Proverbs 6 LESSONS FOR LIFE FROM PROVERBS 6 #1 – LOOK AFTER WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN YOU vs 1-5 #2 – WORK AND PREPARE FOR THE FUTURE vs 6-11 #3 – DON’T GET SUCKED IN BY BAD PEOPLE vs 12-15 #4 – DON’T DO THE THINGS THAT GOD HATES vs 16-19 #5 – TAKE CONTROL OF ILLICIT SEXUAL DESIRES vs 20-35

Proverbs 5 The Faithful Spouse Sin is attractive (v1-6) Sin is to be avoided (v7-20) Sin ensnares (v21-23)

Listen, Look and Live by Wisdom (Proverbs 4) Listen to Wisdom (v1-9) Look for Wisdom (v10-19) Live by Wisdom (v20-27)

4 questions from Proverbs 3:1-10 How can I find peace? (1-2) How do I form good relationships? (3-4) How do I find direction for life? (5-6) Will God make me healthy and wealthy!? (7-10) Proverbs 3:1-10 (NIV) Wisdom Bestows Well-Being 3 My son, do not forget my teaching,     but keep my commands in your heart, 2 for they will prolong your life many years     and bring you peace and prosperity. 3 Let love and faithfulness never leave you;     bind them around your neck,     write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 Then you will win favor and a good name     in the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart     and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him,     and he will make your paths straight.[a] 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;     fear the Lord and shun evil. 8 This will bring health to your body     and nourishment to your bones. 9 Honor the Lord with your wealth,     with the firstfruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing,     and your vats will brim over with new wine. Footnotes: [a] Proverbs 3:6 Or will direct your paths

Proverbs 2  (NIV) Moral Benefits of Wisdom 2 My son, if you accept my words     and store up my commands within you, 2 turning your ear to wisdom     and applying your heart to understanding— 3 indeed, if you call out for insight     and cry aloud for understanding, 4 and if you look for it as for silver     and search for it as for hidden treasure, 5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord     and find the knowledge of God. 6 For the Lord gives wisdom;     from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. 7 He holds success in store for the upright,     he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, 8 for he guards the course of the just     and protects the way of his faithful ones. 9 Then you will understand what is right and just     and fair—every good path. 10 For wisdom will enter your heart,     and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. 11 Discretion will protect you,     and understanding will guard you. 12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men,     from men whose words are perverse, 13 who have left the straight paths     to walk in dark ways, 14 who delight in doing wrong     and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, 15 whose paths are crooked     and who are devious in their ways. 16 Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman,     from the wayward woman with her seductive words, 17 who has left the partner of her youth     and ignored the covenant she made before God.[a] 18 Surely her house leads down to death     and her paths to the spirits of the dead. 19 None who go to her return     or attain the paths of life. 20 Thus you will walk in the ways of the good     and keep to the paths of the righteous. 21 For the upright will live in the land,     and the blameless will remain in it; 22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land,     and the unfaithful will be torn from it. Footnotes: [a] Proverbs 2:17 Or covenant of her God

Gaining (v2) Receiving (v3) Giving (v4) Listening (v5) Understanding (v6) The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (v7) Proverbs 1:1-7 New International Version (NIV) Purpose and Theme 1 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: 2 for gaining wisdom and instruction;     for understanding words of insight; 3 for receiving instruction in prudent behavior,     doing what is right and just and fair; 4 for giving prudence to those who are simple,[a]     knowledge and discretion to the young— 5 let the wise listen and add to their learning,     and let the discerning get guidance— 6 for understanding proverbs and parables,     the sayings and riddles of the wise.[b] 7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,     but fools[c] despise wisdom and instruction. Footnotes: [a] Proverbs 1:4 The Hebrew word rendered simple in Proverbs denotes a person who is gullible, without moral direction and inclined to evil. [b] Proverbs 1:6 Or understanding a proverb, namely, a parable, / and the sayings of the wise, their riddles [c] Proverbs 1:7 The Hebrew words rendered fool in Proverbs, and often elsewhere in the Old Testament, denote a person who is morally deficient.

God’s Protection and Provision(v14-15) God’s Prevailing Power (v16-17) Praise for God’s Pardon (v18-20) Micah 7:14-20 (NIV) Prayer and Praise 14 Shepherd your people with your staff,     the flock of your inheritance, which lives by itself in a forest,     in fertile pasturelands.[a] Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead     as in days long ago. 15 “As in the days when you came out of Egypt,     I will show them my wonders.” 16 Nations will see and be ashamed,     deprived of all their power. They will put their hands over their mouths     and their ears will become deaf. 17 They will lick dust like a snake,     like creatures that crawl on the ground. They will come trembling out of their dens;     they will turn in fear to the Lord our God     and will be afraid of you. 18 Who is a God like you,     who pardons sin and forgives the transgression     of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever     but delight to show mercy. 19 You will again have compassion on us;     you will tread our sins underfoot     and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. 20 You will be faithful to Jacob,     and show love to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our ancestors     in days long ago. Footnotes: [a] Micah 7:14 Or in the middle of Carmel

Psalm 42 (NIV) Psalm 42[a][b] For the director of music. A maskil[c] of the Sons of Korah. 1 As the deer pants for streams of water,     so my soul pants for you, my God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.     When can I go and meet with God? 3 My tears have been my food     day and night, while people say to me all day long,     “Where is your God?” 4 These things I remember     as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God     under the protection of the Mighty One[d] with shouts of joy and praise     among the festive throng. 5 Why, my soul, are you downcast?     Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God,     for I will yet praise him,     my Savior and my God. 6 My soul is downcast within me;     therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan,     the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar. 7 Deep calls to deep     in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers     have swept over me. 8 By day the Lord directs his love,     at night his song is with me—     a prayer to the God of my life. 9 I say to God my Rock,     “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning,     oppressed by the enemy?” 10 My bones suffer mortal agony     as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long,     “Where is your God?” 11 Why, my soul, are you downcast?     Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God,     for I will yet praise him,     my Savior and my God. Footnotes: [a] Psalm 42:1 In many Hebrew manuscripts Psalms 42 and 43 constitute one psalm. [b] Psalm 42:1 In Hebrew texts 42:1-11 is numbered 42:2-12. [c] Psalm 42:1 Title: Probably a literary or musical term [d] Psalm 42:4 See Septuagint and Syriac; the meaning of the Hebrew for this line is uncertain.

v11-13 A Big Waste v14-19 A Big Need v20-21 A Big Love v22-24 A Big Party v25-32 A Big Pride Luke 15:11-32 (NIV) The Parable of the Lost Son 11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. 13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. 17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. 21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. 25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ 28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ 31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

A Beautiful Thing Mark 14:1-11 New International Version (NIV) Jesus Anointed at Bethany 14 Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him. 2 “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.” 3 While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. 4 Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? 5 It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages[a] and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly. 6 “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 The poor you will always have with you,[b] and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. 8 She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” 10 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. 11 They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over. Footnotes: [a] Mark 14:5 Greek than three hundred denarii [b] Mark 14:7 See Deut. 15:11.