Pastor Podcast - Proverbs 3 - The Way of Wisdom

 Each week Pastor Mark takes time to go deeper and talk about the week's message!  If you have questions you'd like him to answer or hear more about please send those in by texting us at the link in the show notes!

You can also view video of this podcast and our Sunday sermons by visiting our YouTube channel!

https://www.youtube.com/@lifehousemot 

A familiar verse can become background noise until life turns the volume back up. After Pastor Mark returns from vacation, we open Proverbs 3 and sit with the line many of us memorized long ago: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart.” Not part of your heart. Not your Sunday-only heart. All of it. We talk about what it actually means to stop leaning on our own understanding and why Solomon’s repeated “my son” carries the weight of someone pleading for the people he loves to walk in wisdom and find real life.

From there, we get uncomfortably practical. “Acknowledge Him in all your ways” isn’t a quick shout-out to God before you do what you already planned. It’s a posture that reaches into your calendar, your relationships, your work ethic, and your finances. We dig into honoring the Lord with your wealth and firstfruits, why generosity is worship, and how giving God “seconds” with our time can quietly reveal where we’re compartmentalizing faith. We also draw a clear line between God’s promised blessing and the prosperity-gospel caricature, because Proverbs includes training and discipline, not a guarantee of easy days.

Finally, we connect the dots across Scripture, from Joshua’s “as for me and my house” to the Great Commandment, and we land where Proverbs ultimately points: Jesus Christ as the embodiment of wisdom, our confidence, and our peace when storms hit. If you want a simple next step, join us for the 31-day Proverbs reading plan, one chapter a day, and watch how it speaks into every area of life. Subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway.

New episodes every Monday
www.lifehousemot.com
info@lifehousede.com

Join us Sundays at 9 & 11 AM

Intro music by Joey Blair

Transcript

Welcome Back And Wildfire Smoke

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Well, hey Lifehouse family, welcome back to our Monday Times. We are so excited to be back on video with you. Pastor Mark's been on vacation, taking time with family. We soldiered on with some audio, but it's good to be back with the camera and have Pastor Mark with us. We missed you, but so glad to be back. It was a great vacation. Great vacation, but we get back into any fun god moments or anything. I mean, I know you dealt with all the smoke from the wildfires.

SPEAKER_01 0:42

Yeah, that was a little bit weird. The whole f we were away for two and a half weeks, and the first week we dealt with it felt like I was in the apocalypse, literally, that those Canada fires and where we were up in the upper peninsula of Michigan directly was affected. Yeah, and they said don't go outside, you know, and so we we stayed inside, and it was good still to be with family and just enjoy one another's company in that regard and read books and different things like that. But it was just good. Yeah. But it's good to be back. You know, it's good to be back. Good to rest, good to get away, but it's also good to return and come home. And I was really glad to be back in the house of the Lord with my church family yesterday

Why Proverbs Wisdom Is All-Encompassing

SPEAKER_01 1:18

for sure. Trevor Burrus, Jr. 100%.

SPEAKER_00 1:19

And so getting into Proverbs, obviously we've started the last few weeks. We talked with Oscar, talked with Mitch, laying the groundwork, the beginning of wisdom, the path of wisdom, but really foundationally, I would say the breadth of wisdom, especially here, in that it's all-encompassing. This is not just pick and choose type deals.

SPEAKER_01 1:39

Yeah, and I really, you know, I mean, I really knowing that the sermon was coming, I did meditate on Proverbs chapter three, really over the course of my entire uh vacation.

Trust God With Your Whole Heart

SPEAKER_01 1:48

And it's a familiar proverb, you know, specifically the verses five and six, trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, and all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your path straight. But I've always kind of thought of Proverbs, and specifically Proverbs chapter three, as very practical, and it is very practical. I mean, there's so many things. I I think I probably should have just preached on the first section and and instead of trying to tackle the entire proverb because there's just so many, you know, tidbits of wisdom, you know, sprinkled throughout. But but really the thesis of the whole proverb is that chapter three, verses five and six. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. And really what I can resonate with and is just the burden, you know, three times three sections, it's the the writer, King Solomon, addresses his son, my son, and then gives wisdom, imparts wisdom with each three sections. And and and I can I can feel that burden, not just as a father for his son. I have one son, I have daughters, so father for children, father for grandchildren, or grandfather for grandchildren. But I do think, as I prayed and meditate on it, can't say for sure, I don't think this was King Solomon directly addressing King Rehoboam, his son, who would eventually come, but really the king who in those days in the ancient Near East, kings would refer to their subjects as children, you know, my sons and daughters. And I think that that's what's going on here. King Solomon, you know, wasn't perfect, but he was a faithful shepherd as a king, and was really imparting the wisdom and the knowledge that he had, I believe, to the people that he loved, his people. And really what he was saying was trust in the Lord with everything, love the Lord. The greatest commandment is love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, might, and strength. And really, it kind of coincides with this. It's fascinating to realize and consider King David's last words to King Solomon that's recorded. And really, it was essentially the same thing like serve the Lord with your whole heart. You know, know the God of your father. And that really stuck out to me and I can't remember the specific reference, but it's first chronicles something, where David was saying, like, I want you to know my God. Like, and it's not just know about him cognitively, but know as in have a relationship, experience him, know the God of your father, know my God, serve him, worship him with all your heart. And so in sincerity, like, don't just go through the motions, don't be burdened. No, know him and serve and as in worship him.

