Wisdom-Trek ©

Creating a Legacy ™

Day 536 – A Just King – Proverbs 29:1-14

by Leave a Comment

cropped-Wisdom-Trek2800.jpg

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 536 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

A Just King – Proverbs 29:1-14

wisdom-wednesday-1114

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 536 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday. Every Wednesday along life’s trails we dig for the nuggets of wisdom that are found within the book of Proverbs. Today we will explore the 1st half of Chapter 29.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. On the day this trek is released, we will be heading to Florida to visit Paula’s Aunt in Ft. Myers and then heading out on a 5-day podcaster cruise on Saturday. A couple of days after returning from the cruise, I will be heading back to Arizona for my monthly on-site work for our construction project there.

This means that I have to prepare enough daily treks ahead of time to cover the entire month of February. This will be a challenge, and some of the daily treks may be a bit shorter than usual. We are thankful for a stable client workload, and that we are able to work independent of our location. This stability reminds me of verse 4 on our trek today tells us…

A Just King Gives Stability to His Nation

Let’s start our trek as we explore verses 1-14.

These are more Proverbs of Solomon recorded by King Hezekiah.

1 Whoever stubbornly refuses to accept criticism
will suddenly be destroyed beyond recovery.

One of the traits of a wise and mature person is that they are willing to accept constructive criticism to improve themselves. None of us have all knowledge and wisdom, and we all have much room for improvement. A person who is unwilling to accept beneficial criticism from others will destroy themselves due to their foolishness.

Just 40148-constructive-criticism-quotes

2 When the godly are in authority, the people rejoice.
But when the wicked are in power, they groan.

It is so encouraging and pleasant when you are under the authority of a person with integrity and whose actions are right, just and fair. When we are forced to be under a person who is wicked, it is a heavy burden and groaning is a natural outcome.

3 The man who loves wisdom brings joy to his father,
but if he hangs around with prostitutes, his wealth is wasted.

As a father of five grown children, whom all love and are growing in wisdom, is a joy. It is quite different when your grown children hang around those who are morally bankrupt. The training invested in that type of child does not have a good return. Many time wayward children are also a financial drain on the parents.

4 A just king gives stability to his nation,
but one who demands bribes destroys it.

Whether it is a king, president, governor, or anyone else in a position of authority, a leader who is just and fair will bring stability to their organization. If these same leaders are crooked and demand that which is not rightfully theirs, then the nation or organization will be destroyed from within.

Just and stable

5 To flatter friends
is to lay a trap for their feet.

We should be honest with all people at all times. When we flatter our friends and others, it is usually for some nefarious reason to get something in return. This is trapping them with deception.

6 Evil people are trapped by sin,
but the righteous escape, shouting for joy.

Individuals who practice deception will be trapped by the very deception that they are promoting. When you don’t lie or deceive others, then you never have to worry about what you said, thereby escaping this trap. It is a joyous time.

7 The godly care about the rights of the poor;
the wicked don’t care at all.

A person who is compassionate will be concerned for all people, and especially the rights of those who are unable to defend themselves. A person who is wicked is also selfish and does not care about others.

Just giving-to-the-poor

8 Mockers can get a whole town agitated,
but the wise will calm anger.

A wise person will also be a peaceful person. When a situation becomes tense or there is anger, a wise person will attempt to calm the situation. A person who stirs up anger is just the opposite. They thrive on agitating others.

9 If a wise person takes a fool to court,
there will be ranting and ridicule but no satisfaction.

Taking someone who is foolish to court is very difficult since a fool does not desire justice. They will stir up trouble. A wise person will try and avoid this situation so that they do not waste their time.

10 The bloodthirsty hate blameless people,
but the upright seek to help them.

A person who is by nature cruel and vicious despises those who are good by nature. Those who are good, love to be around others who are the same.

11 Fools vent their anger,
but the wise quietly hold it back.

You can tell a person who is not wise because he has no problems spewing his anger on others. A wise person, even in a situation that upsets him knows better than to express it.
Just not anger2

12 If a ruler pays attention to liars,
all his advisers will be wicked.

The saying a fish rots from the head down certainly applies in this situation. If a leader is wicked, then most of those below him will also be wicked.

