Day 171 – Do You Affect or Infect Others?

November 18, 2015 by H. Guthrie Chamberlain, III 2 Comments

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 171 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.

Do You Affect or Infect Others?

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 171 of our Trek, and yesterday we finished exploring the 5 trails needed to get over yourself so you can trek on in life. Today we will ask the question, “Are you affecting or infecting others that you impact?” If you miss any of our Wisdom-Trek episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal.

We are recording our podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Our workload continues briskly, but we continue on our trek, one step at a time. If we do not stop, I know we will reach our destination. My voice is starting to get a bit stronger, but I hope my raspy voice has not been too distracting this past week. It has been years since I have had any type of sinusitis or cold like has hit me pretty hard this past week. I am on the back side of it now, though, so hopefully my voice will improve each day.

Do You Affect or Infect Others?

Words, words, words! In my opinion, when we talk about the connection between attitude and behavior, there are two words that come to mind, “affect” and “infect.” My first reaction is to think of “affect” as a positive verb and “infect” as a negative verb, but I guess they can be both.

According to www.dictionary.com:

af•fect – verb (used with object) – 1. to act on; produce an effect or change in; 2. to impress the mind or move the feelings of; 3. (of pain, disease, etc.) to attack or lay hold of.

in•fect – verb (used with object) – 1. to affect or contaminate (a person, organ, wound, etc.) with disease-producing germs; 3. to taint or contaminate with something that affects quality, character, or condition unfavorably; 4. to corrupt or affect morally; 5. to imbue with some pernicious belief, opinion, etc.

I love this quote attributed to, Eleanor Roosevelt, “Every one of us every day has choices to make about the kind of person we are and what we wish to become. You can decide to be someone who brings people together, or you can fall prey to those who wish to divide us. You can be someone who educates yourself, or you can believe that being negative is clever and being cynical is fashionable. You have a choice.”

How true…Which one are you? What would your family, friends, and/or work colleagues say about you?

If you have listened to many episodes of Wisdom-Trek or read the daily journals, you’ve heard me say over and over, “Attitude is a choice!” It’s a split second choice, 24/7/365!

We have the power to affect or infect our own lives, a situation, our relationships, and our workplaces in a positive or negative way every day.

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As we begin winding down yet another year of ups and downs, triumphs and tragedies, let’s take a few moments to be thankful for all the good in our lives rather than focusing on the negative.

By making a conscious choice to be a “power surge” rather than a “power drain,” we can open ourselves to have a positive “affect” (influence) on ourselves and others regardless of the conditions around us. We can even “infect” our world in a positive way – spread the positive attitude virus, look for the good, and trust for the right results. How freeing this thinking is! What an uplifting, renewing way to live!

“So it is, life is actually made up of our choices. We are the sum total of them, and if we hold to an attitude of love and thanksgiving for all the good things within our grasp we may have what all ambitious people long for — success,” Maya Angelou.

What about you? Have you have been infected with the disease of a negative attitude and mindset through those you associate with or because you have not filtered out the garbage that is entering into your mind? If so, fortunately for you, then I do have a cure.

“Gratitude is a vaccine, an antitoxin, and an antiseptic.’ This is a most searching and true diagnosis. Gratitude can be a vaccine that can prevent the invasion of a disgruntled attitude. As antitoxins prevent the disastrous effects of certain poisons and diseases, thanksgiving destroys the poison of fault-finding and grumbling. When trouble has smitten us, a spirit of thanksgiving is a soothing antiseptic,” John Henry Jowett.

Frederick Buechner says, “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”

What a wonderful reminder to take the time to think about what God is doing for us. Too often we focus just on the horrid things – evil, terrorist attacks, hurricanes, floods, devastation, and famine.

Instead, let’s prepare our minds for this season of Thanksgiving. Take time every day to verbalize or write all you are thankful for. Doing so will revitalize your soul.

1. Begin with Thanksgiving.

Psalm 100:4 tells us to give thanks to God,

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and praise his name.”

Thank Him for His patience and forgiveness.
Thank Him for the privilege of coming into His presence.
Thank Him for what He has done in and through your life in the last year.
Take time to list what God has done for you.
Be specific.
Think through every area of your life.

