Wisdom For a Better Life

Introduction

I was born in a southern African American church. Though our doctrinal position tended to be a bit more exclusive than other traditional and mainline denominations, what I experienced was typical among African Americans in the south. There was a lot of excitement, jubilant singing, and hope for a better life. There was also a lot of poverty and a lack of resources. The idea was the less successful we are here on earth the higher our probability of getting to heaven will be. The bondage African Americans experienced during slavery lingered, even among the most successful and learned African Americans. Many concluded that success was not meant to be experienced in “this” life nor on this planet. Rather, it was to be experienced in eternity when we go “go home to meet the Lord.” However, I must note that this is not strictly an African American dilemma. The resistance against earthly success is—for many—a Christian tragedy.

I am not seeking to undermine the hope of my patriarchs. Rather, I wish to simply include what has often been excluded from the dynamic of Christian living. Because while believers tend to suffer immensely, much of their suffering is for the cause of Christ, but rather from the ignorance of how to live as the king’s children. And there is a great difference between suffering and living in ignorance.

Most people know they are children of the Father, but they don’t know they are children of the Father who is King.

I have spent a lot of time around individuals who are extremely wealthy. I have had conversations with billionaires and leaders of corporations and government. They all say “I will not leave my fortune to my children.” Immediately, the poor man interprets that as a slight or an expression of disregard. Yet, they understand a very important principle: Money is not the greatest gift we give to our children. [Our influence and] the way we think is the greatest gift we give to our children.

The information I am going to share with you will represent things that are written in the Book of Proverbs. After reading the gospels for understanding of what it means to be saved, one should spend the majority of their lives studying the Book of Proverbs. For, it is tragically true that many people spend all of their lives either trying to get into the kingdom or trying to make sure they stay in the kingdom. The lessons I will share with you is to those who have accepted the assurance that their kingdom status is irrevocable and are aware that they must understand how to live as kingdom citizens. The proverbs are written to the children of king Solomon, who knew they were the king’s children.

Lesson: Therefore, the first lesson is this series is to know who your Father is and know you are His children.

We are not just children of God. We are children of God, who is King. [In order to benefit from this lesson, I must align your thinking to the biblical idea of God.]

Excluding words like “and”, “the”, “of”, “that”, “to”, “in”, “he”, “for”, “unto”, and “a”…what is the most used word in the Bible? Surprisingly, the word is “Lord.” That says a lot about our Bible. Across all Bible translations, the most used word is Lord. Now, we must understand what it means for our Father to be Lord.

In the Old Testament, the most common rendering of the word “Lord” is Yahweh, which is the name of Moses’ God. Yet, in the Greek, the meaning is clarified. Lord means owner and master. It means God has mastery over and exercises dominion over everything. Literally, the Lord is in charge of what he owns. Since God is owner of everything, He is in charge of everything. The Bible is about the God who is in control of everything! And as children born to the One with such power, we should consider how we must act accordingly. This is why the Book of Proverbs is so important. It is a letter from a collection of sayings from a king to his son who is destined to be king. While Solomon’s intentions were singular and direct, the Spirit’s intentions were to speak to the people of God.

Lessons From Chapter 1

My approach for this series of lectures will be to present what characteristics and behaviors most reflect children of the king. By the end of this series of lectures, the content we are researching will demonstrate whether you are a king raising future kings and queens or whether you are slaves raising future servants. God, King, grants his children wisdom, because wisdom grants discipline and discipline leads to success. Accordingly, thinking and the condition of the mind becomes paramount to all we do.

Children of a king commit themselves to the following: