Wisdom-Trek ©

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 884 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Through the Power of the Work in Us – Meditation Monday

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 884 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 some, it may just be time alone for quiet reflection. Some 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.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. The three controlling forces which most people strive for are power, money, and sex. If you study groups of people for very long, such as politicians, business people, and unfortunately even ministers, you will soon realize that most are driven by one of these three motivators.  We may disguise it as something else and many times even convince ourselves that we do not fall prey to them, but when all the chaff is blown away, we see the real kernel of truth.

As Christ followers this is most unfortunate. We have unmeasurable power and riches dwelling within us, and yet we do not accept it or plug into those resources that are so readily available. Our Meditation Monday today we will learn that we can do anything…

Through the Power at Work in Us

Jesus desires his disciples to praise the Father! Ponder Paul's beautiful prayer in the verses below. He not only praises the Father, but he also asks for the Father's help. In particular, this great church-planter and disciple-maker prays for the strengthening of the fellow Christ followers he loves. He does not pray for generic strength, but for the Holy Spirit's empowered strength in Ephesians 3:16, "I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit."

The result of this prayer for strength should make your heart beat a little faster. While the glory for the great things that the Holy Spirit does will go to God, the people through whom the Spirit works will be folks just like you and me, Jesus’s disciples. Notice something else that Paul prays in Ephesians 3:20, "Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think."

God can and will do "infinitely more than we might ask or think.” Notice how it is done "through His mighty power at work within us."

So here are several things to ponder, and then take appropriate action:

Pray frequently for God to strengthen specific followers of Christ through the Holy Spirit.

Pray regularly that their work inspired by the Spirit will bring God glory.

Pray passionately that these Christ followers will be used by God to accomplish — and that they get to experience — "infinitely more than we might ask or think.”

Paul prayed these things for the Christ followers who received his letter called Ephesians. You should pray these things regularly for each other. Imagine releasing the power that comes from the Father, Son, and Spirit — into the lives of people you love. Think about all the people in your spiritual family who need God’s comfort, strength, and grace.

Invite the Holy Spirit to move mightily through you, your fellowship, your congregation, your home gatherings, and your small groups.

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 883 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

The State of the World, Technology - Ask Gramps

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 883 of our trek, and it is time for our Philosophy Friday series. Each Friday we will 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, 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 will address areas such as finances, relationships, health/fitness, business/work, home repairs/renovations, seasons of life, spiritual/Biblical questions, and any others areas that come our way.

As your fellow sojourner and mentor on this trek that we call life, it is Gramps’s goal to provide you with practical wisdom and advice about any area of life. It is crucial that I receive a constant flow of questions so please submit your questions to [email protected], and Gramps will answer your questions on our Friday podcast.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. This week we will continue with part 2 of 3 for our question from last week which was:

Hey Gramps, “Listening to most news sources and even many preachers, it seems like the world is getting worse each year, but is that really the case?”

The State of the World, Technology

We take the technology and the empowerment we have today for granted. This week’s answer will focus on the advances in technology that we have experienced over the past several decades.

Technology permeates our entire life now. Technology in and of itself is amoral. As with any advancement, it can be used for good or bad, but certainly a lot more good has resulted with these advancements than bad. If you have had any type of major surgery recently, I am sure you agree.

Here are some highlights:

Consider storage, which is critical for the genomics world today, which will transform healthcare and rapidly advance the cure for most diseases such as cancer.

In 1981, 1 gigabyte of storage cost half a million dollars. Today, it's 25 million times cheaper at 2 cents per gigabyte.

How about computation? In 1971, Intel put out its first computer chip, the Intel 4004. It had 2,300 transistors on at $1 each.

Intel no longer actually tells you how many transistors are on their chips, but the recent Core i7 had 14.4 billion transistors at less than a millionth of a penny each.

This represents a 330 billion-fold increase in price performance in 45 years.

If you have a smartphone, you have more computational power in your hand than all the governments on the planet had just 30 years ago.

But that doesn't compare to what's coming next in quantum computing. This year, we expect to see “quantum supremacy” – that moment in time where a quantum computer can solve a problem that no classical computer can do.