2. List what God has done.

Thank Him for His patience and forgiveness.
Thank Him for the privilege of coming into His presence.
Thank Him for what He has done in and through your life in the last year.

3. Become still before the Lord.

Psalm [46:10] says,

“Be still, and know that I am God!
I will be honored by every nation.
I will be honored throughout the world.”

Consider who God is.
Praise Him for His attributes.
Rejoice in your fellowship with Him and that He delights in you.
Read passages of scripture and pray them back to God.
Sing to the Lord.

As Thanksgiving approaches, take the time to reflect on all the blessings in your life. Keep in mind the opportunity you have to change the world through your attitude, talents, and gifts. In my world, everything starts with the ATTITUDE of GRATITUDE! The life lessons that we learn each day are valuable to everyone we meet. So, encourage your friends and family to join us each day and come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy. Between now and Thanksgiving Day, we will focus on how wise it is to be thankful in a series of short, inspiring stories.

That will finish our podcast for today. Remember to listen to your daily dose of wisdom each day. Please share Wisdom-Trek with your family and friends through email, Facebook, Twitter, or in person so they can come along with us each day.

If you would like to be added to our weekly email update for Wisdom-Trek, just text the word “Wisdom” to 44222 on your phone, and you will receive a message asking for your email address. It is very quick and easy to do.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this Trek together, let us always:

Live Abundantly (Fully)
Love Unconditionally
Listen Intentionally
Learn Continuously
Lend to others Generously
Lead with Integrity
Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!

Day 170 – 5 Trails to Hike to Get Over Yourself #2

November 17, 2015 by H. Guthrie Chamberlain, III 1 Comment

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 170 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.

5 Trails to Hike to Get Over Yourself #2

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 170 of our Trek, and yesterday we explored trails 1-3 of the 5 trails needed to get over yourself so you can trek on in life. Today we will complete trails 4 and 5. If you miss any of our Wisdom-Trek episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal.

2-mile-long-easy-hiking — 5 Trails to Get Over Yourself

We are recording our podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. After a relaxing, but productive weekend, the work week is full with activities that we need to wrap up before heading back to Marietta at the end of this week. Leaf harvest will keep us busy for a few days when we return to the Big House. We will remain in Marietta through the 1^st week of December. The days, months, and years are rapidly passing us by. I have to continually remind myself to slow down and enjoy the journey.

5 Trails Hiked to Getting Over Yourself So You Can Trek On With Your Life

Let’s review the introduction from yesterday’s exploration of trails 1 -3 to refresh your memory. If you did not trek with us yesterday, please listen to Day 169 before proceeding with us today so that you will experience the entire trek that we are taking.

Have you ever noticed that life just happens? It just does. And yet we spend so much time trying to control what happens in our lives, micro-managing how it happens and then telling everyone else what they should do to control and manage their lives that often we miss the point of what we are actually experiencing in ours.

The question is why do we expend so much energy trying to control things we really have no control over. At the end of the day, isn’t it just exhausting?

The question is why do we expend so much energy trying to control things we really have no control over.

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Life is actually quite simple. We have two choices in any given situation, circumstance, or event. We can be a victim and believe that things are happening to us, that we have no control over our situation, and blame others for the injury we have suffered. Or, we can start taking responsibility for our own lives, our own thoughts, our own words, and our own actions and decide that regardless of the injury, we are going to choose to live life on our own terms, powerfully.

In our society, we are supported, encouraged, and even rewarded for being victims. And yet, does being a victim ever feel good? Not usually. Being a victim tends to make us feel weak, vulnerable, and powerless. And these feelings in turn can lead to depression, frustration, and uncertainty.

The difference between taking responsibility for ourselves when life throws us a curve ball versus being a victim of a situation is that we become far better equipped spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and many times even physically. We stop allowing energy vampires to suck the life out of us, and rather than feeling powerless, depressed, and frustrated, we are able to experience our situation as an opportunity to test our superpowers of strength, positivity, clarity, and focus.

