God gives us wisdom so we can view life with objectivity and handle it with stability. When we place our faith in Christ we have access to wisdom through the Holy Spirit.

From John 14:1–6, Pastor Chuck Swindoll shares Jesus’ promise to restore the fallen, to prepare a place for His followers, to immediately send the Holy Spirit, and eventually return Himself.

The man-made philosophies of materialism, hedonism, humanism, and fatalism are false foundations that will never bring contentment. Examine your lifestyle—are any of these philosophical foundations guiding your decisions?

The dictionary defines “saviour” as one who saves from danger or destruction. Have you ever been saved?

So far, Jesus has served up sombre topics of death, trials, and Peter’s denials. To calm troubled hearts, He taught His disciples about personal faith, preparation for heaven, God’s sovereign hand, and answered prayer.

Jesus urged His disciples, who were still shaken by His talk of death, to overcome their fear by depending on the Holy Spirit, claiming Christ’s peace, accepting God’s plan for the future, and following His pattern of obedience to the Father.

Since heaven will be our ultimate destination, we need to spend less time complaining about our struggles and trials on earth, where we temporarily live, and more time learning as much as possible about heaven, where we will live forever.

We have come to the fourth and final mental picture—a productive vine—another vivid analogy preserved for us in the Word of God. In fact, this one comes to us from the lips of Jesus as He left His disciples words of encouragement just before He was crucified. They have been recorded for us in the 15th chapter of John, a chapter that centres attention on three vital relationships the Christian must maintain.

Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” He set the ultimate example of love when He died on the cross to pay for our sins and have eternal fellowship with us. Jesus is our bridge over troubled water.

When you accept Christ as your Saviour you have someone who is always your advocate; always in your corner. And when you forgive those who hurt you, you model Christ. And you become a little more like Him.