Wisdom-Trek © - Archive 4

Wisdom – the final frontier to true knowledge. Welcome to Wisdom-Trek where our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.

Hello, my friend, I am Guthrie Chamberlain, your captain on our journey to increase wisdom and create a living legacy. Thank you for joining us today as we explore wisdom on our 2nd millennium of podcasts. This is Day 1136 of our trek, and it is Worldview Wednesday. Creating a Biblical worldview is important to have a proper perspective on today’s current events.

To establish a Biblical worldview, you must also have a proper understanding of God and His word. On our Worldview Wednesday episodes we are in a series in which we are covering another detailed review of a book from one of today’s most prominent Hebrew scholars Dr. Micheal S. Heiser. We are taking a deep dive and will share Dr. Heiser’s insights into the question, which is also the title of his book “What Does God Want?”

In last week’s recap, we see that God rescued his family by allowing them to escape the bondage of Egypt. After that, they wander in the wilderness for 40 years because of their betrayal of God. You’d think that after God brought Israel into the land, the Israelites would have felt an overwhelming love for God—that their believing loyalty would be at an all-time high. Not so much. Instead, they decided coexistence with evil could work. They refused to drive idolaters (people who worshipped other gods with idols) out of the land. It’s like the Israelites knew nothing of the past, how rebellion brings disaster. Their disloyalty and lack of love for God led to this demoralizing scene.

Judges 2:1-3 tells us, “The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said to the Israelites, ‘I brought you out of Egypt into this land that I swore to give your ancestors, and I said I would never break my covenant with you. For your part, you were not to make any covenants with the people living in this land; instead, you were to destroy their altars. But you disobeyed my command. Why did you do this?  So now I declare that I will no longer drive out the people living in your land. They will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a constant temptation to you.'”

God had to judge his people…again. He basically said, “I’m out of here. Let’s see how you do on your own since you don’t want me.” We’ve seen that before. And, as we’ve also seen before, God’s people did very badly without their God being present with them. And since we’re rehashing history, God’s response also looks familiar—he kept coming back to Israel to lift them out of trouble. We all know people like that. Maybe you’re one of them. You stick to helping someone because of love, even to the point that it seems irrational. And if you think about what God was doing, it does seem insane. But God wants a human family even when he’s unwanted. His love defies logic.

The whole biblical book of Judges, from which the scene above was cited, is about a seemingly never-ending cycle of spiritual rebellion, the suffering it brings, crying out to God for help, and God coming back in love. That cycle persisted for a few centuries. It reached a climax of sorts when the people within the nation of Israel demanded that Samuel, a priest, and prophet, anoint a king to rule them.

Not surprisingly, the people’s choice for a king (Saul) was an unmitigated disaster. You know things aren’t going to go well (or ought to know) when your choice for a king has to be dragged out of hiding to take the job (l Samuel [10:22]). Eventually, God chose David to replace Saul. David was a moral mess, but he was better than Saul. He never showed disloyalty or lack of love for God. He broke a number of God’s moral laws, but he repented and never worshipped another god. For that reason, God made a covenant promise with David that said only his sons could be legitimate rulers of Israel.

This covenant was about creating a dynasty for David. God would only consider one of his descendants the legitimate king. Sadly, the rest of Israel’s history in the Bible’s story included a lot of men who had the right lineage that were otherwise unfit to be king. God had to remove a lot of David’s descendants because they were disloyal to him, choosing to follow other gods. A descendant of David inheriting the throne was supposed to love God as well as have the right family history. This is why every king was supposed to keep a copy of God’s laws with him (Deuteronomy [17:18]; 2 Kings [11:12]). He was to be the most excellent example of a loyal believer.

David’s son, Solomon, was the greatest king in Israel’s history (if land holdings and wealth are the litmus tests). Sadly, his believing loyalty in the true God wavered. He sacrificed to other gods and had a series of political marriages that brought the worship of other gods into Israel (l Kings 11:1- 8). In other words, Solomon began a cycle of spiritual compromise and rebellion that led to national ruin.

After Solomon’s death, ten of the twelve tribes revolted against his successor (l Kings [11:41]-[12:24]). The kingdom of Israel was divided into two parts by tribes and geography. God’s family was now a broken home, so to speak. It’s pretty sad that many kings during the period that ensued had never even seen a copy of God’s laws (2 Kings 22:8-13).

