Pursuit of Wisdom in PROVERBS Formatted Paperback interior Modified

Pursuit of Wisdom in PROVERBS
you should have is against the spirits of darkness that attempt
to blind the world to God’s goodness, love, power, authority,
and plans and purposes for us. Anger expresses itself in
many ways. Some of these ways are passive and some are
aggressive. An example of passive anger is bitterness,
frustration, and silence. An example of aggressive anger is
suicide, rage, and bullying. God has given you the ability to
have emotions, he has also given you a free will to choose
what emotion you will express. Being aware of the emotions
of fear and anger can lead you to the Holy Spirit who is our
healer. Never ignore your emotions, let them be a compass
to lead you to the root of your issue so the Holy Spirit can
heal your emotions.

Wisdom Nugget
No one can make you angry—it is a choice.

Pray: Holy Spirit, help me to be quick to listen, slow to
speak, and slow to anger. Temper me with your love,
patience, and grace. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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PROSPERITY

PROVERBS 13:4, 11
Lazy people want much but get little, but those
who work hard will prosper. Wealth from get-
rich-quick schemes quickly disappears, wealth

from hard work grows over time. (NLT)

Prosperity is a successful, flourishing, thriving condition,
especially in financial respects. Psalm 128:2 (NLT)
states, “You will enjoy the fruit of your labor. How joyful
and prosperous will you be!” God desires for us to be
prosperous in every area of our lives, spirit, soul, body,
career, family, and everything you put your hand to. The
only one that limits prosperity in your life is you.

A person who works hard will prosper if they are
working smart. I have learned it is not in the work that you

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do, it is the goals you are working toward to create wealth.
You can be working from get-rich-quick schemes that will
profit you nothing. I know you have heard the saying,
“Anything worth having is worth working for.” Now, work
is defined as, “activity involving mental or physical efforts
done in order to achieve a purpose or result.” You have to
be working towards something, not just week to week. You
may start there, but do not end there, or you will never
experience prosperity.

Everyone has a money blueprint in their soul. This is
the way you view and interact with money. People who
were not taught how to manage and grow money have a
poverty mindset. This is the way you are trained to interact
with money, from a mindset of lack. People interact with
money as a source or resource. People with a poverty
mindset use money as their source for living. They are not
trained how to use it as a resource like people who have been
trained to manage and grow money. As a result, true
prosperity is only a dream. They dream it, see it, taste it but
never get to attain it.

When money is your source you develop a love for
money; it is attached to your identity. You use it to make
people love you, to feel good about yourself, and to impress
imaginary people who are not interested in your well-being.

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First Timothy 6:10 (NLT) says, “The love of money is the
root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money,
have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves
with many sorrows.”

God created money as a resource. A tool to teach us to
live and love like Jesus. It is about developing a deep trust
in him. When you obey God with your money, he will
create opportunities for you to reap and sow. You are
sowing trust in the way you steward the money he has given
to you and will reap the reward of prosperity through the
return of your obedience. Your return can show up in many
ways. God knows how to bless you with more money,
wisdom, divine relationships, business opportunities and so
much more.

One of the many ways God showed the principle of
reaping from obedience is in the story when Jesus appeared
to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. Simon Peter and a
few of the disciples decided to go fishing. They were fishing
all night and did not catch one fish. Let us assume they were
fishing the same way they learned to fish in the past. Then
Jesus came and asked them, “Have you caught any fish?”
They replied, “No.” Jesus instructed them to throw their net
on the right side of the boat. They listened to Jesus and
threw the net out on the right side of the boat. They caught

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so many fish they could not haul the net back into the boat.
You can be going about life in your normal routine of trying
to create wealth and one act of obedience to the voice of the
Holy Spirit can change the whole game for you and shift you
into prosperity for the rest your life.

Wisdom Nugget
Wisdom and obedience are the keys to prosperity.

Pray: Holy Spirit, teach me how to use money as a resource
and give me opportunities to strengthen my trust in you
regarding my finances. I want to be blessed to be a blessing.
Show me every area in my life that I value money more than
you and align my heart back to you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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14Pursuit of Wisdom

JEALOUSY

PROVERBS 14:30
A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body;
jealousy is like cancer in the bones. (NLT)

I am sure many of us have been on the other side of
jealousy. I suffered from this terribly in high school. I
had girls jealous of me that I did not know. During that time,
I was too busy comparing myself to everyone else, so I did
not understand why they were jealous of me. The scripture
above states that jealousy is like a cancer in the bones. I
cannot even imagine the pain of cancer in the bones and how
fast it spreads. Painting this picture of jealousy is a serious
picture to paint. Jealousy is thoughts or feelings of
insecurity, fear, and concern over a lack of possessions or
safety. The expression of jealousy can show up in many
ways. Some ways you may be familiar with are feelings of

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anger or bitterness towards someone who is trying to impose
on a relationship with a friend or mate, feelings of anger
towards a person because of the material things they have or
feelings of anger toward attention people may receive.
When you are comparing yourself to people, it is easy to take
on a spirit of jealousy.

