The book of the Bible most dedicated to the teaching of wisdom is Proverbs. The thoughts, collections and sayings of Solomon, arguably the wisest man in history, are offered in Proverbs for all who would seek to live wisely. I find it very interesting, almost ironic, that the book of the Bible most dedicated to the propagation of wisdom begins with several chapters warning of the folly of sexual sin. I find it even more intriguing that these warnings are offered by the son of a known adulterer.

Solomon grew up in a household that formed as the result of sexual sin. Murder, conspiracy, lies, the death of an innocent child, and decades of war and extreme family conflict followed David throughout his life as a result of his adulterous actions. Solomon, having witnessed firsthand the devastation that such behavior brings, committed the first portion of his wisdom collection to teaching young men about the need for sexual purity.

Listen to his words:

• Proverbs 2:16-19, (Wisdom) will save you also from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words, who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God. For her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead. None who go to her return or attain the paths of life.
• Proverbs 5:3-5, For the lips of an adulteress drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil; but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave.
• Proverbs 5:15, Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well.
• Proverbs 5:18-19, May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer– may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love.
• Proverbs 5:20, Why be captivated, my son, by an adulteress? Why embrace the bosom of another man’s wife?
• Proverbs 6:29, So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.
• Proverbs 6:32, But a man who commits adultery lacks judgment; whoever does so destroys himself.

I could list several others.

Do you hear the passion in Solomon’s pleas? Can you feel the pain of lessons hard-learned in his instructions? Aren’t you glad the Holy Spirit led Solomon to include those teachings in Proverbs? Solomon has set a great example for us, and we would do well to be equally diligent in teaching our own sons about the sexual high road. Your diligence in teaching and praying for your son can be fueled by the knowledge that even though Solomon knew these lessons and taught them, he ultimately didn’t listen to them. Solomon ended up losing his kingdom because he rejected his own counsel.

Don’t hide these verses in Proverbs from your son. Read them to him, talk to him about them, and pray them over him.

• Pray that your son will be sexually pure until he’s married.
• Pray that he will be afraid of sexual sin and that he will quickly run from it.
• Pray that he will respect women and always treat them with the same love and dignity that Jesus did.
• Pray that he will have friends and date girls who are equally committed to their own sexual purity.
• Pray that he will be repulsed when exposed to pornographic images.
• Pray that he will be immediately caught if he ever begins to practice any form of sexual sin.

From Pray Big for Your Child

My Dear Brothers and Sisters, I greet you today in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I know that many of you are very troubled by yesterday’s election outcome and even more by the overall direction our country appears to be taking. You, like I, care deeply for this country and know that its ultimate hope lies in a set of values and beliefs that we appear to be rejecting as a nation. You view President Obama’s reelection as even further indication that the country we love is becoming something other, something different, something, quite frankly, you don’t respect as much. I understand that.

But I feel compelled to remind you today that what you and I do right now is very important. I feel this compulsion, in part, because I share some of your frustrations, but also because I have been quite frankly shocked at some things openly confessing Christians have said and/or written about our President over the last few days. It has not been a good reflection of the Christ we serve.

Our Lord described us as salt and light. He said that we are to be the preserving and directing forces in our culture. He said that it would be our love–not our theology, our religious performances, and certainly not our political persuasions–that would be our greatest gift to our society. But he also warned that if we ceased to be salt, if we ceased to be light, and if we ceased to love, then we would become ineffective and lose our right to serve in his name.

I am afraid that we are getting dangerously close to becoming like the gripy Israelites who God left to die in the desert, or worse, the churches in Revelation who were dangerously close to losing their holy lampstands.

Perhaps we need to be reminded that God never promised us a certain way of life, or that the pursuit of happiness is an American, not a biblical virtue.

Perhaps we need to be reminded that for two thousand years Christians have lived under oppressive, repressive and even hostile governments and yet were still commanded to pray for their leaders.

Perhaps we need to be reminded that the vast majority of believers around the world live hand-to-mouth, sleep on the ground or in extremely rough, impoverished and unsafe settings, will never own a Bible, will never go to college, don’t have retirement accounts, don’t own or drive cars, don’t play golf on weekends or go on spontaneous shopping sprees, don’t have air-conditioned and heated church buildings, and never have to decide what they are going to wear out the next day. Americans, even in the economic challenges of the last several years, still have far more wealth and enjoy far more freedom than any nation in history.

And to all of that Jesus would say, to whom much is given much is required.

Christian brothers and sisters, we have work to do. It is the Church (believers in Jesus), that are the thermostat of a nation. Whatever we are set on is what our nation will become. If we are troubled by the direction our nation is going, then perhaps we need to compare our American Christianity to biblical Christianity, and adjust our thinking so that we are more of the latter than the former.

The future of our nation depends on it.

Read more at willdavisjr.com

Movement:

• A change of place or position or posture
• A trend or tendency
• A discernible, measurable and lasting stirring of God’s Spirit in a life, a church, a city or a country

If you follow these kinds of things, you may know by now that there is a genuine movement of God stirring in many cities in the US. This movement is very much still in the early stages, but its presence is undeniable. Here’s what it looks like.

There are multiple cities with:

• Increased unity among churches across denominational, racial and theological lines
• Churches are coming together to address needs in their cities and using their massive volunteer bases to address problems that have previously been unaddressed
• Attendance in churches is increasing in cities that have previously been known for being largely unchurched
• There is significant increased activity by Christians and churches in the social justice arena

Stated more directly, what many of us have been praying for over the past 30-40 years–a third great awakening in the US–is showing encouraging signs on being well on its way.

And that means three very important things for you:

1. Living for Jesus is going to get easier. With movement comes momentum, and momentum means that we will all have an easier time living lives that honor Jesus. Think of it like running with the wind at your back. When movement comes, the wind of God blows to such a degree that crime drops, violence decreases, fidelity and faithfulness increase and morality actually becomes cool. That’s we can look forward to.

2. There has never been a better time to talk to people about Jesus. Depending on where you live, you may find unprecedented levels of receptiveness on the part of people who previously showed no real interest in hearing about Jesus. Movement means that the hard soil of people’s hearts is going to get softer, that they are going to be more open to talking about Jesus, and that countless numbers of them–millions and millions, are going to embrace Christ.

3. Hostility toward Christians and the Church is also going to hit unprecedented levels. Movement produces friction, and friction always comes with true spiritual awakening. As God’s Spirit continues to move across our land, you can expect that the enemies of God will become more vocal and emboldened in their resistance to his movement. Satan will see that his strongholds are being threatened, and he will pull out all the stops to resist the advancement of God’s Kingdom. This is one of the main reasons I believe that true awakening is coming–because those who really are hostile to God are fighting tooth and nail to hold their ground.

Followers of Jesus, take courage. Our best days in this country we love are still ahead. That’s not a political statement, it’s a theological one.

Read more at willdavisjr.com