PROVERBS: A Man's Daily Journey Into The Wisdom Of God

By Glen Bryant

I am not a seminary graduate, an ordained minister, or a theologian. My credentials are being a man standing in the need of God's presence and wisdom in my daily life. God has proven to me that He knows the best way to speak His wisdom to me and He knows you well enough to speak to you in a way you can understand. Take this journey with me and let the wisdom of God come alive in your daily life. What He offers you is exceedingly abundant above anything you could imagine. "As a pastor, I have personally tried to read a chapter from proverbs every day and have encouraged others to do so. Glen Bryant's Proverbs takes just reading several steps forward with better understanding, and personal application. What a great tool for new or long time Christians to get in a habit of daily scripture study about how to live a Godly life." Terry Jemes, retired Pastor Grace Baptist, Bend, Oregon "A Man's Journey thru Proverbs is a delightful devotion. We have adopted it for our men's Bible study group. You can study weekly for months without repeating, but now the author has added new collections that can keep a small group going indefinitely. I highly recommend it for churches who want to see their men unified. I recommend it for the man who wants to see himself challenged and changed for the glory of God. It also makes a great gift for wives to give to their husbands." Dr. Rick Fouts, D.D. Pastor: Open Arms Fellowship Salem, Illinois Frequent Panel Member and Moderator of "Ask the Pastor"

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 26, 2017
• ISBN: 9781640792098

Book preview

Introduction

During my cool-of-the day experience, I got the impression I needed to write an introduction, or a Please don’t misunderstand, for my book about Proverbs. The Bible is not to be just a list of principles to generically apply to every situation, a script to repeat as a mantra, or a kind of A scripture a day to keep the devil away. You are not looking for a doctrine to apply to every situation to make your life simple and keep you from thinking. This can lead you to miss the point of the book.

This was the mistake of the Pharisees in biblical times. They focused on the literal application of the law and forsook the personal relationship with God. The Word says we should worship in spirit and truth. The Amplified Bible says, Worship in spirit and reality.

Seek the living Word of God that applies personally to situations in your life. Use it to learn more of the character and nature of God, your foundation to developing a real relationship with Him. That character and nature are embodied in the character and nature of Jesus.

Begin to understand that grace is amazing. It is not just a phrase or a song but rather what God has done for us to comfort and give us security at our deepest level of need. He has established a pattern to reflect upon in our relationship problems and to provide the faith we need to press on and grow closer to Him, to become more like Him through our relationship with Jesus. When we begin to understand that Jesus really is a friend who sticks closer than a brother, that relationship deepens, and we begin to understand what Christianity is all about.

We begin to see how sin has separated us from God, and the only way to overcome it is by our relationship with Jesus becoming a reality in our daily lives. In our own strength and wisdom, we are powerless. Our hope and strength are embedded in our journey through life traveling hand in hand with Him. What an amazing journey it is! It is beyond anything we can imagine or expect. Please continue your journey through Proverbs and then broaden it to all the other wonderful areas of the Bible.

Make it an enjoyable part of your cool-of-the day experience. Do not make it a religious ceremony or duty. Do not punish yourself if you miss a day or if the Lord leads you to another area of scripture. It is something to come back to as you need it, for as long as you need it.

It is personal between you and God. It is a stepping stone to a wonderful journey through the Bible that becomes a living part of your daily life. What I personally need today and every day is the wisdom of God.

Before You Begin

Let’s begin with the basics:

For this to make any sense to you and to be of profit to you, you must know Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

Read Romans 3:23: All have sinned. I have sinned

Romans 6:23: Sin = death (but) God’s gift = Jesus = eternal life

Romans 5:8: While we were sinners. Christ died for me.

Romans 10:9: Confess, believe, be saved

Prayer: Dear Lord, I confess my sins generally and specifically to You. I know You died on the cross as a sacrifice for my sins so I could be forgiven and have eternal life. I confess, believe, trust in, adhere to, and rely upon You, and have come into the knowledge that I am saved.

You, Jesus, are the boss of my life. I will seek a personal and intimate relationship with You daily. You are the Son of God and will take me on this journey through Proverbs and the rest of my life.

My Story

Dear God, I have depended greatly on Proverbs my whole Christian life. It has been such a blessing and guide to me. It has given me wisdom in my daily life when I so desperately needed it. I have struggled for years to develop a book as a daily devotion to get others hooked on what Proverbs has to offer them.

When I was discharged from the army and started my teaching career, I sought You to find a way for You to daily help me face the challenges of the job. I felt such a responsibility to help children learn, and at the same time, I felt completely inadequate to do well at the tasks you had called me to do.

You opened my heart to Proverbs, and I pray this book will be an opportunity for others to find what I have found.

I was a child of poverty who became a professional educator as an adult. The child of poverty was still on the inside, and the man on the outside was playing a role. Shakespeare said, All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. I was playing my part, determined to become that person.

This book is about a method that took that child raised in poverty—with most of his elementary teachers having no expectations of him being capable of learning—and that transitioned him into an educator who became the superintendent of a school district. If you could find one of my old teachers and tell them I had become an educator, I am sure they would say, There really is a God, after all.

My earliest memory as a child was when my father left my mother to raise five children by herself, providing no support. In my memory is a scene at the back porch with him standing with his suitcase in his hand and everyone crying. I can remember thinking, Why are they crying? Then he said he would be back in a few months. I was two, and I didn’t understand. It was not the first time he had left, and I would see him only twice a year: when he visited us in the middle of the night at Easter and at Christmas, and he would be gone to his other family before sunrise for the next thirteen years.

I was an elementary student in the 1950s, when I was one of only two kids in my class who did not have a father in their home. My friend’s father died in an accident, and my father left. I grew up wondering why my father did not love me enough to stay, and as adults, my brothers and sisters shared they had grown up having the same thoughts. It is common for children who have been deserted by a parent to have these feelings. It has taken some major healing from God to remove those scars.

I knew we were the poor Bryant kids, and my teachers reinforced my fears that I was not capable of learning. When my dad returned and took the family to St. Louis, I was in eighth grade and didn’t know him. The school tested me and placed me in an accelerated class. I was horrified and stayed up late every night going over and over my assignments, living in fear they would discover they had made a huge mistake putting me in this class and discover all the gaps in my learning.

My parents were very unhappy together and were never able to form a relationship. Like my brothers and sisters, I left