Wisdom-Trek © - Archive 2

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 516 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 27.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. The open house that we had this past Saturday turned out very nice. We had about 50 people in attendance over the three-hour window. We enjoyed talking with everyone and showing the house. Most of them had not been inside, and with the renovations that we completed over the past few years, it was fun giving tours, which Paula is very good at.

We are truly blessed to be stewards of the house, which my great-grandparents built. Few families have the rich history that we are part of. God has been gracious to us as a family. We do realize all that we have is just on loan to us for the few years that God grants us life, and it is up to us to be good stewards with what He has provided to us. We look forward to many years of continued renovations and enjoyment of the home, but realize that it is God who grants us the ability and life to carry on. Because of this, we are careful to follow the exhortation found in verse 1…

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

1 Don’t brag about tomorrow,

since you don’t know what the day will bring.

God is the one who controls every breath that we take. If we go through life with pride believing that our success and advancement is because of us, then we miss this point. While we should plan and prepare for the future, we must realize that God is ultimately the giver of life and all that we have.

2 Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth—

a stranger, not your own lips.

We should not be hasty in promoting and praising of ourselves. While it is crucial to have a healthy self-image, we do not need to publically proclaim it. We should remain quietly confident.  It is far better for others to proclaim it, if we are worthy of any praise.

3 A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty,

but the resentment caused by a fool is even heavier.

Stone and sand are among the heaviest of all materials known to humans. While we can physically be crushed by these elements, there is an even heavier emotional weight on us. We all desire to be loved and respected, and when we are resented by others, it will crush us emotionally because the resentment is heavy in our soul.

4 Anger is cruel, and wrath is like a flood,

but jealousy is even more dangerous.

Anger is cruel to both the person who is dishing it out and to those that are on the receiving end. Anger and wrath will drown the recipient like a flood. There is one additional emotion that is even worse, and that is being the victim of jealousy. It can destroy you emotionally, and it will also destroy the person who is the initiator of that jealousy.

5 An open rebuke

is better than hidden love!

A person who is truly concerned for your well-being is willing to correct and rebuke you when you go astray or are heading into danger. It is their love for you that compels them. This is much better than them not saying anything because they feel it may offend you. True love is honest love.

6 Wounds from a sincere friend

are better than many kisses from an enemy.

In the same thought, a friend is willing to cause temporary pain to avert long-term destruction. This is much better than outward affection from someone that does not care if you are heading down the wrong trail.

7 A person who is full refuses honey,

but even bitter food tastes sweet to the hungry.

When we have overeaten, even when there is additional delicious food before us, we will refuse it. Solomon refers to honey which is one of the sweetest foods on earth. If you are starving though, you are willing to eat undesirable food to help satisfy your cravings.

8 A person who strays from home

is like a bird that strays from its nest.

When we are part of a family, we have certain moral responsibilities within that family. The most important one is to love our family. When we stray or abandon our responsibilities, then it is no different than a bird abandoning their God-given duties.

9 The heartfelt counsel of a friend

is as sweet as perfume and incense.

It is good to have friends close enough who are willing to guide and mentor you. Although it may be challenging to hear, in the end, it is a sweet aroma.

10 Never abandon a friend—

either yours or your father’s.

When disaster strikes, you won’t have to ask your brother for assistance.

It’s better to go to a neighbor than to a brother who lives far away.

It is good and proper to establish friends who are close both physically and spiritually. This safety net will provide protection and assistance when needed. This is crucial when serious issues and disasters come into your life. A close neighbor can be there immediately when it may take family much longer.

11 Be wise, my child, and make my heart glad.

Then I will be able to answer my critics.

Wisdom implanted into our children early in life will be a reward later on. It will be an example to others who are against you or critical of you.

12 A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions.

The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.

A wise and prudent person will understand the dangers and obstacles that are part of everyone’s life and make sure they are prepared. A person who is simple will ignore this potential, and their life will be filled with problems and drama.

13 Get security from someone who guarantees a stranger’s debt.

Get a deposit if he does it for foreigners.

Once again Solomon warns about the dangers of debt. This is especially true when you co-sign or guarantee the debt for someone else. If you are loaning the money, then to make sure you are protected, you should seek out additional security on that loan. This is especially true if the person who is borrowing the money is a stranger or unknown to you.

14 A loud and cheerful greeting early in the morning

will be taken as a curse!

We should be considerate of others at all times. Some people are able to get up early and be filled with energy, many others are not. If you are one of those early risers, be especially considerate of others who are not. This is especially true of your spouse, children, and close family members.

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, your life will be rich and satisfying if you follow the precepts in Proverbs. 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.

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!

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is day 510 of our trek, and it’s time for our 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 Ralph Waldo Emerson, who says, “It is a lesson which all history teaches the wise, to put trust in ideas, and not in circumstances.”This quote for me, at first, was a bit difficult to fully understand, so I dug into the background or situation that led Emerson to say it. It was penned after some difficult circumstances in his life that he had overcome.

We all face situations and circumstances throughout our trek of life. If we are not careful, we will allow those circumstances to control our future. What brought you to where you are today does not have to be the same vehicle that takes you to a more successful and prosperous future.

Allow your ideas, dreams, and desires to drive you forward. Strip off all of the old baggage and circumstances that are holding you back from achieving your God-given potential. Trust in the fact that you are uniquely qualified. That you have talents and abilities that no one else in the world has.

No one can take your place, so it is up to you to take your ideas and dreams and move forward with confidence. Learn the lessons taught by difficult circumstances and then boldly move forward with the certainty that God is guiding you through your purpose in life for this season.

Grasp hold of the truths that are found in Romans 5:3-5, “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.”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.

Please encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

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

I am Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow for Wisdom Wednesday!

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 514 of our trek, and today we are starting a new series called The Tools in Gramps’ Backpack. Each Monday for 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 first tool from Gramps’ Backpack is Knowing Jesus.

Maybe it’s a male perspective, but I love tools. When I go to Lowes or Home Depot, I enjoy seeing all the tools and have dreams about all that I could use them for. Tools help us to perform tasks that would otherwise be impossible. In the same way, the tools that we will explore over the next several weeks can help us to have a legacy impact on others that would be impossible otherwise. Email me at [email protected], and let me know how these tools have helped you and if you have anything that you would like to ask Gramps about our trek of life.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Since I am recording this before our open house, I will report back on how that went on Wednesday’s podcast. As I think about the open house, we have invited those people that we know and consider friends. This thought applies to the first tool we will explore today. To consider someone a friend, you must know them. So it is with…

Knowing Jesus

The first tool in Gramps’s backpack is a living, loving relationship with the Son of God, who is Jesus. John the Baptist understood this as recorded in John 1:29, “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!'”

He was the Son of God, but He wore a crown of thorns. He was the Savior of mankind, yet He was put to death on a rough-hewn cross. He offered His healing touch to an unsaved world, and yet the same hands that had healed the sick and raised the dead were pierced with nails.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born into humble circumstances. He walked this earth, not as a ruler of men, but as the Savior of mankind. His crucifixion, a torturous punishment that was intended to end His life and His reign, instead became the pivotal event in the history of all humanity. Christ sacrificed His life on the cross so that we might have eternal life. This gift, freely given by God’s only Son, is the priceless possession of everyone who accepts Him as Lord and Savior.

Why did Christ endure the humiliation and torture of the cross? He did it for you, His love is as near as your next breath, as personal as your next thought, more essential than your next heartbeat. What must you do in response to the Savior’s gifts? You must accept His love, praise His name, and share His message of salvation. For this tool to be effective on impacting the lives of others, you must conduct yourself in a manner that demonstrates to all the world that your acquaintance with the Master tool is not a passing fancy but that it is, instead, the cornerstone and the touchstone of your life. Indeed Christ is more than a tool. He is the Master tool of all the other tools, for He is required for the other tools to be effective.

Oswald Chambers put it this way, “The only source of Life is the Lord Jesus Christ.”

As for Jesus’s position, Hebrews 2:9 says, “What we do see is Jesus, who for a little while was given a position “a little lower than the angels”; and because he suffered death for us, he is now “crowned with glory and honor.” Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone.”H. Spurgeon summed it up in this manner, “Infinite and an infant. Eternal, and yet born of a woman. Supporting a universe, and yet needing to be carried in a mother’s arms. King of angels, and yet the reputed son of Joseph. Heir of all things, and yet the carpenter’s despised son.”

John 1:14 in the Voice translation explains it so well, “The Voice took on flesh and became human and chose to live alongside us. We have seen Him, enveloped in undeniable splendor—the one true Son of the Father—evidenced in the perfect balance of grace and truth.”

With these thoughts in mind, we will conclude our trek for today and close Gramps’ Backpack. Before I do, I will pass the tool that we explored onto you. It is up to you to use it to train your children, grandchildren, or anyone else that you have the opportunity to impact.

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 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.

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!

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy podcast. This is Day 513 of our trek, and today is Philosophy Friday. Every Friday we will ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy. Currently, we are in a 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. It has been cool, but not overly cold for the first week of January in Marietta. Paula and I have an open house at our home this Saturday for friends to see the renovations that we have completed over the past couple of years. We are expecting about 50 people to drop by. We are still decorated for Christmas, so we thought it would be a great time to host it.

The following weekend we will be celebrating Christmas with our five children, their spouses, and our six grandkids. We delayed it so everyone would be able to come at the same time. Plus it allows us to take advantage of after-Christmas specials. We have done this a couple of times in the past few years, and it seems to work out well for all. Sometimes it is best to work our activities around what is best for everyone instead of trying to fit everything into a schedule that is already busy.

As we consider the activities that we are engaged in, our trek today will be in sync with that as we start on our third trail of this extended trek which is the Trail of Activity.

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…

In the book of Matthew 25, Jesus tells a story known as the Parable of the Three Servants. A parable is a word story that illustrates a greater truth. According to the story, one day the master of the household gathered his three servants together and announced that he would soon be going away on a long journey. Before leaving, he gave each of his servants a certain number of bags of silver. Each bag of silver would be worth several years’ wages to the average laborer, so this represented a substantial sum of money. Let me read this story to you, so you will understand the lessons contained in it. 

“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.” 

“The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.” 

“After a long time, their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.'” 

“The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!'”

“The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.'”

“The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!'”

“Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.'”

“But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.'” 

“Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'”

Many people are not very happy with the way this story ends. After all, it does not seem fair to take the little that the third servant had and give it to the servant who now had ten. Remember, life is not designed to give rewards in proportion to your level of need, it gives them in proportion to your level of ability. While there is a deeper Biblical lesson about the building the Kingdom of Heaven in this story, for our analogy let’s look at it as part of the trails on life’s trek.

The moral of this story for your lesson today is that whatever life has handed you, whether it is one bag of pennies or five bags of silver, it is your responsibility to do something with what you have been given! That is how you change pennies into fortunes and obstacles into opportunity. You must take all that you have and all that you are and put it to work.

Sooner or later you must convert knowledge and good feelings into activity. This parable also clearly demonstrates, the more you start with, the more you will receive for all of your disciplined work. That is why starting with a sound personal philosophy and the right attitude is so important. The more you know and the better you feel about yourself and your opportunities, the greater your chances of success will be.

A growing awareness and a positive attitude are not enough in and of themselves. What you know and how you feel merely determines your potential for achievement. Whether you actually achieve your goals is ultimately determined by your activity.

You can have a well-balanced philosophy, great depth of character, and a good attitude about life, but unless you put these valuable assets to work, you may find yourself making more excuses than progress. What you know and how you feel are important factors that affect the quality of your life, but remember, they are merely the foundation upon which to build a better future. Completing the rest of the picture requires action.

We are deliberately taking our trek slowly on The Five Trails on Life’s Trek as we begin our hike on the Trail of Activity. Today we learned that any success requires activity and action. It was the two servants that took action based on their ability that were rewarded for their activity.

Next Philosophy Friday we will continue on the Trail of Activity and explore why we sometimes get stuck at the base of the mountain and why we must harness our vision for the future. Join us next Friday for additional insights. I know you will find these insights interesting and profitable in living a rich and satisfying life.

On our next trek on Monday we will begin a new series call The Tools in Gramps’ Backpack where we will 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.

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 on Monday!

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is day 512 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 comes from one of our Wisdom-Trek episodes, which says, “Investing time wisely will be the most important investment and provides the greatest return.”We are starting a brand new year and have the opportunity to invest or spend every hour of each day. Think about it in this manner…There are 168 hours each week, and if we assigned $10 value to each hour, then each week would be worth $1680.00. For every hour you must decide, will you invest this hour into something that will allow you to grow in value, or spend it on something that has no lasting value?

Investing your time can be in the form of additional training to stay ahead of the rapidly changing technology, exercising to stay physically fit, or preparing wholesome meals to stay healthy, or getting adequate sleep and beneficial relaxation. You can also invest time and resources in others, which will allow them to grow and further your positive impact on your world.

If you are not investing your time in the improvement of yourself or others, you will end up spending your time on non-important distractions and your resources on non-essential “stuff” or self-destructive behaviors. Make it a habit this year, at the beginning of each day, to choose to invest your time and resources for positive growth and impact instead of spending them on stuff or activities that have no redeeming value.

As the Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the church in Ephesians 5:15-17, “So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.”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. 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. 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

I am Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow for Philosophy Friday!

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 511 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 2nd half of Chapter 26.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. 2017 has begun. Paula and I invested several hours in planning, preparing, and setting goals for this New Year and are excited to see how God moves within our lives and for the opportunity to positively impact the lives of many people. Even with this planning, which is very important, we also realize that what we do on a daily basis, which most of the time is not exciting, will determine the success we have during this year.

Most days will be mundane and considered boring. We do not live extravagant lives and are fairly common people. We do understand, though, that success consists of doing the common things of life uncommonly well. Our prayer and hope is that when 2017 ends, we can look back with satisfaction and say each day was lived well. If we live each day well, then the entire year will be successful overall.

On our trek for today, we will explore several examples of how not to live. It is important to know this, so that we can avoid these situations and habits. One of those bad habits is lying to others. As verse 28 tells us…

Let’s start our trek as we explore verses 15-28.

15 Lazy people take food in their hand

but don’t even lift it to their mouth.

A person who is habitually lazy feels a sense of entitlement. He feels that the world owes him something, or everything. To show the extreme of his laziness, this verse uses a word picture of a lazy person who took hold of something to eat, but was so lazy he would not lift the food to his mouth.

16 Lazy people consider themselves smarter

than seven wise counselors.

Laziness and foolishness go hand in glove. A foolish, lazy person feels that he is so smart that he has no need of advice from others. Even if he meets the wisest people alive, he would refuse their wisdom, because he is too lazy to implement their suggestions for improvement.

17 Interfering in someone else’s argument

is as foolish as yanking a dog’s ears.

When you observe someone else in a discussion or argument, it would be best to avoid getting involved. Even if you feel that you have a solution to their problems or an answer to their arguments. The analogy is how foolish it would be to yank the ears of a mad dog. The only thing that will happen is that you will get bitten physically or verbally when interfering in someone else’s argument.

18 Just as damaging

as a madman shooting a deadly weapon

19 is someone who lies to a friend

and then says, “I was only joking.”

Lying is never wise, especially to those you consider friends, even when said in jest. The result will be the killing of your friendship. The damage will be no less than if it was with physical weapons.

20 Fire goes out without wood,

and quarrels disappear when gossip stops.

Just like a fire needs a continual supply of wood to keep it going, quarrels will usually continue when there is a continual supply of gossip. The best way to end quarrels is to stop fueling them with lies, deceptions or gossip. Be kind and honest at all times.

21 A quarrelsome person starts fights

as easily as hot embers light charcoal or fire lights wood.

You probably know a person or two who just seems to be always quarreling and fighting about something. His life is filled with drama. It seems to be his very nature and is a habitual part of his life. It is the same way as hot embers, or fire continues to fan the flames of a cooking pit or bonfire.

22 Rumors are dainty morsels

that sink deep into one’s heart.

23 Smooth words may hide a wicked heart,

just as a pretty glaze covers a clay pot.

24 People may cover their hatred with pleasant words,

but they’re deceiving you.

25 They pretend to be kind, but don’t believe them.

Their hearts are full of many evils.

26 While their hatred may be concealed by trickery,

their wrongdoing will be exposed in public.

People have not changed all that much since King Solomon penned these words over 3,000 years ago. Within his palace, rumors abounded, and he knew how dangerous it was. They are like a fine piece of chocolate that you can feel oozing down into your stomach. They are usually smooth and will cover for the gossiper as a fine glaze covers a piece of pottery.

Those that spread gossip cover themselves with what appears to be pleasant words, even as they know they are deceptive. They come across as if they care for those they are gossiping about, and yet their intent is to cause damage. They may deceive others for a period of time. Eventually, the habitual gossiper will be found out for who they truly are, a hater and a liar.

27 If you set a trap for others,

you will get caught in it yourself.

If you roll a boulder down on others,

it will crush you instead.

Be careful when you are attempting to entrap others for your own personal gain. It may work for a period of time, but eventually, it will catch up to you, and you will be the one who is ultimately damaged.

28 A lying tongue hates its victims,

and flattering words cause ruin.

When you lie to or about others, it is usually to protect yourself from embarrassment and shame. You may not realize that it is causing harm to the person you are lying to, but when you strip away all of the excuses for lying, the only thing that remains is that you hate the person you are lying to, or at least love yourself more than you love them. This is the reason you are trying to cover-up for your shortcomings.  Honesty is not only the best policy, but it is also the only policy.

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 especially in relationship to arguing, lying and gossip, which are all the same thing. Regardless of where you are in your faith walk, your life will be rich and satisfying if the precepts in Proverbs are followed. Take them and plant them in your heart so that you will reap a harvest of wisdom.

I would challenge you today 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.

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!

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is day 510 of our trek, and it is Tuesday and time for our 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 one that I wrote when designing the format for Your Life Plan Blueprint, and the quote is, “Information is not knowledge, and knowledge is not wisdom, but the practical Biblical use of information results in knowledge and the Biblical application of knowledge results in wisdom.”Information, knowledge, and wisdom – many people think that these three words can be used interchangeably. Although they can be connected, built on, and related to each other, the words are vastly different. In today’s connected world we literally have exponentially more information at our fingertips instantaneously than all of humanity has had since the creation of the world. Although we have this vast bank of information, very few people absorb this information and use it as knowledge to further themselves to be more successful in any area of life. Of those individuals that apply information and convert it to knowledge to advance themselves, few of them use that knowledge fully.

The final step in this connected thread is taking all of the knowledge that we have, and through the use of Biblical filters, apply that knowledge as wisdom. Ultimately all wisdom comes from God, so to properly synthesize knowledge into practical wisdom requires that knowledge is converted to wisdom, which is in sync with Biblical precepts. Wisdom that violates Biblical precepts is not wisdom at all, but a misapplication of information and knowledge. Proverbs 2:9-11 sums the proper use of information as knowledge and the application of knowledge as wisdom,

9 Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair,

and you will find the right way to go.

10 For wisdom will enter your heart,

and knowledge will fill you with joy.

11 Wise choices will watch over you.

Understanding will keep you safe.

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.

Please encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most importantly 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 Every Day! See you tomorrow for Wisdom Wednesday!

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 509 of our trek, and today is Motivation Monday. Every Monday we explore a quote that will encourage and motivate you to live a rich and satisfying life this week. Today let us hike the trail called A Fresh New Year.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. A brand new year is dawning for us all. For Paula and I on our trek of life, there are many areas that we would like to pursue, some of which are already planned while others are just ideas. I am sure there will be many unforeseen twists and turns, obstacles and ditches.

One thing that we can be sure of is the sun will always be shining, whether it is from a clear blue sky or above the clouds obstructed from our view. Our primary desire and focus is to positively impact the lives of others and encourage them to walk faithfully and successfully each day. Let us know how we can assist you.

The quote we want to explore today is from William Arthur Ward, who said, “Another fresh new year is here…another year to live! To banish worry, doubt, and fear, to love and laugh and give! This bright New Year is given me to live each day with zest…to daily grow and try to be my highest and my best! I have the opportunity once more to right some wrongs, to pray for peace, to plant a tree, and sing more joyful songs.”

As we start a New Year, let me ask you to look forward and answer this question, “By the end of 2017 what do you desire to accomplish and where do you desire to be on your trek of life?” Take a clear mental picture of what you just answered, post it on the front page of your mind and review it every day upon rising. Next, write it down and post it near your bathroom mirror so that you see it every morning when you rise and again at night before sleep.

With this picture firmly planted in your mind, each day banish the fear, doubt, and worry. Live each day with gusto as you love, laugh, and give of yourself to others. Daily grow toward your highest and best potential. Above all, on your trek each day, keep moving forward and enjoy your journey.

A passage that I have used before, but is so applicable as we begin this new year is Philippians 3:13-14, “No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”

With these thoughts in mind, we will conclude our trek for today, but I exhort you to take action today and make 2017 your best year ever.

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.

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!

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy podcast. This is Day 508 of our trek, and today is Philosophy Friday. Every Friday we will ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy.

Currently, we are in a 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 is the final podcast for 2016, and as we reflect on this past year, we realize that we have covered a lot of territory on our daily treks. The question is, did we trek well, and what areas do we need to improve as we start 2017? There are some uncertainties in what direction we will head in, both from a personal and business perspective, but we are confident that if we live each day well, then the weeks, months, and the entire year will also be lived well. Our Wisdom-Trek is about taking one step at a time and living our legacy well every day so that our life of legacy will be one that will impact the lives of others for generations to come.

As we ponder this concept today, we are completing our trek on the Trail of Attitude. We need to realize our need and continually seek out new and better sources of influence so that our attitude will determine our outcome. 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 second trail of this extended trek as we cover…

Sources of new information and ideas are within your reach and can have a dramatic impact on your attitude. The information that success requires can come from a variety of sources. The information is all around you if you will just begin the search.

Even if you cannot get around the right people in person, you can always have access to them through their spoken or written words. There is a wealth of information and inspiration available to you through audio books, printed books, podcasts, YouTube, online training courses, and other streaming media. These resources give you new insights into goal-setting, attitude development, time management, leadership skills, financial management and a multitude of important subjects.

By listening to these new voices of inspiration as you drive to and from work, exercise, and a myriad of other activities you can find that new seeds of progress will enter your mind causing you to think new and more constructive thoughts. The voices from these resources will bring value to your life and should replace the time you would usually spend listening to mindless chatter on TV or radio.

To be effective, these resources must repeatedly be used. These messages must be listened to again and again to give these new voices time to influence you. Repetition is the mother of skill.

Repetition is the mother of skill.

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Finding new voices to inspire you is not a matter of skill or luck, it is a question of attitude. It is the student who must seek out the teacher, for rarely does a good idea interrupt us. Success moves toward those who search for progress, not toward those who need or want its rewards.

The process of change begins within you. You have tremendous potential. I am convinced that you desire good results from your efforts. You must be willing to work hard and to invest the resources of time and money that success and happiness demand.

You have the ability to put your unique human potential into action and to acquire the desired result. The one thing that determines the level of your potential, which produces the intensity of your activity, and that predicts the quality of the result you receive, is your attitude.

Attitude determines how much of the future you are allowed to see. It decides the size of your dreams and influences your determination when you are faced with new challenges. No other person on earth has dominion over your attitude. People can affect your attitude by teaching you poor thinking habits or unintentionally misinforming you or providing you with negative sources of influence, but no one can control your attitude unless you voluntarily surrender that control.

No one else “makes you angry.” You make yourself angry when you surrender control of your attitude. What someone else may have done is irrelevant. You choose, not others. They merely put your attitude to the test. If you select a volatile attitude by becoming hostile, angry, jealous, or suspicious, then you have failed the test. If you condemn yourself by believing that you are unworthy, then again, you have failed the test.

If you care at all about yourself, then you must accept full responsibility for your own feelings. You must learn to guard against those feelings that have the capacity to lead your attitude down the wrong path and to strengthen those feelings that can lead you confidently into a better future.

If you want to receive the rewards the future holds in trust for you, then you must exercise the most important choice given to you by maintaining total dominion over your attitude. Your attitude is an asset, a treasure of great value, which must be protected accordingly. Beware of the vandals and thieves in your circle of influencers who would injure your positive attitude or seek to steal it away.

Your attitudes start with your thoughts. To maintain a proper attitude, you need to maintain proper thoughts. Philippians 4:8-9 tells us how we can do this, “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”

Having the right attitude is one of the basics that success requires. The combination of a sound personal philosophy and a positive attitude about yourself and the world around you gives you an inner strength and a firm resolve that influences all other areas of your existence, including the third piece of the life puzzle that we will examine starting next Friday.

We are deliberately taking our trek slowly on The Five Trails on Life’s Trek as we finish our hike on the Trail of Attitude. Today we learned that we continually need new and better sources of influence and that our attitude determines our level of success.

Next Philosophy Friday we begin on the Trail of Activity and explore the truth that our level of our activity directly impacts our success. 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 will be Motivation Monday where we explore a motivation nugget that will bring value to your world. 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.

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!

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is day 507 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 comes from Joseph Addison, who says, “If you wish success in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counselor, caution your elder brother and hope your guardian genius.”

I believe all of us desire to be successful, as I don’t know of anyone who desires to be a failure. If this premise is true, then the quote for today gives us a good recipe for success.

First, we need to have an unwavering persistence. Tenacity needs to become your closest friend so that you will continue on, even when everything seems to be against you. Second, the experiences that you have gained from past failures need to give you the wise counsel that you need so that you do not repeat the same mistakes. Third, with that experience will bring a measure of caution so that your decisions will be much wiser as if your older brother were giving you additional insight. Fourth and most of all, you need to embrace an unwavering hope to continue on, even when life looks bleak because it is the genius that fuels your desire to be a success in all of life.

As the Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the church of Rome in Chapter 5 verses 3 through 5, “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.”

That’s a wrap for today’s Wisdom Unplugged. If you would like access to my database of over 10,000 inspirational quotes, the link is available on the main page of Wisdom-Trek.com.

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. Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most importantly 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

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!