If you are sick and tired of feeling frustrated, drained, like you just can’t get a break, and are ready to get over yourself and on with your life, here are a few guidelines for living life on your own terms.

Yesterday we hiked the first three trails which were:

1. Stop blaming everyone else.

2. Your life is your responsibility.

3. Things are not always as they seem.

Today we will hike the final two trails.

4. Acknowledge your feelings.

Feelings are simple, really. We like things that make us feel good – love, affection, romance, acknowledgment…We don’t like things that make us feel bad – frustration, anger, sadness, hurt…

Of course, if we didn’t know what one felt like, how would we recognize the other? How could we know if we were in a good mood if we didn’t know what it felt like to be angry or upset? We deny he feelings we don’t like, stuffing or rationalizing them away. We do anything we can to avoid really acknowledging them and hope that it limits our discomfort.

Here’s the thing. Feelings, pain, and discomfort (physical, mental or emotional) are like a little kid pulling on your pant leg to get your attention.

If you have kids, you understand. If you don’t, go spend a day with a 3 or 4 year old.

When a child wants your attention, they do not really care what is going on in the rest of your life at the moment. They are not maliciously trying to upset you or irritate you. They are attempting to bring your awareness to a situation that needs attention.

Once you give them your full, undivided attention, they feel acknowledged and heard and move on to greater adventures with more fun until the next time.

Feelings are exactly like that! They are designed to increase our awareness of our experiences and help us determine how we want to live our lives. Acknowledge them as they come up and remember, tears are nothing but a little bit of water that is a release of those emotions.

1 John 3:19-21 encourages, “Our actions will show that we belong to the truth so we will be confident when we stand before God. Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence.”

5. Say what you mean.

In challenging situations, are you more concerned with wanting to be “nice” than saying what you’re really thinking? Are you afraid if you say what you really mean someone else might be offended, hurt, or feel discounted?

Saying what you mean doesn’t mean you’re a jerk and being nice doesn’t necessarily require saying more. When we default what we’re really thinking and feeling for the sake of being nice to others, we compromise ourselves. (Come on, be honest. we’ve all had those moments after a situation when we’ve kicked ourselves and come up with at least 3 responses of what we should have said).

Try this. Take a current situation you have challenges in communicating. Write out what you want to say. Now see if you can write that same explanation or communication out in 10 words or less.

Eliminate the fluff and get to the heart of the matter. It may be a little challenging at first, but the more you practice, the better you will get.

Life is what we choose to make of it, and often we must be willing to get over ourselves in order to get on with the business of truly living our lives.

Proverbs 17:27 reminds, “A truly wise person uses few words; a person with understanding is even-tempered.”

The trails that we hiked yesterday and today are very rough trails to navigate. We have to encounter situations about ourselves that are not easy. We need the endurance to carry on, even if we do not feel like it. It will allow us to grow and mature so that we can reach our full God-given abilities. The life lessons that we learn each day are valuable to everyone we meet. So, encourage your friends and family to join us each day and come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy as we discover the difference between infecting or affecting others that we impact.

Also, we have a new service available. If you would like to be added to our weekly email update for Wisdom-Trek, just text the word “Wisdom” to 44222 on your phone, and you will receive a message asking for your email address. It is very quick and easy to do.

That will finish our podcast for today. Remember to listen to your daily dose of wisdom on Wisdom-Trek.com, or subscribe on iTunes, Google Play, Spreaker, SoundCloud, Stitcher, or YouTube so the episodes will be downloaded to you automatically each day. Please share Wisdom-Trek with your family and friends through email, Facebook, Twitter, or in person so they can come along with us each day.

The journal for today’s Trek can be found at Wisdom-Trek.com. Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this Trek together, let us always:

Live Abundantly (Fully)
Love Unconditionally
Listen Intentionally
Learn Continuously
Lend to others Generously
Lead with Integrity
Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!

Day 169 – 5 Trails to Hike to Get Over Yourself #1

November 16, 2015 by H. Guthrie Chamberlain, III 2 Comments

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 169 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.

