Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley | Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist 8o Year...

Living a Mindful Lifestyle

One of the reasons why we ponder the words of Proverbs is to really gain a more and better understanding Of wisdom. We know that wisdom is the principal thing. It's the first thing. If we want to make those decisions that will change lives that will bring solutions and answers, then we must pursue wisdom.

Enrich Your Everyday Life

Wisdom helps us to live happier. If you're just wanting to be satisfied and wish to have more joy in your life, then pursue knowledge. It will help you to do that because wisdom offers you tips on how to navigate life. You will be able to handle different concerns and issues. Knowledge will provide solutions. The solutions aren't painful but are just wise. Thoughtful answers will give you a more natural way of managing your life.

That's what we want to do. We want to lead our lives mindfully so that we can be productive. I don't know about you, but I am looking for success in every area of my life. It has to do with me as a person: my body, my mind, soul and my spirit. 

Building Community
Being successful in cultivating family and community relationships will empower us to be able to influence the generations to come. The advancement of everyone in the community is by building good and wise relationships. Studying the book of Proverbs enables us to create opportunities to make sure that our community thrives. It is a responsibility that we all should undertake. With the words of Lady Wisdom, this goal is obtainable. As we advocate for change, that is meaningful and filled with wise solutions, we will see creative opportunities for improvement present itself to us. Our world is crying out for thoughtful people to speak to the most important things.

A New Thought Trend

In my book, Lady Wisdom Speaks which is a devotional Journal, we discovered how to practice loving and living by exploring words of life and joyful mediations of promise. We studied nuggets of truth from the book of Proverbs. In the process of writing Lady Wisdom Speaks, I wrote a commentary in which I provided and tried to answer these questions:  Why is this important? How does this affect us today? Why should we even listen to this proverb? What is it that God's trying to say? How does it affect us? How do we apply it to our everyday lives?

  

The understanding of how do we know and apply the words of Proverbs is the application.  We have the interpretation or the meaning of that message and then now the use of it. In this process, we're looking for ways to personalize this information and then also looking for a way to continue to gain the support and guidance of the Holy Spirit in revealing the timing. We practice being in His presence.  By the leading of the Holy Spirit, we gain a clear understanding, direction, and wisdom.

In my book Lady Wisdom Gives a Party, we are discovering new nuggets of knowledge on loving and living well by learning new ways of wisdom. With the first book, we were just looking for mediation - ways of using the words to mediate, to be a bridge between our present and future purpose. This book, Lady Wisdom Gives a Party shows us how to dig a little deeper for an understanding of wisdom’s ways. We want to look at ways to apply knowledge. Therefore, we also look at the Proverbs 31 Woman at the end of the book. We observe how she applies wisdom to her everyday life.

Proverbs Is for Everyone!
The Proverbs 31 Woman represents the bride, the church. I love that we know that the concepts that are in Proverbs 31 are for everyone - Male and female alike. If we apply it (the ideas of the Proverbs 31 Woman) in our lives, then we are going to be productive and creative. We’re going to utilize that entrepreneurial Spirit. We're going to be advocates for others. There are so many different things that the Proverbs 31 Woman demonstrated and showed us. She also showed us the Fruit of the Spirit; a life of love, peace, endurance, compassion, integrity, humility and self-discipline. When we apply this knowledge, we eat of the fruit of wisdom. Wisdom is a tree. From its fruit, we will become more perceptive. We will grow wiser like Lady Wisdom.

The Way to Get Wiser

The way to get wiser is through Biblical Meditation.  We are going to have to figure out how to go through Proverbs and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us. Even when we read throughout the whole Bible because the entire Bible is the wisdom book, we must understand and have discernment. The Bible is the complete manual for living. It provides us with insights about God’s knowledge, about God’s understanding, about God's wisdom in every single book of the word. Begin with Proverbs. It is an excellent book to start on that Journey. To really make the journey productive and make the Bible come alive, we need the Holy Spirit to help us to understand what we are reading.

Starting with a Relationship with Jesus Christ

So what will you decide to do with the Lord Jesus Christ? This is the question. I want to admonish you and encourage you to gain a relationship with Him. When he left this Earth, Jesus promised his disciples that he would not leave them comfortless. He planned to send the Holy Spirit to come, be with them and help them. To be able to spread the word of love, to build the kingdom of God and to make followers, we need to have the instructions from the Holy Spirit. This good news!

We need to have the mind of Christ. So the first thing is to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. When we ask Jesus to come into our hearts, he will help us. The Holy Spirit will direct us on how to fix up the garden of our hearts. Clean it up and make it whole. As we embrace the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Godhead, we will receive power to change and overcome the weak areas in our lives.
For more insight and teachings visit me at Lady Wisdom Speaks Academy YouTube.