13 The poor and the oppressor have this in common—
the Lord gives sight to the eyes of both.

Those who are poor and those who oppress the poor must realize that all that we have or ever hope to be is from God. We need to understand this and act accordingly.

14 If a king judges the poor fairly,
his throne will last forever.

Justice is appropriate in every situation. When a king or anyone in a position of authority is right, just, and fair, then their leadership position will be eternal as they impact those whom they lead.

Today on our Wisdom Trail we continue to explore a series of Solomon’s Proverbs that were assembled by King Hezekiah. These proverbs provide us with more wisdom, insight, and understanding on a myriad of relationship issues. Regardless of where you are in your faith walk, if you follow the precepts in Proverbs, your life will be rich and satisfying. Take them and plant them in your heart so that you will reap a harvest of wisdom. I would challenge you to take just one precept that we learn today in Proverbs and commit yourself to applying it to your life.

Tomorrow we will hike another short trail of Wisdom Unplugged where we will discover an inspirational wisdom quote. So encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along with us tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

Called to be just

That will finish our trek for today. If you would like to listen to any of our past treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are available 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.

As we take this trek of life together, let us always:

  1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
  2. Love Unconditionally
  3. Listen Intentionally
  4. Learn Continuously
  5. Lend to others Generously
  6. Lead with Integrity
  7. 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 535 – Knowledge Is Power – Wisdom Unplugged

by Leave a Comment

wisdom-unplugged

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 535 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Knowledge Is Power – Wisdom UnpluggedKnowledge-is-Power

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 535 of our trek, and it’s time for a 3-minute mini-trek called Wisdom Unplugged. This short nugget of wisdom includes an inspirational quote with a little additional content for today’s trek. Consider this your vitamin supplement of wisdom for today. So let’s jump right in with today’s nugget:

Today’s quote is from Zig Ziglar, who said, “Knowledge is power, and so is dynamite. Both are dangerous unless handled wisely.”

Power of dynamite

It is true that knowledge is power, but how that power is used is the defining question. Knowledge does not automatically result in power, but the more knowledgeable we become, the more potential power we have access to. The lack of knowledge, or chosen ignorance, does prevent a person from having the capacity to gain more knowledge.

In today’s interconnected world, with its free resources, the wall of ignorance is broken down, which allows nearly everyone to obtain knowledge if they choose to.  As with most resources that we have access to, knowledge can be used for both good or evil.

In today’s quote, knowledge is compared to dynamite. Both are powerful and effective when the person who possesses them also has the wisdom on how to use them. As we explored in our last Wisdom Unplugged episode, there is a vast difference between knowledge and wisdom. The ideal situation is to possess an abundance of both knowledge and wisdom. True and effective knowledge can only be found when it is coupled with wisdom. Proverbs 1:7 tells us, “Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.”

50641-Will-Durant-Quote-Knowledge-is-power-but-only-wisdom-is-liberty

That’s a wrap for today’s Wisdom Unplugged. If you enjoy these quotes, I have created and published a searchable database of over 10,000 quotes that I have collected for many years. If you would like free access to my database of inspirational quotes, the link is available on the main page of Wisdom-Trek.com.

Just as you enjoy these nuggets of wisdom, please encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

knowledge-is-power (1)

If you would like to listen to any of our past treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com.Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most importantly I am your friend as I serve you in through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

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.

As we take this trek of life together, let us always:

  1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
  2. Love Unconditionally
  3. Listen Intentionally
  4. Learn Continuously
  5. Lend to others Generously
  6. Lead with Integrity
  7. 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 for Wisdom Wednesday!

Day 534 – Perseverance – The Tools in Gramps’ Backpack

by Leave a Comment

podcast_channel_artwork.png

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 534 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Perseverance – The Tools in Gramps’ Backpack

The Tools in Gramps Backback

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 534 of our trek, and we are hiking a series of trails called The Tools in Gramps’ Backpack.