When you interact with jealousy, it means you are not
satisfied and content with what God has given you. God will
never fail or forsake you, but when you are bringing God’s
ability to provide for you down to the level of what other
people have, you have forsaken yourself. God knew you
would have this problem, that is why he said in Romans 12:2
(NLT), “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world,
but let God transform you into a new person by changing the
way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for
you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Knowing
God’s will for you keeps you from being jealous of anyone.

There are several stories in the bible where the spirit of
jealousy was in operation. You can look at the story of Saul
and David. This story is in 1 Samuel 18. First, Saul did not
like how close Jonathan (his son) and David were. The bible
said the soul of Jonathan and David became one and Saul
took David and would not let him return to his father’s
house. Second, Saul was angry because the women of all the

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cities of Israel sang, “Saul killed his thousands and David his
ten thousands.” This made Saul jealous and he did not trust
David from that day on. This spirit blinded Saul to his own
greatness. He was too busy worrying about David taking his
greatness away from him. This is what jealousy does. It has
you so focused on what someone else is doing, what they
have, and how you can be like them, that you lose sight of
how uniquely wonderful God made you, all the blessings
you have, and the great things happening in your own life.

Another story where this spirit is in operation is the
story of Leah and Rachel. Jacob loved Rachel. He worked
for seven years to marry her. When his seven years were
completed, he thought he was getting Rachel in marriage, but
Laban tricked him and gave him Leah instead. Jacob was
angry, but he worked another seven years to marry Rachel
because he really loved her. Leah was jealous because she
knew Jacob really loved Rachel, so she decided to have
Jacob’s children so he would love her more than Rachel.
That did not work. Rachel could not have children, she
knew Jacob loved her more than Leah, but she was jealous of
Leah’s children. This was a hot mess! A family full of
jealousy and two women going back and forth for the love of
Jacob. Neither one of them was content with who they were
to Jacob; they both wanted what the other one had. If they

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had been content with a peaceful heart, they could have had
a healthy thriving family.

Both of these stories are examples of how the spirit of
jealousy can express itself in different ways. It is always
destructive and out to hurt, separate, and destroy whatever is
in its path. It blinds people to God’s blessings. You have to
trust that you are enough, you have enough, and God knows
what is best for you. Celebrate who God created you to be,
thank God for your blessings, and honor God. Staying in
this posture, keeps you away from the destructive path of
jealousy gripping your heart.

Wisdom Nugget
Jealousy is masked hatred rooted in insecurity.

Pray: Holy Spirit, I repent for any way I have compared
myself to others that birthed a spirit of jealousy in me. Align
me to the love you have for me and others. Help me to be
content with who I am and what you’ve blessed me with. In
Jesus’ name, Amen.

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15Pursuit of Wisdom

JOY

PROVERBS 15:13, 30
A glad heart makes a happy face;
a broken heart crushes the spirit.
A cheerful look brings joy to the heart;
good news makes for good health. (NLT)

Joy is a fruit of the spirit. It is a character trait of God.
God, give us joy down in our hearts. Joy is when you
can laugh when the world is falling down around you
because your happiness is not based on your external
condition but your internal position. This feeling of great
pleasure and delight cannot be faked, it is birthed from the
Holy Spirit within you. In 1 Thessalonian 1:6 (NLT) Paul
states, “So you received the message with joy from the Holy
Spirit in spite of the severe suffering it brought you.” Many
people mistake happiness for joy. Joy is an emotion that can

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be described as exhilaration or delight that does not have to
be expressed only when something positive happens.
Happiness is an emotion that is expressed mainly when
something positive happens.

Joy can be sustained in positive or negative
circumstances. Joy satisfies the soul, that inner longing for
excitement. Joy is the root of genuine happiness. When you
tap into the joy down in your soul from the Holy Spirit, your
external emotional expression is happiness. However, there
is a happiness that is not rooted in joy, and can be rooted in
money, worldly pleasures, and materialistic gain. This is not
true genuine happiness. This is conditional happiness. This
is the happiness people try to do all sorts of things to get
from external sources. Joy is a permanent possession while
happiness is fleeting. When you have joy it stays, but
happiness comes and goes.