5 Trails to Hike to Get Over Yourself #1

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 169 of our Trek, and yesterday we explored verses 15-23 of Proverbs Chapter 5. Today we are heading back out to the trails as we look for the 5 trails to getting over yourself so we can trek on in life. We will hike on trails 1-3 today. If you miss any of our Wisdom-Trek episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal.

rock-cut-state-park-5-best-day-hikes-near-chicago-600x450 — 5 Trails to Hike

We are recording our podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Last week seemed to zip by too quickly, but we did have a great time with Kip on Saturday picking out materials for his quilt that Granny will be making for him. On Sunday, we had a good time of fellowship and worship at our local church. This is the first time we have been in Charlotte for the weekend for nearly two months, so it was a great time to be back.

5 Trails Hiked to Getting Over Yourself So You Can Trek On With Your Life

Have you ever noticed that life just happens? It just does. And yet we spend so much time trying to control what happens in our lives, micro-managing how it happens, and then telling everyone else what they should do to control and manage their lives that we often miss the point of what we are actually experiencing in ours.

The question is why do we expend so much energy trying to control things we really have no control over. At the end of the day, isn’t it just exhausting?

Life is actually quite simple. We have two choices in any given situation, circumstance, or event. We can be a victim and believe that things are happening to us that we have no control over our situation and blame others for the injury we have suffered. Or, we can start taking responsibility for our own lives, our own thoughts, our own words, and our own actions and decide that regardless of the injury, we are going to choose to live life on our own terms, powerfully.

Being a victim tends to make us feel weak, vulnerable, and powerless.

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The difference between taking responsibility for ourselves when life throws us a curve ball versus being a victim of a situation is that we become far better equipped spiritually, mentally, emotionally and many times even physically. We stop allowing energy vampires to suck the life out of us, and rather than feeling powerless, depressed, and frustrated, we are able to experience our situation as an opportunity to test our superpowers of strength, positivity, clarity, and focus.

1. Stop blaming everyone else.

Seriously, stop it. Stop giving your power away and blaming others for what is, or is not, happening in your life. Your life is not anybody else’s fault, and people are not doing anything to you. This reminds me of the old Bob Newhart episode clip where his diagnoses for all his patient issues was “Stop It.” You can view the clip here if you wish to watch it.

What you are experiencing is not somebody else’s fault. They may have had a hand in creating an uncomfortable experience, but YOU are the one who gets to decide how it goes from there.

Something better than Bob Newhart’s treatment though can be found in Colossians 3:13, “Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.”

2. Your life is your responsibility.

How do you feel about your life right now? Are you frustrated with work? Do bad things frequently happen to you? Is physical or emotional pain keeping you from fully enjoying each day? Are you overwhelmed with so much to do that you procrastinate doing any of it? Well, what are you doing about it?

Larry Winget put it this way, “Stop expecting the world to rescue you. The Lone Ranger is not coming.”

There is no magic pill or knight in shining armor on a white horse coming to take you away or make all of the discomfort disappear. YOU are your own hero. Want control of your life? Then take the responsibility for it.

How you feel and what you think is reflected in how you speak (in the words that you use) and manifests itself in your world around you. Own your feelings, be truthful with yourself, and be willing to face reality squarely in the face so that you may make decisions that empower you and bring you joy.

If you lack joy and peace in your life, take responsibility for your actions and also call on God as is mentioned in Lamentations 5:21, “Restore us, O Lord, and bring us back to you again! Give us back the joys we once had!”

3. Things are not always as they seem.

No matter how much we think we know, we don’t really know everything. We all base our experiences on our own perceptions which have been colored through our own lens of past events and observations and may or may not be the full truth of any situation. This is called our paradigm. We perceive the world through the filters we have planted in our minds.

In Communion with God, Neale Donald Walsch writes, “Please temporarily give up any previous notions you have about God & Life…it is not about abandoning them forever but of merely setting them aside for the moment….to allow for the possibility that there may be something you do not know. The knowing of which could change everything.”

While we spend most of our lives accumulating knowledge so that we can determine our values and beliefs and live accordingly, the truth is that there is an entire world of experiences that exist beyond our knowing.

Everything happens for a reason – even if we do not know what the reason is at the time. That reason may be based on the decisions that you have previously made, which could be good or bad. But past decisions do not control the future forever. Keep an open mind and be willing to allow for that which you do not know. Sometimes the truth is far better than you ever could have imagined.

Paul writes about this in 1 Corinthians 13:12, “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.”

Tomorrow we will hike the two remaining trails, which are the trails of:

4. Acknowledge your feelings.

5. Say what you mean.

The trails that we are hiking today and tomorrow are rough trails. We have to encounter situations about ourselves that are not easy. We need the endurance to carry on, even if we do not feel like it. It will allow us to grow and mature so that we can reach our full God-given abilities. The life lessons that we learn each day are valuable to everyone we meet. So, encourage your friends and family to join us each day and come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy, as we finish up this trek with trails 4 and 5.

Also, we have a new service available. If you would like to be added to our weekly email update for Wisdom-Trek, just text the word “Wisdom” to 44222 on your phone, and you will receive a message asking for your email address. It is very quick and easy to do.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this Trek together, let us always:

Live Abundantly (Fully)
Love Unconditionally
Listen Intentionally
Learn Continuously
Lend to others Generously
Lead with Integrity
Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!

Day 168 – Proverbs 5:15-23 Making Wise Choices #3

November 15, 2015 by H. Guthrie Chamberlain, III 1 Comment

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 168 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.

Proverbs [5:15]-23 Making Wise Choices #3

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 168 of our Trek, and yesterday we explored verses 7-14 of Proverbs chapter 5. We will remain at camp for today as we finish up the 5^th chapter of Proverbs before heading back out on the trails. If you miss any of our Wisdom-Trek episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal.

We are recording our podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. This past week has been a productive week for us, and we accomplished a significant amount of work. I have been struggling somewhat with either severe allergies or a cold, which probably has been evident in the quality of my voice on our daily trek’s this week. I trust that this has not been too distracting and that the lessons we are learning are still effective.

This episode is being released on Sunday this week. Paula and I plan to take our grandson Kip with us on Saturday to Mary Jo’s, which is a fabric outlet in Gastonia, North Carolina. Granny wants Kip to help her select the materials that she will use for his planned quilt that she will be making. I also enjoy spending the time with Paula and helping her decide on material selection for her on-going quilt projects. She is very talented with quilting and cross stitch.

For today, though, we want to spend one more day around our campfire as we explore the remaining verses in Proverbs Chapter 5. Just like a campfire can be extremely enjoyable when it is kept within the confines of its designated parameters, so the physical relationship between a husband and wife will bring much joy and pleasure when it is kept within the boundaries set out by God in His Word. The Bible is so full of practical wisdom for life, especially in the book of Proverbs. This includes what makes for a proper and fulfilling physical relationship within a marriage. I realize that not everyone has been as fortunate within a marriage relationship as Paula and I have for over 36 years now, but it is never too late to make a new beginning.

Let’s look at what Solomon recommends to his sons when it comes to the proper physical relationship between a husband and wife. For today’s Trek, we will explore verses 15-23 of the 5^th chapter of Proverbs. I trust that some of the candid language used in this passage will be taken in the light that it was written and not tainted by any secular views. There is nothing more pure or holy than the appropriate physical relationship between a husband and wife within the boundary of marriage. Let us start with verses 15-17.

¹⁵Drink water from your own well—
share your love only with your wife.
¹⁶Why spill the water of your springs in the streets,
having sex with just anyone?
¹⁷You should reserve it for yourselves.
Never share it with strangers.

Here Solomon uses the analogy of the physical relationship in marriage and compares it to water. In dry countries, which is the setting for which the book of Proverbs was written, water is valuable. Clean water is very precious. You should not waste water. It should not flow into the streets. It should not pour out, into the town. Your family and your animals should drink it. You should water your crops. Use it wisely!

Think about your own life in the same way. You should use your strength wisely. If you follow your base physical and emotional desires, you will waste your energy on something that is not yours to have. You should have sex with only your husband or wife and not with anyone else. Our lives belong to God. God has shown us how we should live. Out of our love for God, we should obey His instructions. Our lives are always enriched when we do. The physical relationship is compared to your own wells which belong only to you (verse 15), so a husband and wife belong together.