SPEAKER_00 4:22

So I think the key is if we care about someone, we want them to live and walk wisely. You know, if how could you say you love someone and let but go do dumb things and you know live stupidly? Like if you have a son, daughter, especially, but even just friends, family, people that you truly care about, you're gonna want to impart wisdom. Like how would you tell someone, you know, like you know this is gonna go badly, why would you tell someone that? You know, so I think it's just seeing that connection of if we care about people, like we're going to impart wisdom. And as you said, the further we go in life, the more I learn that living according to God's design, living according to his perfect creative ways, we know we experience the distortion of the fall, but the more we seek to be faithful, that's where the blessing comes, and that's where living wisely results in that.

SPEAKER_01 5:17

But ultimately, I think that's the thing. You know, Proverbs is considered wisdom literature, and it is the impartation of wisdom. But ultimately, the goal is not wisdom. What I see here is that the goal is the life, eternal life. Right, right. Really, I believe salvation that flows from this particular wisdom, that flows from trusting in the Lord, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ with all your heart. And so I I see that burden so clearly here. And just, you know, and and this is really speaking against the idea of casual Christianity,

The Problem With Casual Christianity

SPEAKER_01 5:54

right? You know, this is the all-in, and this is where I think that there's a rub or kind of a contradiction or confusion within American evangelical Christianity, because I just see so much, and I'm not saying this in a condemning way, but it I'm burdened, casual Christianity. And where does that come from? So many people distracted, people compartmentalize their faith. It's something that they may do on a Sunday or here or there now and then, but that's just not what we see. I mean, King Solomon, so even just the instruction beyond trust the Lord, you know, acknowledge him in all your ways. You know, that's not just saying, like we do at the beginning of the service, we acknowledge our first-time guests. Like we say, hey, we want to welcome you. We acknowledge them. That's not what the acknowledge here is. This is saying, like, in everything that you do, consider the Lord. Like, Lord, what do you want? Like the the the high priest, or not the high priestly prayer, but the Lord's prayer, our five, you know, your will be done, Lord, your kingdom come. Right, you know, in all your ways, ask, like, God, what's your will? Like, what do you want? What's your agenda? Because I'm your servant and that needs to be my agenda. So consider the activities, what you do in light of who God is and in light of what he's done. You know, acknowledge him in not just some of your ways, not just your Sundays, not just on Christmas and Easter, but in all your ways, in all ways at all

Honoring God With Wealth And Firstfruits

SPEAKER_01 7:23

times. And then even beyond that, the more specific thing, I think this is something you're probably, because I know you're passionate about, honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of your produce, with your increase. You know, that even takes it up a notch, you know. I think that is by honoring the Lord with your wealth, that is acknowledging him. But it's not just, again, it's not just not giving him a nod or a tip like you would a waiter, like, thanks for your service, like I, you know, I appreciate you. No, it's really honor in the sense of like give glory, give credit, you know, like really, and I think that that's something that I think a lot of people don't do, you know. And I we we talk a lot about and you hear the word tithing within the evangelical church, and it's kind of a you know, it's oh that's the law, that's the old testament, but I'm passionate about tithing, you know, and I would imagine you are too. Oh, sure. As a father of children, as the pastor of a flock. And and of course, people are gonna say, Well, of course, you're gonna be passionate about tithing. But but no, it's not about if I wasn't a pastor, I can honestly say with the actual money, right? Yeah, like this is this is such a it's the right thing to do. God is worthy of worship. And if you trust him with all your heart, in a sense, believe and have faith in him, and if you know who he is and what he's done, like you will want to give credit to whom credit is due. You will want to honor him and specifically with your wealth, knowing that everything that you have, everything that you are is from him and that he's worthy of it. But there's blessing and the promises that can that surround all this is you know, he says, like your barns will be filled, your you know, your vats will be bursting with wine. Now, I guess what I want to address here is this isn't a prosperity gospel here. Right, right. There's a difference between the expectation of what you're