There were many people in the bible who had to choose
joy. The circumstance that life dealt them could have had
them bitter and angry for years. Joseph is one of those
people. His brothers sold him into slavery, and he was
thrown into prison. Now if that is not a reason to be bitter, I
do not know what is. However, the Lord was with Joseph in
all of these life circumstances that were not pleasant. Joseph
became a successful man. The Lord was with Joseph and

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extended kindness to him and gave him favor in the sight of
the chief jailer. “…and whatever he did, the Lord made it
prosper” [Genesis 39:2, 21-22 New King James Version
(NKJV)]. Can you imagine? There is no way Joseph could
have succeeded and lived complaining in these
circumstances. He chose his faith and joy in the Lord and as
a result, the Lord blessed him. It all worked for his good.
When the time came for him to be reunited with his brothers,
he was able to say, you meant evil against me, but God
meant it for good in order to bring about this present result,
to preserve many people alive (Genesis 50:19-20). Now this
is a posture of joy.

The story of the prodigal son is another story where the
father chooses to greet his son with joy. The father literally
runs to embrace the son who left and squandered his
inheritance. Most fathers would have been angry and would
not have accepted the son back home. During those times it
was not a common practice for fathers to accept their
children back with open arms when they left their families.
This father was different; he genuinely loved his son and was
filled with joy when he returned. This joy was on the inside
of the father to offer to the son when he returned. I can
imagine him feeling hurt and betrayed when his son left, but

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he did not let that get in the way of embracing the joy on the
inside of him and welcoming his son back home.

Sometimes we have to dig deep, deep, deep down to
find the joy on the inside of us, but it is there. Nehemiah
said in chapter 8 verse 10 (NLT), “Do not be dejected and
sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!” You have to
remember, “The joy of the Lord is your strength” all the
time. I have to remind myself of this often these days, living
through this coronavirus pandemic.

Wisdom Nugget
Choose joy today.

Pray: Holy Spirit, lead me on the path of joy. I make the
decision to choose joy and happiness in my life no matter
what circumstances present themselves. In Jesus’ name,
Amen.

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16Pursuit of Wisdom

PRIDE

PROVERBS 16:18
Pride goes before destruction,
and haughtiness before a fall. (NLT)

Pride, Pride, Pride! There are several ways pride can be
expressed. This scripture is speaking of the destructive
pride. Pride is a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction
derived from one’s own achievements, the achievements of
those with whom one is associated, or from qualities or
possessions that are widely admired. God is warning us of
the pride that has deep feelings of satisfaction from one’s
own achievements independent of him. This pride is self-
willed rather than God-willed. The pride that is a spirit that is
independent of God. It expresses itself in so many ways that
most of the time we are not aware a behavior or motive is
rooted in pride.

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God hates pride because it gives us a misplaced sense of
worth and identity. There is no room for God in your
thoughts when you are living your life in pride. You are the
source of everything you accomplish or attain. You take
credit for everything you do whether it is positive or
negative, you are the author and finisher of your own
outcomes in life. When pride comes, then comes disgrace,
but with humility comes wisdom (Proverbs 11:2 NIV).

Pride is at the root of all sin. Sin is not a behavior; it is
a mindset. Sin is a mindset of self-reliance and it disobeys
the Holy Spirit’s instructions. Your behavior is a symptom
of the root issue—disobedience. “There are six things the
Lord hates, no seven things he detests: haughty eyes, a lying
tongue, hands that kill the innocent, a heart that plots evil,
feet that race to do wrong, a false witness who pours out lies,
a person who sows discord in a family” (Proverbs 6:16-19
NLT). Take a look at all seven things listed, the center of
each one of them is pride. Pride looks down on others to
exalt self.

We can see the spirit of pride in operation with the
conflict between Nabal and David. Nabal was a man of
constant conflict, the bible called him Belial which means
lawlessness. David and his men protected the farms and
flocks. David asked Nabal to share some of his food and

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profit. Nabal was tight-fisted and did not want to share his
profit or food with David. David’s men came back from
Nabal without any payment, profit, or food. David was
drawn into conflict with Nabal and was planning to kill his
entire family.

Nabal’s pride and stubbornness would have destroyed
his family; however, his wise wife Abigail, without telling
her husband, rode off into the mountains to find David
before he reached their camp. Her plan was to ask David for
forgiveness for Nabal’s behavior. She took responsibility for
his foolishness and she thanked David for all the protection
he and his army had afforded them and pronounced a
blessing over David and his family. Her humility touched
David’s heart and saved her, and her family’s lives. You can
read the entire story in 1 Samuel 25. Humility will take you
further than pride will any day.

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Wisdom Nugget

Pride will cost you everything
and leave you with nothing.
Pray: Holy Spirit, expose any place in my heart that is
prideful. I humble myself and submit to you. In Jesus’
name, Amen.

