29 The glory of young men is their strength,    but the splendor of old men is their gray hair. Sometimes we trust a little too much in our own strength.Just because someone doesn't look strong, doesn't mean they don't have a hidden strength of their own.Jesus makes us strong, especially in wisdom.Ultimately His wisdom wins out over mere strength.Gave gave us older people in our lives to share the...  Read More

26 A wise king winnows the wicked    and drives the wheel over them. God gave us authorities like Kings, Judges, and Police to use their skills to find those who commit crimes and do evil.We need to leave the judgment in the hands of those God gave it to instead of trying to blame others when we don't have the facts or skills or the wisdom to place the blame on anyone. Dear Heavenly Father,Help us...  Read More

10 Unequal weights and unequal measures    are both alike an abomination to the Lord. God can't stand any kind of measure that tells lies.Because we have selfish and self-centered hearts, we tend to measure our own heart and say we are doing fine; and we tend to measure others and tell them they aren't.Sometimes people can puff themselves up like plumpkins and think that they are doing just fine, ...  Read More

18 Plans are established by counsel;    by wise guidance wage war. "Plans are established by counsel; by wise guidance wage war"We need other people to apply their God-given wisdom to a situation.It is easy to trust human understanding instead of God's perspective.We need a lot of wise counselors in our life to help us to stop trusting our human understanding and lean on faith, like Team David lea...  Read More

3 It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife,    but every fool will be quarreling. It is easy to be drawn into foolish quarreling.When our pride is hurt sometimes it is hard to let go of the want to win.Jesus helps us lay down our pride and to trust Him.With the decision to walk away there is great honor. Dear Heavenly Father,Help us to not be pulled into foolish quarreling.Help us have t...  Read More

6 Grandchildren are the crown of the aged,    and the glory of children is their fathers. Sometimes we can feel ignored and out of place in our family.Parents and families get busy and we don't always take the time to tell each other how much we love each other.God gave us grandparents to show us just a fraction—just a glimmer— of His love for us.He made grandchildren a source of joy and pride for...  Read More

22 Do not say, “I will repay evil”;    wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you. We learned that it is really tempting to want to get back or get revenge on someone, but that isn't our right.We can tell the proper authorities of course, but we need to leave the situation in God's hands.It's His choice what to do with them: whether to bring the consequences down on them, or show them grace that l...  Read More

19 Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets;    therefore do not associate with a simple babbler. We learned that it is best to be careful who you trust with important information.It is also important that, before we share information about someone that:1. we know it is true and;2. we ask ourselves if it is our business to share it. Gossip is spreading hurtful news about someone.Gossip is a p...  Read More

21 An inheritance gained hastily in the beginning    will not be blessed in the end. It is hard to respect money we didn't earn.When money comes quickly, it is easy to spend it without thinking.We need Jesus to teach us to be thankful for everything we have and to help us have gratitude for everything that we have so that we too won't fall into the same sort of trap of temptation that Greybobby fe...  Read More

17 Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man,    but afterward his mouth will be full of gravel. Like the pommegrit fruit, sometimes things can look sweet and even taste sweet for a moment, but turn bitter, sour, or gravely with time.Doing something dishonest might feel good for a moment, but ultimately it catches up with us and is like gravel in our mouths, which is a reminder of another two peopl...  Read More

11 Even a child makes himself known by his acts,    by whether his conduct is pure and upright. Ultimately it took Red's actions to show that his character had changed, even when Miss Unau had judged him before she got to know him, Red didn't give up. He showed her who he really was.A reputation is an important thing.We need Jesus to help us live in such a way that people know us in a good way.Eve...  Read More

12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick,    but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. There are times when our expectations aren't met and it makes us heartsick.Other times we get to see hopes and dreams fulfilled which gives us joy.We don't always get the things we want, but the Lord always provides what we need.We need to keep our eyes on the things He has given us and all His many blessings that ...  Read More