The northern part of the divided nation (the ten tribes that rebelled politically) immediately plunged themselves into spiritual rebellion (1 Kings [12:25]-33). Instead of showing believing loyalty to the God who had given them the land and supernaturally brought them into existence, most of Israel betrayed God. This is why the prophets who roamed about the countryside preaching during this time compared the spiritual rebellion to “playing the whore” and spiritual adultery. It was a vivid analogy. The southern part of the country (two tribes) went into spiritual rebellion more slowly. But gradual sin is still sin.

Abandoning God never goes well. As the Bible says in one place, “and you may be sure that your sin will find you out” (Numbers [32:23]). As he had done at other times, God let his people exercise their free will and pay the consequences. In 722 B.C. the northern part of the nation was eventually overrun by a people I like to call the Klingons of the Old Testament—the Assyrians. If the Lord of the Rings is more familiar to you than Star Trek, think of the Assyrians as the hordes of Mordor.

I like the analogies because the Assyrians had a well-deserved reputation for cruelty. They scattered the ten tribes all over the ancient world, breaking up families and robbing them of everything they owned. The two remaining tribes in the southern part of the nation were conquered by the Babylonians a little more than a hundred years later (586 B.C.). Thousands of Israelites were forcibly exiled to Babylon.

Let’s be honest. If God had abandoned and forgotten about his people at this point, we’d understand. They had rebelled time and time again for well over a thousand years since the time of Abraham. It’s hard to avoid the conclusion they got what they deserved. But that isn’t how God works.

Rather than just calling it quits, God decided that he still wanted a human family. But getting his people—and the rest of humanity—back into his family required a change of tactics. God had made a series of covenants with his people. But people are, obviously, mere humans. They fail…a lot and with predictable regularity. The rest of humanity had been assigned to supernatural beings (the“sons of God” Deuteronomy 32:8) that had by now become enemies of their creator, the God of Israel. Things were complicated.

God had a two-part solution to all this. When the last children in God’s family were on the verge of exile, God prompted two prophets (Jeremiah and Ezekiel) to tell people that they were not completely forgotten. God would make a “new covenant” with his children, one marked by the coming of his Spirit (Jeremiah [31:31]-34; Ezekiel [36:22]-28). There was a new day coming.

But the “new day coming” didn’t address the question of how God could honor the older covenants without scrapping or changing them. A lot of Israelites rejected God and worshipped other gods. They showed their contempt for him by breaking his laws. This grieved God. He wanted to honor his promises, but so many of his children were seduced into worshipping the gods of other nations.

That was the path of death. Remember, because of what had happened in Eden, every human being was destined to die and not have eternal life unless they turned to the true God and believed in his love and promises. Far too many Israelites forgot all that. They couldn’t just pick and choose gods whenever they felt like it from a spiritual buffet. They had to believe in the true God and keep believing.

The situation was especially problematic when it came to Israel’s kings. God had promised David that his heirs would inherit his throne, but many of them turned away from him. God couldn’t ignore this lack of believing loyalty. He also couldn’t just scrap his promise. That would be like admitting the whole thing was a bad idea—and a God who knows everything can’t have a bad idea.

So how could God honor his promises to a people who had rejected him and who were estranged from him? They needed new hearts. They needed his presence to guide them. What was needed was a descendant of Abraham, and of David who could be the ultimate king and perfect imager of God. That descendant also needed to overturn the curse of death on the human race. But how could a mere human conquer death? He’d have to be God as well. How was all that supposed to work?

No problem…

That will conclude our lesson for this week from Dr. Heiser’s book “What Does God Want?” Next Worldview Wednesday, we will learn for God’s solution to the betrayal of His human family when God joined that family as a human. I believe you will find each Worldview Wednesday an interesting topic to consider as we build our Biblical worldview.

Tomorrow we will continue with our 3-minute humor nugget that will provide you with a bit of cheer and help you to lighten up and live a rich and satisfying life. 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.

If you would like to listen to any of our past 1135 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 the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

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

Wisdom – the final frontier to true knowledge.  Welcome to Wisdom-Trek! Where our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.

Hello, my friend, I am Guthrie Chamberlain, your captain on our journey to increase wisdom and create a living legacy. Thank you for joining us today as we explore wisdom on our 2nd millennium of podcasts. This is Day 1135 of our trek, and it is time for our 3-minute mini trek called Wisdom Unplugged. This short nugget of wisdom includes an inspirational quote with a little bit of 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 James Allen, and it is, “For true success, ask yourself these four questions: Why? Why not? Why not me? Why not now?”

If you desire to be successful in any area of life such as family, ministry, business, health, or any other facets of life, you must have a burning desire to achieve that success. To do so, you must be willing to ask yourself these four crucial questions.

That’s a wrap for today’s Wisdom Unplugged quote. If you would like free access to my database of over 11,000 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.

If you would like to listen to any of our past 1134 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, your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

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

Wisdom – the final frontier to true knowledge. Welcome to Wisdom-Trek where our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.

Hello, my friend, I am Guthrie Chamberlain, your captain on our journey to increase wisdom and create a living legacy. Thank you for joining us today as we explore wisdom on our 2nd millennium of podcasts. This is Day 1134 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 praying. It is a time to renew my mind, refocus on what is most important, and make 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. 

Some sort of bread is an indispensable part of most people’s diet, especially in the western world. It is served at nearly every restaurant and used to make sandwiches of all kinds. While an overabundance of bread made from highly refined flour is not healthy, whole bread in moderation is a necessity for most. There is, however, another type of bread that we should bring to every meal.

In today’s meditation, let us consider…

Bread is eaten daily. Some fruits are available only in season. Some drinks are made only on holidays. Not so with bread. And not so with Jesus. He should be brought to our table every day. We let him nourish our hearts, not just in certain months or on special events, but daily.

Bread can meet many needs. Jesus can meet our every need. He has a word for the lonely as well as for the popular. He has help for the physically ill and the emotionally ill. If your vision is clear, he can help you. If your vision is cloudy, he can help you. Jesus can meet each need.

Can you see why Jesus called himself the Bread of Life? He is necessary in order to sustain eternal life.

I can think of one other similarity. Consider how bread is made. Think about the process. Wheat grows in the field, then it is cut down, winnowed, and ground into flour. It passes through the fire of the oven and is then distributed around the world. Only by this process does bread become bread. Each step is essential.

Jesus grew “like a tender green shoot” (Isaiah 53:2). He was one of the thousands in Israel, indistinguishable from the person down the street or the child in the next chair. Had you seen him as a youngster, you wouldn’t have thought he was the Son of God. He was just a boy. One of the hundreds. Like a staff of wheat in the wheat field.

But like wheat, he was cut down. Like chaff, he was pounded and beaten. “But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed” (Isaiah 53:5). And like bread he passed through the fire. On the cross, he passed through the fire of God’s anger, not because of his sin, but because of ours. “Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).

Jesus experienced each part of the process of making bread: the growing, the pounding, the firing. And just as each is necessary for bread, each was also necessary for Christ to become the bread of life. “Wasn’t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?” (Luke [24:26]).

The next part of the process, the distribution, Christ leaves with us. We are the distributors. We can’t force people to eat the bread, but we can make sure they have it.

Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty,” John [6:35].

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. 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 1133 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 each day will be downloaded to you automatically.

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 together, let us always:

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

Wisdom – the final frontier to true knowledge. Welcome to Wisdom-Trek where our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.

Hello, my friend, I am Guthrie Chamberlain, your captain on our journey to increase wisdom and create a living legacy. Thank you for joining us today as we explore wisdom on our 2nd millennium of podcasts. This is Day 1133 of our trek, and it is time for our Philosophy Friday series.

Each Friday, we ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy. As we continue on this trek called life, sometimes we have questions about life, so our Friday trek is a time when we can “Ask Gramps.” Gramps will answer questions that you would like to ask your dad or granddad, but for whatever reason, you are unable to. No matter how old we are, I know that all of us would like the opportunity to ask dad or gramps questions about life in many areas.

We may mix it up a bit on our Friday episodes but will strive to keep them down to earth and enjoyable. If you have any questions that you would like to ask Gramps, please email them to [email protected].

So the question for this week is…

“Hey, Gramps, how should I handle the situation when a friend does something hurtful to me?”