Blessing Without Prosperity Hype

SPEAKER_01 9:22

doing here. So it's even acknowledged in this thing because then he goes in to talk about discipline, like do not despise the Lord's discipline, right? And that's not just discipline in the sense of punishment, but training, preparation, and and and what he acknowledges here is even though you you trust in the Lord with all your heart, that doesn't mean it's always gonna be roses and rainbows. Like you might have to go through boot camp for the purpose or preparation of you being a part of what God wants you to be and how he's creating you. It's all formation, confirmation, and it's a good thing. And so he acknowledges here that it's not gonna be easy, it's not always roses and rainbows, but it is always good.

SPEAKER_00 10:03

And I think just picking up on a few threads, always, you know, and you mention not just on Sunday. Too many people are just Sunday and then I leave, and then I'm a six days, now I do what I want, or I'm just distracted in so many other ways, and that's not what we're told. And also I think, like you say, not even just giving of, you know, in your finances, super important, but finances, family, your career, your job, everywhere are you seeking God's will. And I think the heart and the mind tie together. If we truly believe God is who he says he is, he's good, he's faithful, he loves us, then absolutely, why would I not want to live according to his ways? And I can't remember if it was the podcast where Mitch and I talked about, but when we're teaching people how to study the Bible, giving of the first of your time and the best. And we acknowledge, like, hey, we're morning people. Maybe you're not, but what is the best time? Maybe is it your afternoon or evening that you're most focused? Spend the time with the Lord then. That's when you can really dive in and carve out that time when you know you're most focused instead of God just getting your seconds, you know. So again, I wouldn't have to be. She's not a morning person, she's up later. So hey, for her afternoon or evenings is a great time. For me, I am up early. So giving of that time in the same way, because we I've seen it both ways. There's been times where I'm like faithful financially, but selfish with my time. Like, okay, yeah, great, I'll give money, but don't bother me to sacrifice or serve or anything. So we have to tie it, like you say, all together and make sure that we're acknowledging in all of our ways, because it's easy to prioritize or try to be lazy in different areas and not allow that wisdom to penetrate our hearts.

Proverbs 3 Across The Whole Bible

SPEAKER_01 11:45

Yeah. I mean, and and really, you know, we always focus on verses five and six. But this is so congruent, I think that's the right word, with just so many other passages of scripture that I see. I think about, you know, Joshua and his burden for the people of God as they're going into the promised land and about to experience the blessing of God. I mean, he had delivered them from slavery and he reminds them and he says, like, in light of who God is, in light of what God has done, essentially leading up to Joshua chapter 24, he says, fear him. Right? Don't and not just like be afraid of him, like revere and respect him and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness, because that's what he's worthy of. Choose this day whom you will serve as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. I mean, this really is you this is what Jesus was referring to, the great commandment. Like, love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your strength, with all your soul. Like this is calling. You know, our theme for last year was faithfully different. And and this is, you know, I see that in here. Let not steadfast love and faithfulness, you know, forsake you. Like bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. This is calling. Yeah, it's not just faithfulness to anyone, this is faithfulness to God. This is Hesed, steadfast love, like loyal covenant love. Like let not your love for God forsake you. Like love the Lord your God with all your heart. So I I'm just fascinated as I thought and meditated on these this passage leading up to preaching it, just how it aligns with so many of the other exhortations from the Apostle Paul to Jesus himself, you know, and all the other prophets, you know, Joshua throughout scriptures. And it's just really, I don't know, I love how the bot the Bible is so unified, and I've never seen, you know, just how much uh Proverbs chapter 3 connects with so many other things before. And I just see it so clearly pointing forward to Christ, you know, and the gospel. You know, Solomon really didn't know exactly, you know, who Jesus, you know, would be. You know, he believed in the Messiah and that God would send the Son and his faith was in that Messiah. But this life that he refers to so often throughout, like, my son, I want you to experience life. I want you to find good favor and success in the sight of God and men. Like I want you to experience shalom, peace. I mean, this is this is what we find in Jesus Christ. And this is what the Old Testament reveals is the only way to experience true shalom, peace, and true life is in and through Christ. He is our life. And in fact, even our wisdom, like 1 Corinthians, I can't remember the exact reference, but uh 1 Corinthians 130, that's what it is, says uh that Christ is, he has become to us the wisdom from God. Jesus is our wisdom, and thereby we have life. You know, so so ultimately I just see the direct correlation in such a profound way that I've never seen before. That's fascinating. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:44

And you know he's the perfect image. So Jesus is the embodiment of wisdom of wisdom. So everything in Proverbs gives it to us, and then if we want to see it perfectly lived out, we can look to Christ. You know, so we have the ability. The only way you're really gonna look at this is if you look to Christ and see it modeled. And so it's putting that into play, not just hearing it, but then follow his example.

