Wisdom-Trek ©

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 864 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Let's Stay Connected! – Meditation Monday

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 864 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. We have just celebrated Mother’s Day in the United States. For most of us, the bond we have with our mother is one of the strongest that we will ever experience. The mother’s love is stronger than we will ever know. Usually, we will make contact with our mothers on this day set aside to honor them. We desire to remain connected with those we love. There is another relationship that may even be stronger than the one we have with our mother, but only if we stay connected. The title of our meditation today is...

Let’s Stay Connected!

Before He ascended to the Father, Jesus promised His disciples that He would send the Spirit. Jesus promised He would pour out the Spirit on people with faith in Him as they were baptized into Him. On the night Jesus was betrayed, He reiterated this promise over and over again as He talked to His closest disciples about the Spirit being their Helper when I was gone. This is found in John chapters 14-16. The Helper's presence would be their assurance and seal that the Father, Son, and Spirit would abide in all who put their faith in Jesus. God will never leave or forsake you.

In most of the world, a house can have many power outlets. However, the electric devices and appliances won't be able to fulfill their purposes unless they are connected to the power source. The same is true for the work of the Spirit in your life. The Helper is Jesus’s power source for you. You need the Spirit's presence and power in your life to fulfill your purpose as Jesus’s disciple. Jesus emphasized that your part of this process is to love Him and obey what He calls you to do:

Jesus teaches us in John 14:21, "Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them."

Your obedience and your commitment to abide in Jesus and live for Him connects you to that power source found in the Helper's presence. Today's verses, which are part of this podcast, will remind you to stay connected to Jesus. Our relationship is organic and relational, not mechanical or just organizational.

Jesus said, “You abide in Me. I am your vine. You are my branch.” There is no source of true life for a literal branch unless it remains connected to the vine, and there is no everlasting source of life in you unless you remain connected to Jesus! When you remain connected to Jesus, you connect to the power source of the Holy Spirit, the Helper He has sent to you; this is when you choose to love.

In Jesus’s earthly ministry, He taught the importance of love being the guiding star in your life as you seek to live for Him as is written in Matthew 22:34-40, "But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply,

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 863 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Parenting Is Not About Raising Well-Behaved Children - Ask Gramps

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 863 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. 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. Granny and Gramps have had the privilege of raising 5 children to adults and now have 6 grandchildren with the 7th one on the way. Raising kids is not always easy, but if God blesses you with the opportunity and responsibility, then it is a sacred trust. So our question for today is…

Hey Gramps, “Raising kids is really tough. How can we love them, care for them, and mentor them so that they are well-behaved as kids and become confident, well-adjusted, and responsible adults?”

Parenting Is Not About Raising Well-Behaved Kids

As I was contemplating this question, I came across a blog post by Todd Friel that I felt provided a very interesting perspective on balanced parenting. Here is how Todd explains it.

If you view your kids as sinners who need salvation, you’ll see parenting as a rescue mission. Christian children are never naughty. Yes, you heard me correctly.

Christian children are never naughty; Christian children commit sins. Labeling your child's behavior biblically will change the way you engage with your child when there is a ruckus in your home.

When you think your child is simply a brat, it is easy to scowl, yell, or even hit. But when you remember that your child's conduct is a sin against God, you no longer see bad behavior as something that must be curbed. You will now see your interaction with your child as a rescue mission.

When your children sins, they do not need to be yelled at. They need to be taken to the cross where a sin/forgiveness transaction can take place.

The next time you hear screaming and crying in the other room, before you shout, "Knock it off, or I will give you something to scream and cry about," remember, they are not naughty; they are sinning. In other words, your parenting is no longer about conformity to your rules, it is about helping them to understand God’s precepts in His Word. This is earnest business.

Typically, you want your kids to stop being naughty for the following reasons:

They are getting up in your face and on your nerves.

You just want some peace and quiet.

You want to do something, and they thwart your goals.

You are worried about being embarrassed in public by their bad behavior.

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 862 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

The Coffee or the Cup – Wisdom Unplugged

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 862 of our trek, and it is time for a 3-minute mini-trek called Wisdom Unplugged.

We are going to switch our Thursday podcast to a clean anecdotal or funny short story to help you lighten up towards the end of each week. It'll be 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 story which was sourced with permission on mikeysfunnies.com.

Today’s short story is...

The Coffee or the Cup

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. The conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain-looking, some expensive, and some exquisite – he told them to help themselves to the coffee.

After all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice-looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. 

"Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases, it's just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was a good coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups...and then began eyeing each other's cups."

"Now consider this: Life is the coffee, and the jobs, money, and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life, and the type of cup we have does not define nor change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us."

God brews the coffee, not the cups...Enjoy your coffee.