We may be hurt or wounded by those who are close to us, which makes the situation even more difficult to deal with. We first need to determine why a friend would do such a thing as to hurt us. Next, we need to understand that all of us will eventually hurt those whom we love most, even if it is not intentional. Third, we need to take to heart what was said or done to us and see if it is an area of life where we need to be corrected. Many times the wounds from a friend occur because they have our best interest in mind. It is a little different in the following story, but even so, the principles are good ones to follow. 

Peter and Paul, who lived in the Middle-East, were walking through the desert to a nearby destination. At one stage in their journey, they had a serious argument where they were becoming quite vocal on a subject about which they both had strong opinions. Finally, Peter punched Paul square in the face.

To Peter’s surprise, Paul immediately stopped arguing and without saying, another word he wrote in the sand, “Today, my best friend Peter punched me in the face, and it really hurt me physically and emotionally.”

Without saying much more to each other, they continued on their journey until they found a small oasis village, where they decided to have a wash in a local pond. Paul, who had been punched, got stuck in mud and mire on the bottom of the pond and started drowning. Peter immediately swam over to Paul and pulled him to safety, saving Peter’s life. After Peter had recovered from this ordeal and his close brush with death, he wrote on a stone, “Today, my best friend Peter saved my life.”

Paul, who had previously punched Peter and also saved his life, asked Peter, “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand, and now, you write in stone, why the difference?”

Peter replied, “My friend Paul, when someone hurts us, we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.” 

Moral of the story: Don’t value the things you have in your life. Value the relationships you have in your life.

 Today’s Bible verse is Proverbs 27:6, “Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy.”

Join us again next Friday for another question on our “Ask Gramps” episode. Our next trek is Mediation Monday, where we will help you reflect on what is most important in life. 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 1132 daily treks or read the associated journals, they are all available at Wisdom-Trek.com.  I encourage you to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on your favorite podcast player so each day will be downloaded to you automatically.

Thank you so much 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 together, let us always:

I am Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Everyday! See you on Monday!

Wisdom – the final frontier to true knowledge. Welcome to Wisdom-Trek where our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.

Hello, my friend, I am Guthrie Chamberlain, your captain on our journey to increase wisdom and create a living legacy. Thank you for joining us today as we explore wisdom on our 2nd millennium of podcasts. This is Day 1132 of our trek, and it is time for our 3-minute mini-trek called Humor Unplugged. Our Thursday podcast will provide a short and clean funny story to help you lighten up and live a rich and satisfying life – something to cheer you and provide a bit a levity in your life.

We are told in Proverbs 15:30,“A cheerful look brings joy to the heart; good news makes for good health.” We are also encouraged in Proverbs 17:22, “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.” Consider this your vitamin supplement of cheer for today. So let’s jump right in with today’s funny, which is titled…

Susan, a young woman who was worried about her habit of biting her fingernails down to the quick, shared her concern with her friend Kate. Knowing that Susan was sort of a nervous person that worried about many things, Kate suggested to Susan that she should take up yoga to ease her nervousness. Susan thought that was a great idea.

Shortly after that, Kate saw Susan in town and noticed her beautiful long, groomed nails. Kate asked her if yoga had totally cured her nervousness.

“No,” Susan replied with a bit of a sheepish grin, “but now I can reach my toenails, so I bite them instead.”

Well, I hope that brought a smile to your face today. If it did, pass that smile onto someone who really needs it. Our Thursday Thought is “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows. It empties today of its strength.”

Proverbs [12:25]

Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up.

As you enjoy these nuggets of humor, please 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 our past 1131 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 each day will be downloaded to you automatically.

Thank you so much 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 together, let us always:

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

Wisdom – the final frontier to true knowledge. Welcome to Wisdom-Trek where our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.

Hello, my friend, I am Guthrie Chamberlain, your captain on our journey to increase wisdom and create a living legacy. Thank you for joining us today as we explore wisdom on our 2nd millennium of podcasts. This is Day 1131 of our trek, and it is Worldview Wednesday. Creating a Biblical worldview is important to have a proper perspective on today’s current events.

To establish a Biblical worldview, you must also have a proper understanding of God and His Word. On our Worldview Wednesday episodes, we are in a series in which we are covering another detailed review of a book from one of today’s most prominent Hebrew Scholars Dr. Micheal S. Heiser. We are taking a deep dive and will share Dr. Heiser’s insights into the question, which is also the title of his book “What Does God Want?”