Each Monday for a total of 20 weeks, we will explore a different tool that is needed to equip parents and grandparents to train their children and grandchildren to be successful on their trek of life. If you don’t have children or grandchildren of your own, use these tools to train others that you do influence. Today the fifth tool from Gramps’ Backpack is Perseverance.

perseverance

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. To continue on your trek of life each day at times is not easy. Most of our lives are less than ideal, and many of our daily life routines are quite boring. Although through this podcast and social media the life that Paula and I live may seem that it is filled with activities, which include many exciting and enjoyable times, most days are quite routine. Yes, we do enjoy life, but that is primarily by choice, as we have our share of challenging and difficult days.

What keeps us moving forward each day regardless of the obstacles that we may face is our consistent persistence. Certainly our faith is the foundation for our life, but it is perseverance in the face of disappointments and struggles that gives us the strength to take the next step. On our trek for today, the tool that we will explore from Gramps’ backpack is…

Perseverance

The tool of perseverance allows us to overcome disappointments and transcends failures. Hebrews 10:36 encourages in this way, “Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.”

You cannot persevere unless there is a trial in your life. There can be no victories without battles. There can be no mountain peaks without deep valleys. If you desire the blessing, you must be prepared to carry the burden and fight the battle.  God has to balance privileges with responsibilities, blessings with burdens, or else you and I will become spoiled pampered children.

Perseverance-in-Faith

If you’ve led a perfect life with absolutely no mess ups, blunders, mistakes, or failures, then today’s trek may not be for you. If you are like the rest of us, you know that disappointments and failures are an inevitable part of life. These setbacks are simply the price that must be paid for maturing as we gain wisdom and knowledge about life. Even when you experience bitter disappointments, which you will, you must not lose your faith.

When times and situations are difficult, the Bible teaches us that, “Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.” These reassuring words remind us that when we persevere, we will eventually receive that which God has promised. Even when we fail, God is faithful. What God requires of us is perseverance, not perfection.

When we encounter the inevitable difficulties on our daily trek of life, God stands ready to protect us. While we are waiting for God’s Word to illuminate our way, we do not need to fear the darkness, and we can be comforted in the knowledge that our Creator can overcome any obstacle, even when we cannot. Psalms 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.”

All of us hike our own trail of life, or to put in into a sports analogy we are running a race as the Apostle Paul taught us the importance of perseverance in 1 Corinthians 9:24-25, “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.”

St. Augustine described perseverance in this way, “Keep adding, keep walking, and keep advancing.  Do not stop, do not turn back, and do not turn from the straight road.” Perseverance is more than endurance. It is endurance combined with the absolute assurance and certainty that what we are looking for is going to happen.

Perseverance 4

When the Apostle Paul was instructing his protégé Timothy, in 1 Timothy 6:11-12 he told him, “But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses.”

Perseverance is difficult, but it is imperative that we master this tool so that we can instruct our children, grandchildren, and others that we impact on how to persevere on their trek of life just as Paul instructed Timothy.

perseverance-6-638

To gain this perseverance, we need to follow God’s precepts in His Word. We need to take Jesus’s yoke on us to persevere on our daily trek, then the burdens will be lighter, and we can help others. Matthew 11:29 Jesus tells us, “Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

With these thoughts in mind, we will conclude our trek for today and close Gramps’ backpack. Before I do, I will pass the tool of perseverance onto you. Once you have this tool in your backpack, it is up to you to learn to persevere by taking on Jesus’s yoke while standing firm in the faith. It is then that you can teach perseverance to your children, grandchildren, or anyone else that you have the opportunity to impact.

Next Monday we will investigate the sixth tool in Gramps’ backpack which is Support. On tomorrow’s trek, we will explore another wisdom quote. This 3-minute wisdom supplement will assist you in becoming healthy, wealthy, and wise each day. Thank you for joining me on this trek called life. Encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

Perseverance 3

If you would like to listen to any of the past daily treks or read the daily journal, they are available 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.

