Wisdom-Trek ©

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 594 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Love - The Tools in Gramps' Backpack

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 594 of our trek and Motivation Monday. We are hiking a series of trails called The Tools in Gramps’ Backpack.

Each Monday for a total of 20 weeks we will explore a different tool that is needed to motivate and equip parents and grandparents to train their children and grandchildren to be successful on their trek of life. If you don’t have children or grandchildren of your own, use these tools to train others that you do influence. Today the 17th tool from Gramps’ Backpack is Love. 

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. The previous tool that we explored was renewal, and the importance it is for each of our lives. With the diagnosis of leukemia in our granddaughter Hazel just over two weeks ago, there has been little time for practicing renewal in our lives.

Quite the contrary, the investment of time necessary surrounding this cataclysmic life change has required that we add many new duties to an already busy schedule. While these two weeks have exhausted us both physically and emotionally, it certainly has been a time for reflection on what is truly important.

Since we do have a long road ahead of us, it will be more important than ever that we invest adequate time in renewal also. As I have reflected on Hazel’s illness I realized that I would do anything I could to take her illness and treatment on me, so she would not have to. I would do this because of my love for Hazel and my desire for her not to go through this time of suffering. Unfortunately, this is not possible. This brings to mind the fact that because of His love for us, Christ gave up his life and suffered hell for us so that we would not have to.

Romans 5:8-9, "But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation."

Love is the most powerful force in the universe. Unconditional love is the strongest form of love. It is so imperative that we love our children, grandchildren, and others that we impact with unconditional love, and lots of it. If they see this kind of love demonstrated in our lives, then they will learn to love others unconditionally. So the tool we will explore today is…

Love

As we learn of God’s love for us and allow it to become part of the very fabric of our lives, we will start to understand and demonstrate that love to others. Ephesians 3:17-19 gives us a glimpse of the love God has for us, "Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God."Love is what sums up the entire Old Testament laws. Christ’s words leave no room for interpretation. In Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus tells us, "Jesus replied, 'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments."

We are humans, though, and sometimes, despite our best intentions, we fall short. When we become embittered with ourselves, with our family,

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 593 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Lifestyle Is Not an Automatic Reward

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 593 of our trek, and today is Philosophy Friday. Every Friday we will ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy.

Currently, we are on an extended multi-week trek as we explore the teachings from some of my virtual mentors, such as Jim Rohn, Zig Ziglar, and Earl Nightingale. The core of our current trek is based primarily on Jim Rohn’s book The Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle. I have learned a considerable amount from reading and re-reading this book on my own trek of life, and I trust that it will benefit you also. Keeping with the continuity of Wisdom-Trek, I have adapted it to The Five Trails on Life’s Trek.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. It has been a beautiful spring week, and all of the trees are exploding with foliage. The large maples and oaks are a bit behind, but it won’t take too many days before they are also full of leaves.

Our granddaughter Hazel, whom I mentioned in Wednesday’s trek, is now home after her first 8 days of Chemo treatments for leukemia. Although it is always possible that the future treatment schedule will change based on her response, currently she will travel to Columbus every Monday for a Chemo treatment. On Wednesday & Friday of each week, she will have blood drawn locally to monitor the results. The weekly treatments will last 2-3 months depending on the results, and then it will move to a monthly treatment for the next 20+ months. We would appreciate your continued prayers for her healing and strength for the family.

Last Philosophy Friday I mentioned that we deal with the same challenges and fears that everyone deals with. This has certainly been true during the past couple of weeks as our lives have been dramatically impacted.

As we continue today on our 5th trail, which is the The Trail of Lifestyle, we will explore how our lifestyle is not automatic but is created by how we respond to the challenges of life, not by the fact that we do not have major challenges and fears. If we do not conquer those fears, they will become giants that can overwhelm and defeat us, minimizing our impact on our world. Victories over the challenges of life make up the lifestyle that we live.

If you have missed the past few Philosophy Friday treks, it would be good to go back and review them to get caught up on our progress so far. We have a lot of ground to cover today, so let’s break camp and begin the fifth trail of this extended trek as we cover…

The Five Trails on Life’s Trek – Lifestyle Part (3)

As a reminder, our overall extended trek covers these five trails:

Philosophy

Attitude

Activity

Results

Lifestyle

1. Lifestyle is Not an Automatic Reward

Lifestyle means designing ways to live uniquely. It is a skill to be mastered, not a condition to be pursued. Lifestyle is finding new ways to bring joy, pleasure, excitement, and substance into your life and into the lives of those you care for while you are working on your goals, not once you have achieved them. Obtaining more material abundance does not necessarily mean a rich and satisfying life.