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17Pursuit of Wisdom

LOVE

PROVERBS 17:9
Whoever would foster love covers over
an offense, but whoever repeats the matter

separates close friends. (NIV)

When I think about love, I imagine what Jesus did on
the cross from me. That was love, the sacrifice he
had to make for me to know what real love looks and feels
like. Love is a choice, not a feeling. When you make the
choice to love, the way it is expressed is different and this is
where the feelings are involved. You also have to make the
choice to receive love. It all boils down to one choice. Jesus
chose to love humanity, to give his life for you. Ephesians
2:4 (NLT) says, “But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved
us so much, that even though we were dead because of our

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sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead.”
That’s Love!

There are four types of love you flow from: Eros, Philia,
Storge, and Agape. Eros means sexual or romantic love.
This is a raw attraction to physical attractiveness. Philia is
friendly or brotherly love. This is love expressed between
friends. Storage is affectionate love. This is love naturally
expressed with family members. Agape is unconditional
love. This is the highest form of love. This is the love the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have for you. This is the love
you receive and give. Agape love covers all offenses and
fosters healthy relationships. It is when we try to operate out
of the other three types of love with Agape love that we
separate from close friends and family.

I have heard people say it is impossible to love someone
unconditionally. It is not impossible to love someone
unconditionally. God loves us unconditionally. Many
people believe this because they love people conditionally,
usually based on behaviors. They have a performance-based
love, so they believe God loves the same way. Your
behaviors do not impact his love for you! Your behaviors
impact your ability to receive his love, but not his ability to
give you love. Your behaviors impact your ability to receive
God’s love and other’s love because of the guilt, shame,

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condemnation, and judgement attached to your behaviors.
When you interact with yourself from this lens, you believe
God does too.

An example of this thinking is when Adam and Eve
became aware of their behaviors; they hid themselves
because shame came upon them. They became fearful and
afraid and thought God thought the same thing of them. God
did not stop loving them. His love for them made him aware
that something happened. They were no longer connected to
him. Their behaviors separated them from him because he
has no shame or guilt in him, only love. This is how your
behaviors separate you from the awareness of his love when
you have a performance-based relationship with God. God
looks at your heart. When your heart is aligned to him, he
does not have to worry about your behaviors because they
will align also. Allow him to love you unconditionally today
and out of his love will flow your ability to love others
unconditionally.

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Wisdom Nugget

There is no fear in perfect love.
Pray: Holy Spirit, guide me into the Father’s love. Show me
how to accept his love for me all the ways he wants to
express it to me, so I can be a vessel for you to express your
love to people. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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18Pursuit of Wisdom

GIVING

PROVERBS 18:16
Giving a gift can open doors;
it gives access to important people! (NLT)

Giving has always been a touchy subject in many
people’s households. Everyone has a different
viewpoint on the purpose and the need for giving. This
proverbs states that “giving a gift opens doors and it gives
access to important people.” This is wisdom. Allowing God
access to your heart opens doors of opportunity for you in
the supernatural realm, and in the natural realm it gives you
access to people. Giving brings you favor that money cannot
buy.

Many scientific researchers provide compelling data that
supports the evidence that giving is powerful and a pathway

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to personal growth and long-term happiness. In some of the
hardest times of my life, when I did not know how I was
going to make it, I looked for ways to serve people. Giving
back and helping others kept my mind off myself, opened
my eyes to other people’s struggles, and helped me see what
I was going through was not as bad as I made it out to be.
Giving to others oftentimes took the sting of pain away and
gave me joy in my heart.

There is something about giving that will get your focus
off your life and onto ways you can bless and help someone
else’s life. It really gives a balanced perspective to life.
Giving helps you to become a well-rounded person. Giving
becomes easier when you find your passion, give to
organizations that support your passion, you are proactive
and not reactive, or you are not giving out of guilt. God
loves a cheerful giver; he does not want you to give out of
obligation or for you to feel guilty if you don’t want to give.
God wants you to give because you want to, not because you
have to. Remember, he wants your heart.

A biblical example of giving is the parable of the Good
Samaritan. This story is found in Luke 10:30-37. A Jewish
man was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho and was
attacked by a group of bandits. People passed him by and
did not offer to help him. Does this sound familiar to you in

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today’s society? Many of us have become so desensitized to
helping people that we walk right past people in need of
help. Well the Good Samaritan did not walk past the Jewish
man; he felt compassion for him and soothed his wounds
with olive oil, wine, and bandages. Then he took the man to
an inn so he could be cared for. He even paid the innkeeper
to take care of him. This is an example of giving from the
heart. He was stopped in his tracks and compelled to give.
If you cannot be stopped in your tracks, you will never be
able to give compassionately. Giving compassionately is an
act of God’s love. He always wants to show his love through
you.