We first explored what God wanted, which was us as His human family. After that, we explored in-depth three different rebellions involving both His human and supernatural family. We learned last week that God set aside a nation of humankind from which His human family would be manifested. This was completed through the covenant He made with Abraham and Sarah, which became the nation of Israel. The history of biblical Israel was a long, meandering affair filled with both triumph and tragedy. God wasn’t surprised. He knew what to expect with people. He’d always known what he was dealing with.

God let Abraham know that the future of his descendants was going to be difficult. He was honest. He gave Abraham some bad news, and also some hope in Genesis 15:13, “Then the Lord said to Abram, ‘You can be sure that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign land, where they will be oppressed as slaves for 400 years. But I will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end, they will come away with great wealth.'”

Sure enough the descendants of Abraham, now led by his grandson, Jacob, whose name God changed to “Israel,” eventually wound up in Egypt under the thumb of Pharaoh (Exodus 1). They’d gone there with God’s approval to avoid a famine (Genesis 45:5-11). Where they went wrong was that they didn’t return to the land God had given to them after the famine was over. They stuck around in Egypt way too long.

While in Egypt, the Israelite nation grew numerically, so much so that Pharaoh got paranoid about being able to stay in charge of the country (Exodus 1:8-10). He put them to forced labor and exterminated new babies if they were boys (Exodus [1:14]-16). But God intervened and made them grow even stronger (Exodus 1:8-21).

All told, Israel remained four centuries in Egypt under harsh conditions. Eventually, God intervened and preserved the life of a baby boy named Moses. God engineered circumstances so that the baby was raised in Pharaoh’s own house, right under his nose (Exodus 2:1-10). Moses led a life of privilege but one day committed a capital offense, murdering a man in a fight that began as a defense of a helpless Israelite. He fled Egypt to escape justice.

Moses found a new life in a desert place called Midian. God met him at Mount Sinai in a burning bush, an encounter that would change the history of his people and the world (Exodus 3:1-15). God sent Moses back to Egypt to confront Pharaoh. He was to demand the release of God’s people. God promised to protect Moses and empower him (Exodus [3:16]-22).

The rest of the story is one of the most famous in the world. Even if you’ve never read the Bible, you’ve probably heard of it or seen one of the movies about it. God sent plagues against Egypt and its gods when Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites go (Exodus 7-12). God used Moses to force the release of multitudes of Israelites from Egyptian bondage. He parted the Red Sea to save them when the Egyptians decided to chase them into the desert to slaughter them (Exodus [13:17] through Exodus 14). The crossing of the Red Sea is far and away the most spectacular miracle of the Bible. But it wasn’t showmanship. It was about preserving a people. God wanted his family.

Eventually, God brought his people back to the place where he had originally spoken to Moses. There he gave the Israelites his laws represented in the Ten Commandments. He has already made a covenant with them through Abraham. It’s important to realize that Israel was already God’s people before the Ten Commandments were given. God had referred to the people as his family when Moses confronted Pharaoh (Exodus 3:7,10; [4:23]; 5:1; 6:7; 7:4). The laws weren’t about earning a place in God’s family. Israelites were already God’s family.

We need to unpack this distinction. It’s pretty important. Rather than earning a place in God’s family, God gave his people laws to show they wanted to be in the family. God’s laws were about showing God they weren’t going to be disloyal and align themselves with some other god. Being loyal believers would allow God to use the Israelites to minister to all the other nations like “a kingdom of priests” (Exodus 19:5-6). God wanted humanity in his family. He was starting with one group—Israel. If they were loyal believers, they would be a blessing to all the other nations (Genesis 12:3).

There’s one more angle to understanding this covenant. God’s laws also weren’t about being good enough to make God love them. God already loved Israel (Deuteronomy 7:7-8). He had supernaturally enabled the elderly Abraham and Sarah to have a child from which Israel, in time, would come. Having a family was the whole point. God didn’t create a list of rules so they’d qualify as family. They were his family. God’s laws were designed to help his children avoid other gods and live happy, peaceful lives with one another, not to improve God’s disposition toward them.

True to form, God would not dismiss their free will. He just asked that they believe in him—who he was and that he had created them out of love —and forsake all other gods. Any member of Israel could forsake God’s love if they wanted. They could choose not to believe. They could choose to worship some other god. As we’ll see, many did just that.

