G'day friends, it's Pastor Joe here. In this part of our study on Prevailing Proverbs, we delved into divine wisdom from Proverbs chapter 2. God's wisdom offers heaven's solutions to earth's problems—a godly response to human matters.

We read from the Amplified Bible, verses 11-19, where discretion watches over us and understanding keeps us safe. This protects us from evil people: those who speak perversely, lie, forsake upright paths for darkness, rejoice in evil, and are devious. It also warns against the "alien woman" who flatters, abandons her covenant, leading to death and no return to life's paths.

These wrong people embody evil thinking, speech, actions, and lifestyles that, unchecked, evolve into tragedies. I've seen this in 40 years of ministry—problems spiralling from ungodly decisions, leading to personal and multi-generational failure. Yet, we can circumvent this through God's wisdom, highlighting differences and guiding us back.

The alternative? Verse 20: Walk in the way of good people, keeping to righteous paths. Build life, community, and nations with them. Church attendance is crucial—mingle with like-minded believers, sharing journeys. If between churches, attend eight consecutive services to discern fit. Provision in God is geographical, like Elijah at Cherith and Zarephath.

From Acts 2:40-42, Peter urged saving from a perverse generation; 3,000 were baptised, devoting to teaching, fellowship, breaking bread, and prayers. Hebrews 10:25 warns against neglecting assembly, urging encouragement as the day approaches.

Maintain upward-striving relationships; assist those needing it. Life's tough—seek godly connections and avoid unchanging wrong people (unless unavoidable, like marriage—then pray and build inwardly).

Verse 22: The wicked are cut off; treacherous rooted out. Darkness won't produce light. Praise God for His blueprint via wisdom for a successful life, protecting from evil.

Moving to Proverbs 3:13-20, happy is he who finds wisdom and understanding from God's word and experiences. Mix it up in life—I've faced unemployment, lost a house, but persisted like job-hunting with 25 resumes daily. Never give up, inspired by Elon Musk's rocket trials.

Wisdom is more precious than silver or gold—her ways pleasant, paths peace. She trees life, brings favour. God founded earth by wisdom, established heavens by understanding.

Pray: Show me blind spots, wrongs to fix. Homework: Check gold/silver prices—wisdom's gain exceeds them.

We'll continue next week. God bless—sign up at livingsuccess.org for podcasts.

G'day friends, Pastor Joe here from the Helping You Become podcast. Thanks for sharing this transcript from our study on Prevailing Proverbs. Here's a summary in under 4000 characters:

In this episode, we dive into Proverbs chapter 2, emphasising the pursuit of godly wisdom. I begin with a prayer, thanking God for His Word and asking the Holy Spirit to guide us into revelation knowledge. Reading verses 1-10, I highlight the call to receive God's words, treasure His commandments, and actively seek wisdom like hidden silver.

Key points include making our ears attentive and hearts inclined to understanding, crying out for insight. The reward? Understanding the fear of the Lord and gaining knowledge from God Himself. Verse 6 differentiates divine wisdom, knowledge, and understanding from earthly, experience-based wisdom.

Verses 7-8 are powerful: God stores wisdom for the righteous, acts as a shield for those walking in integrity, guards paths of justice, and preserves His saints. I define wisdom as heaven's solutions to earthly matters, providing protection—even from our mistakes—through integrity.

I reference Joshua 1:8 on meditating on the Word for success, and stress remaining teachable and reachable by the Holy Spirit. As we build wisdom, gratitude grows, leading to confidence in verses like Romans 8:31-32 (if God is for us, who can be against us?) and Hebrews 13:5-6 (God won't forsake us).

Verse 9 promises understanding righteousness, justice, and fair dealing in every area. Verse 10 says wisdom enters the heart, urging us to guard it diligently (Proverbs 4:23). I share a story of watching a skilled builder, likening godly wisdom to a tool used expertly.

We wrap up noting our dedication at Living Success to helping you become all you can in Christ. Check livingsuccess.org for free resources.

G'day friends, it's Pastor Joe here. In this message from Proverbs 1 and 2, I emphasised the vital importance of seeking God's wisdom—practical, intellectual, moral, and probing—for navigating life's rapid changes. Wisdom cries out in the streets, urging us to turn from simplicity, scoffing, and foolishness. If we heed her call, she'll pour out her spirit and reveal her words to us.