As we conclude our story, let me leave you with a Thursday Thought, "Some of your best memories will come from some of your most foolish decisions." Make it a day full of cheer.That’s a wrap for today’s Wisdom 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 wisdom, please encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

If you would like to listen to any of our past 861 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 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,

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 861 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Sin Offering vs. Forgiveness - Wisdom Wednesday

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 861 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 God’s word, we are investing the next several months on Wednesday reviewing a series of essays from one of today’s most prominent Hebrew Scholars Dr. Micheal S. Heiser which he has compiled 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. To be in a good relationship with others, we must be willing to forgive them when they wrong us or fall short of our expectations. Forgiveness is even essential to maintain a healthy mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual life. In today’s essay, we will explore the purpose of the Old Testament for the sin offering and if it actually provided forgiveness.

Sin Offerings vs. Forgiveness

Hebrews 10:4 proclaims, “For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”  Leviticus seems to tell a different story. Even casually reading the book, we notice that Israelites who bring proper sacrifices “will be forgiven.” One example of this is Leviticus 4:20, "Just as he does with the bull offered as a sin offering for the high priest. Through this process, the priest will purify the people, making them right with the Lord, and they will be forgiven."

Have we reached an impasse or are there contradictions in God’s word?

Rather than labeling this a contradiction, we might examine our own perceptions of Old Testament sacrifices—specifically, the sin offering. “Sin offering" is a translation of the Hebrew term (chatta‘t), which has the basic meaning of “to miss the mark” or “to fall short.” In using a traditional, familiar rendering, many English Bible translations cause us to misunderstand this sacrifice.

· The Goal of the Sin Offering

The label “sin offering” assumes that the goal of this sacrifice was forgiveness for moral failures or violations, or sins, as we think of them. Leviticus reveals this is not the case. The sin offering was used in cases where people suffered from a bodily discharge (Lev 15), at the dedication of a new altar (Lev 8), or when a Nazirite completes a vow of abstinence (Lev 12).

The real goal of the sin offering was ritual purification. It was designed to guard sacred space or territory sanctified by God's presence—from infection by impurity. By definition, every person or object “falls short” of divine perfection and must, therefore, be ritually marked as acceptable for holy ground. The sin offering—better rendered as “purification offering,” was therefore applied to people and inanimate objects to mark them as acceptable before God. These people (and objects) were not unacceptable because they had done evil, but because they were imperfect. Instead they “fell short” of the holy perfection that God’s presence required. The ritual reinforced the idea of the complete otherness of God.

Depending on the individual's status in the community, whether priest or commoner, the blood of the offering was either used outside or inside the sanctuary. When the sin offering was for a priest, the blood was brought inside the sanctuary. This signified the priest’s undeserved,

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 860 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Six Foundation Stones – Wisdom Unplugged

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 860 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 Zig Ziglar, and it is,"The foundation stones for a balanced success are honesty, character, integrity, faith, love, and loyalty."

Six Foundation Stones

For any structure to be solid and secure, it must be built on solid foundation stones.  It is also imperative that these foundation stones rest of solid bedrock and not shifting sands. Our lives are exactly the same. Our values are the bedrock from which we build a balanced life and the foundation stones that rest on that bedrock are honesty, character, integrity, faith, love, and loyalty.

Unless we have the solid bedrock of values and each of these six foundation stones, then our lives will be out of balance and eventually begin to crumble which will impact all other areas of our lives.

Jesus taught us this principle in Matthew 7:24-27, "Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash."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 859 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!

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 859 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

God's Mission: Your Adoption – Meditation Monday

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 859 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 past two weeks we diverged from our regular daily podcast themes due to my schedule where I was away from my home office. We read through some of the parables of Jesus. Jesus was a master storyteller, weaving everyday experiences into his teachings.

It certainly is a good model to follow as we share with others. It is my mission to emulate this style of storytelling as I share each day on our podcast. Today we want to explore a mission that is much more important as the title of our meditation today is…

God’s Mission: Your Adoption

When we come to Christ, God not only forgives us, he also adopts us. Through a dramatic series of events, we go from condemned orphans with no hope to adopted children with no fear. Here is how it happens.

You come before the judgment seat of God full of rebellion and mistakes. Because of his justice, he cannot dismiss your sin, but because of his love, he cannot dismiss you. So in an act that stunned the heavens, he punished himself on the cross for your sins. God's justice and love are equally honored. And you, God's creation, are forgiven. But the story doesn't end with God's forgiveness. We read in Romans 8:15-16, "So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children.  Now we call him, 'Abba, Father.' For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children."

This is emphasized again in Galatians 4:4-5, "But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.  God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children."

It would be enough if God just cleansed your name, but he does more. He gives you his name. It would be enough if God just set you free, but he does more. He takes you home. He takes you home to the Great House of God.

Adoptive parents understand this more than anyone. I certainly don't mean to offend any biological parents – I'm one myself. We biological parents know well the earnest longing to have a child. But in many cases, our cribs were filled easily. We decided to have a child, and a child came. In fact, sometimes the child came with no decision. I've heard of unplanned pregnancies, but I've never heard of an unplanned adoption.

That's why adoptive parents understand God's passion to adopt us. They know what it means to feel an empty space inside. They know what it means to hunt, to set out on a mission, and take responsibility for a child with a spotted past and a dubious future. If anybody understands God's ardor for his children, it's someone who has rescued an orphan from despair, for that is what God has done for us. God has adopted you.