You may dream of becoming wealthy, of having a beautiful home that is tended by others so that you will be free to enjoy yourself. You dream of inheriting a large amount of money or winning the lottery that will enable you to quit your job tomorrow and go off in pursuit of the good life.

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 592 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Never of Two Minds – Wisdom Unplugged

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 592 of our trek, and it is time for a 3-minute mini-trek called Wisdom Unplugged. This short nugget of wisdom includes an inspirational quote with a little additional content for today’s trek. Consider this your vitamin supplement of wisdom for today. So let’s jump right in with today’s nugget.

Today quote is from Confucius who said, "The man of wisdom is never of two minds; the man of benevolence never worries; the man of courage is never afraid."To be wise is to have a single-mindedness of your purpose, mission, and vision for life. If you are compassionate, kind, and generous, then you will not worry about what others think or feel about you, because you will know instinctively that you are doing what is right. If you have courage, then there is no reason to be fearful because you know that you will persevere even through difficult times.

You cannot be double-minded and strong or successful at the same time. In fact, if you desire to be wise, one of the keys is to not have a divided loyalty. Anyone can gain wisdom by earnestly asking God to provide it, but we must be loyal to God to obtain wisdom. James, the half-brother of Jesus, tells us that God will freely give us wisdom if we ask Him. This is in his letter in James 1:5-8, "If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do."

That’s a wrap for today’s Wisdom Unplugged quote. If you would like free access to my database of over 10,000 inspirational quotes, the link is available on the main page of Wisdom-Trek.com. As you enjoy these nuggets of wisdom, encourage your friends and family to join us and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.If you would like to listen to any of our past treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. You can also subscribe on iTunes 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 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

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

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 591 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Don't Be a Fool! - Proverbs 6

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 591 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday. Every Wednesday along life’s trails, we dig for the nuggets of wisdom that are found within the book of Proverbs. Today we will explore Proverbs 6 from The Voice Translation, which will give us a fresh perspective on this book of timeless wisdom.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. What a difference a week can make in our lives. I was scheduled to travel to Mesa, Arizona, last week to work on our construction project there. The day before I was to leave our lives changed forever.

A little over a week ago, Hazel, our 2 ½-year-old, red-headed, spunky grandchild who is so full of life was taken to Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus. A week ago on Saturday, we found out that our sweet little Hazel was diagnosed with pre-b acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Of course, our hearts are broken, and it rocked our foundation to the very core. Since it was detected early, and she is young, the prognosis for recovery is good. But the thought of Hazel having to suffer through two years of chemo treatments is difficult to grasp and consider. It certainly will be a major change in our lives and especially in the lives of her parents Elizabeth and Nat Miller and Hazel’s three older siblings Paul, Gideon, and Aurora. It is hard to process, especially for one so young, but we are certain that God is in control of this situation as He is in all of our lives. We will be much more involved with Elizabeth, Nat, and the grandkid’s lives as we assist and we all adjust to a life that is no longer what our normal was.

Fortunately, Nat’s parents also live locally and are very involved with the grandkids. We would ask you to pray for Hazel and her tribe, and also for us as grandparents that we would have the wisdom, insight, and understanding to make prudent choices and be able to help wherever it is needed.

As we explore Proverbs 6 today, Solomon instructs us to be wise. Solomon puts it bluntly when he says…

Don’t Be a Fool!

· 9th Speech from Father to Son

Chapter 6 is the father’s ninth speech, and there’s a trove of wisdom gold in here. As you listen to it, look for words such as “snare,” “caught,” “hunter,” “fowler,” “robber,” “capture,” and “thief.” According to the father, there are four hunters out there looking to ambush your soul and rob it of the good life.

· Beware of:

Debt (verses 1-5)

The father warns his son of the dangers of financial liability, even if it’s to help out a friend. Stepping into debt is like stepping into a trap. Don’t sign your name, he says. If you do, get yourself out of the situation with dogged persistence (“to the point of exhaustion”) and escape like a gazelle or a bird (two animals that exhibit swift speed).

 

Laziness (verses 6-11)

Here the father tells the son that “poverty will come upon him like a robber” if he doesn’t learn to work hard. “Check out the ants!” he says, pointing out the diligent way these insects store provisions for their future. Solomon, as 1 Kings 4:33 indicates, was a skilled zoologist and drew many lessons from the world of animals.

Gossip (verses 12-19)

In these verses, the topic switches from the “sluggard” to the “slanderer.” Both are deemed to be worthless people, but the latter receives the father’s harshest criticism. Verses 16-19 catalog a list of things that the Lord hates,

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 590 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

The Mark of Wisdom – Wisdom Unplugged

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is day 590 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 additional content for today’s trek. Consider this your vitamin supplement of wisdom for today. So let’s jump right in with today’s nugget:

Today’s quote is from Ralph Waldo Emerson who said, "The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common."Miracles are around us every day. Unfortunately, we are usually too preoccupied and busy to notice them.

It takes wisdom to invest time to absorb a beautiful sunrise or sunset. It takes wisdom to understand the miracles of the seasons that come and go with unchanging regularity. It takes wisdom to enjoy the ebbs and flows of the oceans. It takes wisdom to appreciate the need for a balance of sun, rain, snow, clouds, and winds. It takes wisdom to realize that every beat of our heart and every breath that we take are a miracle that sustains our life for yet one more moment. It takes wisdom to acknowledge that all of these common things that we take for granted comes from a holy and loving God who is the creator of all things.

As Romans 1:19-20 tells us, "They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God."That’s a wrap for today’s Wisdom Unplugged. If you enjoy these quotes, I have created and published a searchable database of over 10,000 quotes that I have collected for many years. If you would like free access to my database of inspirational quotes, the link is available on the main page of Wisdom-Trek.com.

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 treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal.

As we take this trek of life together, let us always:

Live Abundantly (Fully)

Love Unconditionally

Listen Intentionally

Learn Continuously

Lend to others Generously

Lead with Integrity

Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

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

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 589 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Renewal- The Tools in Gramps' Backpack

 

 

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 589 of our trek, and it is Motivation Monday. We are hiking a series of trails called The Tools in Gramps’ Backpack. Each Monday for a total of 20 weeks, we will explore a different tool that is needed to motivate and equip parents and grandparents to train their children and grandchildren to be successful on their trek of life. If you don’t have children or grandchildren of your own, use these tools to train others that you do influence. Today the 16th tool from Gramps’ Backpack is Renewal. 

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. When this trek is released, I should be back from a week in Arizona and have spoken at church yesterday. I do have to admit, while I love work and enjoy our life, there are times where I desperately need a time of rest and relaxation. I do not do this as often as I should, so it is something that I need to work towards.

Even the most driven and healthy parents and grandparents need a period of R&R and an infusion of God’s power. It is also imperative that we teach our children, grandchildren, and others that we mentor how to use the valuable tool of…

Renewal

All of us, even if we are very strong in our faith, occasionally find ourselves running on empty. I know I fall prey to this. The demands of daily life and the stresses that we place on ourselves can drain us of our strength and rob us of the joy that is ours in Christ.

When we find ourselves tired, discouraged, and not wanting to carry on, it is time to stop, maybe even step back for a bit, and determine the source of our situation. As Christ followers, we can also draw strength from God’s Word and other Christians to help us recharge our spiritual batteries. God certainly knows our weaknesses and frailties and the Apostle Peter in his 1st letter 5:10 tells us, "In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation."

God does intend for us to live a rich and satisfying life. A joyous life filled with abundance and peace. Sometimes, though, joy and peace seem to elude us and feel far away.

When these times cast a shadow on us, and they will occasionally, the first step is to analyze if there are some lifestyle changes that need to be made. Are you involved in too many activities and just stretching yourself too thin? Are you getting adequate sleep, which means at least 6-8 hours on a regular basis? Are you eating healthy, whole foods, and avoiding too much sugar and other highly processed foods? Are you getting regular exercise to improve your strength and cardio?

With God’s strength, you can make the needed changes in the above list, but there is one other area that you cannot neglect. Especially when you are tired and troubled, turn your heart and mind to God in prayer. When you are weak, weary, and worried, make time to delve deeply into God’s Word and His precepts. Allow them to wash through your mind to purify and renew your thinking. When you still need additional strength, call upon fellow Christ followers to help you and support you. When you make these practices habits in your life, you will discover that the Creator of the universe stands with you and will strengthen you when your own strength is too little.

As Christ followers, we have a source of strength that others don’t have. Romans 12:2 instructs us, "Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world,

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 588 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Lifestyle Is Not Determined by Money

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 588 of our trek, and today is Philosophy Friday. Every Friday we will ponder some of the basic truths and mysteries of life, and how they can impact us in creating our living legacy.

Currently, we are on an extended multi-week trek as we explore the teachings from some of my virtual mentors such as Jim Rohn, Zig Ziglar, and Earl Nightingale. The core of our current trek is based primarily on Jim Rohn’s book The Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle.  I have learned a considerable amount from reading and re-reading this book on my own trek of life, and I trust that it will benefit you also. Keeping with the continuity of Wisdom-Trek, I have adapted it to The Five Trails on Life’s Trek.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. When this trek is originally aired, I will be finishing up another week in Arizona working with our partners on the Mesa construction project. Hopefully, we will have prepared the budget and contract for Phase II of the project. Although Phase I extended out much longer and had cost overruns that we were not expecting, we hope that the experiences and lessons learned will allow Phase II to run much smoother and to be much more profitable.

I should get back to Marietta late Saturday, and then I have the privilege of speaking at Putnam Church again as our pastor will be on vacation this week. I will be speaking on Conquering Your Giants.

Although we do have a varied and interesting life, we deal with the same challenges and fears that everyone deals with. If we do not conquer them, those fears become giants that can overwhelm and defeat us, making our impact on our world minimized. Victories and defeats make up the lifestyle that we live.

As we continue on our extended trek today, we are hiking on our 5th trail which is The Trail of Lifestyle. Today we will explore what lifestyle is not, and also some elements of what makes up a balanced lifestyle. If you have missed the past few Philosophy Friday treks, it would be good to go back and review them to get caught up on our progress so far. We have a lot of ground to cover today, so let’s break camp and begin the fifth trail of this extended trek as we cover…

The Five Trails on Life’s Trek – Lifestyle Part (2)

As a reminder, our overall extended trek covers these five trails:

Philosophy

Attitude

Activity

Results

Lifestyle

1. Lifestyle Is Not an Amount

Culture is not an amount. Sophistication is not an amount. Neither is lifestyle. They are arts to be practiced by those who wish for more of a rich and satisfying life. To become the masters of these arts, the practice must begin with what you currently have.

Each of us, regardless of our circumstances, can begin the art of practiced sophistication any time we choose. For example, we are all familiar with the process of tipping those who provide us with service in a restaurant. Few of us know the origin and purpose of leaving a tip. The word “tip” is an abbreviation of the phrase “To Insure Promptness.” To insure promptness implies that the gratuity should be given before we receive the service, not after.

An example of the sophisticated approach to dining out is to take aside the person who will be serving us and present the tip in advance of the service we seek, not after. If this were practiced, the level of service would be well above average.

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 587 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

The Good News Is Simple But Rich– Wisdom Unplugged

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is day 587 of our trek, and it is time for a 3-minute mini-trek called Wisdom Unplugged. This short nugget of wisdom includes an inspirational quote with a little additional content for today’s trek. Consider this your vitamin supplement of wisdom for today. So let’s jump right in with today’s nugget.

Today's quote is from Charles Hodge who said, "The Gospel is so simple that simple children can understand it, and it is so profound that studies by the wisest theologians will never exhaust its riches."

The older that I get and the more that I study God’s Word, the more I realize that there is just so much about God that I will never fully understand. As Romans 11:32-35 tells us, "Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!  For who can know the Lord’s thoughts?  Who knows enough to give him advice? And who has given him so much that he needs to pay it back?"Yet the message of God’s love is so simple that even children can understand it. The children’s song that many of us know encapsulates this well..."Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so." This is sufficient as Jesus told us in Matthew 18:2-4, "Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. Then he said, 'I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.'"

