Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 896 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday. Creating a Biblical worldview is important 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 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. God is omniscient, which means He knows everything before it takes place. There are several passages in the Bible, though, that describe God consulting with His heavenly court, referred to as His armies in today’s passage, and allowing their input in the means to a predetermined outcome. Today’s essay explores one such incident as we will focus on…

To set the picture for today’s essay, I will read from 1 Kings 22:1-28.

For three years there was no war between Aram and Israel. Then during the third year, King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to visit King Ahab of Israel. During the visit, the king of Israel said to his officials, “Do you realize that the town of Ramoth-Gilead belongs to us? And yet we’ve done nothing to recapture it from the king of Aram!”

 Then he turned to Jehoshaphat and asked, “Will you join me in battle to recover Ramoth-Gilead?”

Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, “Why, of course! You and I are as one. My troops are your troops, and my horses are your horses.” Then Jehoshaphat added, “But first let’s find out what the Lord says.”

So the king of Israel summoned the prophets, about 400 of them, and asked them, “Should I go to war against Ramoth-Gilead, or should I hold back?”

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 895 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 Joyce Brothers, and it is,“A strong, positive self-image is the best possible preparation for success.”

To be successful, you must prepare for success.  You must see yourself as successful in your mind before success will ever be achieved in any area of life.  An appropriate and balanced positive self-image, which includes loving yourself, is a requirement before any success can be achieved.  When you realize that you are made to be the bearer of God’s image, then you will realize that God desires you to be successful in all that you do.

One admonition that must be considered is that what the world considers as successful, which is usually an abundance of wealth, is not what God considers as successful. Success in God’s eyes is our obedience to His precepts, which are found in His Word, the Bible.

God shows us His pattern for success when He encourages in servant Joshua prior to entering The Promised Land in 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.”

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 894 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. There are many people that are ready to give up because of trials and hardships. You may be one of them. Instead of giving up, let us put our energies into encouraging others. It is then we will have purpose and meaning in our own lives and will have the strength to “Keep Moving Forward.” In our Meditation Monday today, we will learn…

The Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the church at Corinth in 2 Corinthians 4:7-9, “We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.  We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.”

There are times when all of us feel overwhelmed by problems and feel like quitting. I’ve been there, but couldn’t find anything better than my Christian faith to quit to. Today I thank God for the courage to keep going, knowing that God was allowing trials to strengthen my faith and to help me grow.

If you feel like giving up and quitting, perhaps the following poem will encourage you to hang in, hang on, but never hang up when the going gets tough.

Don’t Quit

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 893 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’ 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 guthrie@wisdom-trek.com. And Gramps will answer your questions on our Friday podcast.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. With the recent high-profile celebrity suicides and the fact that suicide rates are increasing in all cultural and age groups, it seems as if more people are losing hope in our world today. So the question today is:

“Hey Gramps, How is it possible to maintain hope in our lives and accept that we are worthwhile and have a purpose that is greater than ourselves?”

While I do not generally have an issue with depression and have never experienced bouts with feeling worthless, I do have family members and friends that do. There...

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 892 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…

Today I want to tell you a story about John and Sam. John’s story reminds me a lot about myself and the attitude that I try to have. There are also many similarities to my fall from a ladder last year with a chainsaw in my hand where I ended up with a fractured femur bone right below my hip socket.

For many, John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He always seemed to be in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, “If I were any better, I would be twins!” He was a natural motivator.

If a fellow associate was having a bad day, John was there telling them how to look on the positive side of the situation. Seeing this style really made Sam curious, so one day he went up and asked him, “I don’t get it! You can’t be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?”

John replied, “Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood, or you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim, or I can choose to learn...

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. Today is Day 891 of our trek, and it is Wisdom Wednesday.

Creating a Biblical worldview is important 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 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. The Bible is full of rich imagery and stories that fill our minds with wonders and questions. Today’s essay explores one such incident as we will focus on…

If they haven’t read it, most people have at least heard the story of David and Goliath of Gath (‘‘the Gittite”). The names of the hero and villain have iconic status. But how many people know anything about the giant Goliath, other than that he lost his head to a boy named David from Israel?

This story can be found in, 2 Samuel [21:15]-22 and 1 Chronicles 20:4-8. The story tells us that there were other unusually tall warriors among the Philistines. The lists are not identical, but putting them together we read that there were four: Saph (also called Sippai), Lahmi, Ishbibenob, and an unnamed warrior. The descriptions are similar to that given Goliath, noting “great stature” and the dimensions of their weaponry. Unlike Goliath or any of the other named warriors, the unnamed giant is said to have six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. This malformation, known as polydactylism, is only mentioned in the description of this giant. The Bible does not mention it when it discusses other giant clans.

There are several people groups described as giants or among whom giants lived in the Old Testament:

1. There are...

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 890 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 Elbert Hubbard, and it is, “A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success.”

True and lasting success is never gained quickly nor through shortcuts. Success cannot be determined during the process while you are in the midst of the trials and tribulations of everyday life.  Sometimes success is not fully realized until long after a project or situation has ended.  In fact, there have been many times where a person has not been recognized as a success until long after they have died.

Success cannot and should not be measured by monetary accumulation, but for the impact of transforming the lives of others positively. All of the truly great persons of history were willing to put in the time and the sacrifice to further God’s kingdom without the consideration of whether they were going to be successful. We should be willing to do the same.

As we conclude, today we are reminded in Proverbs 13:11, 

Thank you for joining us for our five days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 889 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 reflecting and renewing your mind. 

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. There are many foolish people and situations in our world today which we should not follow or become involved with. There is an exception to this, and in our Meditation Monday today we will learn about…

When Dietrich Bonhoeffer reflected on the meaning of the cross, he concluded, “A king who dies on the cross must be the king of a rather strange kingdom.” After all, everything about Jesus’ life was counter to the kingdom that his contemporaries were expecting and the empire that Rome had established. Perhaps, therefore, it is not so unusual that the nature of his kingdom would be “strange” to modern-day sensibilities? Even easier to reject. Especially a kingdom where the king suffers in apparent foolish weakness.

Brennan Manning said, “Jesus entered our world as the music man, but the world was disturbed by his song…” But did the nails silence the music? Could it be that, in those nails, God succeeded in putting into operation his new creation and plan for the world? Could it be that, in those nails, a new kind of music could be heard?

Anyone who looks at the cross as a single screenshot on the monitor of their mind will think God is not loving or powerful but cruel and unfeeling. But when we see the cross as a part of the whole story, we will see it as a shining tile in the divine mosaic that is the story of God.

That this tile reveals to us that God is not waiting for us on the other side of suffering. He understands its...