I encouraged everyone to actively pursue this wisdom by creating space in daily routines: rise an hour earlier, cut back on scrolling (averaging 108 minutes daily in some stats), and dedicate two hours a day for 90 days to Bible study and prayer. This investment can transform lives, equating to significant value if we consider time as money—up to $175,000 in three years at $40/hour for excessive phone use.

Proverbs 2 personalises it: "My son" (or daughter), if you receive my words, make your ear attentive, cry out for insight, and search for wisdom like hidden treasure, you'll understand the fear of the Lord and find knowledge of God. This reverent fear keeps us humble, guards against pride, and propels an upward-focused life.

We must take our Christianity into the marketplace—join clubs, committees, and community activities to shore up society amid alarming paces of change. Every day in Scripture is a treasure hunt, full of heaven's solutions for earthly matters.

Remember, we're co-labourers with God, His field under cultivation. Embrace this quest disciplinedly; it's conditional on our willingness. For resources, visit livingsuccess.org—subscribe to podcasts, share the "So What's Next?" study, and let's aim to distribute a million copies.

God bless you abundantly as you pursue His wisdom.

G'day, friends. This is Pastor Joe here, sharing insights from our ongoing study in Proverbs. Over my 40 years in ministry, I've seen that life's challenges boil down to seven key questions: who, which, what, where, when, why, and how. Every situation fits into these, and Proverbs offers a foundation to answer them through God's wisdom.

Divine wisdom is heaven's solutions to earthly problems – the Word applied to navigate life's trials successfully. It's about doing and saying the right thing at the right time.

We prayed for instruction, righteousness, correction, and encouragement, thanking Jesus as our wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:30).

Diving into Proverbs 1:2-3 (Amplified Bible): "That people may know skillful and godly wisdom and instruction, discern and comprehend the words of understanding and insight. To receive instruction in wise dealing and the discipline of wise thoughtfulness, righteousness, justice and integrity."

The Hebrew word "yada" for "know" means deep acquaintance and comprehension. This wisdom is accessible to all people – no age, background, or status barriers. God values everyone equally.

We control how much of heaven's solutions we release into our lives. As co-labourers with God (1 Corinthians 3:9), we obey His lead. There's a big difference between good ideas (which we fund) and God ideas (which He funds).

To access this wisdom, develop deliberate plans: routines, disciplines, and habits. Ideally, parents impart it early, but if not, start today. Examine your priorities and time usage – where you spend time is where you spend life.

I know life's busy with family, work, and commitments – Indra and I raised four daughters while pastoring, running a global radio ministry, and working secular jobs. But structure routines prayerfully; there's always time for essentials.

I recalled a Jordan Peterson podcast about a man equivalent to 10 PhDs, with patents and 12 companies – it's about how we use time. Commit to God's wisdom as a pathway for and through life.

Expanding to verses 2-6: We're granted access to the divine pathway for effective living – practical wisdom for daily to long-term matters, intellectual wisdom (like Paul's scholarly training), and moral wisdom for strong foundations in individuals, families, and nations.

It's open to the simple (prudence), youth (knowledge and discernment), and wise (to increase learning and understand enigmas). Stay teachable; probing wisdom adapts to changing marketplaces, ideologies, cultures, technology, and geopolitics – like AI advancements today.

We'll explore more next week. Heaven's answers to earthly matters!

God bless you all. Indra and I are dedicated to helping you become all you can in Christ. Visit livingsuccess.org to subscribe for free podcasts.

In this episode of Helping You Become, we dive into 1 Kings 3, starting from verse 4. Solomon offers 1000 burnt offerings at Gibeon, highlighting the cost of serving God—much like Jesus' call in Matthew 16:24 to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him. We explore self-denial through Philippians 2:3-8 and Luke 9:23, emphasising daily commitment and humility.

God appears to Solomon in a dream, offering anything. Solomon praises God's mercy to David for his faithfulness, righteousness, and upright heart, leaving a legacy even his children admire. Acknowledging his own youth and inexperience (verse 7), Solomon asks for an understanding mind and hearing heart to discern good from evil and judge God's people wisely.

Pleased, God grants unparalleled wisdom, plus unasked riches, honour, and long life if Solomon obeys like David. This stems from humility and aligning with God's heart—identifying his greatest need relative to his calling.

We learn to pinpoint our own greatest needs in serving Jesus, seeking His kingdom first (Matthew 6:33). Solomon's story shows obedience and right heart attitudes bring exceptional blessings, as seen in 1 Kings 4:29-30.