Google recently unveiled Bristlecone. This new quantum computer chip has 72 qubits. By the time it gets to 300 qubits, it will be able to perform more calculations than there are atoms in the known universe.

We’re about to see an extraordinary revolution in drug discovery.

Pharmaceutical companies today are investing decades and billions of dollars in discovering molecules that affect us.

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 882 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Reflections of Love – Wisdom Unplugged

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week, wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 882 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...

Reflections of Love

An older couple, Jim and Jonnie, were lying in bed one night. Jim was almost asleep when Jonnie started reflecting on all the love they had shared. As Jim was just drifting off to sleep, Jonnie nudges Jim and says, "Honey, do you remember how we used to hug?"

Jim rouses and says, "Yes, dear," and rolls over and gives Jonnie a big hug.

He then rolls back over and was almost asleep again, when Jonnie nudges him again and says "Honey do you remember how we used to kiss?"

"Yes, dear," Jim says, and he rolls over and gives her a big kiss.

Jim rolls back over and was almost asleep when Jonnie nudges him again and says, "Honey, do you remember how you used to nibble on my ear?"

At that Jim throws off the covers, somewhat frustrated, sits up in bed, and gets up. Jonnie says, "What are you doing?" In an exasperated tone, Jim says, "I'm going to go get my teeth."

Make it a day full of cheer.

As we conclude our story, let me leave you with a Thursday’s Thought..."Don’t take yourself so seriously, no one else is."

Job 8:21, "He will once again fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy."

 Sourced at: www.mikeysFunnies.com

That’s a wrap for today’s Humor Unplugged. If you enjoy these short stories, let me know so I can continue to bring a bit of cheer to your week.

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 881 treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on Apple Podcast or Google Play so each day will be downloaded to you 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:

Live Abundantly (Fully)

Love Unconditionally

Listen Intentionally

Learn Continuously

Lend to others Generously

Lead with Integrity

Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

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

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 881 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

The Most Horrific Bible Story - Wisdom Wednesday

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 881 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday. Creating a Biblical Worldview is important in order to have a proper perspective on today’s current events. To establish a Biblical worldview, it is required that you also have a proper understanding of God’s Word.

Especially in our western cultures, we do not fully understand the Scriptures from the mindset and culture of the authors. In order help us to all have a better understanding of some of the more obscure passages in God’s word, we are investing Wisdom Wednesday reviewing a series of essays from one of today’s most prominent Hebrew Scholars Dr. Micheal S. Heiser. He has compiled these essays into a book titled I Dare You Not to Bore Me with the Bible.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. One factor that supports the authenticity of God’s Word is that it includes narrative of the good, the bad, and the ugly. In today’s essay, we will take a closer look at one of the stories that is both bad and ugly but also leads us to a truth that we need to understand. In today’s essay from Dr. Heiser, we want to explore Judges 19-20 where God’s Word presents a tale that is considered…

The Most Horrific Bible Story

"In those days, there was no king in Israel." This line, repeated throughout Judges, frames the horrific tale of the Levite and his concubine. The grim details of this story showcase the anarchy and spiritual decay of the period, but this story is not just a cheap thriller.

When reading this story, our attention fixates on the grim details of murder, rape, war, and abduction. But there are crucial, less repugnant elements that include tribal affiliations and the locations of events. The story was designed to prompt readers into favoring kingship, the people needed a Messiah, a savior.

The book of Judges does not name its author: it was likely written after the time of David. All of these elements add up to not only a rationale for kingship—but a polemic for the superiority of a king from Judah (David), not Benjamin (Saul) or Ephraim.

By the time Judges was being written, Saul had already failed God as a spiritual leader. Anyone reading the story would be prompted to follow God's new choice of kingship, the line of David. Any other ruler would spell chaos, evil and tragedy.  I am going to summarize this passage, but I would encourage you to read Judges 19-20 to get the full spectrum of this horrific story, which is a precursor to the kings of Israel and culminates in Jesus Christ as the King of Kings.

The Events in the Story

What Does This Teach Us?

