Daily Devotional For Monday, September 152, 2025

Good morning Southside. Hope your day is going well in the Lord. One of the benefits of aging is not that we just get older, we are supposed to get wiser and more mature. Yet, for so many adults, that never seems to be the end result. As they age, they get more juvenile and immature. God tells us in James 1:5, “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking” (NLT). Thinking we know and have all the answers is pride at its worst and immaturity at its lowest level. 

Yet, so many people, even Christians make decisions every day without even asking the Lord. Even with the best intentions, any of us can be prideful in making decisions. James reminds us that God never rebukes anyone for asking for wisdom because such a request comes from a humble heart dependent upon the Lord. There are times in all of our lives that are not qualified to make some decisions because they require God’s guidance.

One of my favorite Bible verses I memorized as a child is Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. (6) Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take” (NLT). What James 1:5 is to the New Testament, Proverbs 3:5-6 is to the Old Testament. In Proverbs 2:6, it says this, “For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth comes knowledge and understanding” (NLT). If you read all of Proverbs 2, you will see that God promises us protection and deliverance from evil as we seek His wisdom. When we come to Proverbs 3, it shows us the best way to live in every area of life that will result in “Shalom” – the Old Testament word for “peace.” 

Proverbs 2 & 3 God talks to us as His children. God inspired the writer to use the word “son” as a way to help us see that God our Father is the wisest of all and to refuse His wisdom is to take one down a very dark and painful path. Some in the Christian community see Proverbs 3 as offering some kind of health and wealth theology. They twist the truth to profit their own pockets using the name of God. I love how Old Testament scholar R. C. Ortlund puts it:  

“The prosperity gospel is coldhearted materialism in religious disguise. It chooses Bible verses selectively to fit a name-it-and-claim-it theory, but it does not love God. It wants to use God for selfish, infantile purposes” (Raymond C. Ortlund, Preaching The Word Bible Commentary, “Proverbs: Wisdom That Works,” p. 60). 

When such adherents to this false theology are challenged, they really do not have a biblical response. For example, consider these passages from Scripture:

• Philippians 3:7-11, “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. (8) More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, (9) and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, (10) that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; (11) in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” (NASB). The Apostle Paul says, “I have lost everything in order to have Christ and I am okay with that.” Paul was willing to give up everything just to know Jesus, which cost him his titles, positions in Judaism, and brought him unbelievable suffering, pain and persecution. For Paul, prosperity was not the acquisition of things, possessions, materialism, but acquiring a more intimate relationship with Christ.
• Matthew 8:20, “Jesus said, ‘The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head’” (NASB). This is Jesus talking here. He didn’t even own a bed, let alone house or a mansion on this earth.

Proverbs 3 promises wisdom from God to those who pursue God, not greedy materialism. Jesus suffered a horrible death on the cross and died a criminal according to Rome. Yet, His “prosperity” was the Resurrection. The Bible is clear that God sends both blessings and earthly sorrows on us at times. Look at Proverbs 3:11-12, “My child, don’t reject the Lord’s discipline, and don’t be upset when He corrects you. (12) For the Lord corrects those He loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights” (NLT). God’s discipline is sorrowful and tough when it comes, but it is necessary to keep us on the path of God’s wisdom. I close with the words of a former atheist turned Christian apologist, C.S. Lewis:

“The settled happiness and security which we all desire, God withholds from us by the very nature of the world; but joy, pleasure and merriment he has scattered broadcast. We are never safe, but we have plenty of fun, and some ecstasy. It is not hard to see why. The security we all crave would teach us to rest our hearts in this world and oppose an obstacle to our return to God; a few moments of happy love, a landscape, a symphony, a merry meeting with our friends, a bath or a football match, have no such tendency. Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home” (Source: C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain, p. 115).  – notice the title of Lewis’ book. It is not the joy of health and wealth, but the problem with pain.

Assignment: When it comes to major decisions in your life, work, marriage, family, church, and dreams, do you first seek the Lord’s wisdom or do you just make a decision? What does this tell you about your humility and dependence on the Lord? This week, when you have a major decision to make or a desire to move forward with something, ask the Lord first for wisdom in prayer and from His word. 

Scripture To Meditate On: Proverbs 28:26, “He who trusts confidently in his own heart is a dull, thickheaded fool, But he who walks in skillful and godly wisdom will be rescued” (AMP).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Lord, I must confess that I do not come to You enough for wisdom and guidance in major things and most of the time never in minor things. I just plunge head forward thinking I know what is best and prudent. Please forgive me for such pride. Please give me Your wisdom in every area of my life. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly