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Day 1614 – Change Begins With Caring – Daily Wisdom

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Welcome to Day 1614 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Change Begins With Caring – Daily Wisdom

Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! Wisdom is the final frontier in gaining true knowledge. Our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, seek out discernment and insights, and boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. Hello, my friend; this is Gramps. Thanks for coming along on our trek to increase Wisdom and Create a Living Legacy. Proverbs 16:16 How much better to get wisdom than gold, and sound judgment than silver!  Today is Day 1614 of our Trek, and it’s time for another nugget of wisdom, which includes an inspirational quote along with some wise words from Gramps for today’s trek. If you apply the words you hear today, over time, it will help you become more healthy, wealthy, and wise as you continue your daily trek of life. So let’s jump right in with today’s nugget:

Today’s quote is from Margaret J. Wheatley, and it is:  ​ All change, even very large and powerful change, begins when a few people start talking with one another about something they care about.    

Change Begins With Caring

To start a change in your personal life and the world you impact, you must care enough to follow through with the change. Even massive changes in the world begin when just a few individuals get together and share what they care about. Through this tiny seed of care, passion, and faith, significant changes have their nucleus. It does not require a lot of resources, time, or effort to begin that change process in your life and the world you impact, just a tiny spark of desire to make the change.  Just like a tiny spark can set an entire forest on fire, or the smallest flame to shine in the darkness, so it is with making changes in our world. It is the consistent small steps over time that will allow nations to rise or fall. It is the consistent small steps over time that enable great success, or failure.  It is also the small, consistent steps over time that will build God’s kingdom on earth. Over the past 2,000 years, from a handful of loyal disciples, the church of Christ has grown into a body of untold millions. This growth will continue until the day when Jesus Christ will return to establish the new Eden where heaven and earth combine. That is the change that we are seeking, and it only requires that you have the faith of a mustard seed that grows into a mighty tree. It only requires that you have the faith of a small measure of yeast to impact the whole batch of dough.

Matthew 13:33

Jesus also used this illustration: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.”

Luke 13:18-19

Then Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like? How can I illustrate it?  It is like a tiny mustard seed that a man planted in a garden; it grows and becomes a tree, and the birds make nests in its branches.”

As you ponder this nugget of wisdom for yourself, I would ask you to please encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along on Monday for another day of ‘Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.’

If you would like to listen to any of our past 1613 treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are all available at Wisdom-Trek.com.  I encourage you to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on your favorite podcast player so that each day will be downloaded to you automatically.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most importantly, I am your friend as I serve you through this 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

I am Guthrie Chamberlain….reminding you to ’Keep Moving Forward,’ ‘Enjoy your Journey,’ and ‘Create a Great Day…Everyday’! See you on Monday for more daily wisdom!

Day 1613 – A Driven Person – Daily Wisdom

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Welcome to Day 1613 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.

A Driven Person – Daily Wisdom

Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! Wisdom is the final frontier in gaining true knowledge. Our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, seek out discernment and insights, and boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. Hello, my friend; this is Gramps. Thanks for coming along on our trek to increase Wisdom and Create a Living Legacy. Proverbs 16:16 How much better to get wisdom than gold, and sound judgment than silver!  Today is Day 1613 of our Trek, and it’s time for another nugget of wisdom, which includes an inspirational quote along with some wise words from Gramps for today’s trek. If you apply the words you hear today, over time, it will help you become more healthy, wealthy, and wise as you continue your daily trek of life. So let’s jump right in with today’s nugget of wisdom:

Today’s quote is from Gordon McDonald, and it is:  No driven person could ever say what John the Baptiser said, because driven people have to keep gaining more and more attention, more and more power, more and more material assets. The seductions of the public life would have led to a competitive posture, but the original call to commitment from within spoke louder. 

A Driven Person

I hate to admit it, but this quote hit a little too close to home. While my mindset is moderating somewhat as I mature both in age and my outlook on life, I still struggle with a very driven personality. I enjoy winning. I enjoy gaining attention. I appreciate material assets. I enjoy having authority and using it. I suspect that many of you have struggled with these same issues, regardless of whether you are introverted or extroverted.  While there is nothing wrong with winning, gaining attention, material assets, or authority, our mindset, and motives that underlie the pursuit of them can lead us down an evil path.  Just imagine if John the Baptiser had the attitude we do, how would that have impacted his life and relationship with his cousin, Jesus Christ. John was gaining ever-increasing popularity, with thousands coming to listen to him. Many of these same people believed in him and were baptized.  It would have been effortless for him to start thinking that he was something special, which in God’s eyes he was.  That was not his position or calling in life. He was to be the proclaimer and forerunning of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Yet, with his growing popularity, John could have thought it was all about him. Jesus even backed this up when he said in Luke 7:28 Luke 7:28  I tell you, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John.

I know if Jesus said that about me, I would think I was pretty important. Fortunately, John understood his place in the creation and redemption story. Just to make sure that other people at the time also understood, God permitted John to be executed when his ministry was complete.  There could be no confusion on who was the Messiah. In the second half of the verse above, Jesus focused on how vital His kingdom was when he said. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of God is greater than he is!

So I have to ask myself, and I will ask you also, are you an imager of God reflecting Jesus Christ in your life, or do you come off as an imager of yourself? I know I have work to do in this area, how about you? John the Baptist knew his position when he proclaimed in Mark 1:7 John announced: “Someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not even worthy to stoop down like a slave and untie the straps of his sandals.

As you ponder this nugget of daily wisdom yourself, I would ask you to please encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of ‘Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.’

If you would like to listen to any of our past 1612 treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are all available at Wisdom-Trek.com.  I encourage you to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on your favorite podcast player so that each day will be downloaded to you automatically.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most importantly, I am your friend as I serve you through this 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

I am Guthrie Chamberlain….reminding you to ’Keep Moving Forward,’ ‘Enjoy your Journey,’ and ‘Create a Great Day…Everyday’! See you tomorrow for more daily wisdom!

Day 1612 – Begin Now, Today – Daily Wisdom

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Welcome to Day 1612 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Begin Now, Today – Daily Wisdom

Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! Wisdom is the final frontier in gaining true knowledge. Our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, seek out discernment and insights, and boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. Hello, my friend; this is Gramps. Thanks for coming along on our trek to increase Wisdom and Create a Living Legacy. Proverbs 16:16  How much better to get wisdom than gold, and sound judgment than silver!  Today is Day 1612 of our Trek, and it’s time for another nugget of wisdom, which includes an inspirational quote along with some wise words from Gramps for today’s trek. If you apply the words you hear today, over time, it will help you become more healthy, wealthy, and wise as you continue your daily trek of life. So let’s jump right in with today’s nugget:

Today’s quote is from   Louis L’Amour, and it is:  Your life always restarts today. Every morning is a beginning, a fresh start, and you needn’t be hog-tied to the past. Whatever went before, your life can begin now, today.

Begin Now, Today

I understand that the consequences of past decisions will impact your future, but it does not need to control your destiny.  Every new day brings new opportunities to begin again. Why should you remain tied to your past when you have the choice and ability to untie the rope that binds you. A hog is one of the most challenging animals to tie up effectively because it is hard to hold onto, and their legs are short and taper smaller the closer to the hoof. If you have ever had the experience of tieing up a hog, you will better understand the quote for today on how secure a rope must be to keep the hog tied up. So it is with our past, if we allow it to be. There is one significant difference between you and the hog. You have a sharp knife to cut the rope and free yourself from the past, but you have to choose to use the knife.  If you just lay the pigpen of your past, feeling sorry for yourself, thinking that there is no hope, then you will never be free. Each new day you have to make that choice. Will you cut the ties that bind and set yourself free, or will you be content to be where you are? At the beginning of each new day, give thanks to the God of all creation. Live renewed knowing that God’s mercies are also new every day. Free yourself from the shackles of the past.

Lamentations 3:22-23

The faithful love of the Lord never ends!

His mercies never cease.

Great is his faithfulness;

his mercies begin afresh each morning

 

John 8:36

So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.

As you ponder another bit of wisdom from Gramps, please encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along with us tomorrow for another day of ‘Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.’

If you would like to listen to any of our past 1611 treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on your favorite podcast player so that each day’s trek will be downloaded automatically.

Thank you so much 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.

As we take this Trek 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

I am Guthrie Chamberlain….reminding you to ’Keep Moving Forward,’ ‘Enjoy your Journey,’ and ‘Create a Great Day…Everyday’! See you Tomorrow for more daily wisdom!

Day 1611 – Worth Dying For – Daily Wisdom

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Welcome to Day 1611 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Worth Dying For – Daily Wisdom

Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! Wisdom is the final frontier in gaining true knowledge. Our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, seek out discernment and insights, and boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. Hello, my friend; this is Gramps. Thanks for coming along on our trek to increase Wisdom and Create a Living Legacy. Proverbs 16:16 How much better to get wisdom than gold, and sound judgment than silver!  Today is Day 1611 of our Trek, and it’s time for another nugget of wisdom, which includes an inspirational quote along with some wise words from Gramps for today’s trek. If you apply the words you hear today, over time, it will help you become more healthy, wealthy, and wise as you continue your daily trek of life. So let’s jump right in with today’s nugget:

Today’s quote is from   Martin Luther King, Jr., and it is:  “Even if they try to kill you, you develop the inner conviction that there are some things so precious, some things so eternally true that they are worth dying for. And if a person has not found something to die for, that person isn’t fit to live!     

Worth Dying For

These are pretty strong words, which were said by a man who had a firm conviction that we are all created as imagers of God. Because of his belief that every person should be treated with dignity and respect, he was willing to die for what he believed. In fact, Martin Luther King Jr. did die for his beliefs as he was assassinated on April 4, 1968. As Christ-followers, we should also have such a firm conviction for our faith that we are willing to be martyred instead of denying our believing loyalty for Jesus Christ and His kingdom.  I can’t speak for you, but although I would like to think my faith is that strong, I know my own weaknesses. If my life or the life of a family member were threatened, I am not convinced in my heart, that I would be willing to die. So I will ask you, what in your life is worth dying for? Is your faith in God, your believing loyalty in God through the sacrificial atonement of Jesus Christ strong enough that you would be willing to die? One last question, what in your life is also worth living for? Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.

Mark 8:34-36

Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?

As you ponder this nugget of wisdom for yourself, please encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of ‘Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.’

If you would like to listen to any of our past 1610 treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on your favorite podcast player so that each day’s trek will be downloaded automatically.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most importantly, I am your friend as I serve you through this 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

I am Guthrie Chamberlain….reminding you to ’Keep Moving Forward,’ ‘Enjoy your Journey,’ and ‘Create a Great Day…Everyday’! See you tomorrow for daily wisdom.

Day 1610 – Bible Study – Software and Dictionaries – Meditation Monday

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Welcome to Day 1610 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom 

Bible Study – Software and Dictionaries – Meditation Monday

Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! Wisdom is the final frontier in gaining true knowledge. Our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, seek out discernment and insights, and boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. Hello, my friend; this is Gramps; thanks for coming along on our journey to increase Wisdom and Create a Living Legacy Today is Day 1610 of our Trek, and it is time for Meditation Monday. Taking time to relax, refocus, and reprioritize our lives is crucial in order to create a living legacy. For you, it may just be time alone for quiet reflection. You may utilize structured meditation practices. In my life, Meditation includes reading and reflecting on God’s Word and in prayer. It is a time to renew my mind, refocus on what is most important, and making sure that I am nurturing my soul, mind, and body. As you come along with me on our trek each Meditation Monday, it is my hope and prayer that you, too, will experience a time for reflection and renewing of your mind.

