Conclusion of Jude

Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. Jude 24-25

The Lord deserves all our praise, all our love, everything. He is the only One who can keep us from falling. He is always there. He loves us with an everlasting love; we need to reciprocate that love. We need to praise Him for Who He is – The God creator of the Universe.

As I finished the book of Jude, I started to look up verses that glorify and praised God. As you walk your daily path today, take a few minutes to read the verses below. Write one verse down to carry with you as a reminder of our great and wonderful Lord.

Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. Psalm 145:3

Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Psalm 150:2

But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth. Psalm 86:15

O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
Psalm 8:1

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Psalm 19:1

Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. Psalm 29:2

The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. Psalm 113:4

Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
1Timothy 1:17

Have a blessed day,
Donna

Focus on God

But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, 21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. 22 And of some have compassion, making a difference: 23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
Jude 20-23

Jude is telling us to focus on God. He tells the reader to build up yourself. Build up yourself on what? Books you read, movies you see, conversations you hear? No, build on your faith – your faith in God and pray to the Holy Spirit. Wow, our focus needs to be on God and what He wants from our lives, not what we want.

We need to be praying and asking God what He would have us do. Seek God and follow His leading in all aspects of your life. Meet Him in the morning before you start the day.

Jude then goes on to say, keep yourselves in the love of God. The more you read the word of God, the more you realize it is not about us but about Him. All of our time, energy and being should be focused on the One who gave all for us. Is it easy, absolutely not, but it is possible.

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Philippians 4:13

As you walk your daily path today look around to see the beauty of God’s creation. Focus on Him and the love He shows to you.

Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:39

Have a blessed day,
Donna

Remember

But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; 18 How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. 19 These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.
Jude 17-19

As Jude continues his dissertation, he is telling us to remember the words of the apostles. Throughout the word there are warnings, warnings to learn from the past, warnings of what will happen if we do not learn from the past. Warnings of what will happen in the future during the last days.

Are we in the last days? I think we are very close. Are there mockers today? Have you watched TV lately? There are sitcoms, talk shows and advertisements that mock Christianity, some of it is subtle but most is blatant. Have you noticed how Christians are presented on newscasts? Is it in a favorable light or an unfavorable light?

What about Christians you know? Are they presenting the gospel in a positive way? Are they walking in the way of the world or in the way of Christ? A.W. Tozer wrote, “many Christians were more interested in the world around them than the Eternal Word within them.” I do not want to be a Christian like that, do you?

We need to remember that this world is not our home, we are just passing through. Remember what Christ did for you.

Redeemed you
Eternal life (gave you eternal life)
Made you holy
Empathy (He shows you compassion)
Mercy (shows you great mercy)
Blood brought (He paid the price for your sin)
Everlasting (You will live with Him forever)
Righteous (made you righteous)

As you walk your daily path today ask the Lord to help you remember all the great things He has done for you. Thank and praise Him for his wonderful grace.

Remember his marvellous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth; Psalm 105:5

Have a blessed day,

Donna

Ungodly

And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. 16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage. Jude 14-16

In these verses, Jude uses very strong language, as he refers to prophesy and the judgment that will follow. Ungodly in this section means wicked. It is mentioned four times in one verse. Jude is making a point, that the wicked will be punished justly.

Here is a list of the sins:
Murmurers – grumbler
Complainers - blaming fate (discontented)
Walking after their own lust –going after their own desires
Mouth speaking great swelling words – spoke of great and high things and probably made false promises
Men’s persons in admiration because of advantage – flatterers

Jude does not mince his words. He is given us a warning, the choice is ours do we join in with this crowd or separate from them.

As you walk your daily path today keep a prayerful attitude and ask the Lord to guide you in His Ways.

Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.
Psalm 25:5
Have a blessed day,
Donna

False Worship

These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; 13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever. Jude 12-13

Jude continues to describe false teachers and their actions. The teachers “professed” to know Christ, but did things their own way.

This reminds me of our present day, everyone doing their own thing then thinking about Christ. We have it backward, we need to think about Christ then do His thing. Putting Christ first in all we do.

Worship has no meaning for God when offered by people with idolatrous hearts. – Daily Walk

Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.
I Timothy 1:16
For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
I Peter 2:21
I have not read it in quite a while, but it you have some free time read In His Steps by Charles Sheldon. It is a fiction but makes one think, “what would Jesus do”.

