50 Days of Wisdom

Jesus is with the twelve disciples in the upper room, and it's the night of the Last Supper. It's the unmasking of Judas, and it's the bewilderment, the chaos, the confusion, the discouragement, the fear, the doubts, and the brokenhearted response of the apostles to things going in a direction they never, ever expected. Rather than Jesus setting up a kingdom, He keeps talking about dying. In fact, He's even explicit about the fact that he will be killed. In John 12:23, Jesus said, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified." Well, that sounds good, right? Maybe this is the coming of the kingdom. But then immediately He says in verse 24, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." What? Then, verse 31, "Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself. Now, He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die." They all knew what that was, crucifixion—someone being lifted up. Wow! Rather than establish the kingdom, He was going to die, and this was critical. It literally jolted the disciples to the bone. And their attitude is described in chapter 14, verse 1, when Jesus says, "Stop letting your heart be troubled." They were troubled in heart. In verse 5, Thomas said to Jesus, "What do You expect?Lord, we do not know where You are going; how do we know the way?" They were joyless and devastated. They had long expected Christ to set up His throne, fulfill the Mosaic and Davidic covenants and all the New Covenant promises that had come to the prophets, establish His kingdom, destroy His enemies, and reign over the earth in righteousness and truth. But instead of that, He announces that He's going to die and He's leaving them. This completely shatters all their hopes. And how did Jesus meet that devastation? How does our Lord respond? Our Lord confronts their troubled hearts by giving them ten promises. And each one of these promises is a spiritual treasure to comfort and encourage not just the apostles, but all who follow Christ. The first promise that the Lord gives to His brokenhearted disciples is the promise that He loves them with a sacrificial love that will never end. The second promise He gives them is the promise of eternal fellowship with Him in heaven. The third promise that Jesus gives is the promise of spiritual influence. We are the force that the Lord uses to bring about the greatest miracle, regeneration, and it requires the gospel. The fourth promise is provision. John 16:23 says, "If you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you." Number five—and in one sense this is really the most important thing: the promise of the Holy Spirit. This is the gift that makes all other promises possible. The sixth promise is the promise of truth. This is the promise given to the apostles: that when they went to writing the Scripture, they would be guided by the Holy Spirit; and because that was true for them, we have received an inerrant Bible. We have the truth. These promises are all massively significant, but maybe none more so than right at the middle of this: the Holy Spirit and the Word. But there's more: the promise of peace. This is not only objective peace with God because we're no longer at war with Him and we are now His children. But this is subjective peace, the peace that passes all understanding, the peace that tranquilizes your heart in the midst of the severest trial. The eighth promise is the promise of attitude fruit. The Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control, and action or behavior, the fruit of giving, the fruit of righteousness, and many other kinds of behavioral fruit. Then there's a little shift in number nine, but this is also a promise, John 15:18, "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you." Let's say this is the promise of refining. This promise is part of your spiritual development and something to be thankful for, because it yields the fruit of righteousness. And then a final promise that sums it up: the promise of joy. Everlasting joy. When you think about what to be thankful for, think about the promises of Christ—His astonishing promises. All of them are the property, the privilege, and the promise of true believers. This is why no matter how challenging life is, we must be thankful. The summation is Colossians 2:2-4—listen to this: "That their heart may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from a full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." These things are ours because Christ is ours. "In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Everything comes to us in Him. Therefore, having Christ means having all these promises to encourage us, as well as wisdom and knowledge to guide us. Oh, what a Savior we have in Jesus! Repent and believe! GTY.org (82-26) – The Unfailing Promises of God

Today's Wisdom

Day: 1000

August 14, 2026

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Grace and peace,

My name is Mark Paul from Wauchula, Florida, and like the Apostle Peter said in 2 Peter 1:14, "I know that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent." Consequently, my goal is to leave a legacy that will continue to advance the kingdom of God long after I have departed. In other words, bear fruit for eternity. And by simply reading and sharing my free eBooks, you too become contributors to the advancement of His kingdom. Thank you for partaking in this endeavor, and I look forward to greeting you on heaven's shore.

The Truth in Love,

Mark Paul - Servant of God

Now grant, O Lord, that when the souls who read these books cast their eyes upon these lines, their minds may be illuminated and their consciences convinced and awakened, that they may see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and be converted so that You may heal them. Amen!