¹⁸Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you.
Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
¹⁹She is a loving deer, a graceful doe.
Let her breasts satisfy you always.
May you always be captivated by her love.
²⁰Why be captivated, my son, by an immoral woman,
or fondle the breasts of a promiscuous woman?

Marriage is God’s gift. A husband and wife should give themselves to each other. They should enjoy their marriage in all aspects – physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. They should love each other. They attract each other, and this is good.

²¹For the Lord sees clearly what a man does,
examining every path he takes.

Perhaps, like David, we do some wrong things in secret (2 Samuel Chapters 11 and 12). A woman might tempt a man or the other way around. They might think that nobody knows. They are wrong because God knows. He sees our secret actions. He knows everything that we do in private. Like David, if we have done wrong things, we should turn to God. David’s prayer in Psalm 51 will help us to understand why we must ask God to forgive us.

²²An evil man is held captive by his own sins;
they are ropes that catch and hold him.
²³He will die for lack of self-control;
he will be lost because of his great foolishness.

The evil man is foolish and not wise. He thinks that he is free, but his evil behavior will make him into a slave. He can hide his actions from other people, but he cannot hide from God. In Numbers 32:23 Moses wrote, “But if you fail to keep your word, then you will have sinned against the Lord, and you may be sure that your sin will find you out.” This man’s evil behavior will destroy him. This man should invite God into his life. This man needs to ask God to forgive him. God will save the evil man, but only if the man trusts God.

As we reflected around our campfire today, we used the analogy that the best campfire is one that is contained within it preset parameters. In the same way, the physical relationship between a husband and wife must be kept within God’s guidelines for a proper marriage. I realize that many have made choices in the past that are warned about in Proverbs 5, and there is nothing that we can do about the past. We can start today, though, and make a brand new future – one that is in line with God’s precepts.

The life lessons that we learn each day are valuable to everyone we meet. So, encourage your friends and family to the join us each day and come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy as we head back out on the trail in search for hidden gems and treasures that are found in making wise choices. These choices made each day will allow us to create the living legacy that we desire.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this Trek together, let us always:

Live Abundantly (Fully)
Love Unconditionally
Listen Intentionally
Learn Continuously
Lend to others Generously
Lead with Integrity
Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!

Day 167 – Proverbs 5:7-14 Making Wise Choices #2

November 14, 2015 by H. Guthrie Chamberlain, III 2 Comments

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 167 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.

Proverbs 5:7-14 Making Wise Choices #2

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 167 of our Trek, and yesterday explored the first six verses of Proverbs Chapter 5. We will remain at camp for a couple more days as we explore the remaining verses of Proverbs Chapter 5. If you miss any days of our Wisdom-Trek episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal.

We are recording our podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. As we sojourn through each day of life, it is good to take time each day and reflect on all the blessings we have in our lives. Even if you are going through a difficult time, there are still many things in life that you can be thankful for. One way that I keep this focus is every morning when I get up, the first thing that I do is to read and pray through a list of items for which I am thankful. As new items come to mind, I add them to my list, and any items that may no longer be relevant I remove. Starting each day with my gratitude list helps to set the tone for my entire day.

As I mentioned yesterday, I have discovered that as we sit around the campfire and the night wears on, the stories shared become more personal in nature. Today we will dig for more of these personal wisdom nuggets found in Proverbs Chapter 5. Solomon continues to warn his children with strong words about the dangers of stepping outside of God’s precepts for marriage and relationships. While this passage cautions about an inappropriate sexual relationship, it can also be applied to others areas of life when we choose to ignore the guidelines that are set out in Scripture. While we may not fully understand all the reasons, principles, and precepts that God has established in His Word, by faith we can trust that it is because of God’s love for us that he has established these boundaries in our lives.

The next few chapters of Proverbs deal with some of the weaknesses we have as humans, and since God chose to leave them in His love letter to us, we will cover them as well as we dig for the nuggets of wisdom that are contained in the verses.

