Explore the lessons
Read substantial wisdom arguments, lament and Jesus’ teaching in their own forms, discerning authority, power, wealth, suffering and faithful response through grace rather than simplistic formulas.
Judgement, humility and accountable power
Psalms; Proverbs
- Lesson 1
Two ways and the word that shapes a life
Psalm 1:1–6
A life rooted in God’s instruction differs fundamentally from wickedness and remains accountable to his judgement.
- Lesson 2
Agur asks for truth and enough
Proverbs 30:1–9
Agur acknowledges human limits, trusts God’s tested words and asks for desires governed by truth rather than wealth or deprivation.
- Lesson 3
A ruler must hear the vulnerable
Proverbs 31:1–9
Lemuel’s mother calls a ruler to exercise disciplined, just judgement and speak for people unable to secure justice for themselves.
- Lesson 4
When apparently opposite counsel is wise
Proverbs 26:4–12
Wise response to folly requires judgement about the situation; neither imitation nor unanswered self-confidence should be allowed to rule.
Job: hearing claims, seeking wisdom and receiving God’s verdict
Job
- Lesson 5
Job longs for a fair hearing
Job 9:14–35
Job’s plea reveals the limits of a sufferer trying to establish his case before the mighty God, expressing a longing for someone to stand between them.
- Lesson 6
Elihu asks to be heard
Job 32:1–22
Elihu challenges the assumption that age alone ensures wisdom, yet his confidence must also be examined through the book’s argument.
- Lesson 7
Where can wisdom be found?
Job 28:1–28
Human skill uncovers hidden resources, but true wisdom belongs to God and is received in reverence and turning from evil.
- Lesson 8
God’s verdict and Job’s prayer for his friends
Job 42:7–17
God corrects the friends and receives Job’s intercession, bringing restoration by mercy rather than validating their simple reward formula.
Worship, possessions, remembrance, confession and lament
Ecclesiastes; Psalms; 1 John
- Lesson 9
Listen before promising God
Ecclesiastes 5:1–7
Reverence before God calls for careful listening and truthful promises rather than many words or careless religious performance.
- Lesson 10
Riches cannot satisfy or survive death
Ecclesiastes 5:8–20
The Teacher exposes oppression and wealth’s limits while receiving ordinary enjoyment as God’s gift rather than lasting security.
- Lesson 11
Wisdom can learn in the house of mourning
Ecclesiastes 7:1–14
Wisdom receives correction and faces mortality while recognising that neither prosperity nor adversity gives control over God’s work.
- Lesson 12
Remembering God’s deeds in unanswered distress
Psalm 77:1–20
The distressed psalmist brings hard questions to God and remembers his mighty acts without claiming the present trouble has ended.
- Lesson 13
Wealth cannot ransom a life
Psalm 49:1–20
Wealth cannot rescue anyone from death, while the psalmist places hope in God’s redeeming power rather than another person’s status.
- Lesson 14
Walking in the light with confession and an advocate
1 John 1:5–2:2
Fellowship with the holy God includes honest confession and reliance on Jesus’ cleansing and advocacy rather than denial of sin or permission to continue it.
- Lesson 15
A prayer that ends in darkness
Psalm 88:1–18
God’s Scripture gives words for persistent distress even when the prayer records no immediate relief.
The King teaches his disciples
Matthew
- Lesson 16
The people of the kingdom
Matthew 5:1–16
Jesus names the blessed character and public calling of his disciples, grounding a distinctive life in God’s kingdom.
- Lesson 17
Righteousness reaches the heart
Matthew 5:17–32
Jesus fulfils Scripture and exposes the heart’s anger and unfaithfulness, rejecting righteousness limited to outward compliance.
- Lesson 18
Truthful speech and costly love
Matthew 5:33–48
Jesus calls disciples to truthful speech and love beyond reciprocity, reflecting the Father’s generosity.
- Lesson 19
Devotion before the Father
Matthew 6:1–18
Prayer, giving and fasting belong before the Father rather than being performances for human admiration.
- Lesson 20
Treasure, trust and the Father’s care
Matthew 6:19–34
The Father’s kingdom reorders possessions and worry, calling disciples to trust him rather than serve wealth.
- Lesson 21
Humble judgement and dependent prayer
Matthew 7:1–12
Disciples must examine themselves, ask the good Father for help and treat others with fitting care.
- Lesson 22
Hearing that becomes doing
Matthew 7:13–29
Jesus’ authority calls for genuine obedience rather than impressive claims or hearing without response.
Wisdom in Spirit-shaped life
James; Galatians; 1 Thessalonians; Revelation
- Lesson 23
Teachers, tongues and accountable speech
James 3:1–12
Religious speech carries serious responsibility, and the tongue’s power exposes the contradiction of praising God while cursing people who bear his likeness.
- Lesson 24
Freedom lives by the Spirit
Galatians 5:13–26
Christian freedom serves in love as the Spirit opposes the flesh and produces a different pattern of life.
- Lesson 25
A holy life in ordinary responsibilities
1 Thessalonians 4:1–12; Revelation 22:1–5,12–17
Jesus promises restored life and His coming, so those who receive life freely seek holiness, loving service and readiness in ordinary responsibilities.