Once the Israelites left Mount Sinai (where God gave them the law), God led them in the form of a man (an angel) to the Promised Land. This is found in Exodus 23:20-23 and Judges 2:1. I will read the Exodus passage, “’See, I am sending an angel before you to protect you on your journey and lead you safely to the place I have prepared for you.  Pay close attention to him, and obey his instructions. Do not rebel against him, for he is my representative, and he will not forgive your rebellion.  But if you are careful to obey him, following all my instructions, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and I will oppose those who oppose you. For my angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, so you may live there. And I will destroy them completely.'”

Along the way, the people constantly complained about not having enough food and water. God provided (Exodus [15:22]-27; 16:1-30). They had to fight for their lives against lethal enemies in the land. God saved them from destruction (Deuteronomy 2-3; Joshua 11-12; Psa 1[36:10]-24; Acts [13:19]).

That will conclude our lesson for this week from Dr. Heiser’s book “What Does God Want?” Next Worldview Wednesday, we will continue with the nation of Israel as we explore their downward spiral and the final betrayal. I believe you will find each Worldview Wednesday an interesting topic to consider as we build our Biblical worldview.

Tomorrow we will continue with our 3-minute humor nugget that will provide you with a bit of cheer and help you lighten up and live a rich and satisfying life. 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.

If you would like to listen to any of our past 1130 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 the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

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

Wisdom – the final frontier to true knowledge. Welcome to Wisdom-Trek where our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.

Hello, my friend, I am Guthrie Chamberlain, your captain on our journey to increase wisdom and create a living legacy.  Thank you for joining us today as we explore wisdom on our 2nd millennium of podcasts. This is Day 1130 of our trek, and it is time for our 3-minute mini trek called Wisdom Unplugged. This short nugget of wisdom includes an inspirational quote with a little bit of 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 an old but still very timely  for today one from Charles Francis Adams, and it is, “Failure seems to be regarded as the one unpardonable crime, success as the all-redeeming virtue, the acquisition of wealth as the single worthy aim of life. The hair-raising revelations of skulduggery and grand-scale thievery merely incite others to surpass by yet bolder outrages and more corrupt combinations.”

Although we might say otherwise, this quote is just as true today as it was in the mid-1800s when Charles Adams penned it.  Charles is the grandson of President John Adams and son of President of John Quincy Adams. He had firsthand observation and knowledge of the hearts of men and women who were in the upper echelon of society.  He could see firsthand how people truly viewed failure and success. We have to understand that culture’s and society’s views of failure and success do not line up at all with God’s perspective.

Should we strive to be successful in all things? Absolutely. When we fail, is it a crime?  Absolutely not! God may permit failures and trials in our lives in order to refine and purify us. Success in and of itself is by no means an all redeeming value. The generation of wealth can be admirable if used to further God’s kingdom. The lack of wealth can also be used by God’s children to also further His kingdom. The generation of wealth should never be our single worthy aim in life. When it is, then it will drive us into all sorts of skulduggery, which means dishonesty, and we will then become thieves on a grand scale.  When others of the same mindset see this, it will incite them to be even bolder and more corrupt.

We are warned about this mindset in Micah 6:12, “The rich among you have become wealthy through extortion and violence. Your citizens are so used to lying that their tongues can no longer tell the truth.”

Instead, we are exhorted by the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 6:17-19, “Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. By doing this, they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.”

That’s a wrap for today’s Wisdom Unplugged quote. If you would like free access to my database of over 11,000 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.

If you would like to listen to any of our past 1129 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 the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

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

Wisdom – the final frontier to true knowledge. Welcome to Wisdom-Trek where our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.

Hello, my friend, I am Guthrie Chamberlain, your captain on our journey to increase wisdom and create a living legacy. Thank you for joining us today as we explore wisdom on our 2nd millennium of podcasts. This is Day 1129 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 praying. It is a time to renew my mind, refocus on what is most important, and make 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. 

Emotionally there is probably no greater pain than that of a broken heart. Whether it is the death of a spouse or close loved one, a failed marriage, or a child that has gone astray as an adult, a broken heart is crushing to us.

In today’s meditation, let us consider…

We have all suffered from a broken heart, where the night of our soul seems so dark we wonder if it will ever end. Let me take you back to another such night. Go with me for a moment to witness what was perhaps the darkest and foggiest night in history. The scene is very simple; you’ll recognize it quickly…A grove of twisted olive trees. Ground cluttered with large rocks. A low stone fence. A dark, dark night.