As we take this trek of life together, let us always:

  1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
  2. Love Unconditionally
  3. Listen Intentionally
  4. Learn Continuously
  5. Lend to others Generously
  6. Lead with Integrity
  7. 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 533 – The Need for Intelligent Activity – Activity (5)

by Leave a Comment

podcast_channel_artwork.png

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 533 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

The Need for Intelligent Activity

Philosphy Friday Intelligent

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy podcast. This is Day 533 of our trek, and today is Philosophy Friday. Every Friday we ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they impact us in creating our living legacy. Currently, we are on an extended multi-week trek as we explore the teachings from some of my virtual mentors, such as Jim Rohn, Zig Ziglar, and Earl Nightingale. The core of our current trek is based primarily on Jim Rohn’s book The Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle. I have learned a considerable amount from reading and re-reading this book on my own trek of life, and I trust that it will benefit you also. Keeping with the continuity of Wisdom-Trek, I will be adapting it to The Five Trails on Life’s Trek.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. This week’s client work has been extra busy. We help our clients with their tax processing and preparing their year-end financial statements. In addition to that, I am also utilized to conduct technical sales demos for the client that I provide remote technical support on their SaaS-based software program several times per month.

My workload requires that I plan my activities intelligently and carefully so that nothing is overlooked. This ties into the topic of our trek today on the Trail of Activity as we will explore why The Need for Intelligent Activity and why Activity Must Be Planned.

Proper planning of our daily activities allows us to maximize the return on our time invested in those activities. A good plan does not have to be overly complicated. In fact, it is best implemented when it is kept simple.

If you have missed the past few Philosophy Friday treks, it would be good to go back and review them to get caught up on our progress so far. We have a lot of ground to cover today, so let’s break camp and continue on the third trail of this extended trek as we cover…

The Five Trails on Life’s Trek – Activity Part 5

As a reminder, our overall extended trek covers these five trails:

  1. Philosophy

  2. Attitude

  3. Activity

  4. Results

  5. Lifestyle

1. The Need for Intelligent Activity

Many of those in search of success and happiness are already working hard, but they just do not seem to be getting anywhere. The problem is that to produce the desired results, you must put intelligence as well as intensity into your activity. Action without intelligence can be destructive. You must not invest too much time in the process of acquiring intelligence. All things must be in their rightful ratio.

It is so easy to mistake motion for progress and movement for achievement. That is why activity must be deliberately planned, carefully refined and consistently executed.

Intelligent activity

2. Activity Must Be Planned

You must become wise enough to use today to plan tomorrow. You must design the future, not just dream about it. If you discipline yourself to put intelligence into your plans, you will put fortune into your future.

Your journey toward success cannot be like the long forgotten Sunday drive when you drive around aimlessly looking at the scenery. You need to select a specific destination. You also need to anticipate the obstacles and the risks and be prepared to respond to them whenever they appear.

Having well-defined goals is an essential part of any life plan. These goals should be recorded in writing and should reflect both short-term and long-range planning. Short-term goals serve as landmarks along the journey. They are the small stepping stones that lead to the achievement of your long-term fortune and help you to stay on track over a long period of time. (For guidance on life planning, download the free PDF version of Your Life Plan Blueprint on the free resources tab on Wisdom-Trek.com.)

Your Life Plan Blueprint Logo-2

Long-range goals serve as milestones. They are the points of achievement along the way that give you cause to celebrate the fruits of your efforts. The most important part of planning and goal-setting is to see in your “mind’s eye” the major objective that you are pursuing. This is the “magnificent obsession” that we explored in previous weeks. This is the very nerve center of your ambition. This is what drives you forward.

Major objectives are the unseen force that pulls you into the future. Through your daily activity and discipline, you provide the push to propel you toward success. It is the dream of the future achievement of your objectives that pulls you along day after day and pulls you through the major obstacles you will encounter along the way. The exciting thing about this process is that the more you push, the more the future begins to pull. As you demonstrate your unwavering determination to conquer your limitations, increase your intelligence, and achieve your objective, that still, small voice within you begins to speak its special and promising message adding to the pull of the future. As you listen carefully to this voice and respond instinctively to its urgings, the pull becomes stronger and your future more certain.

