Ask Us Why

Proverbs 31:10-31 speaks of the "virtuous wife" that men should strive to find, and women to strive to live up to. This chapter speaks both to the man and the woman. For men, not only should we look for such a woman, but we need to pursue our relationship with God just as much and live up to our standard so that we are worthy of such a woman. For women, we should strive to live up such a description and live a life fearing the Lord and pursuing Him with honor. We breakdown what these standards are the even more how we should respond to such text.

Proverbs 30:5-6 says "Every word of God proves true, he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.” With our never-ending access to the internet and different ideas, we are constantly being fed from the world and its "truth." This often bleeds into our worldview and we start to add, change, or ignore Scripture. We break down the dangers of such a practice and how we can discern better through the lens of Christ. 

Proverbs 29:11 says, 'A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back." 

So is it wrong for us to vent to others? 

Or is there a deeper lesson to learn about the truth of venting and its benefits and dangers? In this episode, we explore both sides and approach the concept of venting with some Scripture and guidance that hopefully will give you some better direction the next time you vent.

“Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.” ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭28:6‬

This episode we break down what the heck this word "integrity" means and explore the importance of it in Scripture. We have become master marketers of ourselves via social media and have trained ourselves to live separate lives in secrecy. The Scriptures tell us that we must choose integrity, we must choose to be honest with ourselves, and seek to be the same person publicly and privately.

Proverbs 27:5-6 says “Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, profuse are the kisses of an enemy.” Calling out our friends can be so terrifying and nerve-wracking. It's not something we teach or talk about very often. Yet, it's critical to the body of believers that we hold each other accountable and call each other out in loving ways that redirect us to the cross. This episode breaks down some reasons why we may struggle and then a step-by-step analysis on how to know when to rebuke. 

Proverbs 26: 12 says "Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.”  It's pretty common for us to believe we are wise in our own eyes, but there can be some serious danger to such thinking. Claiming to be wise only puts us lower than the fool and closed off to correction, learning, and growing simply because of our pride...

Proverbs 25:28 says "A man with no self-control is like a city broken into and without walls." If the city has no walls, what do you think that communicates to neighboring enemies who see it? Of course, they see it as an opportunity to attack, they see a weakness. The same goes for us. The enemy is prowling like a lion looking for someone to devour. If he sees our walls of self-control are down in one area, he will bring calamity to many more areas of our lives. If we can practice self-control across all areas of our lives, we will find more success than we imagine in our battle against the flesh.

Proverbs 24: 17-18 says "Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles. Lest the Lord see it and be displeased and turn away his anger from him." Politics season is on the rise with mid-terms coming up in a couple months. That means lot's of bashing and lots of image destroying for both political parties. If Scripture tells us not to celebrate our enemies losses and love them instead, then we should head into this new season with a new heart posture towards those who we consider "enemies."

Proverbs 23:6-8 says "Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy; do not desire his delicacies, for he is like one who is inwardly calculating. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you. You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten, and waste your pleasant words." Do you consider yourself to be a sharing person? Do you typically share when you can? Or do you only share when prompted or pressured? It can be really easy for us to selfishly hold on to what is ours, but the more we do, the more we hold ourselves back from opportunities to bless others. 

Verse 13 says " The sluggard says "There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets." In other words, the lazy person will make the craziest excuses for why not to do something. Usually we point fingers and think of others who do that, but in actuality, may find ourselves blind to the very excuses we make. This episode will challenge you to think about your goals, your dreams, and the things that get in the way of you getting there. 

Proverbs 21:11 says 'The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. ' When we rush into things for the sake of impatience and a desire to see results, it almost always works against us. Not only can it prolong the process, but sometimes even be destructive. All of us have goals towards something, the question is, are you patient with the process?

Verse 11 says "Even a child makes himself known by his acts, by whether his conduct is pure and upright." If you were put on trial for claiming to be a Christian, and your actions had to testify for you, would you be proven guilty (Christian) or innocent (not Christian). Our actions speak so much louder than words and we live in a world now where the term Christian means almost nothing to most people. Let's bring power and meaning back to the name of "Little Christ" (Christian).