Strain your eyes and attempt to look through the fog. Look closely through the shadowy foliage. See that person? See that solitary figure? What’s he doing? You see that he is face down, flat on the ground. As he picks up his face slightly, you see that it is stained with dirt and tears. His fists are pounding the hard earth. His eyes are wide with a stupor of fear. His long hair matted with salty sweat. As you strain more, you see that his face is spotted. Is that blood on his forehead?

Then you realize that is it Jesus. Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night before the crucifixion.

Maybe you’ve seen the classic portrait of Christ in the garden. Kneeling beside a big rock. Snow-white robe. Hands peacefully folded in prayer. A look of serenity on his face. Halo over his head. A spotlight from heaven illuminating his golden-brown hair.

Now, I’m no artist, but I can tell you one thing. The man who painted that picture didn’t use the gospel of Mark as a pattern. When Mark wrote about that painful night, he used phrases like: “he became troubled and distressed…and said, ‘my soul is crushed with grief to the point of death.’ He went on a little farther and fell to the ground.”  Through the dark fog-shrouded night, we see him lying there, and then his voice pierces the still night air as he cries out, “Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

Does this look like the picture of a saintly Jesus resting in the palm of God? Hardly. Mark used black paint to describe this scene. We see an agonizing, straining, and struggling Jesus. We see Jesus as described in Isaiah 53:3, “He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.”

We see a man struggling with fear, wrestling with commitments, and yearning for relief.  We see Jesus in the fog of a broken heart.

The writer of Hebrews 5:7 would later pen, “While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God.”

This is the true portrait of Jesus in pain on that fretful night. Jesus is on the stage of fear. Jesus is cloaked, not in sainthood, but in humanity.

The next time you are in the midst of a dark and foggy night of existence, you might do well to remember Jesus in the garden. The next time you think that no one understands, reread the fourteenth chapter of Mark. The next time your self-pity convinces you that no one cares, pay a visit to Gethsemane. And the next time you wonder if God really perceives the pain that prevails on this dusty planet, listen to him pleading among the twisted trees.

The next time you are called to suffer, pay attention. It may be the closest you’ll ever get to God. Watch closely. It could very well be that the hand that extends itself to lead you out of the fog is a pierced one.

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. 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 1128 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 each day will be downloaded to you automatically.

Thank you so much 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 together, let us always:

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

Wisdom – the final frontier to true knowledge. Welcome to Wisdom-Trek where our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.

Hello, my friend, I am Guthrie Chamberlain, your captain on our journey to increase wisdom and create a living legacy. Thank you for joining us today as we explore wisdom on our 2nd millennium of podcasts. This is Day 1128 of our trek, and it is time for our Philosophy Friday series. Each Friday, we ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy.

As we continue on this trek called life, sometimes we have questions about life, so our Friday trek is a time where we can “Ask Gramps.” Gramps will answer questions that you would like to ask your dad or granddad, but for whatever reason are unable to. No matter how old we are, I know that all of us would like the opportunity to ask Dad or Gramps questions about life in many areas.

We may mix it up a bit on our Friday episodes but will strive to keep them down to earth and enjoyable. If you have any questions that you would like to ask Gramps, please email them to [email protected].

So the question for this week is…

“Hey, Gramps, when God permits us to go through difficult times and struggles in our lives, how can we accept them and still enjoy life to the fullest?”

On both a personal level, as well as on a global scale, we all have to continually face challenges and hardships that test our emotional strength: illness, injuries, grief, unemployment, death, divorce, or even a brand-new venture with completely unknown outcomes. However, despite how brutally life might treat you, there are always a number of strategies that can be employed to help carry you through, and here are seven of the most effective ones.

As human beings, we are masters of avoidance, and very often end up turning away from life’s challenges instead of facing them head-on. However, if you really want to enjoy life to the full, then you’ll need to start getting used to owning up to the truth. Once you learn to stop avoiding each of life’s hiccups, you’ll eventually find that life becomes easier, less scary, and a lot more manageable. Once you start seeing such a positive change in your life, you’ll then have even greater confidence that you can grow even further, and partaking in such journeys of personal growth is the backbone of living a satisfying life.

