Wisdom for the Heart
by Stephen Davey
Stephen Davey will help you learn to know what the Bible says, understand what it means, and apply it to your life as he teaches verse-by-verse through books of the Bible. Stephen is the president of Wisdom International, which provides radio broadcasts, digital content, and print resources designed to make disciples of all nations and edify followers of Jesus Christ.
Episodes
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Warning: Two Strikes and You're Out Part 2 (Titus 3:10–11)
Share a comment Church division rarely starts with a big public blowup. It starts with a slanted perspective, a confident voice, and a steady drip of “you won’t believe what I heard” that slowly recruits people into sides. We dig into Paul’s instructions in Titus 3 for the moment when conflict...
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Warning: Two Strikes and You're Out Part 1 (Titus 3:10–11)
Share a comment Some conflicts in a church are honest misunderstandings. Others are something else entirely: a person who knows exactly what they’re doing, enjoys the heat of controversy, and keeps spreading a slanted version of the story. We take on that uncomfortable reality using a surprising...
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Learning the Art of Refusal Part 2 (Titus 3:9)
Share a comment The fastest way to weaken a church is not always persecution from the outside. It’s distraction from the inside. We wrestle with Paul’s straight talk to Titus in Titus 3:9 and the uncomfortable truth that a congregation can spend its energy on arguments that feel spiritual while...
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Learning the Art of Refusal Part 1 (Titus 3:9)
Share a comment Some of the loudest fights in church life are not about clear sin or clear doctrine. They are about the debatable space where the Bible “barely nods,” where preferences harden into platforms, and where people start taking sides and taking shots. We want better for our churches and...
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Bringing God to Life Part 2 (Titus 3:8)
Share a comment “Engage in good deeds” sounds simple until you realize Paul repeats it like a drumbeat and then adds a surprising command: be careful about it. We dig into what that means and why it matters for everyday Christian living, not as performative niceness, but as the gospel made…
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Bringing God to Life Part 1 (Titus 3:8)
Share a comment A gorgeous church building. Onion-shaped turrets. A familiar lobby. Then the doors open and the sanctuary is stacked floor to ceiling with chicken coops. The official tour guide smiles and says, “God is not real. Chickens are real.” That one line captures the tension so many of us...
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Ambushed by Goodness Part 2 (Titus 3:4–7)
Share a comment Being “born again” can sound like religious slang until you slow down and ask what the Bible actually means by it. We take Titus 3 and trace three loaded words that reshape everything: regeneration, renewal, and justification. The claim is simple and disruptive: the Holy Spirit...
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Ambushed by Goodness Part 1 (Titus 3:4–7)
Share a comment One surprise announcement can change everything: a stranger pays a debt you could never erase. We use that real story of six-figure student loans forgiven on the spot to open up a bigger reality the Bible calls grace. When Paul writes Titus 3:4-7, he describes people like us at…
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Remember! Part 2 (Titus 3:3–4)
Share a comment “I want that shade… and that shade… and that shade.” We start with a line that sounds funny until it exposes something deadly serious: covetousness does not just tempt us, it trains us. The more we chase, the less we’re satisfied, and what feels like freedom turns into a quiet…
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Remember! Part 1 (Titus 3:3–4)
Share a comment Kindness feels scarce right now, and it is tempting to answer sarcasm with sarcasm and insults with “just telling the truth.” We go to Titus 3 because Paul refuses to let believers drift into the mood of the age. He calls us to live as remarkable Christians in public and private:...
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Living in the City of Man Part 2 (Titus 3:1–2)
Share a comment Rome didn’t need another angry letter. It needed a different kind of person. We pick up in Titus 3 and ask what it looks like to represent the city of God while living in the city of man, especially when the surrounding culture feels morally upside down and authority feels...