Have a blessed day,
Donna

False teachers

Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. 9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. 10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. 11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. Jude 8-11

Jude’s discourse continues. He gives the characteristics of false teachers:

• Filthy dreamers who defile the flesh – self pleasers


• Despise dominion and speak evil of dignities – speaking against authority


• Speak evil of things they don’t know about – empty speaking


• Corrupt themselves – fulfilling their own lusts


• Gone the way of Cain – envy


• Error of Balaam – covetousness

Right in the middle of the list of characteristics, is verse nine about Michael the archangel. Michael is mentioned as a godly example. Michael did not accuse the devil but said, “the Lord rebuke thee.” Michael knew his power was nothing compared to the power of the Almighty God. Michael knew Who fought his battles.

We need to learn from this example. There are so many warnings in the Bible. We should heed and obey them.

As you walk your daily path today, keep your eyes and ears open. Be attentive to what is going on around you, keep alert and watchful being mindful of the evil around you. Ask the Lord to help you make godly choices.

Have a blessed day,
Donna

Right and wrong

And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. 7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Jude 6-7

The Lord has given so many examples in His word. Examples of what will happen when we follow Him and what will happen when we choose not to follow Him.

He shows us the good and the bad, the right and wrong. Why is it that we always, present company included, what to follow the wrong? We are drawn away from God when we take our eyes off him and start to look around. Look at what others have, look at what others are doing, and look at what could have been, instead of look at God. Look at God’s goodness, look at God’s faithfulness, look at God’s longsuffering and thank Him for what you have instead of looking at what you do not have.

Take a few minutes today to look up and read some of the examples He has given us. Learn from others.

Doing the right thing.

Esther going to the king, trusting God, even when she might lose her life.
Esther 4:16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.

Nehemiah silently praying to God before he speaks to the king.
Nehemiah 2:4 Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.

Peter stating it as it is.
Act 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

Doing the wrong thing.

Samson following his flesh, not God.
Judges 16:1 Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot, and went in unto her.

Jealousy that caused the first murder.
Genesis 4:8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

Running away from God.
Jonah 1:3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.

Take a few minutes today to walk in God’s word and find more examples. Look for Bible characters who did the right thing. Follow their examples.

Have a blessed day,
Donna

Warnings

For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. 5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. Jude 4-5

Jude continues his exhortation. In the first three verses he encourages and gives hope for the future. There are warnings that Jude now states, a few things we need to beware of, one of which is people who say one thing but mean another. People who try to turn us away from God instead of toward Him. People, who do not know, really know Christ, and what He has done for them.

I have been so burdened lately hearing about people cheating on their spouses. People who say they know Christ as their Savior as their all in all. What happened? They started to put themselves in the place of Christ. It is not about YOU but about HIM. We need to constantly keep that thought in our mind.

They obviously left their first love, Christ, or maybe they never left their first love, themselves. What do we put in front of God? There are people out there who deny God and are willing to “eat up” Christians with their silly gospel. We need to be very careful and make sure we are doing the right thing according to God’s word.

Remember what God has done, look at Biblical accounts of the miracles, battles etc. God will do the same for you – we need to put Him first. We should put everything we hear and read against what God says in His word. We ought to have a discerning spirit. The only way to do this is by reading and studying God’s word with an open mind.

As you walk your daily path today be conscience of your surroundings. In your daily time with God ask Him to help you stay close to him and not be persuaded by every wind of doctrine.

That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: Ephesians 4:14-15

Have a blessed day,
Donna

Through the eyes of Jude

Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called: 2 Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied. 3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. Jude 1-3

The book of Jude is only 25 verses but packed with so much substance. Jude is encouraging those that are sanctified, saved and kept by Jesus. He is confident that those bought by the blood of Christ will stay true to His word and continue to follow His teachings.

The definition of sanctified is to make holy. Not only has He sanctified us but He has preserved us. Preserved in this verse means to guard, the Lord is guarding and taking care of us daily.

He tells us to “earnestly contend for the faith”. Are we obeying and following the tenets of the faith?

As we walk our daily path are we following God? It seems that most of the time we get so busy with the “grind of this life”, that we neglect the “glory of our life” which is Jesus. At the end of the day when we reflect on the day’s activities what do we come up with, have we been a witness and a testimony to those we come in contact with throughout the day. Are we an encouragement and help to those our life touches?

As you walk your daily path today keep in mind what God is doing right now for you. He has sanctified and preserved us in Christ. He is with us in all our activities. He loves and cares for us and wants us to trust Him each day.

Have a blessed day,
Donna