Wisdom Nugget
Giving is the secret to living a fulfilled life.

Pray: Holy Spirit, thank you for giving me life. Each day
show me how to give compassionately. Interrupt my day
and prompt me to give. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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19Pursuit of Wisdom

OBEDIENCE

PROVERBS 19:16
Keep the commandments and keep your life;

despising them leads to death. (NLT)

Obedience is better than sacrifice. How many times
have you heard this? I would hear it and have no idea
what it meant. Now that I understand the importance of
obedience, I understand this statement. Keeping the
commandments of God through your obedience is a matter
of life and death. It is important to your spiritual life because
despising it and being disobedient is death (separation from
God in your awareness). God wants you to be a cheerful
giver and sacrifice, but it is not more important than
obedience. Obedience is the act or practice of obeying. You
have to practice obeying God. The more you obey, the
closer you get to God.

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I am sure you have heard people say during times of
prayer or when they worship, “Lord, I want all of you, fill
me up,” or “I am all yours, Lord.” To have all of God
requires you to surrender all of you. You have to release
your interests and pleasures that don’t align you to who God
is calling you to be and take on God’s interests and
pleasures. This one act of obedience can ignite a closeness
with the Holy Spirit, who is on the inside of you, that you
will never forget. You will have such a heightened
awareness of his presence.

Obedience is never easy because it requires you to give
up something. Whatever you have to give up, taking on
Christ will always benefit you even if you do not see how it
does. Jonah was a great example of someone who did not
want to obey God and did everything he could to avoid
obeying what God asked him to do. The Lord called Jonah
to go to Nineveh.

Nineveh’s wickedness got God’s attention and he asked
Jonah to go there and prophesy against their wickedness.
Jonah abhorred the very idea of salvation for the Gentiles.
Jonah did not want to prophesy to Nineveh because they
might repent, and he did not want them saved. He felt like
his opinion and feelings about Nineveh were justified and he
did not want to obey God, so he jumped on a ship and went

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in the opposite direction of Nineveh to run from God. How
many times have you tried to run from God, like he could not
find you. Jonah’s disobedience did not only affect him, but
also the people around him. While on the ship, it began to
get rocked by the waves and the other occupants were in
distress. Jonah knew it was his fault, so he jumped into the
sea and God sent him into the whale’s belly until he was
ready to obey. You can read the entire story in the Book of
Jonah, chapters 1-4. The moral of this story is you cannot
run from God. You will have to obey one day. You will
continue to be stuck in the same conversation and cycle of
your life until you obey.

Wisdom Nugget
Obedience is the expression of faith.

Pray: Holy Spirit, guide me with your voice and I will obey.
Lead me into the awareness of your presence in me, and I
will follow you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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20Pursuit of Wisdom

DRINKING

PROVERBS 20:1
Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is

led astray by them is not wise. (NIV)

Drinking wine or any alcoholic beverage is a touchy
subject in our society today. Everyone wants to make
concessions for the freedom to drink alcohol. I am not sure
why Holy Spirit led me to write about this topic. I gather he
has something to say. This scripture states that whoever is
led astray by wine is not wise. Astray means away from the
correct path or direction. The Life Application Study Bible
says, “Whoever is intoxicated by wine is not wise.” The
phrase that is ringing loudly in my spirit is, “is not wise.”
When you make the decision to get intoxicated or to be led
astray by wine, it is not wise. Anything that impacts your
sound mind and clouds your decision-making and judgment

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in Christ is not wise. Satan will use wine and alcohol to
entice your flesh to do things you would not normally do
without the effects of alcohol in your system.

Alcohol consumption is not entirely condemned in the
bible. You will see references to drinking wine during times
of celebration in the old and new testaments. According to
Dr. Tony Evans’s commentary, “Wine was a common
beverage because of the lack of purification systems in
ancient times.” However, it is clear that there is sound
instruction in the word of God against intoxication. As
believers we are not to allow our bodies to be mastered by
anything (1 Corinthians 6:12). I always tell my daughters,
just because it is a good idea, does not mean it is a God idea.
It may be a good idea or feeling to drink wine, but it does not
mean God gave you the idea. You may have the right to
drink wine or alcohol, but it does not mean it is beneficial for
you.

There are many stories in the bible where the drinking
of alcohol impaired decisions and judgments knowingly and
unknowingly. Read the story of Jacob and his two wives
Leah and Rachel, and how their father used wine to get
Jacob intoxicated to trick him into marrying the wrong sister
in Genesis 29. Another story is in Genesis 19: 30-38, Lot’s
daughters got him drunk to sleep with him so they could

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have children. These stories are examples of people who
knew intoxication obscures judgment.