God sought you, found you,

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 858 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

The Lost Son - Ask Gramps

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 858 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. Due to my heavy travel schedule this week, I will be diverting from our regular daily topics, and instead I will be reading through the parables of Jesus.

Jesus's parables are seemingly simple and memorable stories, often with imagery, that all convey messages. Scholars have commented that although these parables seem simple, the messages they convey are deep and central to the teachings of Jesus. Christian authors view them not as mere similitudes that serve the purpose of illustration, but as internal analogies in which nature becomes a witness for the spiritual world.

Many of Jesus's parables refer to simple everyday things, such as a woman baking bread, a man knocking on his neighbor's door at night, or the aftermath of a roadside mugging. Yet they deal with major religious themes, such as the growth of the Kingdom of God, the importance of prayer, and the meaning of love.

In Western civilization, these parables formed the prototype for the term parable, and in the modern age, even among those who know little of the Bible, the parables of Jesus remain some of the best-known stories in the world.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Our parables for today are taken from Luke 15:11-31 and is about…

The Lost Son

To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story. “A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.

A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living.  About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve.  He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything. 

When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home, even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’ 

So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son   “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet.  And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast,  for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began. 

 Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house,  and he asked one of the servants what was going on.  ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’ 

 The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him,

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 857 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

The Lost Sheep and Coin – Wisdom Unplugged

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 857 of our trek, and it is time for our 3-minute mini-trek called Wisdom Unplugged. Due to a heavy travel schedule for this week, I will be diverting from our regular daily topics, and instead, I will be reading through the parables of Jesus.

Jesus's parables are seemingly simple and memorable stories, often with imagery, that all convey messages. Scholars have commented that although these parables seem simple, the messages they convey are deep and central to the teachings of Jesus. Christian authors view them not as mere similitudes, which serve the purpose of illustration, but as internal analogies in which nature becomes a witness for the spiritual world.

Many of Jesus's parables refer to simple everyday things, such as a woman baking bread, a man knocking on his neighbor's door at night, or the aftermath of a roadside mugging. Yet they deal with major religious themes, such as the growth of the Kingdom of God, the importance of prayer, and the meaning of love.

In Western civilization, these parables formed the prototype for the term "parable;" and in the modern age, even among those who know little of the Bible, the parables of Jesus remain some of the best-known stories in the world.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Our parables for today are taken from Luke 15:1-10 and are about...

The Lost Sheep and Coin

· Parable of the Lost Sheep

Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!

So Jesus told them this story...If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?  And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away! 

· Parable of the Lost Coin

Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’  In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.On tomorrow’s trek, we will continue with the parables of Jesus. 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 our past 856 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 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

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 856 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

The Good Samaritan - Wisdom Wednesday

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 856 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday. Due to a heavy travel schedule this week, I will be switching from our regular daily topics, and instead, I will be reading through the parables of Jesus.

Jesus's parables are seemingly simple and memorable stories, often with imagery, that all convey messages. Scholars have commented that although these parables seem simple, the messages they convey are deep and central to the teachings of Jesus. Christian authors view them not as mere similitudes, which serve the purpose of illustration, but as internal analogies in which nature becomes a witness for the spiritual world.

Many of Jesus's parables refer to simple everyday things, such as a woman baking bread, a man knocking on his neighbor's door at night, or the aftermath of a roadside mugging. Yet they deal with major religious themes, such as the growth of the Kingdom of God, the importance of prayer, and the meaning of love.

In Western civilization, these parables formed the prototype for the term parable; and in the modern age, even among those who know little of the Bible, the parables of Jesus remain some of the best-known stories in the world.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Our parable for today is taken from Luke 10:30-37 and is about…

The Good Samaritan

Jesus replied with a story. “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.

By chance, a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.

Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’

'Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?' Jesus asked.

The man replied, 'The one who showed him mercy.'

Then Jesus said, 'Yes, now go and do the same.'"On tomorrow’s trek, we will continue with the parables of Jesus. 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.

That will finish our trek for today. If you would like to listen to any of our past 855 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!

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 855 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Three Servants – Wisdom Unplugged

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 855 of our trek, and it is time for a 3-minute mini-trek called Wisdom Unplugged. Due to a heavy travel schedule this week, I will be switching from our regular daily topics, and instead, I will be reading through the parables of Jesus.

Jesus's parables are seemingly simple and memorable stories, often with imagery, that all convey messages. Scholars have commented that although these parables seem simple, the messages they convey are deep and central to the teachings of Jesus. Christian authors view them not as mere similitudes, which serve the purpose of illustration, but as internal analogies in which nature becomes a witness for the spiritual world.

Many of Jesus's parables refer to simple everyday things, such as a woman baking bread, a man knocking on his neighbor's door at night, or the aftermath of a roadside mugging. Yet they deal with major religious themes, such as the growth of the Kingdom of God, the importance of prayer, and the meaning of love.

In Western civilization, these parables formed the prototype for the term parable; and in the modern age, even among those who know little of the Bible, the parables of Jesus remain some of the bestknown stories in the world.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Our parables for today are taken from Matthew 25:14-30 and is about...

Three Servants

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.