6 Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love,    but a faithful man who can find? Some people talk a good game. They tell how great they are and how much they can do for you, but when it gets difficult their words don't match their actions.We need to pray that Jesus would give us a heart like His.Jesus keeps His promises, He is faithful when we are not faithful, and He always does what He says He...  Read More

5 The purpose in a man's heart is like deep water,    but a man of understanding will draw it out. Sometimes we need to take time to draw out what is going in in someone's heart, like Jesus did with the woman at the well.We need to pray that God will give us wisdom and insight into another's heart to help them understand their own. Dear Heavenly Father,When we know something is wrong with a friend...  Read More

4 The sluggard does not plow in the autumn;    he will seek at harvest and have nothing. You get out of things what you put in.If you sow little you don't get a lot, but if you sow much you reap a harvest. The same is true of kindness.We need to ask Jesus to help us sow kindness into the world, because our hearts are way too good at not sowing kindness. Dear Heavenly Father,Help us to put the work...  Read More

2 The terror of a king is like the growling of a lion;    whoever provokes him to anger forfeits his life. God has placed people in authority for a reason.We are to respect that authority over us, and we are to yield to it, as long as it isn't asking us to go against what God has told us to do, because the authority has been given the power to give us consequences for not yielding to it.Reflected ...  Read More

15 Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord,    and he will repay him for his deed. The Lord loves a generous heart.He loves a generous heart because His heart is generous.When He sees a generous heart caring for the poor, He blesses those who bless others.When it comes to paying the debt of the poor, God paid a debt we couldn't afford. He sent His Son to die in our place.We give to other...  Read More

15 Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep,    and an idle person will suffer hunger. We learned that putting things off and being lazy often leads to trouble.The Lord made rest, but He also made work.We honor God by the work of our hands.We need for Him to give us wisdom to know when to work and when to rest. Dear Heavenly Father,Help us not to avoid doing hard things, but to be diligent about them....  Read More

11 Good sense makes one slow to anger,    and it is his glory to overlook an offense. It is wise to be slow to anger and overlook an offense.Sometimes that pressure of overlooking an offense can build up.Jesus wants us to pour out that hurt to Him so the pressure doesn't build up in us.We weren't built to take that pressure, but He can. Dear Heavenly Father,Help us be slow to anger.Help us to over...  Read More

2 Desire without knowledge is not good,    and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way. Impulsiveness can lead to a bad end.We need Jesus to help us think things through with wisdom instead of looking before we leap.We need to pray for God to give us the "want to" to follow Jesus. Heavenly Father,Help us not to make quick decisions based on our desires.Instead, give us the "want to," the ...  Read More

13 If one gives an answer before he hears,    it is his folly and shame. We can sometimes be so focused on what we want to say or so focused on ourselves that we speak before we listen.Other times we think we know it all already and spout off an answer without really listening to what people need.We need to ask the Lord to give us hears to truly hear what others are saying and not answer (even in ...  Read More

10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower;    the righteous man runs into it and is safe. When someone challenges us or provokes us there are a lot of places we can run.We can run to mean words. We can run to challenge them. We can run to our own strength, but God doesn't promise safety there. God promises safety when we run to His Name, when we trust His character instead of our own strength.Let'...  Read More

24 A man of many companions may come to ruin,    but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Brothers (and sisters) are the kind of people who stick closely by our side in good times and bad.As great as brothers and sisters are, Jesus is the friend who sticks closer than any relative. He loves us, saves us, and defends us. Dear Heavenly Father,Help us to remember that Jesus is present ...  Read More

5 A faithful witness does not lie,    but a false witness breathes out lies. If we want to be a faithful witness, we need to tell the truth, even when it isn't comfortable.To do that we need to ask God to give us the courage. Dear Heavenly Father,Give us the courage to be faithful witnesses and tell the truth, even though there are times we want to hide the truth.Help us to do the uncomfortable th...  Read More