Since the beginning of recorded history, humans have struggled with keeping God’s commands, especially when it comes to appropriate physical relationships, but it also applies to all relationships that we have. Sometimes we may think it is more than we can handle, but Paul addressed this in his 1^st letter to the church in Corinth in Chapter 10 verse 13 where he wrote, “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.”

Of course, it is up to us to choose the steps that lead up to that temptation. Just like the campfire that burns brightly before us at our camp, the closer we get to the fire and the more we play with the burning wood, we will likely get burnt by the very embers that we are playing with.

The overall subject in Proverbs Chapter 5 is avoiding immoral women although the same principle applies in avoiding immoral men also. If you missed yesterday’s Wisdom-Trek, it would be best if you listened to it first so that you will be familiar with the story before today’s passage.

Let’s continue and look at verses 7-14.

⁷So now, my sons, listen to me.
Never stray from what I am about to say:
⁸Stay away from her!
Don’t go near the door of her house!

Solomon advises that his sons should not even meet the married woman. Solomon’s son must be very careful. He should not enter her house. He should not even walk near her door. As with our campfire, if you don’t want to get burnt, don’t play with fire.

If the son walks near her door, then he might enter. If he enters, he might listen to her. Her speech is attractive (verse 3). She will tempt him. If he listens to her, he will desire to have sex with her.

Solomon’s father, David, had a similar experience (2 Samuel 11-12). From a distance, he saw a beautiful married woman Bathsheba. She was having a bath naked on the roof of her house, which was common. Since King David’s palace was higher, he could see over to her roof, but he did not look away. If he had looked away, he would have avoided many troubles.

Instead, David watched the woman. He sent a servant to call her. She was a married woman, but she came to David. David talked with her. They had sex. They even had a baby together. David tried to hide his actions. He even caused the woman’s husband to die in battle. Then David married Bathsheba.

God knew what David had done. The baby, who would have been David’s youngest son, died as a direct result of the choices David made. After this, David turned to God. David asked God to forgive him. His prayer is in Psalm 51. Later, David and Bathsheba had another son. This second son was Solomon, who wrote the Book of Proverbs. We can see why Solomon had such strong cautionary language with his children, he knew the plight all too well.

⁹If you do, you will lose your honor
and will lose to merciless people all you have achieved.
¹⁰Strangers will consume your wealth, and someone else will enjoy the fruit of your labor.

A man should not waste his time and resources with another man’s wife. He should use his resources wisely. We must all be careful with our God-given resources. We should use our resources for good things, not for evil things.

Our reputation and integrity are valuable. Our time is valuable. Our resources are valuable.

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¹¹In the end, you will groan in anguish
when disease consumes your body.
¹²You will say, “How I hated discipline!
If only I had not ignored all the warnings!
¹³Oh, why didn’t I listen to my teachers?
Why didn’t I pay attention to my instructors?
¹⁴I have come to the brink of utter ruin,
and now I must face public disgrace.”

These verses teach us the result if we live for our desires. In the end, our wrong desires and choices will ruin us. They will bring us to despair.

Solomon warns his son. He explains what will happen to a foolish son. The son will become an old man one day. Then the son will ask himself what his life achieved. He will see that he achieved nothing. He ruined his life because he did not serve God. Instead, the foolish son served his emotions and desires. He wasted his energy and resources on merciless people (verse 9). His resources brought wealth to another man’s home (verse 10).

We need to build our lives on a solid foundation as described in Matthew 7:24-27, ²⁴“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. ²⁵Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. ²⁶But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. ²⁷When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”

Let us build our lives in God’s way.

As we reflect around our campfire today, we clearly see that there are consequences for the choices that we make in life. If we are unwise in our choices, the results will not be pleasant. If we choose wisely, the results will be built on a solid foundation. These life lessons are valuable to everyone we meet, so encourage your friends and family to join us each day and come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy. Tomorrow we will continue on with Solomon’s teaching about wisdom in Proverbs 5.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this Trek together, let us always:

Live Abundantly (Fully)
Love Unconditionally
Listen Intentionally
Learn Continuously
Lend to others Generously
Lead with Integrity
Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!

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