I have heard people say, “Jesus drank wine.” Yes, he
did, but look at the context of why Jesus drank wine: Water
was contaminated, and the wine was safer. It was fermented,
but not fermented to the same degree of today’s wine. The
scripture referenced for this devotion is not speaking about
whether or not you can drink, it is whether or not you should,
considering it leads to drunkenness and addiction to alcohol.
This is the root conversation people do not want to have.
Why do they feel the desire to drink the wine, and what is
the wine silencing in the person? However, this is not
something to go into a debate about; people must live by
their convictions. The Holy Spirit convicts, not people. My
personal conviction is to abstain from alcohol. However, if a
believer chooses to consume alcohol, it should be done with
moderation, self-control, mindfulness of causing anyone else
to stumble, without intoxication, and with the peace of the
Holy Spirit.

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Wisdom Nugget

Drinking can progress from free choice
to chemical addiction.

Pray: Holy Spirit, guide me by your wisdom so I won’t get
caught up in negotiating with social norms. Keep wisdom
before me so I do not indulge in anything that will master
me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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21Pursuit of Wisdom

QUARRELSOME

PROVERBS 21:9
It is better to live alone in the corner
of an attic than with a quarrelsome wife in a

lovely home. (NLT)

This proverb makes a strong statement. I remember
reading it in my early years of marriage, and my
husband saying this to me every time I could not let
something go that he did, keeping records of his wrong. I
was very quarrelsome. Quarrelsome people are always
starting heated arguments or disagreements, typically about
trivial issues. They are very confrontational, combative,
irritated, and like to bicker. This was me. I can look back
and laugh at this now, but in the moment, I could not see it
because my emotions were very unhealthy.

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Have you ever been around someone who likes to give
their opinions and advice, but if you give yours they try to
make it seem like you are wrong, they always have a rebuttal
for everything someone else offers in conversation, they do
not know how to listen and receive without feedback? This
is a quarrelsome person. These traits can also show up in the
expression of control. When you are trying to control
someone else’s behavior to make yourself feel safe. Many
people do this in relationships. Women or men will run the
other person away with this behavior. Like the scripture
says, it is better to be in the corner of an attic than to have to
deal with this every day from someone you love. It drains a
person mentally and emotionally; it makes them want to go
around other people to be appreciated and to feel accepted.

Quarrelsome and conflict are different, and they come
from a different heart posture. Quarrelsome is feeling the
need to always prove a point and trying to make someone else
wrong; whereas, conflict is a conversation to bring together
differences of opinions or viewpoints for understanding and
clarity.

In James 4:1-3 (NLT) it says, “What is causing the
quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the
evil desires at war within you? You want what you do not
have so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of

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what others have but you cannot get it, so you fight and wage
war to take it away from them. Yet you do not have what
you want because you do not ask God for it. And when you
ask, you do not get it because your motives are all wrong,
you want only what will give you pleasure.” The battle a
quarrelsome person has is their motives. They are blinded to
their motives. They act from their triggers and are not aware
of the root of their anger and emotional outburst to argue.
The answer to come out of being quarrelsome is the love of
God. When you get an understanding of how much God
truly loves you and it is not your behaviors that control that
love, you will understand how much he loves the people you
are in relationship with and you will honor them, their
thoughts, and will not have the need to control their
behaviors to feel safe.

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Wisdom Nugget

The root of quarreling is pride.
Pray: Holy Spirit, I rest in your love and protection, so I can
communicate freely without feeling the need to control the
conversation. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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22Pursuit of Wisdom

HEART

PROVERBS 22:17
Listen to the words of the wise;
apply your heart to my instruction.
For it is good to keep these sayings in your heart
and always ready on your lips. (NLT)

Heart issues are real! Aligning to wisdom is not always
easy when your feelings are screaming from the
impact of trauma and actions from people. When beginning
to write this devotional, I had to laugh because I had a
situation happen to me on the day I wrote this devotional that
challenged my heart posture. The feeling of being
overlooked when you have applied yourself and gone above
and beyond what you would normally offer, makes you
challenge why you do what you do, and who you are doing it
for, people or God. It is easy to say, I do what I do unto

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God, until what you do is challenged and someone else is
acknowledged instead of you. This is when it gets real, and
you have to apply your heart to the instructions of wisdom
that you know in order to keep a heart posture of God’s love.