 We are continuing our series this week on Meditation Monday as we focus on Mastering Bible Study through a series of brief insights from Hebrew Scholar, Dr. Michael S. Heiser. Our current insights are focusing on practical tools for Bible study. Today let us meditate on:

Bible Study – Software and Dictionaries

·      Insight Seventy-Three: Buy Bible Software-Then Use It

I recommend that you buy (and use) Bible software. Unless you’d rather have a rotary phone, like to wash dishes and clothes by hand, or yearn for the days of the Ford Model T, you want Bible software. I realize there might be some people out there in the world that have enough time to experience the thrill of spending weeks or months on a Bible study task that my software can do in less than a second, but I’m not that guy. We still have monks and monasteries, but the monastic age is history.

There’s nothing like having Bible software when it comes to Bible study. It isn’t an issue of laziness or wanting to do Bible study as fast as possible to move on to the rest of your day. No way. Bible study still takes discipline: it isn’t a ritual act. That isn’t what lightning speed for processing searches in the Bible is about. The speed allows you to get more done, not pave the way to do less. This is what technology is all about: how to do something with greater accuracy, efficiency, and frequency. Bible software is a boon in all those respects.

In the old days (forty years ago, not the days of the apostles), scholars had a few reference works that would enable them to do tasks like look up all the occurrences of a word in the Bible. But they would have to manually navigate to each passage to make sure that the handwork responsible for that reference work was accurate. Even then, the tools to search for anything beyond a single word, or words in books besides the Bible, just didn’t exist.

All of that is a reality today. This is particularly true because of Bible software companies’ massive biblical studies libraries. You can find discussions of anything you’re looking for in thousands of books all at the same time, even in books that have no indexes of their own. Bible software also enables Bible students who don’t read Hebrew and Greek to search in those languages. The software that I use and recommend is Logos Bible Software. It contains thousands of reference materials that can be integrated and indexed for comprehensive Bible Study. There’s literally nothing like it on the planet.

·      Insight Seventy-Four: Acquire a Clear, Succinct Theological Dictionary

When you’re engaged in serious Bible study, you will invariably end up running into theology. The Bible is not simply putting forth names, places, and events in artful storytelling. It’s teaching truths to believe—truths about God, us, and God’s solution for the human condition and human destiny. That’s theology, the study of God and what He’s about. So don’t panic if you end up thinking about doctrine. That’s supposed to happen.

I say it that way since many Christians I know recoil at theology because they think it’s impractical, dull, or scares them. Having had a lot of experience in the formal study (and teaching) of theology, that’s understandable. Theologians use a lot of terms that are long and unfamiliar. But despite the confusing nature of many such terms, they’re essential to know, since you won’t be able to avoid them in academic reading in theology. You need to look up words in books you don’t know. To prevent that is to remain ignorant, which isn’t a virtue in Bible study (or anything else).

There are two convenient solutions to this problem. One is to have some good theology books with indexes. At the very least, you can see if the index has that word that stopped you cold. You might get an excellent definition on one of the pages to which the index directs you. Using Bible software, of course, makes this effortless.

The problem with this solution is that your theology books may not have the term you’re looking for in the index (presuming there is one). And even then, you may not get a short, clear definition. Enter the second solution: get a succinct theological dictionary. I’m not talking about a reference work that has long articles on topics. I’m talking about a dictionary that defines terms in a couple of sentences.

There are a couple of options that fit this description. My favorite, and the one I think is the best, is Millard Erickson’s Concise Dictionary of Christian Theology. The book is precisely what the title claims. It has hundreds of theological terms defined in short, understandable sentences. With this tool in hand, you never need to fear reading a theology book. It should be part of every Bible student’s arsenal.

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.

That is a wrap for today’s Meditation. Next week we will continue our trek on Meditation Monday as we take time to reflect on what is most important in creating our living legacy. 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 ‘Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.’

If you would like to listen to any of the past 1609 daily treks or read the daily Journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on your favorite podcast player so that each day will be downloaded to you automatically.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most importantly, I am your friend as I serve you through this 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

I am Guthrie Chamberlain….reminding you to ’Keep Moving Forward,’ ‘Enjoy your Journey,’ and ‘Create a Great Day…Everyday’! See you tomorrow for more daily wisdom!