The secret to life is not to want what you don’t have, but to actually want what you have. That is learning to be content in all circumstances. There is an immense feeling of freedom associated with taking life as it comes. Once you learn to simultaneously embrace the positive and negative aspects of your life, you’ll then have a real chance to enjoy life to the full and to value everything that the world has bestowed upon you. You’ll find that surrendering to the reality of who you really are truly gives you the opportunity to live up to your potential.

We’ve all heard the saying “Slow and steady wins the race,” but not many of us realize how important this approach to life really is. By constantly being in a hurry, we actually end up compromising our own success. If we get ahead of ourselves, then we’re bound to make a lot more mistakes. If we cut corners, we’re sure to end up paying a price for it later on. It is only through disciplined and incremental growth that we can make positive and lasting changes to our lives.

Many of us tend to count our worries a lot more often than we count our blessings and privileges. However, possessing such an attitude will diminish your ability to lead a happy and fulfilling life, since you’ll constantly be weighed down by negativity. An efficient recipe for emotional health and well-being is to recognize all the good that your life contains and to receive it with gratitude.

Many times, we find our feelings confusing, terrifying, or hard to bear, so we try our hardest to keep them at a distance. However, by putting up a wall and choosing not to feel, we usually end up draining ourselves of the psychological energy that makes life pleasurable and meaningful. If we cease to feel anything, then we don’t only deprive ourselves of the growth that can come out of negative emotions, but we’ll also end up sucking all the fun out of life’s more positive experiences. Quite simply, when we stop feeling, we cease to be human beings and end up simply going through the motions.

Everyone who is alive is constantly learning, no matter how old they are. That’s why it’s important not to be too hard on ourselves and to accept that trying, succeeding, failing, and trying again is the only real way to instill lasting confidence in ourselves. No matter how successful or mature we become, our inner child will always require friends and mentors who’ll help see us through.

Relationships don’t just appear and disappear magically since they require a great deal of hard work and attentive care to help them grow and to keep them sustained. Mature love involves honoring our differences yet overcoming distance on practically a daily basis. It accepts the reality that every relationship will have its fair share of pain and suffering, but it also accepts that the only way to stay on track is through unyielding compassion. Learn to be more understanding, and your love will shine through, brighter than ever.

If you follow these 7 strategies, life may not be any easier, but you will find it a lot more enjoyable and fulfilling. God has given us all that we need to live a rich and satisfying life as we are told in:

2 Peter 1:3-7

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.  And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

Join us again next Friday for another question on our “Ask Gramps” episode. Our next trek is Mediation Monday, where we will help you reflect on what is most important in life. 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 1127 daily treks or read the associated journals, they are all available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on your favorite podcast player so each day will be downloaded to you automatically.

Thank you so much 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 together, let us always:

I am Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Everyday! See you on Monday!

Wisdom – the final frontier to true knowledge. Welcome to Wisdom-Trek where our mission is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.

Hello, my friend, I am Guthrie Chamberlain, your captain on our journey to increase wisdom and create a living legacy.  Thank you for joining us today as we explore wisdom on our 2nd millennium of podcasts. This is Day 1127 of our trek, and it is time for our 3-minute mini-trek called Humor Unplugged. Our Thursday podcast will provide a short and clean funny story to help you lighten up and live a rich and satisfying life – something to cheer you and provide a bit a levity in your life.

We are told in  Proverbs 15:30, “A cheerful look brings joy to the heart; good news makes for good health.” We are also encouraged in Proverbs 17:22, “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.” Consider this your vitamin supplement of cheer for today. So let’s jump right in with today’s funny which is titled…

Little Johnny burst through the front door with a huge smile on his face. Since it was shortly after lunch and much too early to be home, his mother was surprised, and asked, “Why are you home from school so early?”

Johnny said, “They let me go early because I was the only one who could answer a tough question.”

Realizing that little Johnny was not the best student in his class, and especially answering hard questions, his mother was very curious, so she asked, “Oh, really? What was the question?”

Well, said Johnny, Miss Smith asked, “Who threw the eraser at the teacher?”

Well, I hope that brought a smile to your face today. If it did, pass that smile on to someone who really needs it. Our Thursday Thought is “A person who lives in a glass house, should not throw stones.”

John 8:7

They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!”

Just as you enjoy these nuggets of humor, please 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 our past 1126 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 each day will be downloaded to you automatically.

Thank you so much 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 together, let us always:

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