Jude 1:20, 21 - Keep Yourselves In The Love Of God.
Jude 1:20, 21 (NLT) But you, dear friends,
must build each other up in your most holy faith,
pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, 21 and
await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will
bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep
yourselves safe in Gods love.
COMMENTARY PEARL
A sign posted at the end of the road on
an airport runway reads, "Keep moving. If you
stop, you are in danger and a danger to those who
are flying." We could apply the same principle
to the Christian life: Keep moving. If you
stop, you are in danger.
Why should we keep moving? Because we
have a natural tendency to slip back into our
old, sinful ways. Just as a car parked on a hill
will naturally roll backward when shifted into
neutral, we will naturally go the wrong way if we
shift our Christian lives into neutral and stop
seeking to learn and grow as believers.
Take a flower and a weed for example. Our
old nature, that part of us that doesn't want to
obey God, is like a weed. Our new nature is like
a flower. Now, my wife, Cathe, loves to grow
flowers. She will tend them, care for them, fertilize
them, and pull any weeds that get remotely close
to them. And in the time it has taken for those
flowers to grow a few inches, a weed will have found
a crack in the sidewalk and has grown eighteen
feet tall. How much nurturing did the weed need?
None. It simply took off. Like Cathe's beautiful
flowers, our new nature needs nurturing. We need to
do the things that will build us up
spiritually. But if we cease to do those things, that old
nature will come back to haunt us.
The Christian life isn't just about
obeying commandments. it is also about wanting to
please the Lord, wanting to grow, and wanting to
become more like Him. [Greg Laurie from Harvest
Ministries; https://www.harvestdaily.com]
COMMENTARY
According to Gallup surveys, confirmed by
other polls taken over the past fifteen years, 33
percent of all Americans over age eighteen indicate
they are evangelical or "born again" Christians.
That translates into 59 million Christians, or
one in every three adults, who experienced a
turning point in their lives as they made a personal
commitment to Jesus Christ.
This information should grip us with
terror. It means that the greatest revival in
history has so far been impotent to change society.
It's revival without reformation. It's a revival
which left the country floundering in spiritual
ignorance. It's a change in belief without a
corresponding change in behavior....
How did the building blocks of the gospel
become glued together with the cement of
self-centeredness? The American gospel has evolved into a
gospel of addition without subtraction. It is the
belief that we can add Christ to our lives, but not
subtract sin. It is a change in belief without a
change in behavior. It is a spiritual experience
without any cultural impact. It is revival without
reformation, without repentance....
The proof of religious conversion is to
demonstrate that we have both added a relationship with
Christ and that we have subtracted sin
(repentance). And we multiply proof to a weary world by
what we do-our deeds, our obedience. What we do
must confirm what we say. Our deeds are the proof
of our repentance....
A changed life is one that has added
Christ and subtracted sin, that attracts a world
weary of worn-out words. Obedience is the proof.
(From Walking with Christ in the Details of Life
by Patrick Morley) [Inspirational SB]
License Revoked
Margaret can hardly wait to get her
driver's license. As soon as Margaret turns sixteen,
Mom will drive her to the Department of Motor
Vehicles where she will take the test and, if all
goes well, get official permission to drive a
Class A motor vehicle. It will mean new freedom
and new responsibility.
Just as driving is a privilege, so is
freedom in Christ. In this letter, Jude tells of
Christians who have taken their freedom too far. He has
no patience with their abuse of this privilege
because they know the rules of the road and have
deliberately disobeyed them.
Also in this reading you will find strong
fight language for the spiritual battles we face.
And our duties to one another conclude the
letter.
Jude wrote this brief letter to rebuke
false teachers. These false teachers taught that
Christians can live "immoral lives" because God has
forgiven them (Jude 1:4). Such false teachers were
wrong, and God's severe judgment awaited them
(1:5-11, 14-16).
The same heresy taught back in Jude's day
still flourishes today. Many people try to justify
immorality and wrongdoing by appealing to God's
forgiveness. But God never forgave us so that we could
sin without consequence. Jesus died to free us
from sin. He did not die to free us to sin.
Take care of how you use your freedom in
Christ. Do not freely sin and cheapen God's
forgiveness after you have indulged your appetites.