In Judges 19-20 a Levite is retrieving his fugitive concubine from her father's house in Bethlehem, located in the tribal territory of Judah.

The concubine’s father, who is from Judah, treats the Levite with warm hospitality.

The Levite is shown warm hospitality in Judah, David's tribe.

The Levite and his concubine travel home to Ephraim. On the way, he has the option to stay in the city of Jebus, a Benjamite territory.

He decides not to remain since Jebus is under the rule of Gentiles, non-Hebrews.

The Levite could have stopped in Jebus—which is later known as Jerusalem. It is a missed oasis in the hellish sea of Benjamin.

He journeys on to Gibeah, also a Benjamite territory. In Gibeah, an old man—also from Ephraim—offers refuge to the Levite and his concubine (19:15-16).

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 880 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Attitude Affects Success – Wisdom Unplugged

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 880 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 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 William James, and it is,"It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome."

Attitude Affects Success

Success in any endeavor is, in part, based on your attitude during the entirety of the task. A good attitude at the beginning of a difficult task is one of the most important elements in determining a successful outcome.

If you are fearful or doubting when you begin a difficult task, then is it almost assured that the task or project will fail, at least in part. Attitude is probably the biggest single factor of success or failure in any aspect of life.

The more difficult the tasks, the more important your attitude is. A good positive and practical attitude will pave the road to success. This is what God told Joshua when he was about to move into and conquer The Promised Land. Listen as I read Joshua 1:7, "Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you 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. Just as you enjoy these nuggets of wisdom, encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

If you would like to listen to any of our past 879 treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Apple Podcast or Google play 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 of life together, let us always:

Live Abundantly (Fully)

Love Unconditionally

Listen Intentionally

Learn Continuously

Lend to others Generously

Lead with Integrity

Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

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

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 879 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

It's a Jungle Out There – Meditation Monday

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 879 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 some, it may just be time alone for quiet reflection. Some 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. 

We are broadcasting from our studio at ‘The Big House’ in Marietta, OH.  Life is not always easy, but that should not stop us from moving forward for God will create a path for our trek.     Our Meditation Monday today we will learn that with life:

It's a Jungle Out There

The story is told of a man on an African safari deep in the jungle. The guide before him had a machete and was whacking away the tall weeds and thick underbrush. The traveler, wearied and hot, asked in frustration, “Where are we? Do you know where you are taking me? Where is the path?!” The seasoned guide stopped and looked back at the man and replied, “I am the path.”

We ask the same questions, don’t we? We ask God, “Where are you taking me? Where is the path?” And he, like the guide, doesn’t tell us. Oh, he may give us a hint or two, but that’s all. If he did, would we understand? Would we comprehend our location? No, like the traveler, we are unacquainted with this jungle. So rather than give us an answer, Jesus gives us a far greater gift. He gives us himself.

Does he remove the jungle? No, the vegetation is still thick.

Does he purge the predators? No, danger still lurks.

Jesus doesn’t give hope by changing the jungle; he restores our hope by giving us himself. And he has promised to stay until the very end. Matthew 28:20 tells us, "Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."We need that reminder. We all need that reminder. For all of us need hope.

Some of you don’t need it right now. Your jungle has become a meadow and your journey a delight. If such is the case, congratulations. But remember – we do not know what tomorrow holds. We do not know where this road will lead. You may be one turn from a cemetery, from a hospital bed, from an empty house. You may be a bend in the road from a jungle.

And though you don’t need your hope restored today, you may tomorrow. And you need to know to whom to turn.

Or perhaps you do need hope today. You know you were not made for this place. You know you are not equipped. You want someone to lead you out.

If so, call out for your Shepherd. He knows your voice, and he’s just waiting for your request.

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 878 daily treks or read the daily journal,

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 878 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

The State of the World, Life Span - Ask Gramps

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 878 of our trek, and it is time for our Philosophy Friday series. Each Friday we will 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 do so.

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 will address areas such as finances, relationships, health/fitness, business/work, home repairs/renovations, seasons of life, spiritual/Biblical questions, and any others areas that come our way.