SPEAKER_01 15:08

Jesus left us an example that we might follow in his steps. And I even I I I ran out of time yesterday. I they were flashing me in the back like time, like you know, I mean, like we gotta get, you know, we gotta do the invitation. But the last point that I didn't really get to expound upon, like there's these, you know, do not do this, like, you know, and and really what those exhortations and specific I don't I don't even know how to ex just uh tidbits of wisdom. It all aligns with, I would say, you know, the example of Christ, you know. I mean, be men and women of integrity, be men and women of compassion and and character. Don't be, it has a lot of don't be this, don't be this, don't be this. And really what it is saying in summary is don't be, you know, a man who doesn't exhibit integrity and character. Like live in faithfulness to God and love your neighbors well, essentially. You know, love one another well. 100%. Essentially, is what it's saying. And and who did that better than anyone? Jesus Christ. And so, yeah, again, pointing forward to the example and the person of the Lord Jesus

Daily Wisdom And The 31-Day Challenge

SPEAKER_01 16:12

Christ. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 16:12

And I know we're gonna get into it, and and like you said, the last point being the daily what we'll learn. And so just hopefully many are taking the 31-day challenge. You know, you can do all of Proverbs, just one chapter a day. Yeah. It's really gonna address, you know, pretty much every area of life of what that looks like. But I even see a couple pastor marquisms, you know, delayed obedience is not obedience in verse 28. You know, don't say to your neighbor, you know, tomorrow when you could do it today. You know, so we're gonna see a lot of those things that we know are so applicable in our daily walk. And so that's where if you're seeking daily wisdom, Proverbs in relation to what we know in our identity in Christ is the way to go.

SPEAKER_01 16:54

You know, I I didn't get to really expound on it, but I have to point out this one. This this is one that just really blessed me that I've never seen before until studying for the sermon. But but in verse 25, when it says, Do not be afraid of sudden terror or the ruin of the wicked when it comes, for the Lord will be your confidence, verse 26, and will keep your foot from being caught. I see that so clearly pointing forward to judgment day and the sudden return of Christ. I mean, you know, Jesus throughout his earthly ministry says, like, be ready, like I will come like a thief in the night, like when you don't expect it. But as Christians, as believers who trust in the Lord with all our hearts, like there is therefore no condemnation. Like we have nothing to fear. Perfect love casts out fear. God does not give us a spirit of fear, but of love. And so we're to live in light of his second coming each and every day, and not be hindered, but to be obedient and not delayed obedience, but fully obedient. I I saw that and it just really blessed me too. But 100%.

SPEAKER_00 17:55

And that's the the straight paths, right? When we're living in Christ and following that path according to his ways. It makes our path straight. Does it mean the path is always easy? No, but now we have the peace, you know, the peace of living out our relationship with God and according to his will for our life, the the way he designed us. When we're in alignment, it makes all the difference in having that daily peace and living that out. You know, it's when we start to stray and think my ways are better, or I got this figured out. That's when the peace starts to stumble, and now we're starting to go all over the place. So exactly like you say, and even when those storms come, if we're living wisely in that posture, walking in wisdom, storms won't seem so bad, right? You know, we have that faith and confidence.

SPEAKER_01 18:46

Well, because he's with us always. You know, we know that that his presence, he's with us. He will never leave us or forsake us again. It doesn't mean you know that it's going to be easy. You know, Jesus promised, you will experience trials and tribulations, but I am with you. Take heart, for I've overcome the world. Greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. We can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. My God shall supply all your needs according to his riches and glory. I mean, I could go on, but but we have Jesus and so that we need not fear. And we can have confidence and live out our days in him and for him. And it will not be easy, but it will, in essence, go well because it will be, you know, all things work together for good for those who love God. You know, we might be disciplined and we might be going through things, but it's for a purpose and conforming us into the image of Christ, and that's what we want.

SPEAKER_00 19:36

So five and six great verses to be committing to heart. You know, I think these are the ones that are can be a daily encouragement. You know, this would be like my top five like Bible verses to memorize.