Posturing your heart toward love in times when you feel
justified and right are the times you have to trust God’s
timing and plan. First Peter 5:7 (NLT) says, “So humble
yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right
time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and
cares to God, for he cares about you.” We often worry
about our reputation or image hoping to get proper
recognition from people, but we have to remember God’s
recognition counts more than people’s recognition. God is
able and willing to give us our heart’s desire according to his
plans and purposes in his timing. Obey the Holy Spirit’s
voice in your heart and you will have the courage to be
uniquely you, not comparing yourself with others or wanting
to be anywhere God has not prepared for you.

God always deals with your heart not your behaviors
because he knows the secrets of your heart (Psalm 44:21).
The heart is the organ that pumps the blood through the
entire body and supplies oxygen and nutrients to the tissues.
The heart is your lifeline. It is aligned with your conscience
and helps you make decisions towards uprightness or evil.

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God is always trying to get new wisdom, ideas, and his
desires into our hearts. You have to guard your heart for
God (Proverbs 4:23) by not giving in to the things in life that
will cause you to have a hard heart towards God and people.
An example of a person who had a hard heart is Pharaoh.
You can read all about him in the Book of Exodus. His
kingdom suffered many plagues due to his hard heart.
Pharaoh did not want to listen to the words of the wise
(Moses) or apply his heart to the instructions God was
sending through Moses, thus causing his heart to grow
harder and harder. The same thing happens to you when you
willfully ignore or disobey the voice of the Holy Spirit
speaking to you—your heart grows hard. The cure for a hard
heart is to pray Psalm 51:10 (NIV), “Create in me a clean
heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

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Wisdom Nugget

Allow God to fill your heart with his presence.
Pray: Holy Spirit, guide my heart in love and truth, and I
will trust you with my heart. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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23Pursuit of Wisdom

DISCIPLINE

PROVERBS 23:13-14
Don’t fail to discipline your children.
The rod of punishment won’t kill them.

Physical discipline
may well save them from death. (NLT)

This scripture has to be demonstrated with wisdom.
Taking it out of context to meet your own view on
discipline can be dangerous. Discipline is the practice of
training people to obey rules or a code of behavior using
correction to modify behaviors. The correction does not
mean to use an actual rod; it is a metaphor for using a form
of correction that inflicts pain. It does not have to be
physical pain; although the scripture does say a physical
discipline may save them from death. It could be emotional
or mental pain. Just enough pain that challenges them to

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think about their decision and to train them to make a wise
decision.

Love disciplines. God disciplines to get new
information to you. It is not to punish or attack you. The
discipline opens your awareness to the new information
aligning you to the way God sees and giving you the wisdom
to make wise choices. When you do not discipline your
child, you are not showing them the love God shows you.
God disciplines his children; therefore, you have to
discipline your child. The type of discipline that will benefit
your child is what you have to seek wisdom for. Every child
is different and what works for one child, may not work for
another child. Lack of discipline restricts a child from self-
control. They do not learn how to control their emotions,
cravings, behaviors, and desires. This leaves them powerless
to their inner convictions. When the Holy Spirit wants to
speak to them by way of their conscience, they will have
challenges settling themselves to listen to their inner
thoughts and making decisions that align with their faith and
upbringing.

Eli honored his sons above God. He would not
discipline his sons and as a result they did not honor God,
their father, or any other authority figures such as a priest.
Eli’s sons had a bad reputation. In order for priests to obtain

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their rightful portions of the sacrifices, it was customary at
the tabernacle for the priest’s servant to drive a large fork
into the pot in which the sacrificial animal was cooking and
to give the priest whatever portion of boiled meat the fork
happened to bring up (1 Samuel 2:13–14). Eli’s sons wanted
roasted meat instead of boiled meat. They did not want to
obey any laws, they wanted what they wanted. Whomever
presented the sacrifice had to give the sons the roasted meat
and if they refused to hand over the desired portions of meat
to the sons before the fat was burned, they compelled the
priest’s servant to take the meat by force. In addition to
coercion, the sons of Eli were also guilty of sexual
immorality with the women who gathered at the entrance to
the tabernacle. The Lord was very displeased with this sinful
behavior (1 Samuel 1:22). Eli knew the Lord was
displeased, but he still did not discipline his sons and as a
result, Eli and his house were cut off from God’s favor. That
is a big price to pay for not disciplining his sons. Discipline
is important. You must be disciplined and discipline your
children. Discipline empowers you and your children with
wisdom to make wise choices.