As your fellow sojourner and mentor on this trek that we call life, it is Gramps’s goal to provide you with practical wisdom and advice about any area of life. It is crucial that I receive a constant flow of questions, so please submit your questions to [email protected]. And Gramps will answer your questions on our Friday podcast.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Since this is a week of travel for Granny & Gramps, today’s episode will be shorter and serve as the 1st part of my answer to today’s question.

Hey Gramps, “Listening to most news sources and even many preachers, it seems like the world is getting worse each year, but is that really the case?”

The State of the World, Life Span

While there are concerns about the moral and ethical direction of many cultures throughout the world today, there have been many times in ages past where it was much worse. One example is the Roman Empire, where immorality was widespread, slavery and servitude were rampant, people were massacred for sport, and there were wars and rumors of war all over the world. In comparison, the world today is pretty mild.

The area that we will focus on today is the contextualizing improvements in human progress. This includes the worldwide level of poverty, lifespan, and the related death rates. Here are a few facts to consider.

With the exception of lifespans before the flood of Noah, from that point forward lifespans have become shorter with each age until recent history.

It's hard to remember how extraordinary the world is today when we're bombarded 24/7 by news about problems and disasters. History provides valuable context, however.

Some 700 years ago, the Plague killed 200 million people in a single year – 40 percent of England.

About 500 years ago, famine claimed 3 million lives in France.

100 years ago (in 1918) World War I claimed 16 million lives while the flu pandemic caused 50 million deaths, all in a single year.

If these were our current headlines, we would be in shock.

We forget how much the world has progressed in the past century alone.

The per-capita income for every nation on the planet has tripled. The human lifespan has doubled. The cost of food has dropped thirty-fold. The cost of transportation decreased hundreds of fold. The cost of communications reduced millions of fold.

The human lifespan is another way to contextualize progress:

During the days after the flood, the average lifespan continued to decline. Food in many areas of the world was scarce, and infant mortality was high. While many people lived to be older,

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 877 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Keeping Your Commitments – Wisdom Unplugged

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 877 of our trek, and it is time for a 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...

Keeping Your Commitments

In the not so distant past, there was an old man named Jim who worked all his life and saved all his money. He was a miser, he lived like a pauper, he hardly had food, but he loved his money more than just about anything else in the world.

Just before he died, he said to his wife, Martha, "When I die, I want you to take all my money and put it in the casket with me. I need my money in the afterlife. Can you promise me that you'll do that?"

His wife was faithful, so she promised Jim with all her heart that when he died, she would put all his money in the casket.

When Jim died, Martha gave him a proper funeral. He was laid out in a beautiful casket, and his faithful wife was in the front row at the funeral parlor dressed in black, sitting beside her best friend, Sue. When the ceremony ended, just before the undertakers got ready to close the casket, Martha rose from her seat and said, "Wait just a minute!"

With that, Martha placed an ornate box inside the casket. Then the undertakers locked the casket and rolled it away.

When Martha returned to her seat, Sue grabbed her by the arm and said, "Martha, I know you weren't fool enough to put all that money in the casket with Jim, were you?'

Martha said to Sue, "Listen, I am a Christian woman, and I can never lie. I promised Jim that I was going to put the money in his casket with him and I did."

Sue was horrified and asked, "You mean to tell me that you put all that money in the casket with Jim?"

Martha replied, "I sure did...I wrote him a check for the full amount.

As we conclude our story, let me leave you with a Thursday’s Thought from:

Psalm 28:7, "The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving."

Make it a day full of cheer.

Sourced at: www.mikeysFunnies.com

That’s a wrap for today’s Humor Unplugged. If you enjoy these short stories, let me know so I can continue to bring a bit of cheer to your week.

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 876 treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Wisdom-Trek on Apple Podcast or Google Play so each day will be downloaded to you 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:

Live Abundantly (Fully)

Love Unconditionally

Listen Intentionally

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 876 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Is My Bible Accurate? - Wisdom Wednesday

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 876 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday.