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Living in the City of Man Part 1 (Titus 3:1–2)
Share a comment The pressure to quit on culture is real and it is growing. When you watch faith mocked, morality redefined, and even public prayer treated like a problem, it can feel easier to pull back into a safe Christian bubble. We push against that impulse with a surprising biblical…
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Settling for Sand (Luke 6:46-49)
Share a comment Two houses can look identical until the river rises. That’s the unsettling logic Jesus uses at the end of Luke 6:46–49, and it’s where we land in this message from Stephen Davey on Wisdom for the Heart. We hear Jesus ask a question that cuts past religious talk and straight into...
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Christianity Behind the Curtain (Luke 6:38-45)
Share a comment If you have ever looked around and thought, “I can’t believe they did that,” Jesus has a way of turning the mirror back toward us. We open Luke 6 and listen as Jesus pulls the curtain back on what real discipleship looks like when the crowd is gone and the spotlight is off. The...
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Every Reason to Judge (Luke 6:37)
Share a comment “Judge not” might be the most quoted Bible line in public arguments and one of the least understood. We slow down and follow Jesus’ words in Luke 6:37 alongside Matthew’s parallel teaching to uncover what He’s actually confronting: a quick-to-condemn, slow-to-forgive posture that...
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A Different Bill of Rights Part 2 (Luke 6:27-36)
Share a comment A lot of Christians feel cornered right now, and the reflex is to fight harder for personal and religious rights. We slow that instinct down and hold it up next to Jesus’ words in Luke 6 and Matthew 5, where he delivers a very different kind of “bill of rights” for his followers:...
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A Different Bill of Rights Part 1 (Luke 6:27-36)
Share a comment The Golden Rule is easy to quote and hard to live, especially when the other person is hostile, unfair, or publicly against you. We sit with Jesus’ words in Luke 6 and watch him overturn the normal “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” way of life. What he offers is not...
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Warning Signs (Luke 6:24-26)
Share a comment The most dangerous warning signs aren’t always in the sky or the headlines. Sometimes they show up as comfort, confidence, and applause. We start with the big biblical storyline of prophecy and judgment, walking through 2 Peter 3 and the Great White Throne scene in Revelation…
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Appetites and Attitudes for Kingdom Citizens (Luke 6:21-23)
Share a comment Your name can be twisted into something ugly even when you’re trying to do good, and Jesus says that should not surprise us. We start with His blunt promise that followers will be hated, excluded, mocked, and defamed, then we zoom out to see why that pressure shows up across...
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Pulling Back the Kingdom Curtain (Luke 6:17-20)
Share a comment Jesus doesn’t heal like a celebrity putting on a show. He heals like a King proving He has the right to rule. We walk through Luke 6 as Jesus comes down to a level place, gathers His newly appointed apostles, a wave of disciples, and a massive crowd, then does three unmistakable...
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Remember to Remember! (2 Peter 1:12-15)
Share a comment Drift is terrifying precisely because it feels harmless at first. One small compromise, one missed habit, one quiet season of neglect, and before you know it you are farther from spiritual clarity than you ever planned to be. We talk candidly about spiritual drift and mission…
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Seven Guarantees for Life Part 2 (2 Peter 1:8-11)
Share a comment Peter never forgot the sound of his own failure, and that’s exactly why his words land with such weight. We start with the hope-soaked reality that the gospel removes condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, then we ask the uncomfortable question: if grace is real, what...
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Seven Guarantees for Life Part 1 (2 Peter 1:8-11)
Share a comment If your faith went on trial tomorrow, would there be enough evidence to convict you? We sit with that uncomfortable question and trace it all the way to a surprisingly hopeful promise: Scripture paints a future homecoming for believers that looks less like slipping in embarrassed...
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The Finishing Touch Part 2 (2 Peter 1:7b)
Share a comment Anger that flares up and “passes in seconds” can still scorch a relationship for days. We dig into Paul’s blunt line from 1 Corinthians 13, “love is not irritable,” and the original word picture behind it: an eruption, a paroxysm, an explosion of fury. The point is not behavior...
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The Finishing Touch Part 1 (2 Peter 1:7b)
Share a comment If “love” is everywhere, why does it feel so thin? We dig into agape, the kind of love Scripture treats as the finishing touch of spiritual maturity and the one quality that keeps everything else from going off the rails. Peter’s list in 2 Peter 1 stacks up virtues like knowledge,...