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Wisdom Nugget

Discipline keeps you growing.
Pray: Holy Spirit, I will not despise your discipline or be
fearful when I need to discipline my child/children. I will
discipline with your love and guidance uniquely for each
child. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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24Pursuit of Wisdom

ENVY

PROVERBS 24:2
Do not envy evil people
or desire their company.
For their hearts plot violence,
and their words always stir up trouble. (NLT)

Envy is an emotional response to thinking someone has
more than you, are better than you, or does not deserve
what they have. It is when you feel a way about what others
have that you do not have. The root of this emotion is
comparison. When you are not content with what you have
you compare. When you compare, it always puts you at a
disadvantage because you are looking outside of yourself for
validation. Only the Holy Spirit on the inside of you can
accurately validate you because he knows how God wired
you.

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Have you ever known a person who could not be happy
for anyone? They find something wrong with everything
people do or have. This person may have envy going on in
their heart. The devotional scripture states, “Don’t envy evil
people or desire their company.” I believe it says this
because they could taint your view of people if you agree
with their perspectives. It is possible to have nothing against
or any ill feelings towards a person. Then you get around a
person that has envy in their heart towards someone and they
start talking to you about the other person. You now have a
perspective about the person that you never had. You then
find yourself either fighting to not think of the person in
view of what the other person told you, or you start looking
at the person from the perspective the other person gave you
(envy). This is what it looks like when envy starts to enter
your heart towards someone. This can happen in many ways
and cause people to make decisions from an envious heart.

You see envy when Abel’s sacrifice was respected by
God and Cain’s was not. Cain killed his brother out of envy
(Genesis 4:3-8). Saul also envied David because the people
began to praise him and say, “Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his ten thousands” [1 Samuel 18 King James
Version, (KJV)].

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Envy divides people. It is not a sin to be tempted to
envy someone, but if you come in agreement with envy and
let it fester in your heart, it becomes destructive. Then it
becomes sin because you agree with it, disobey the Holy
Spirit, and then act on it. It takes conscious work to become
free from envy; however, it is worth the work so that you can
be thankful for what God has blessed you with and genuinely
rejoice with those who rejoice.

Wisdom Nugget
Envy counts other’s blessings and forgets its own.

Pray: Holy Spirit, keep me in the awareness of guarding my
heart against envy. I will cast down every thought that exalts
itself against the truth on the inside of me. Guard my eyes,
ears, and mouth from other people’s conversations that
embody envy. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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25Pursuit of Wisdom

PATIENCE

PROVERBS 25:15
Patience can persuade a prince,
and soft speech can break bones. (NLT)

Patience, this is a fruit of the spirit that many people do
not like developing through the sanctification process.
A familiar test where I think a lot of people feel the working
of this fruit is in traffic. Sitting in traffic is the worst, but it
exercises your patience. Patience is bearing pains or trials
calmly or without complaint. The “without complaint” is
probably the most difficult part to having patience. We live
in such a fast-paced world that having patience is incredibly
challenging for people. I have heard people say we live in a
microwave society; everyone wants everything right now,
and everything has to be done now. People’s faith in God’s
timing, ways, and love reveals how much patience they have.

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The truest test of patience is when your rights are
violated, when you are treated unfairly, and a pet peeve of
yours is triggered. These surely are justifications to get
upset; you have a right to be upset in these instances. The
bible feels differently. It says in Hebrews 12:1 (NLT),
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd
of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight
that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us
up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set
before us.” God has set patience before us. We have to take
hold of it and allow it to guide us in relationship with God
and others. You cannot allow the actions of people,
situations, and unmet expectations to trip you up.

Patience does not develop overnight. God’s power and
goodness are crucial to the development of patience. Your
patience is developed by resting in God’s perfect will, peace,
and timing in the face of trials and tribulations. There were
many people in the bible who had to exercise patience. A
person most people are familiar with is Abraham. God told
Abraham he would bless him and his descendants beyond
number (Hebrews 6:14 NLT). Abraham had to wait for this
promise. The next time you are in a waiting pattern and your
patience is being developed, do not ask, “Why me?” say

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“Why not me?” God said his love is patient in (1
Corinthians 13:4), just consider he is loving on you.

To be developed in patience is immensely powerful.
This devotional scripture says, “Patience can persuade a
prince.” This reminds me of Esther. She had to have
patience before she approached the king with her request.
She patiently had all the Jews to fast and pray for deliverance
and then risk her own life to approach the king to save the
Jews. She knew they were in a time sensitive situation, so
she chose to be patient, plan strategically, and then act.
Patience is not always the easiest to demonstrate, but we
have the hope of the Holy Spirit within us to work out God’s
favorable outcome on our behalf.

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Wisdom Nugget
Patience keeps a good attitude while waiting.
Pray: Holy Spirit, be in me and align me to the reality that
patience is the calm acceptance that things can happen in a
different order and timeframe than the one I have in my
mind. I open up my mind to your way. In Jesus’ name,
Amen.

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