The past several months on Wednesday we have been focusing on interpreting current events through a Biblical Worldview. To establish a Biblical worldview, it is important that you also have a proper understanding of God’s word. Especially in our western cultures, we do not fully understand the Scriptures from the mindset and culture of the authors. In order to help us all have a better understanding of some of the more obscure passages in God’s word, we are investing Wisdom Wednesday reviewing a series of essays from one of today’s most prominent Hebrew Scholars Dr. Micheal S. Heiser. He has compiled these essays into a book titled I Dare You Not to Bore Me with the Bible.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. We hear a lot about “fake news” today, and it is getting to the point where it is difficult to trust any major media outlet. Certainly, the internet is also awash with all sorts of theories and opinions, many of which have little or no basis in truth.

While I believe that God’s word is inspired in its original revelation, throughout the ages there are some subtle nuances in the various translations that do affect our understanding of certain passages. None of these differences impact the major doctrines or the overriding message of salvation through Jesus Christ. As I gain a better understanding of the Bible in the language and culture in which it was written, it helps me to gain a better understanding of how God is building up His kingdom throughout the world today. In today’s essay from Dr. Heiser, we want to look at Deuteronomy 32:8-9 where God divided up the human race of the world at that time…

Is My Bible Accurate?

After the great flood, everyone had one language. Humanity congregated in the region of Babylonia (“the land of Shinar”) and started building a tower that would reach into the heavens as told to us in Genesis 11:1-9.  God stopped the project by transforming the single language into many—dispersing humanity over the earth and creating the 70 nations and regions listed in Genesis 10 from the decedents of Noah. Genesis11:7-9 tells of this scattering of people, "Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other. In that way, the Lord scattered them all over the world, and they stopped building the city.  That is why the city was called Babel, because that is where the Lord confused the people with different languages. In this way, he scattered them all over the world."

Most people think it ends there, but there’s more. The story picks up again in Deuteronomy 32:8-9, and the story changes, depending on what Bible version you use. Here is the reading from the New Living Translation.

When the Most High assigned lands to the nations,

when he divided up the human race,

he established the boundaries of the peoples

according to the number in his heavenly court.[a]

For the people of Israel belong to the Lord;

Jacob is his special possession.

In the Dead Sea Scrolls, it reads the number of the sons of God, and Greek version, which reads the number of the angels of God; Masoretic Text reads the number of the sons of Israel. The difference is due to these ancient manuscript disagreements, which have major theological ramifications.

· Is It Accurate?

Many English Bibles have “sons of Israel” or something similar because the translation is based on the traditional Hebrew t...

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 875 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Built Over Time – Wisdom Unplugged

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 875 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 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 Maria Razumich-Zec, and it is, "Your reputation and integrity are everything. Follow through on what you say you're going to do. Your credibility can only be built over time, and it is built from the history of your words and actions."

Built Over Time

Both your integrity and reputation can only be built over a long period of time where others are able to observe your actions and speech. You may be able to talk a good talk, but unless you walk a good walk, it will mean nothing. Although it takes years to build an example of pure integrity and good reputation, both can be destroyed in a matter of seconds if your walk and talk do not match.

We only have to read the latest headlines to understand that in a moment the most well-known people in business, news media, acting, politics and, yes, even in the ministry can be destroyed. Their reputations and integrity crumble because of the revelation of past or recent practices and actions.

What we have to understand and realize is that in nearly every case it was not just one action that brought the mighty to their knees but a progressive set of decisions and choices that were made over time that is the cause of their downfall. Yet it begins with that one choice to compromise your reputation and integrity that begins the snowball effect to start the downhill slide. Let us be careful of every decision and choice that we make because all subsequent choices and decisions are based on the previous one.Proverbs 3:3-4 give us the guidelines that we must follow:

Never let loyalty and kindness leave you!

Tie them around your neck as a reminder.

Write them deep within your heart.

Then you will find favor with both God and people,

and you will earn a good reputation.

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.If you would like to listen to any of our past 874 treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. I encourage you to subscribe to Apple Podcast or Google play, so that each day’s trek will be downloaded 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:

Live Abundantly (Fully)

Love Unconditionally

Listen Intentionally

Learn Continuously

Lend to others Generously

Lead with Integrity

Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

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