Life-Planning-Class

3. A Good Plan Is A Simple Plan

Your better future begins with a worthy objective and a simple plan. You must not allow your plan to become excessively burdened by complexities. Many of the answers take time to discover. It is virtually impossible to plan every detail or to anticipate every obstacle. As King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 11:6, “Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don’t know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both.”

You must also be careful not to allow the opinions of others to unduly influence the development of your plan for a rich and satisfying life. Others will have dozens of opinions about what you should do, but the final plan for progress must be your plan. You should listen to the voices of value, but you must remember that no one else will see your plan or sense your obsession quite the way you do. It must be a personally designed plan, and its creator and architect must remain at the helm of the ship throughout the entirety of the journey.

Life Plan steps-to-success

We are deliberately taking our trek slowly on The Five Trails on Life’s Trek as we continue our hike on the Trail of Activity. Today we learned that our activity needs to be intelligent, planned, and simple to complete. It must be our plan, and although we may obtain advice from wise mentors, we must lead on our trek of life, even when few follow.

Next Philosophy Friday we will complete our third trail, which is the Trail of Activity. Our trek next week will focus on why it is so important that your activity is disciplined and allows you to reach the destination you planned. Join us next Friday for these additional insights. I know you will find these insights interesting and profitable in living a rich and satisfying life.

Our next trek is on Monday, and we will continue our series called The Tools in Gramps’ Backpack in which we equip you with the tools needed to impact the lives of others. So encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along on Monday for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

life-plan

If you would like to listen to any of the past daily treks or read the associated journals, they are all available 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.

As we take this trek of life together, let us always:

  1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
  2. Love Unconditionally
  3. Listen Intentionally
  4. Learn Continuously
  5. Lend to others Generously
  6. Lead with Integrity
  7. 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 on Monday!

Day 532 – Knowledge and Wisdom – Wisdom Unplugged

by Leave a Comment

wisdom-unplugged

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 532 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Knowledge and Wisdom – Wisdom Unplugged

Decisions - Wisdom Unplugged

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 532 of our trek, and it is time for a 3-minute mini-trek called Wisdom Unplugged. This short nugget of wisdom includes an inspirational quote with a little additional content for today’s trek. Consider this your vitamin supplement of wisdom for today. So let’s jump right in with today’s nugget.

Today’s quote is a humorous one from Miles Kington, who said, “Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is never putting it in a fruit salad.”

 

Knowledge and Wisdom1

Knowledge and wisdom are often thought of as equivalent, but there is a very distinct and important difference. Knowledge is the accumulation of facts, information, and ideas about a wide variety of subject matters that we acquire through study, research, investigation, observation, or experience.

Wisdom is the ability to discern and judge which aspects of that knowledge are true, right, lasting, and applicable to your life. Wisdom is taking knowledge obtained and having the discipline to apply it in a common sense manner that will allow you to obtain success in various areas of life. The danger in just accumulating knowledge is that we all view life through our own paradigm of experiences and feelings so you can come to an incorrect conclusion about that knowledge.

Knowledge and Wisdom3

Ultimately all wisdom comes from God who is the only one that can give us the ability to take the knowledge that we obtain and apply it correctly to life. As Proverbs 2:6-7 tells us, “For the Lord grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.”

That’s a wrap for today’s Wisdom Unplugged quote. If you would like free access to my database of over 10,000 inspirational quotes, the link is available on the main page of Wisdom-Trek.com. Just as you enjoy these nuggets of wisdom, encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

To-acquire-knowledge (1)

If you would like to listen to any of our past treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com.

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

As we take this trek of life together, let us always:

  1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
  2. Love Unconditionally
  3. Listen Intentionally
  4. Learn Continuously
  5. Lend to others Generously
  6. Lead with Integrity
  7. 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 for Philosophy Friday!