SERIES: “Ancient Wisdom in a Modern World: Proverbs
TEXT: Various Proverbs (Proverbs 14,15,18)
MESSAGE: “Why The Inner Life Matters”
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“Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself?” — Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him…” — Psalm 42:5
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge…” — Proverbs 1:7
“God created the world with an order to work in a certain way, and we must live according to that to be truly wise; but in our brokenness we don’t see it. Proverbs is all about restoring that harmony through Jesus Christ. Proverbs is all about becoming wise in everyday life through a relationship with Jesus — through the gospel. It’s about the life of the kingdom that God always meant for humankind to live.” — Daniel & Jonathan Akin
“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” — Matthew 22:37
“The critical issue on the journey with God is not “Am I happy?” but “Am I free?” ― Peter Scazzero
TEXT: Proverbs 14,15,18
What can we learn about God healing the inner life? It’s by seeing…(1. The Hidden Struggle 2. The Inner Workings 3. The Deepest Question)
- The Hidden Struggle (v. 14:10,13,30)
“The heart knows its own bitterness, and no stranger shares its joy…Even in laughter the heart may ache, and the end of joy may be grief…A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot.”
“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” — Saint Augustine
2. The Inner Workings (v. 15:4,13)
“A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit…A glad heart makes a cheerful face, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is crushed.“
“I know it’s hard to hear it when that anger in your spirit / Is pointed like an arrow at your chest / When the voices in your mind are anything but kind / And you can’t believe your Father knows best / I love you just the way that you are / I love the way He’s shaping your heart / Be kind to yourself / Be kind to yourself” — Andrew Peterson
“He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” — John 8:44
3. The Deepest Question (v. 18:14)
“A man’s spirit will endure sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?“
“‘Can bear it’ pictures a broken spirit that has been flogged out of a person as a load or burden to be borne. Since none can bear a broken spirit, it implicitly prevents its possessor from finishing the course and brings him down in an untimely defeat. When the spirit is gone, a person is as good as dead. Therefore psychological depression is worse than physical affliction.” — Bruce Waltke
“Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” — Isaiah 53:4-5
TAKEAWAYS: How can we be healthier from the inside-out? By recognizing…
- The Lies and Deceptions I Believe
- The Truths and Healing I Need
- The Answer To My Deepest Struggles
“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” — Isaiah 53:5