Shownotes
Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy
Welcome to Day 754 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
Joseph – Trial by Faith – Meditation Monday
Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 754 of our trek, and today we are transitioning our focus from mindshift to meditation.
So starting today, we will be calling our segment 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 a 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 your mind.
We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. We are quickly approaching Christmas and then New Years. 2017 has been a challenging time for our family. Businesswise, we are battling the ever-changing fluctuations in the oil and construction sectors. Familywise, our world was shaken to its foundations when our granddaughter Hazel was diagnosed with Leukemia on April 15th. Our lives and perspective of life will be forever changed. As Hazel goes through the treatment regimen that will last over two years, we are adapting to a life which is much different than we anticipated.
On July 8th, I fell from a ladder and broke my femur bone right below the ball socket of the hip. I am still recovering from that as I go through the healing process. The bone is healing well, but rebuilding the muscles and tendons through daily exercise is certainly more painful than exercising was before the fall.
Unexpected events and trials can certainly rock our world. As I reflect during this Christmas season, I realize that many of you go through trials and challenges too. Today in our Monday Meditation, let us consider such a trial from one of the key members in the story of Christ’s birth. Today let us reflect on…
Joseph – Trial by Faith
Most of us really dislike tests. I was not a stellar student in school, so tests brought a certain amount of stress although I certainly had some control over the outcome if I chose to. As we have experienced this year with Hazel and her numerous medical tests, these test results are completely out of our control.
As we have experienced and so have many of you, other tests are life tests. They have to do with tough times in your lives, times that are hard, painful, and discouraging. They may involve a time of illness, hardship, persecution, marriage problems, family upheaval, job difficulties, loneliness, grief, or a host of other painful experiences. Some tests are a result of the choices that we make, but many of these tests come because we live in a broken world.
Some periods of testing invade your lives because other people do evil things or make unwise choices. Sometimes, times of testing come because Satan wants to discourage you and lead you to doubt God’s love and grace. Sometimes testing comes because of your unwise or sinful choices. Bottom line: The fallout from times of testing can blow into your world and wreak havoc in your lives. Sometimes trials come because we are grasping for things to make us content instead of being content in our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Hebrews 13:5 tells us, “Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, ‘I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.'”
As we reflect on Christmas, it causes me to consider Joseph and the trials he had to endure over many years, which were completely out of his control. One of the things I most appreciate about Joseph, who served as Jesus’s earthly father, was that he faced an incredibly difficult test and proved himself faithful. He had shown himself to be completely committed to being a man of God. He had lived in purity so he could honorably marry a woman who had saved herself for him.
Joseph was committed legally to marry a young woman named Mary, Jesus’s mother. This is sometimes called betrothal, something much more binding than our modern engagement. Then, she told him that she was pregnant by the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit. After that, she disappeared and went away to be with her cousin Elizabeth for several months. What was Joseph supposed to think? How could he understand Mary’s pregnancy? He thought that there was only one way for her to be carrying a baby: she had betrayed him sexually. There was no other way, except…
Joseph believed by faith what Mary told him. Joseph believed by faith what the angel told him. Joseph believed that the baby in his fiancé’s womb was the Messiah, the Son of God, and that baby was conceived by the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit. He believed that Mary was not only pure and faithful to him but also that both of them together were chosen to parent their Savior, Christ the Lord. The author of Hebrews would write later in Hebrews 11:1, “Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.”
Incredibly, Joseph accepted this truth by faith. He knew he would be tested all the days of his life for his faith. People would talk behind his back. People would say he wasn’t the father and that Mary had “cheated” on him and been unfaithful to him. He chose to accept this ridicule, and he also accepted taking care of Jesus throughout his childhood with all of the associated risks, hardships, and impenetrable mysteries. He taught Jesus his craft of carpentry. Joseph passed all these tests and helped Jesus to prepare for when His time came to serve.
So here’s my message for you today: You never know who will be blessed — even saved — by the character and compassion you show while you go through your tests!
I know this may seem hard to believe. So remember Joseph. Please remember God’s kingdom on earth through Jesus’s life, and the on-going message is furthered through your faith as it was through Joseph’s faithfulness.
Also remember this: Someone is watching and depending on you to pass your test! Hang in despite the hardship…Keep your faith despite the pain…“For God has said, ‘I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.'”
Your testing will not be wasted. Your character and your compassion will be blessings to others — many of the people that you impact you will never know till you share in eternal glory with them.
Let us remember the words of Jesus’s half-brother who grew up in the same household with the Messiah although did not accept Him as such until after His resurrection. James 1:2-4, “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”
When you remember Jesus during this special Christmas season, please remember these truths and Joseph who endured Trial by Faith!
Next week we will continue our trek on Meditation Monday and look at the lives of the shepherds who were there the night that Jesus was born. 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 753 daily treks or read the daily journal, they are available at Wisdom-Trek.com. You can also subscribe to 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 importantly, I am 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
I am Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Everyday! See you tomorrow!