April 30

1 Kings 15

Sample this...

³ He committed the same sins as his father before him, and he was not faithful to the Lord his God, as his ancestor David had been. ⁴ But for David’s sake, the Lord his God allowed his descendants to continue ruling, shining like a lamp, and he gave Abijam a son to rule after him in Jerusalem. ⁵ For David had done what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight and had obeyed the Lord’s commands throughout his life, except in the affair concerning Uriah the Hittite.

April 29

1 Kings 13-14

Sample this...

^13:23 After the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the old prophet saddled his own donkey for him, ²⁴ and the man of God started off again. But as he was traveling along, a lion came out and killed him. His body lay there on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it.

April 28

1 Kings 12

Sample this...

16 “Down with the dynasty of David!
We have no interest in the son of Jesse.
Back to your homes, O Israel!
Look out for your own house, O David!”

April 27

Ecclesiastes 11-12 & 1 Kings 11

Sample this...

^{Ecc 12:12} But, my child, let me give you some further advice: Be careful, for writing books is endless, and much study wears you out.

¹³ That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. ¹⁴ God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.

April 26

Ecclesiastes 6-10

Sample this...

^7:26 I discovered that a seductive woman is a trap more bitter than death. Her passion is a snare, and her soft hands are chains. Those who are pleasing to God will escape her, but sinners will be caught in her snare.

²⁷ “This is my conclusion,” says the Teacher. “I discovered this after looking at the matter from every possible angle. ²⁸ Though I have searched repeatedly, I have not found what I was looking for. Only one out of a thousand men is virtuous, but not one woman! ²⁹ But I did find this: God created people to be virtuous, but they have each turned to follow their own downward path.”

April 25

Song of Solomon 5-8

Sample this...

^5:4 My lover tried to unlatch the door,
and my heart thrilled within me.
⁵ I jumped up to open the door for my love,
and my hands dripped with perfume.
My fingers dripped with lovely myrrh
as I pulled back the bolt.

April 24

Ecclesiastes 1-5

Sample this...

Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!

April 23

Song of Solomon 1-4

Try one of these for a pick up line...

4:1 Your eyes are like doves
behind your veil.
Your hair falls in waves,
like a flock of goats winding down the slopes of Gilead.
² Your teeth are as white as sheep,
recently shorn and freshly washed.

April 22

Proverbs 31

^31:10 Who can find a virtuous and capable wife?
She is more precious than rubies.
¹¹ Her husband can trust her,
and she will greatly enrich his life.
¹² She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.

April 21

Proverbs 29-30

30: ⁵ Every word of God proves true.
He is a shield to all who come to him for protection.
⁶ Do not add to his words,
or he may rebuke you and expose you as a liar.

April 20

Proverbs 27-28

Sample this...

⁵ An open rebuke
is better than hidden love!

⁶ Wounds from a sincere friend
are better than many kisses from an enemy.

⁹ The heartfelt counsel of a friend
is as sweet as perfume and incense.

¹⁵ A quarrelsome wife is as annoying
as constant dripping on a rainy day.

April 19

Proverbs 24-26

Sample this...

24:¹ Don’t envy evil people
or desire their company.
² For their hearts plot violence,
and their words always stir up trouble.

April 18

Proverbs 21-23

Sample this...

21:⁸ The way of the guilty is devious,
but the conduct of the innocent is upright.

⁹ Better to live on a corner of the roof
than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.

¹⁹ Better to live in a desert
than with a quarrelsome and ill-tempered wife.

²¹ He who pursues righteousness and love
finds life, prosperity and honor.

April 17

Proverbs 18-20

Sample this:

^18:6 Fools’ words get them into constant quarrels;
they are asking for a beating.

⁷ The mouths of fools are their ruin;
they trap themselves with their lips.

¹³ Spouting off before listening to the facts
is both shameful and foolish.

April 16

Proverbs 15-17

Sample this...

Proverbs 15

³ The Lord is watching everywhere,
keeping his eye on both the evil and the good.

⁷ The lips of the wise give good advice;
the heart of a fool has none to give.

now... what kind of people are you hanging around with? who are you listening to?

April 15

Proverbs 12-14

Sample this...

Proverbs 13

¹ A wise child accepts a parent’s discipline;
a mocker refuses to listen to correction.

³ Those who control their tongue will have a long life;
opening your mouth can ruin everything.

²⁰ Walk with the wise and become wise;
associate with fools and get in trouble.