Friends, reflect: What's your greatest need in your calling? Go to livingsuccess.org for free resources to help you grow in Christ. God bless!

G'day friends. In this episode of Helping You Become, we delve into 1 Kings chapter 2, exploring divine wisdom through King Solomon's story. David, nearing death, charges Solomon to be strong, walk in God's ways, and keep His statutes, commandments, precepts, and testimonies for prosperity – echoing God's words to Joshua. David humbly focuses on obedience to God, not his own achievements.

We reflect on the extraordinary success of Joshua and Solomon, who fully adhered to God's charge. This prompts questions: What life could we lead if fully committed? How do we cut through distractions like cultural noise to prioritise Jesus?

I challenge the notion of work-life balance, noting biblical figures like Jesus and Paul were driven by their God-given tasks, not clock hours. In our prosperous age, let's leverage disciplines and routines diligently. 2 Chronicles 16:9 reminds us God supports those with blameless hearts towards Him.

The promise in 1 Kings 2:4 requires walking in truth with full heart, mind, and soul – not cultural fads. Commitment must align with God's priorities; fans show full commitment to sports, but where do we stand with Scripture?

Track your time for a month against true priorities: prayer, worship, service. If TV outpaces prayer, there's an issue. Honest self-examination honours God and invites His wisdom.

We touch on 1 Kings 3:3 – Solomon loved the Lord, walking in David's statutes. True love for Jesus (John 14:15) shows in obedience and prioritising His Word.

We're out of time, but join next week for more on prevailing Proverbs. Check livingsuccess.org for free resources like "So What's Next" – a study on steps after committing to Christ. Share it widely!

G'day friends, it's Pastor Joe here from the Helping You Become podcast. In this episode, we dove into Proverbs chapter 4, emphasising the pursuit of God's wisdom as the principal thing in life. We explored verse 7 from the Amplified Bible: "The beginning of wisdom is: get wisdom, skillful and godly wisdom! For skillful and godly wisdom is the principal thing. And with all you have gotten, get understanding, discernment, comprehension, and interpretation."

I unpacked the Hebrew word for "principal" – re'shiyth – meaning the first in place, time, order, or rank, like firstfruits or the chief thing. We must deliberately seek, learn, and apply God's wisdom daily, and crucially, pass it on to our children and grandchildren from a young age. Imagine if our parents had ingrained this in us from three years old – it would become first nature, creating unstoppable momentum towards living in God's ways.

I reflected on how different our lives could be, drawing from Luke chapter 2, where young Jesus at age 12 astonished the teachers with his depth of scriptural understanding. Perhaps Mary taught him systematically. This isn't pie in the sky; it's a practical step to build godly wisdom into generations.

Moving on, verses 8-9 promise that prizing wisdom exalts us, bringing honour, grace, and glory. But remember, true wisdom is grounded in the reverent fear of the Lord (Proverbs 1:7), sourced from God through His Word and relationship with Jesus, guided by the Holy Spirit.

In verses 10-12, the fatherly plea is clear: "Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings, and the years of your life shall be many. I have taught you in the way of skillful and godly wisdom... When you walk, your steps shall not be hampered; your path will be clear and open; and when you run, you shall not stumble." This contrasts with the wicked who stumble in darkness (Proverbs 4:19). God's wisdom separates us from worldly ways, clearing obstacles like pushing through brambles to reach a trout stream – a memory from my New Zealand youth!

We then turned to Deuteronomy 4:5-6, where Moses instructs: "Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances... So keep them and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.'"

The process is key: Learn God's ways first, then apply them, demonstrate wisdom publicly, and it becomes a powerful witness – even evangelising nations through biblical principles in action. What an opportunity to raise a generation steeped in God's wisdom from toddlerhood!

Join me next week as we continue this study. Head to livingsuccess.org to subscribe – it's free, with heaps of resources to help you grow in Christ. God bless you all!

The story of Christmas is far more than a historical account or a sentimental holiday tradition. It is a living, breathing source of profound guidance for our daily lives. It teaches us to see the end in the beginning, to nurture our calling, to act with consideration, to eliminate what holds us back, and to awaken to the work God is already doing.

This Christmas season, as you reflect on these lessons, what is the one thing God is asking you to wake up to?

1. The Christmas Story Begins with the Ending in Mind

2. Your Calling is a Sacred Pregnancy

3. Even Good People Can Get It Wrong

4. Your Future is Often Decided by What You Eliminate

5. It's Time to 'Wake Up' to What God is Already DoingConclusion