Verse 11 tells us "Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is to his glory to overlook an offense" We are notorious for holding grudges and being hypersensitive to everything around us. Unfortunately, culture feeds this kind of mindset and it pushes us away from what God desires. The Lord desires we overlook offenses and choose to forgive others when they wrong us. It's no easy path, but what would love even be if not for the hardest times where we must choose to love?

Proverbs 18:13 tells us "If one gives an answer before he hears, it is to his folly and shame." We are SO quick to react to everything we see and hear or even to give response/our opinion without knowing all the details. As believers, we must get better at being responsive and not reactive. That means holding back our tongue first and gaining understanding rather than just sharing our opinion (Proverbs 18:2). 

Proverbs 17:17 says "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." Are you a friend who loves at all times? Or have we fixated ourselves on a conditional love that forfeits the kind of love Christ calls us to? This chapter breaks down what it means to love a friend well and practical tips on how we can get better at being a friend to others. 

Proverbs 16:9 tells us "A mans heart plans his ways, but the Lord establishes his steps" and Proverbs 16:3 says "Commit your work to the Lord and your plans will be established." Too often we immobilize ourselves in fear that we are making decisions that go against God's will and plan for our life. Truth is, you know His will (by His word) and you can make your own plans, and as you commit them to the Lord, He will establish them. 

Proverbs 14:4 says "Where there is no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops comes from the strength of the ox." If you want to have the beautiful "Pinterest" perfect life, then never step outside of your home and you will never find mess. Or... embrace the mess that comes with investment, work, sacrifice, time, risk, mistakes and everything else, and find abundance in reward on the other side of it. 

Proverbs 13:3 says "' Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin." Some studies suggest we can speak an average of 16,000 words per day. If that is even remotely true, imagine how much life we are missing out on because of the rash, dumb, sinful things we say without thinking. This chapter has such an awesome takeaway that should get us in the right mindset to speak well and guard our mouths when needed. 

Proverbs 12:25 says "Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad." We've talked about it before but there is so much anxiety in this country right now that it's not even funny. People are weighed down by the things of this world, even Christians (yep, we aren't indestructible), and we have an opportunity to help this problem. Listen in on our takeaway today to see just how we can start to put a dent in this epidemic. 

Proverbs 11:24 says "One gives freely and grows all the richer, another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want." How true is it that when we hold back from giving, we always find ourselves in a place of discontentment and always wanting more? Do you consider yourself a generous person? What does it mean to be generous? Our takeaway has immediate application and aims to help us be more generous today than we were yesterday. 

Proverbs 10:7 says "The memory of the righteous will be a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot." Give it some thought but what legacy are you trying to leave? What impact do you want to leave here on Earth? Do you want to be known as someone who only lived for themselves? Someone who lived a quiet comfortable life, and kept to themselves? Or do you want to be known for something more? Someone who chose wisdom. Someone who chose the path of life and left others with a memory that will bless them and generations to come? The blessing is we get to decide.

Chapter 9 compares and contrasts the ways of wisdom and the ways of folly. A key verse from it, Proverbs 9: Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you reprove a wise man, and he will love you." The takeaway for us isn't necessarily to reprove wise people, but to ask ourselves if we are someone who is wise and can take reproof? If someone calls us out for our sin or something we are doing, are we quick to get defensive or shut people out? Or do we respect them, listen to their words, take them to heart, and potentially to action? Ultimately, do we consider ourselves approachable?

The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil (Proverbs 8:13). The closer we get to God, the more we know His heart, and the greater our fear of Him (healthy fear). If we are truly abiding in God, then we should hate evil right? Except, it doesn't always seem that way does it?... Maybe we don't love it, but we are indifferent towards it, annoyed maybe, but hate it? That's a stretch. We must learn to hate evil and sin if we ever want to see victory from it in our own lives. 

No one magically wakes up one day and finds themselves cheating on their spouse or significant other. For every "major" sin, there are a thousand sins in private. Solomon warns us not to even wander down the path that leads to adultery and that we should avoid it altogether. Our takeaway today is, what have we already become numb to (regarding sin) that is leading us down the path to death?

Proverbs 6 packs a punch but in this episode we primarily focus on the topic of the sluggard and what it means to work unto the Lord (Colossians 3:23). I also address a new phenomenon called "Quiet Quitting" and how harmful such a practice can have on the body of believers and our witness to the world. 