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 treks or read the Wisdom Journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. You can also subscribe on iTunes 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 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

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

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 586 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

I am Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Rejecting Lady Folly - Proverbs 5

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 586 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday. Every Wednesday along life’s trails we dig for the nuggets of wisdom that are found within the book of Proverbs. Today we will explore Proverbs 5 from The Voice Translation, which will give us a fresh perspective on this book of timeless wisdom.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. In today’s world, as it has been since the beginning of recorded history, it is so easy to fall into the trap of folly. That is to say making decisions that are foolish instead of wise. We are all prone to this, and it is only when we seek out wisdom on a daily basis that we will have any hope to make wise decisions.

One area that is probably most destructive is when we make foolish decisions about our relationships, especially when it involves becoming intimate with others outside the covenant that we make when we marry. Solomon has much to say about this in Proverbs and in this chapter Solomon instructs his sons with very direct teaching. Solomon made many foolish decisions in this area, so he had much experience to teach from.

So today in Chapter 5 of Proverbs, we will explore the importance of…

Rejecting Lady Folly

8th Speech from Father to Son

There is a character in Proverbs, the adulteress, referred to as the seductive woman, who we have only had brief encounters with so far (2:16-19). Now in Chapters 5-7, we get a much closer look at this woman, and it’s not pretty. This lady is a sham and will do you no good.

This speech is frightening. The father calls the adulteress the “seductive woman.” As the passage implies, she is already a married woman. Beware! She might be persuasive, with lips that speak “honey-sweet” and words that are “smooth like oil,” but in reality, she is barbed and bitter. Follow her, and she will take you down with her “straight to the grave.”

The father goes on to use a contrasting set of images – the house of the adulteress is the root of destruction, but the home of your bride is the fruit of life. The father’s speech flows with words comparing the wife to that of water (a “cistern” and “fountain”).

Water in the Near East was particularly gratifying due to extremely high temperatures. Likewise, the father implies, a man’s wife is water to his soul. The sexually thirsty man should always drink of his wife’s body and be intoxicated with her love and never partake from another woman.

The father tells his son “may you know true joy with the wife of your youth” (18). This is a call to enjoy sexual intimacy with your spouse. Drink from the pure waters of marriage, and let the polluted waters of the adulteress go trickling by. If you are married, give thanks for your spouse as you read this chapter, and ask yourself how you can rejoice greater in your love for each other. If you are not married, ask God to give you patience for pure water.

People are easily seduced, especially men. Everyone is vulnerable to sexual sin at some point or another, and history is strewn with the wreckage that results when the path of adultery is followed – bitterness, death, instability, loss, ruin…Time and again, these are the consequences of violating God’s instruction.

Wisdom recognizes the beauty of sexual intimacy. After all, God designed us as sexual beings. But for physical intimacy to retain the beauty of its design, it must be shared wisely. It is meant to be shared with someone who is your own.

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 585 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Be Happy Today – Wisdom Unplugged

Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is day 585 of our trek, and it is time for a 3-minute mini-trek called Wisdom Unplugged. This short nugget of wisdom includes an inspirational quote with a little additional content for today’s trek. Consider this your vitamin supplement of wisdom for today. So let’s jump right in with today’s nugget.

Today’s quote is from James Oppenheim who said, "The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise grows it under his feet."The happiness that we desire today seems to elude most of us. We are always looking for happiness in the future. We wait for something to happen to make us happy. A new job, a new car, more money, better friends...The list goes on and on.

Happiness is based on how content we are with what we have now. Contentment, for the most part, is a choice. If we plant the seeds of contentment each day and choose to be satisfied with what we currently have, while striving to improve, we will find the happiness we desire today. The seeds of contentment will grow into a life filled with happiness and, more importantly, joy.

Keep in mind the very word happiness is based on what happens to us, so if we are not careful, the happenings of today will control us. Instead, we need to learn to be full of joy and peace by realizing that all will be well with us regardless of the circumstances.

As the Apostle Paul taught Timothy in his 1st letter to him in Chapter 6 verses 5-8, "Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content."

That’s a wrap for today’s Wisdom Unplugged. If you enjoy these quotes, I have created and published a searchable database of over 10,000 quotes that I have collected for many years. If you would like free access to my database of inspirational quotes, the link is available on the main page of Wisdom-Trek.com.

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 the past daily treks or read the daily journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. You can also subscribe on iTunes and 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 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

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