50 Days of Wisdom

Paul tells us that seasons will come, dangerous times that will threaten the truth, the gospel, and the Church. For example, sacramentalism, rationalism, orthodoxism, politicism, ecumenism, experientialism, subjectivism, mysticism, pragmatism, syncretism, and paganism have all accumulated over many centuries. Once these ideologies emerge, they continue to pose a threat to the gospel. They never go away. These are very, very well-designed, strong ideological fortifications that must come smashing down. And in order to do that, it takes some very skilled men to preach the Word. Now, in 2 Timothy 3:2-4, Paul defines a little bit more about these dangerous seasons in general descriptions of the people that are behind them and the people that are involved in them. They are "lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God." These dangerous people are described here as having an absence of any virtue or character. They are the instruments of Satan that produce these great dangers. Verse 5 sort of sums up that they have a "form of godliness." The outward form, the face that they want to portray, is of godliness. But what is absent is power. They don't have the power of God because they don't know God. Avoid those kinds of people. They come into households, and they get in there today through media means as well as personally. And they target women who are designed by God to be protected by faithful men. They captivate those weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, and they teach them errors. And their followers are always learning, but they never come to know the truth. Why? Because the people that they're listening to don't know the truth. They are men and women of depraved minds, and they should be rejected. That's Paul's description of the people who are behind these dangerous seasons and the people who get caught up in them. Dangerous seasons, men and women of corrupt minds, opposers of the truth, and the people who listen to them. Beloved, we need men who can go into the fray, men who can go into the battle, who understand the Word of God clearly to smash those dangerous ideological fortifications. Let me tell you something. Satan's deceptions are not without subtlety. Do you understand that? It's not always obvious on the surface what's really going on. It takes formidable men. It takes men who understand the Word of God clearly and carefully. It takes men who understand the issues of their time, and it takes men who have a holy courage, who are willing to step into the battle and identify the enemy and assault the enemy graciously but assault the enemy relentlessly with the truth. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10, our job is to smash fortresses, ideological fortresses, and to bring everybody captive there into obedience to Christ. We want to set free the captives held in the fortresses that these dangerous men and women have erected. We're called to guard the truth. We're called to preach the truth. And we can't do either if we don't understand the truth. Therefore, to effectively counter the dangerous subtleties and nuances of Satan's devices, it requires well-trained, skilled individuals, and we are committed to this effort until Christ returns. Repent and believe! GTY.org (80-180)– Five Reasons to Preach the Word

Today's Wisdom

Day: 1019

September 4, 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!