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Day 526 – Better to be Poor and Honest – Proverbs 28:1-14

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Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 526 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Better to Be Poor and Honest – Proverbs 28:1-14

wednesday-words-of-wisdom-badge

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 526 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 28.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Although life is not always easy and sometimes not everything turns out as we anticipated, if your life is driven by honesty and integrity, it will be rich and satisfying. This concept ties into verse 6 on today’s trek, which says…

Better To Be Poor and Honest

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

More Proverbs of Solomon

1 The wicked run away when no one is chasing them,
but the godly are as bold as lions.

Unfounded fear seems to grip so many people and sadly even those who profess faith in God. It is understandable if someone is fearful when their actions are contrary to God’s precepts in His Word. Irrational fear is caused by irrational thinking and actions. As Christ followers, we should not be fearful, but bold as lions. When we are fearful, it is because our faith is weak. The opposite of faith is fear.

Boldly Go - Honest

2 When there is moral rot within a nation, its government topples easily.
But wise and knowledgeable leaders bring stability.

This scenario has been seen of governments across time and throughout the world. When the people of a nation no longer follow God, then all of society will be filled with moral rot. The next step is a failure of the government. Wise leaders will govern based on moral precepts, which bring stability.

3 A poor person who oppresses the poor
is like a pounding rain that destroys the crops.

It is unimaginable that a person who is poor would treat another poor person badly. They of all people should have compassion on those that share the same plight. In the same manner, rain is good and necessary for crops to grow and prosper, but if rain comes too fast and hard, it will destroy the very crops that it is supposed to help.

4 To reject the law is to praise the wicked;
to obey the law is to fight them.

When a person rejects law and order within a government and country, they are giving a stronghold to those who do not follow God. Every stable nation needs a set of laws and guidelines for people to follow.  They will be the foundation for a stable government.

5 Evil people don’t understand justice,
but those who follow the Lord understand completely.

We see this so often in our world today where justice is not only misunderstood, but perverted. I suspect this has been an issue since the fall of man. All of us are susceptible to falling into the trap of calling evil good and good evil when it fits our particular paradigm. It is when we allow God’s Word to filter everything that goes into our mind where we will then understand true justice.

6 Better to be poor and honest
than to be dishonest and rich.

Such sound advice. No amount of riches is worth having if you become dishonest to obtain them. It certainly is better to be poor but have your integrity and reputation unspoiled.

Poor and Honest

7 Young people who obey the law are wise;
those with wild friends bring shame to their parents.

A person young or old will show their wisdom when they obey the laws of the land. As a parent, it is heartbreaking and embarrassing when our children become friends with those who ignore the law and God’s precepts.

8 Income from charging high interest rates
will end up in the pocket of someone who is kind to the poor.

God is compassionate for those who are poor. If we become wealthy by taking advantage of the poor and charging high interest, then eventually we will lose it to someone who cares for the poor.

9 God detests the prayers
of a person who ignores the law.

All too often we only turn to God when we are in trouble. Much of the time the trouble is because we have ignored God’s precepts. We then expect God to bail us out for our foolishness. This action is detestable to God.

10 Those who lead good people along an evil path
will fall into their own trap,
but the honest will inherit good things.

It is a dangerous trek to lead others, who try to be good, down a path that is evil. If we make this a practice, don’t be surprised that it will come back on us. Those who practice honesty on a continual basis will see the good fruit from the good they planted.

11 Rich people may think they are wise,
but a poor person with discernment can see right through them.

Obtaining riches is not the same as obtaining wisdom. It is so easy to think that our earthly success is because of our wisdom. A person who is poor, but rich in wisdom will more easily discern the difference.Rich and Honest

12 When the godly succeed, everyone is glad.
When the wicked take charge, people go into hiding.

A good person, who lives a life of integrity and is successful by doing so will make others glad and reflective. It is quite the opposite when the wicked rise up and take power. It is then we want to hide from their presence

13 People who conceal their sins will not prosper,
but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.

When we do that which is wrong, we may cover it up for a time, but eventually, it will be our downfall. The only way to have true prosperity is to turn from that which is wrong, confess it to those who are aware of it, and ask forgiveness of anyone that we may have hurt.
Prosper Honest

14 Blessed are those who fear to do wrong,
but the stubborn are headed for serious trouble.

It is good when you have a healthy fear of doing something that is wrong. If we refuse to admit that and continue on in our wrong ways, then it will eventually rise up and cause us significant issues.

Today on our Wisdom Trail we continued 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 the precepts in Proverbs are followed, 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 as we 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.

Poor and honest

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 525 – Faith That Endures – Wisdom Unplugged

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Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 525 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Faith That Endures – Wisdom Unplugged

Faith wisdom unplugged

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 525 of our trek, and 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 Viktor E. Frankl, who said, “Just as a small fire is extinguished by the storm whereas a large fire is enhanced by it — likewise a weak faith is weakened by predicament and catastrophes whereas a strong faith is strengthened by them.”

Faith not feeling

If you have ever been camping when it is windy or raining, you understand how difficult it is to keep a campfire going, especially a small one. Contrary to this, think of a major forest fire and how the winds will whip it into a fast-moving inferno that devours everything in site. Our faith in life and in God is very similar. If our faith is weak and based solely on our own strength, then the smallest of problems and setbacks will crush our spirit, our drive, and our ability to move forward.

The opposite is true of a person who has a strong and enduring faith in life and in God, who is the giver of life. When the strong winds of adversity blow, when the obstacles grow larger, when life becomes almost unbearable…if our faith is strong, it will grow even stronger because we know that God is ultimately in control of all situations. It is then that our faith grows larger because we know He will provide the strength and resources to persevere through the storms of life.

This concept is summed up best in Romans 5:1-5, “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.  Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.  And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”

Faith eternity

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.

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.

Faith in God

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 for Wisdom Wednesday!

Day 524 – Providing Guidance – The Tools in Gramps’ Backpack

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Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 524 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Providing Guidance – The Tools in Gramps’ Backpack

Guidance 2

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 524 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 third tool from Gramps’ Backpack is Guidance.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. When this episode originally airs, I will be working with our partners in Arizona on our construction project. I will be there the entire week as we finish the current project and start preparing for potential new projects this year. As we work together, we provide guidance to each other on the various parts of our projects, based on our individual knowledge and strengths.

In the same thought, as we head out on our trek for today, let’s open Gramps’ backpack again and explore our third tool, which every parent or grandparent should have available to them. This tool is helpful to anyone who has the opportunity to impact others. To effectively and positively impact the lives of others, the next tool that you must possess is the ability to provide guidance to those whom you influence. So our tool for today is…

Guidance

The third tool in Gramps’ backpack is providing guidance, which is an important tool for molding and shaping the lives of children, grandchildren, and others we influence. King Solomon did this when teaching his children as he wrote in Proverbs 1:5, “Let the wise listen to these proverbs and become even wiser. Let those with understanding receive guidance.” 

wise guidance

Let me ask you this question, “Are you a dedicated parent or grandparent who wants to share your wisdom with your children and grandchildren?” If so, you must continue to grow both spiritually and intellectually. When you do, you will be a wise role model and a worthy mentor for your children and grandchildren. You will be a parent or grandparent who by your words and your example can guide them along the paths of life they should travel.

You are not only a role model, but you also need role models. Even if you are a grandparent, it is always good to seek out friends and mentors yourself who are able to help you along your path. A mentor should be a person whose judgment you trust. Listen carefully to your mentor’s advice and be willing to accept that advice, even if accepting it requires a little pain, a lot of effort or both. Certainly, God through His Word and His Spirit can help to instruct. Also, if I can assist in any manner, please email me at guthrie@wisdom-trek.com.

Author John Eldredge said it this way, “Yes, the Spirit was sent to be our Counselor.  Yes, Jesus speaks to us personally through God’s Word, but often He works through another human being.” As it says in Proverbs 16:16, “How much better to get wisdom than gold, and good judgment than silver!”

Guidance 4

In the same way that you are able to provide guidance to those you mentor, look for others who are wiser and more mature to mentor you. C. S. Lewis put it this way, “The next best thing to being wise oneself is to live in a circle of those who are.” C.H. Spurgeon explains this truth well when he said, “The man who never reads will never be read; he who never quotes will never be quoted.  He who will not use the thoughts of other man’s brains proves that he has no brains of his own.” 
Good-Judgment

As you learn to mentor those on whom you have an impact, be prepared for the opportunities that God may bring your way. As James, the half-brother of Jesus explained in his letter Chapter 5:19-20, “My dear brothers and sisters, if someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back, you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back from wandering will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins.”

As you seek out opportunities in everyday life, events to provide guidance to your children, grandchildren, and others always be willing and ready to learn yourself so you can become even wiser. John Maxwell said it well, “You can’t light another’s path without casting light on your own.”

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 guidance onto you. Once you have this tool in your backpack, it is up to you to use it to provide guidance to your children, grandchildren, or anyone else that you have the opportunity to impact.

Next Monday we will investigate the fourth tool in Gramps’ backpack, which is Courage. 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. 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.

Guidance 3

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 523 – Enterprise Is Better Than Ease – Activity (3)

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Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 523 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Enterprise Is Better Than Ease – Activity

Philosophy Friday Enterprise

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy podcast. This is Day 523 of our trek, and today is Philosophy Friday. Every Friday we ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they can 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 called 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. We are wrapping up a busy week of client work and podcast-related projects. Since I will be in Arizona all next week, I will be recording several episodes ahead of time, so I can focus on the financial aspect of our construction projects while I am on site.

