repeats that.
Eight Point Verse 13. It says,
13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having
forgiven you all trespasses;
“and you being dead in your trespasses […] he is made alive.” I have a fresh new beginning when I was born again. I’m like a baby. I have no past,
just a future with God. 2 Corinthians and John 3 says that.
Ninth Point I have an end of all guilt. Look at verse 14,
14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way,
nailing it to his cross;
“having wiped out the handwriting […]
that was against us, which was contrary to us. He took it out of the way. Having nailed it to the cross.”
I have the end of all guilt. Jesus took my guilt, my punishment, my pain. My sins were nailed to Christ’s
cross. I don’t need to punish myself anymore. Now look up for a second. Do you know what most people do
they think? After they sinned, they’ve got a whip themselves and work through some pains so that they can
prove to God how sorry they are. Instead of having godly sorrow, that leads to me confessing and forsaking
my sins and on the spot receiving His cleansing.
Jesus Christ says, when I was saved and walking in wisdom,it’s the end of guilt in my life.
Joseph testified that 20 years of horrible abuse were transformed by God,
and he was no longer able to be crippled by his past. Look God dealt with it all. I
have the end of all guilt when I walk in Christ wisdom.
Tenth Point, I have nothing left to fear. Now think about what God offers to us. We can have, as His followers
walking in wisdom, the best life possible. We have a life that has a new heart. Our past is buried. We have
that fresh new beginning. We have the end of guilt.
But look at number 10, the fear that has followed us all
of our life. See what verse 15 says.
15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
“Having disarmed principalities and powers.” This is spiritual warfare.
This is the satanic hosts that were all around Christ, disrupting His ministry. “He made a public spectacle
of them, triumphing over them.” see what it says. Jesus disarmed the power of Satan to ever
destroy me. Only Christ can protect me. All I have to do is trust Him.
Now look at the application, prayer. I want to guide you through this
because remember there are three parts, your devotional project. The title, mine would be Walking in Christ’s
Wisdom, Colossians 2.
I already have shown you all the 11 observations I made. This is the application prayer.
Now this is the hardest. Most people read the Bible and they say, Oh, that’s a good verse for my roommate;
that’s a good verse for my husband; that’s a good verse for my children; that’s a good verse for my wife.
You know what the Bible says? That’s a good verse for me. I want to change. Look at this slide. This is my
prayer. I actually prayed this when I got done studying Colossians 2. Lord, I want to set my mind on these
truths from you, since I’m raised with Christ, I choose to set my mind above, and I ask you to reset me in
your settings of wisdom, and away from my own way… That’s what God wants. Now, look God wants me to see
His word as a source of wisdom. James said the wisdom that is from above. Paul said in
1 Corinthians 1, that in Christ we have His wisdom.
When we were saved, we received Christ as our wisdom.
He starts changing our mind to no longer go our foolish lost, empty way that we were born with and to start
listening to God’s way.
Letting God be our teacher and teach us how to make our life conform to His will and His word.
The second class is how to make sure your life doesn’t get burned up.
That’s where we started. It’s based though on living life God’s way, which is exploring the book of Proverbs.
Our second class. Look up I’d like to close in prayer with you. Father in Heaven, I thank you.
I thank you for these students that are reading and studying, longing to understand your words so
they can be launched back. Americans reaching Americans. Europeans reaching Europe.
But Lord today, each one of us have to make a choice. If we know you and are saved, we’ve received your wisdom
for a reason. It’s to live your way and if we live your way, we get eternal gain. We get to have a crown to
cast at your feet to adore you, to offer our life as a gift back to you. Of honoring you purchasing us, we’re
your servants.
But if we don’t, as 1 Corinthians 3, if we live life as a safe person, foolishly our own way,
we’ll suffer loss, and our lives will be burned up. We’ll still be saved, but we will suffer loss. I pray today,
we would make a choice. I want to live my life that you purchased, your way. In the precious name of Jesus, we
ask that. Amen. God bless you.
“Only one life to live and soon is past
Only what’s done for Christ will last!”
Hoping to make the time I have left count for the glory of God.
Do You Want To Start Personal Life Change: Devotional Studies In The Book Of Proverbs?