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How to Treat Your Relatives (2 Peter 1:7)
Share a comment Criticism can harden you or soften you, and the difference shows up in how you treat people who have nothing to offer you. We start with a surprising window into Abraham Lincoln’s presidency: mocked daily, threatened constantly, and yet remarkably available to the overlooked. That...
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On the Playing Field of Life (2 Peter 1:6)
Share a comment The “secret” to spiritual growth is usually the thing we least want to hear: go back to the fundamentals and stop looking for shortcuts. We connect Paul’s fruit of the Spirit with Peter’s call to “make every effort,” showing how Christian maturity grows where God’s provision meets...
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Keep Swimming! (2 Peter 1:6)
Share a comment Pressure has a way of stripping life down to what’s real. We start with Paul’s blunt, relieving honesty: believers can be afflicted, perplexed, and even struck down, yet not crushed, not forsaken, not destroyed. That tension sets up a bigger question: how do you stay under the...
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Getting a Grip on Life (2 Peter 1:6)
Share a comment “Just say no” sounded simple, looked impressive, and still didn’t change hearts. We dig into why those famous behavior campaigns failed and how that same mistake shows up when we treat self-control like a slogan instead of a deeper kind of formation. If you’ve ever thought, “Why…
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The Right Kind of Gold Rush (2 Peter 1:5a)
Share a comment Every day, people make choices that look “normal” on the surface but add up to a life that quietly falls apart. We start with sobering youth statistics and the raw question behind them: if you believe you’re an accident in an accidental universe, what real reason is there to say…
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The Passionate Pursuit of Excellence (2 Peter 1:5a)
Share a comment Politicians love to talk about “values,” especially in an election year, but that word can hide a problem: what we value is not always virtuous, and what feels “right” can quietly be deadly. We start with a simple reframe that cuts through the noise. The biggest question isn’t how...
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Rafting On Whitewater (2 Peter 1:3-4)
Share a comment White water will tell you what you really trust. We open with a rafting story that feels uncomfortably familiar: the raft flips, panic hits, and the “safe” move looks like swimming to the calm edge. Then comes the twist. The quiet water is where the danger hides, and the rough…
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The Crowded Life (2 Peter 1:2)
Share a comment Noise is not just annoying, it is formative. When the headlines never stop and the notifications keep buzzing, our minds and hearts get pulled into a current of the sensational, the trivial, and the temporary. We want peace, but we often chase it by trying to quiet the world, and...
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What to Remember With 30 Seconds to Live (2 Peter 1:1b)
Share a comment Saying “Jesus is Savior” can sound harmless until you say it like the apostles meant it: Jesus Christ alone. That single word exposes why culture can tolerate vague spirituality but lashes out at biblical Christianity. We talk candidly about what happens when a believer takes a...
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The Real Thing! (1 Peter 1:1)
Share a comment Peter is near the end of his life, and his words have the weight of someone who knows what failure feels like and what grace can rebuild. We open 2 Peter by watching him do something unexpected: he signs his name in a way that admits both his old story and his new identity, then…
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The Final Song Part 2 (1 Chronicles 28-29)
Share a comment The hardest spiritual test is not hearing God say “no” to a bad idea, it’s hearing Him say “no” to a good one. We sit with King David at the end of his life as he looks straight at an unfulfilled dream: he spent years planning a temple for God’s glory, only to watch the assignment...
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The Final Song Part 1 (1 Chronicles 28-29)
Share a comment The hardest kind of disappointment is not failing, it is watching someone else live the dream you carried for years. We sit with David at the end of his life as he admits, without spin, that building God’s temple was “the intention of my heart” and then names the ache: God gave…
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Do Babies Really Go To Heaven Part 2 (2 Samuel 12:14-23)
Share a comment The question isn’t academic if you’ve ever held an ultrasound photo, walked out of a hospital empty-handed, or wondered what God does with the smallest lives. We take the most tender and controversial question head-on: do miscarried, stillborn, aborted, and newborn children go to...