The next five weeks will be a busy time of traveling, along with the extra tax work that we need to complete for our clients and our own companies. There are certain deadlines that have to be met, and we will need to stay very focused on the tasks that need to be completed. This ties into the topic of our trek today on the Trail of Activity, as we will explore why Enterprise Is Better than Ease, and why we need to plan The Ratio of Activity to Rest so we do not burn out on our quest and become unable to complete it.

Enterprise is better than ease
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 3

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

  1. Philosophy

  2. Attitude

  3. Activity

  4. Results

  5. Lifestyle

1. Enterprise Is Better Than Ease

If you are involved in a project, how hard should you work at it? How much time should you invest? Your philosophy about activity and your attitude about hard work will affect the quality of your life.

What you decide about the correct ratio of labor to rest will establish a certain work ethic. That work ethic, which is your attitude about the amount of labor you are willing to commit to your potential future fortune, will determine how substantial or how meager that fortune turns out to be.

Enterprise (or it could be referred to as initiative) is always better than ease. Every time you choose to do less than you could, this error in judgment has an effect on your self-confidence. Repeated every day, you will soon find yourself not only doing less than you should, but also being less than you could. The accumulative effect of this error in judgment can be devastating.

Fortunately, it is easy to reverse the process. Any day you choose you can develop a new discipline of doing rather than neglecting. Every time you choose action over ease or labor over rest, you develop an increasing level of self-worth, self-respect, and self- confidence. In the final analysis, it is how you feel about yourself that provides the greatest reward from any activity. It is not what you get that makes you valuable, it is what you become in the process of doing which brings value to your life. It is activity that converts your dreams into your reality, and that conversion from idea into actuality gives you a personal value that can come from no other source.

Enterprise better than ease

Everything has its price, and everything has its pain, but the price and the pain become easy when the promise becomes strong. In order for your life to be filled with intense activity, you must be obsessed by the outcome or that is to say, by the promise of the future. The results will not merely support the activity. The inspiration you get from seeing the results clearly in your mind will enable you to produce the results.

2. The Ratio of Activity To Rest

With the understanding that enterprise is better than ease, you also have to understand that life cannot be a process of all work and no rest. It is important to set aside sufficient time to regain your strength. The key is to develop a reasonable ratio of rest to activity.

The Bible offers this philosophy about the ratio of labor to rest – six days of labor and one day of rest. Some people may feel that this seems somewhat heavy on the labor side. In fact, there are some people in our country and throughout the world who are at odds even with the current ratio of five days of labor and two days of rest. They would have us trim back even further on the labor side and increase the rest period to at least three days.

You must decide the ratio that best reflects the reward you are seeking, remembering that with diminished labor comes diminished rewards. If you rest too long, the weeds will surely take over your garden of life. The erosion of your values begins immediately whenever you are at rest. That is why you must make rest a necessity, not an objective. Rest should only be a necessary pause in the process of preparing for an assault on the next objective and the next discipline. The punishment for excessive rest is mediocrity.

The Bible gives us the best example of the proper ratio. Even from the creation of the world, God performed his creation activities in six days and then rested on the seventh. Genesis 2:2 says, “On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work.”

Enterprise and rest

God does not need the rest himself, but we do. So He gave us His pattern. We need to take advantage of the six days of focused work and then take a complete day for resting and re-energizing. Exodus 34:21 is one of the several verses that lays out the proper ratio of work and rest, “You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but on the seventh day, you must stop working, even during the seasons of plowing and harvest.”

Enterprise with rest

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 Enterprise is Better Than Ease, but we must also establish the proper Ratio of Activity to Rest.

Next Philosophy Friday, we will continue on the Trail of Activity and explore the danger in seeking shortcuts to success, and that change begins with choice. Join us next Friday for additional insights. I know you will find these insights interesting and profitable in living a rich and satisfying life.

Our next trek on Monday will continue our new series call The Tools in Gramps’ Backpack, where we will equip you with the tools you need 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.

Enterprise and rest2

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 on Monday!

Day 522 – Being a Lifelong Student – Wisdom Unplugged

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Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 522 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Being a Lifelong Student – Wisdom Unplugged

Wisdom Unplugged - Leaf

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 522 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 from Henry Doherty, who said, “It is the studying that you do after your school days that really counts. Otherwise, you know only that which everyone else knows.”

Lifelong student

Do you consider yourself a lifelong student? Your formal education only prepared you for the very basics of survival in this world. It should be viewed only as the foundation on which you build your entire life of learning. This is more important today than in any other time in history. With the rapid change in technology, the globalization of the workforce, and the world economy, it requires that we are continually learning and improving our skills.

Most of our jobs will be obsolete in a matter of a few years, and it is only when we adopt the philosophy of lifelong learning that we will ever be successful. No one who is successful has ever stopped learning. Most learning today will be self-taught, and it does require a significant investment of time and resources.

Are you willing to make that investment so that you will continually improve? This same concept for prosperity and success also applies to the most important book of instructions, the Bible, as it tells us in Joshua 1:8, “Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.”

Lifelong student3

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.

Lifelong student2

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!