Having this freedom is a privilege that comes with
great responsibility. Live wisely and reverently
before God. [The One Year Through the Bible
Devotional by Dave Veerman]
Hold on Tight!
I dont keep myself saved, but I keep
myself safe.
God saves me. Thats established. But I
keep myself safe, which means that I keep myself
in the love of God.
Though Gods love is unsought,
undeserved, and unconditional, its possible for me to
be out of sync with His love.
Jude wrote, Keep yourselves in the
love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord
Jesus Christ unto eternal life (1:21 NKJV). He
was basically saying, Keep yourself away from
those things that are unlike Him. Keep yourself
from any influence that violates His love or
brings sorrow to Gods heart. And keep yourself
in a place where God can actively show His love
to you.
In John 17 Jesus prayed to the Father,
I do not pray that You should take them out of
the world, but that You should keep them from
the evil one (verse 15 NKJV).
In this context the world refers to
a mentality. Its talking about a culture, a
way of thinking, and the world system under the
control of Satan. Thats why the Bible calls the
devil the god of this world (see 2
Corinthians 4:4 NLT).
There is Gods part and our part. If
you were on a diet, for example, you wouldnt
hang around donut stores, would you?
Just as donuts arent good for diets,
there are things that feed sin. Thats what
Jesus meant when He taught us to pray, And do
not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from
the evil one (Matthew 6:13 NLT).
Basically, thats saying, Lord, help
me not to put myself in a place where I could
fall into sin.
So, God will keep you, but if youre
yanking your hand out of His hand, thats a
problem. God is holding on to you. But the question
is this: Are you holding on to Him? [Greg
Laurie from Harvest Ministries;
https://www.harvestdaily.com]
ILLUSTRATION
Love Perfects Service
Think of some young man a hundred years
ago drafted into the service of the navy. Caught
by the press-gang and torn away from home, how
intolerable that service must have seemed! For a time,
it would be the bitterest drudgery performed
with many a muttering and curse. There was no
escape"it had to be performed" the lash and the
irons followed disobedience; that, in the harshest
and extremist sense, was the service of
necessity. But can we not imagine that young man
rousing himself into a worthier mood? At the call of
danger he would forget his bondage and think of the
peril of his native land. And patriotic feelings
would arise and duty to his country would awake,
and now his service would be a nobler thing
because it was the service of duty. Then suppose
that a young man like that had sailed in the same
vessel with Lord Nelson and had learned to love
Nelson with that devoted love which filled the
breast of every man who sailed with him. How
different would his service now become! How gladly
would he toil and fight and die! The thought of
duty would be absorbed in love, and love would
make his service perfect. [paulr1025@comcast.net]
12/15/05
YOUR COMMENTS
If anyone has a paraphrase, commentary or
testimony on this passage of Scripture, either
personal or otherwise, I would be interested in
hearing from you. Thanks in advance and let's keep
uplifting Jesus that all might be drawn to Him. Fred
Gibbs
LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT
Most Important Decision in Life:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/WGnEuGwvXqU?rel=0
A Man without Equal by Bill Bright:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiVa7UoruIo
Seeking God Made Real:
http://vimeo.com/31489782
Prayer Made Real:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc8VdMV26VE
Importance of Choice:
http://creationhealth.com/CREATION-Health/Choice [click on video]
Medical Seminar on Healthful Living by David
DeRose, MD, MPH:
https://www.smartlifestyletv.com/lifestart
LINKS FOR BIBLE STUDIES
Lifting Up Jesus Bible Studies:
http://www.liftingupjesus.net/
Amazing Facts Bible Studies:
http://www.amazingfacts.org/bible-study/bible-study-guides.aspx
Hope Awakens Bible Study Guides:
https://www.hopeawakens.study/lesson-header;id=2
Glow Tract Video Bible Studies:
http://www.bibleresearch.info/
LINKS FOR BIBLE PROPHECY SEMINARS
Revelation Now by Pastor Doug Batchelor:
https://www.revelationnow.com/
Unlocking Bible Prophecies by Cami Oetman of
Adventist World Radio:
https://bible.awr.org/en/the-signs/
Hope Awakens by John Bradshaw of IIW:
https://itiswritten.tv/programs/hope-awakens
Prophecies Decoded by Pastor Ron Clouzet:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1A435C5373550657