Solomon can't get enough about the importance of protecting ourselves from sexual immorality and the adultery we are tempted by so easily. Even though Solomon makes a strong argument for staying committed to one woman, he, of course, doesn't follow through on his word and ends up marrying 1000 women. What that tells us, is that if we can't be content with one spouse, we won't be content with 1000. And ultimately, the fight in this battle starts all the way in singleness, not for the married person. 

In this chapter, we focus primarily on the second half which addresses the idea of the path we walk and avoiding the things that cause us to stumble along the way. There's a really cool analogy of a horse that illustrates the struggles we have with distractions in our lives and what it takes to remove them to help us run the race well. Hebrews 12:1

Solomon wastes no time in bringing wisdom starting in chapter 3 and no joke, I had a really hard time deciding what to talk about because all of it was so good. I landed on a few takeaways and the last one will blow your mind with learning just how rich Solomon was and just how important it is to seek wisdom over wealth.

Chapter 2 has a lot to do with Solomon still setting the stage for the value and importance of Wisdom. The overall structure and choice he is making to emphasize the value of wisdom is indicative of the importance to know our "WHY" behind anything. Meaning we should know the reason why we follow Jesus (1 Peter 3:15), we should know why school is important, we should know why staying faithful in a marriage is crucial, etc. We also learn the importance of the path we make and the impact that has on people who follow. 

Chapter 1 starts off with some solid takeaways about who we are influenced by and who we choose to listen to. We must do a self-audit on our lives and consider who's voices are the loudest in our lives because wisdom calls we well.

Before we jump into this series, I want to lay some groundwork for the Proverbs that sets us up for success going into this devotional series. We often skip the context and jump straight to the book but that almost always backfires when it comes to properly interpret the text we read. Hopefully, this gives a little bit of context to who wrote them, why wisdom is important, and the dangers of what happens when we fail to apply it in our lives.

Andrew Carter, a remarkably well-known Kingdom Collaborator (his preferred classification) via social platforms like TikTok and Instagram, has been through more than just the ringer when it comes to his journey with faith. Growing up in a challenging household with no father, battling sex, drugs, alcohol, entrepreneurial success, unforeseen failure, divorce, and even prison, Andrew lives to tell a beautiful story of how Jesus came to him and won his heart to the Gospel. His testimony reminds us all that no one is too far gone from God's love and that no record of wrongs can ever separate us from His love.

To learn more about his life and ministry, check out the links below.  

Instagram: 

https://instagram.com/andrewfcarter?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= 

His Church's Instagram: 

https://instagram.com/royalcitychurch?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= 

TikTok: 

https://www.tiktok.com/@andrewfcarter?_t=8VFz6ZjGzww&_r=1 

Website: 

https://www.andrewfcarterministries.org/

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As we wrap up these series, we bring up some huge takeaways about how we respond to brothers and sisters who leave the church, how we handle situations apart from God, and ultimately the value in accountability. We hope you have enjoyed this series and have found it valuable for you in your walk with Christ! Stay tuned as next week I start up a new series going through Proverbs every day!!  

Shop our apparel here:  

askuswhyshop.com  

Learn more about who we are and all that we do here 

www.askuswhy.org  

Full Podcast Hub: https://anchor.fm/askuswhypodcast  

Instagram: www.instagram.com/askuswhyy  

Our shop instagram: www.instagram.com/askuswear  

Check out our resource page for more discipling! www.askuswhy.org/hub  

Sign up for our emails on deals and everything Ask Us Why! https://www.askuswhy.org/project-315  

Join Our Discord! 

https://discord.gg/v4mXqwKdEa

What happens when the very thing we are told to trust betrays us? It doesn't happen to all of us but the reality is real for many. Chapter 19 is a heavy chapter and one of, if not, the most gruesome chapters in all of Scripture. We do our best to stay true to Scripture and not avoid it, but also address what we can learn even from the most heinous of events. 

Chapter 18 brings some solid takeaways as we break down the beginning of a tragic story involving the tribe of Dan and Israel. One major topic of discussion is the idea of whether or not a Utopia is realistic for Christians to believe in. We also talk about what we put our identity in and the dangers that come from putting all our eggs into one basket. We hope you love this episode as much as we did!