April 14

Proverbs 9-11

April 13

Proverbs 6-8

April 12

Proverbs 4-5

April 11

We have read about Solomon and all of his wisdom. We want to learn from people who are wise, but we have to be careful who we choose to learn from. Those who have the wisdom of the world are not who we seek to gain knowledge from. Solomon had wisdom given straight from God, and it is here that we begin our quest for wisdom.

Today we start at 12 day study of Solomon’s “nuggets” of wisdom found in the book of Proverbs. Honestly, there is so much wisdom recorded here, I wish we could take one chapter a day. But in order to stay on track with the rest of the church, we will cover 2 or 3 a day. Don’t read through this quickly. Take some time. Divide each day’s reading into small sections if you need to. Just don’t miss the incredible “nuggets” of wisdom from Solomon.

Because there will be so much “good stuff” each day, it will be impossible to comment on everything. So if we have not touched on what you thought was really important in that day’s reading, please add your comment. Many will be blessed by our study of Solomon’s wisdom.

Proverbs 1-3

Where do we start to gain wisdom? According to Solomon, the beginning of knowledge is in fearing the LORD. Does that mean we are to be afraid of God? Does it mean that we have to recognize that He is the one in charge, and it is not our place to argue with Him? Does it mean that we realize that He knows what is best, and we trust what He says?

Solomon gave us a warning about rejecting wisdom. As he was discussing this issue, he talked about three types of people who are dangerous to us: the simple, the fools, and the mockers. The “simple” are people who live without thinking and are too lazy to change the way they live. Fools are much “smarter” and think about what they are doing, they have just made the decision to live by their own rules, apart from God and the advice of godly people in their lives. Mockers are rebels against God. They think they are better than everyone else and they let them know about it. They put others down and make them feel insecure about themselves. They are destructive.

We have to be careful about two things. First, we must make sure that we are not hanging out with people like this because they will influence who we are. Second, we must make sure that we have not become a simple person, a fool, or a mocker. Examine how you are living. Examine how you treat others.

God’s response to the simple, the fools, and the mockers is not something we want. Read Proverbs 1:23-33. Choose wisely how you live. Seek wisdom – but make sure you are seeking wisdom from the right place.


The Proverbs are ancient sayings that Solomon wrote down. They are one or two liners. Truth wrapped up in a sentence. Kinda' like todays sound bites that you hear in the news.
You could write a whole speach or sermon about just one proverb... the truth in the proverb is far reaching. In several cases, there's many that are very similar. And some are even meant to be a little funny... and true:
Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife. (Pr. 21:9)

I recommend that you read the proverbs from your own Bible and underline the ones that stand out to you.

Solomon addresses this to his child or to his student as the scroll is written. He wants to teach about life and how it relates to Godliness, discipline, family life, money, love, marriage, friendship, sin, repentance, and more... it's here in the proverbs.

Click here to go to todays reading Proverbs 1-3

Sample:

3:1 My child, never forget the things I have taught you.
Store my commands in your heart.
2 If you do this, you will live many years, and your
life will be satisfying.
3 Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them
around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart.
4 Then you will find favor with both God and people, and
you will earn a good reputation.
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do
not depend on your own understanding.

6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will
show you which path to take.

Here's some modern day proverbs strung together by lynyrd skynyrd...

April 10

I Kings 8-10

It was a big deal! The temple was finished and the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant was brought to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and was placed beneath the wings of the cherubim.

Solomon gave a very detailed prayer to the LORD dedicating the temple to Him. He then blessed the people of Israel. And God responds to Solomon by appearing to him. He reassures Solomon that He will take care of Israel as long as the sons of David on the throne obey God. But He warns, again, that if the sons of David on the throne turn away from Him and do not obey Him, He will turn away from Israel and reject the temple.

Solomon was very powerful. He was very wealthy. He was very respected.

Typically people who are given power and wealth – fall. Many times they lose the respect of the people because they become selfish and think that they are better than others.

As we read about Solomon’s life, we will watch and learn from his experiences.
We will see how we can be better people because of our study of Solomon.


think about it... do you give God your left overs?
when you do something to honor God, is it what you have left over - time, talent, treasure? or do you purposefully go out and get the best? do your best?
decide not to do other things because you wouldn't want to be too tired to worship, serve, honor, read about, sing about, or simply live for God?
solomon only uses and pays for the best. and he declares that no temple can hold God, but that it would be a house of prayer.
Jesus said something very similar about a "temple" containing him. read john 14:23

²³ Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them."

what are you doing to build God's temple?
are you allowing God to live in His temple?