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Do Babies Really Go To Heaven Part 1 (2 Samuel 12:14-23)
Share a comment One sentence can stop a grieving parent cold: “I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.” We start there, with David and Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 12, because the death of a child forces honest Christians to face the hardest pastoral question people ask through tears: did my…
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Telling The Truth To God (Psalm 51)
Share a comment Shame makes smart people act like fugitives. Sometimes the hiding is obvious, like a new name and a new city. Sometimes it’s quieter, like a carefully managed story, a tight smile, and a private fear that the truth will catch up. We start with the real account of Katherine Power,...
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Caught Red Handed Part 2 (2 Samuel 12)
Share a comment A king hears a simple story about a stolen lamb and explodes in rage, sure he’s defending justice. Then the prophet looks him in the eye and says the line that collapses every excuse: you are that man. We trace the turning point in 2 Samuel 12 where David, exposed after Bathsheba...
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Caught Red Handed Part 1 (2 Samuel 12)
Share a comment A year of silence can look like success on the outside and feel like slow collapse on the inside. We pick up the story of King David after 2 Samuel 11, when adultery and murder seem safely buried, and we ask the question nobody wants to answer: what does hidden sin do to a person...
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The Cover Up Part 2 (2 Samuel 11:6-27)
Share a comment One bad choice rarely stays lonely. We walk through the David and Bathsheba narrative in 2 Samuel 11 at the exact moment David tries to outsmart consequences, and we watch his options shrink until he starts sacrificing other people to protect his image. The result is a clear,...
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The Cover Up Part 1 (2 Samuel 11:6-27)
Share a comment The most unsettling scandals aren’t the ones that start with failure. They’re the ones that continue with planning. We take a hard look at the definition of a cover-up and why the attempt to hide wrongdoing so often becomes more reprehensible than the original act, then we connect...
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Governed By Lessor Passions Part 2 (2 Samuel 11:1-5 )
Share a comment Temptation doesn’t walk into your life carrying a warning label. It shows you the highlight reel, then asks you to decide fast. We start with that brutal reality and follow it straight into one of the most sobering moments in Scripture: King David, at the peak of success, choosing...
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Governed By Lessor Passions Part 1 (2 Samuel 11:1-5 )
Share a comment A single line can expose an entire life: “Forbidden lust is like someone dying of thirst while begging for salt.” We start there, then zoom out to a headline-worthy cautionary tale, Marcus Antony and Cleopatra, where desire doesn’t stay personal. It rewrites priorities, fractures...
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At The Table Of Grace Part 2 (2 Samuel 9 )
Share a comment A new king usually cleans house. David does the opposite. He calls for a nationwide search to find a living relative of Saul, the very house that once hunted him, and he names his motive without flinching: he wants to show “the kindness of God.” That single choice turns 2 Samuel 9...
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At The Table Of Grace Part 1 (2 Samuel 9 )
Share a comment A king goes looking for the family of his enemy, and what he plans to do with them flips every instinct about power on its head. We walk through 2 Samuel 9 and David’s decision to show covenant kindness to Mephibosheth, the surviving son of Jonathan and grandson of Saul, a man...
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When The Answer Is No Part 2 (2 Samuel 7)
Share a comment God says “no” to David, and it’s not because David’s motives are wrong. That’s what makes the moment so unsettling. David wants to build a house for God, a temple that would feel like the ultimate act of devotion, and then Nathan returns with a reversal: you will not be the one.…
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When The Answer Is No Part 1 (2 Samuel 7)
Share a comment The word “but” can crush a plan in seconds. David is living the dream: peace in the land, a secure throne, a cedar palace, and a holy desire to honor God by building a temple. He asks the prophet Nathan, gets an enthusiastic yes, and you can almost hear the blueprints unrolling....
About this show
Stephen Davey will help you learn to know what the Bible says, understand what it means, and apply it to your life as he teaches verse-by-verse through books of the Bible. Stephen is the president of Wisdom International, which provides radio broadcasts, digital content, and print resources designed to make disciples of all nations and edify followers of Jesus Christ.
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Stephen Davey
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