13 packed verses that spark conversation about parenting/discipline, right intentions and if we should stop there, and where we have wandered as a country and church, similarly to the wandering Levite. We have a jam packed episode with lots of questions and great discussion for you this wonderful Friday. 

As we jump back in after a week off, we bring some heat with Chapter 16. Concluding the story of Samson and his downfall we have some takeaways for you to really consider and meditate on. Takeaways like: Your sin will eventually catch up with you. Are we categorizing our sin? And our pride and arrogance of strength against sin will always result in failure. 

Chapter 15 has some heater takeaways. We get a little carried away talking about some personal experiences we've had with friends stepping away from the faith but overall some great discussion about everything from sin leading us to isolation, standing up for what is right, and initiating reaching out to friends and so much more.

Chapter 14 has some incredible takeaways for us as we continue navigating the story of Samson and the truth about his story. We talk about this idea of love of first sight (is it a thing?), getting too close to temptation, being impulsive and rash, feeling pressure from the world around us and the fear that comes with that and at the end, Stefan brings an incredible takeaway realizing something huge about Samson. 

We worry so much about the HOW in life. How are we to raise a family? How am I to make a difference in the Kingdom? How am I supposed to read the Bible? We ask so much but the truth is we just need to start. Faith is stepping into the unknown. Chapter 13 really embellishes on this truth and so much more that will leave you encouraged and motivated to make moves for the Kingdom.

Chapter 12 brings some serious conviction as we talk about Jephthah and his quarrel with the tribe of Ephraim. Jephthah distinguished the Ephraimites by saying one word: Shibboleth. If they could say it right, they would live. In the same way, one word saves us, Jesus. But how do you say it? Do you claim Jesus with a genuine heart sold out for the Gospel? Or someone who says he is a nice savior, but we haven't given him our full heart. Even more, do your words show that you are a Christian? People should recognize their identity in Christ simply by the words they speak. These are two of the best takeaways but there is so much more in this great discussion.

This episode hits different. Chapter 11 has some incredible takeaways as we navigate through the story of Jephthah and his uprising to power as a judge over Israel. We talk about what it means to misjudge people by a simple title (Republican? Democrat?), how well we truly know our Bible and what it mean to forgive someone even when we believe we have good reason to exclude them from our obligations as believers. That and so much more.

Chapter 10 is a small and overlooked chapter in judges that truly have some great takeaways that we can apply today. We talk about the difference between having "affluence" and "influence," dealing with problems that seem external but are truly internal, half repenting vs full repenting, and the effect unrepentant sin can have on our times of peace with God. Hands down one of the best episodes so far.

Chapter 9 breaks down the journey of Abimelech and how he rose to power (corruptly) through violence and manipulation, a parable by his only brother who escapes death, his rule over Israel and his sad and honestly pathetic ending. We focus our discussion primarily on how we choose to treat those we disagree with, our relationship with the Church, and ultimately contentment. Are you content with where you are now or is there something in you driving you to do more, accomplish more, and for the wrong reason? 

Chapter 8 is probably one of our best episodes in this series so far. We breakdown the character and downfall of Gideon as he starts to take things into his own hands and eventually leaves his family and ultimately Israel to death and oppression. We also have some incredible takeaways about our hearts towards recognition and fame, our relationship with the Church, and lies we believe on the outside about spiritual health. 

This episode breaks down chapter 7 and the story of how God took the 32,000 soldiers in Israels army, and brought it down to 300. We talk all about the idea of fear and selfish ambition, the two pre-reqs that shrink the army, how we do the same today in the midst of spiritual warfare, and so much more. 

In this breakdown (mainly of chapter 6), we talk about the newest judge, Gideon and how God calls him to be Israels next judge. There are some awesome takeaways from God finding us in our busyness, the idea of being above reproach, speaking life into others and so much more. 

Happy Friday! We bring some serious heat with this episode. Talk about conviction, encouragement, and actionable steps all in 30 minutes. We hope you are ready for this breakdown of Judges Chapter 4. We talk about the fundamental idea of asking for help. Is it a sign of weakness or strength? When God calls us to do something, is it wrong to ask for help, or are we to do it alone?