GOOD FRIDAY... BLACK FRIDAY sometime during the dark hours of this morning, Jesus was convicted in a mock court and sentenced to be whipped and crucified. after being beaten like the worse criminal, he made his way through the streets carrying His own cross, till He could hold on to it any longer. follow the journey over the next few days... and read about GOD's Passionate Love for You! John 19

April 9

Yesterday we read about Solomon asking God for wisdom, and as we read today, we see that God answered this request in mighty way. Solomon was known as the wisest man at that time. People from all nations came to learn from him. As we study Solomon’s life and his writings, we too will learn from him. But as you move into chapters 5-7 today, it is not about wisdom -- it is much more about obedience and completing a task that has given to you – and doing the job well.

Solomon was chosen to build the temple for God. He was given instructions to obey – and he completed them. Chapter 6:38 says “the temple was finished in all its details according to its specifications.”

Sit back and enjoy reading these chapters. It is not like your typical Bible reading. Picture it as the Bible time’s version of The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous where you get to see incredible homes that are built with expensive and rare materials. These homes have beautiful details and really cool things. And it is awesome to get to see it – even if it is from the living room of your average home.

In the Bible times, there were obviously no video cameras (or regular cameras for that matter!) to capture the extravagance of this temple. The people relied on very detailed description that was written down to share how amazing this temple build for God actually was.

It took 7 years and 6 months to build. It took 183,300 people to build it! (That is more than everyone in Abilene plus about 60,000 more people all working on the building of this temple – for 7 ½ years!) It covered more than 35 acres. It was amazing.

As you read – try to picture it in your mind. Below there are pictures of a model of the temple that has been built in Jerusalem. We have a pretty accurate idea of what it looked like because we have such detailed documentation in I Kings 5-7.

I Kings 4:29-7:51



This temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 b.c.
When the rebuilt the temple centuries later, called Herod's Temple, it looked like this:


Solomon built this temple for God. He built it with the best of materials and with incredible attention to detail.

What would our lives look like if we did all that we do each day as if we were doing it for the LORD?

April 8

I Kings 2-3

think about it:
Benaiah sounds like a pretty tough dude. check out his resume to carry out the executions to those that threatened the king:
2 Samuel 23:20 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, who performed great exploits. He struck down two of Moab's best men. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion.
pretty tough, huh?
is benaiah a big thug? or a righteous warrior?
if you could ask for one gift from God... what would it be?
why do you think solomon would ask for wisdom?
solomon was faced with a decision regarding the baby... that's a tough decision. but he didn't back down. he made a tough decision. what part did solomon asking God for wisdom play in him being able to make that decision?

April 7

I Kings 1; I Chronicles 22:9-10

God chose Solomon to be David’s successor, and He told David that he would be a “man of peace and rest” and that Solomon would “build a house for His Name”. We do not know why at this point, when David is “old and well advanced in years”, the people have not been told that Solomon will be the next king.

Adonijah tries to manipulate the choice by naming himself king. David had to stand firm and honor God’s choice. It would have been easy to just go back on his word and let Adonijah take the throne, but David did what was right in God’s eyes. It surely was an uncomfortable situation for David to go against Adonijah and to name Solomon as the next king. Adonijah’s celebration dinner ended in humiliation as he was deserted by all of those who joined him in his manipulation.

And, Solomon, in a time when kings frequently killed family rivals to the throne, showed incredible mercy by allowing Adonijah to live as long as he did not do evil.

April 6

Our last day in the Psalms!

Psalm 111, 130, 131, 146, 147

These are shorter psalms... so don't freak out!

Psalm 146 hit me today. Wow, our God is awesome. I've put my hopes in to many other things before. They fail, people fail, God is faithful and everlasting.

April 5

Psalms 20, 32, 42, 101

Feel free to change the version of the translation that has been selected. Sometimes reading in a version you haven't read it in before brings a fresh perspective. Sometimes it's distracting. You make the call.

April 4

Psalms 139, 145, 150

The NIV version of one of my favorite Psalms is:

Psalm 150

¹ Praise the LORD.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.

² Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.

³ Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,

⁴ praise him with tambourine and dancing,
praise him with the strings and flute,

⁵ praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.

⁶ Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD.

April 3

Psalms 122, 124, 138

April 2

Psalm 119

April 1

Psalms 103 & 104

March 31

Psalms 93, 94, 97, 98, 99, & 100

Make sure you also take a look at Psalm 100