Familiar Verses With Fresh Weight

SPEAKER_00 19:48

Yeah. Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Short story. There was a guy I worked with back in my engineering days, it was a real blessing. He was a super strong believer, real encouragement to me, and this was his verse. Like he would come into my office like at least once a week and just cite this one. So, you know, it's just how he lived his life, and he was just uh a guy who worked really hard, you know, was one of the best employees I had in terms of trusting his work ethic because he valued wisdom, he valued his faith. It was something that allowed him to live differently. And so I always took big encouragement. And this was like his go-to, his name was Jimmy Murray, unfortunately, passed away a few years ago. But just great impact. You know, people we work with, you know, this could be one you can share with other people.

SPEAKER_01 20:30

I mean, I think though, just like John 3.16, you know, everybody knows John 3.16, even non-Christians, for God so loved the world that he gave his only thing. But even with this, and and just in case people didn't know, actually our children's ministry theme verse for the 15 years that we've been in existence has been Proverbs chapter 3, 5 and 6. And I remember learning this passage in Proverbs 3, 5 and 6 and just a silly children's song. And I think because of that, like I think the weight or the the I don't know what the word is, but the power, the the gravity of the truth that this is, you know, I think was lost on me because I kind of associated it with that trite little, you know, catchy children's song. No, this is truth and this is powerful. And I think I I'm not taking it away, I think that was good. I'm glad that I learned it through a children's song as a kid, you know. But I I think that we just need to be very careful to understand that the word of God, you know, regardless of how we ever learned it, is the word of God, you know, and that that it's powerful. And I'm I'm just thankful that this is, yeah, I would say if you're gonna learn five verses, let this be one of them, you know, and again, understand and know if you're like me and have known this for so long, there's the saying familiarity breeds contempt. You may be so familiar, you know, with this passage, but don't let that familiar familiarity take away from the weight. And the significance of what's being expressed here and the burden with which King Solomon expressed this to his son, my son. Like, trust in the Lord. Don't trust me. Trust in the Lord. Don't follow him, her, and don't put your faith in anything else. Put your trust, your faith in the Lord, the one true God, Yahweh, right? And I that's my heart for the people that I love too, for my kids, my grandkids, and for you, my church, to do exactly what three, five, and six says. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_00 22:33

There's serious implications. You know, and we don't want to lose those just because we sometimes you memorize it and you don't really think about it. So keep in mind that implication, what this means in all areas of our life and not losing sight of that. Absolutely.

Proverbs As A Bridge To Nonbelievers

SPEAKER_00 22:49

So looking forward in Proverbs coming up this week. Any things we have to look forward to as we're journeying through the coming weeks in the series? Aaron Powell Nothing comes to mind right now. Stay tuned for Sunday. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_01 23:01

You'll be as surprised as I am when the Lord directs. But I got some studying, praying, preparation to do, and I'm looking forward to preaching. I'm glad to be back. I definitely am.

SPEAKER_00 23:12

Aaron Ross Powell Awesome. And if you're journeying through the reading plan, you should be getting into the teens, mid-teens this week, into the 20s. So prayerfully, like Mitch shared, the first nine is the encouragement, and then it really gets into all of that wisdom that we can find and seeing some of those consistent themes when it comes to family, finances, relationships, just everything. I know when we do financial peace, a lot of the verses that we use come from Proverbs and just the wise things we can do. So continuing that.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

Just kind of a practical, you know, I have found in connecting with non-believers, you know, specifically successful businessmen, you know, and people that are, you know, interested in growing, educated, you know, Proverbs is a bridge, you know, because I think even they can acknowledge the wisdom that's found and, you know, want to be wise, they want to learn. I mean, that's a good thing to do. And so there have been times over the course of my faith where I've been able to connect with non-believers through the book of Proverbs. Sure. I think it is a very good and practical, you know, it I think there's things that even non-believers can understand. And yeah, you can you see Christ, as I talked about earlier, like Jesus is in Proverbs. And so it's a good evangelistic approach to kind of say, hey, like you want to talk about the book of Proverbs, or let's meet for coffee, you know, and go through maybe a a proverb a week or something like that. And let's let's talk about like what do you see? And you can say, I see Jesus in here, you know?

SPEAKER_00 24:43

Trevor Burrus, Jr.: We start to see where wisdom comes from. So everybody's really seeking something along those lines. Where are we gonna get that? So it could be a good, like you say, bringing into that direction.

SPEAKER_01 24:55

And as a father and as a husband, there's not a year that I can recall not spending time in the book of Proverbs. Like just keep and yeah, you can read it once and twice. And the more you read, the more you find this is treasure, you know, and the more you dig in that sand, like the more gold essentially that you're gonna find in the book of Proverbs. So maybe you've read it one, two, three times. Keep reading it. Keep going through the book of Proverbs.

SPEAKER_00 25:19

The Lifehouse family, thanks for joining us, and we'll look forward to seeing you next week.