Living for a Greater Reward

by

Bible Reading

  • Jude

Devotional Thoughts

Jude 1:3a Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share.

How often do I rejoice in that? How often do I write about rejoicing in our salvation? In 1 John, that was a big part of God’s love motivating us. Because we know we have eternal life… to love God, and love others.

Jude 1:3b-4 But now I find that I must write something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people. I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives.

Do we have people teaching that God’s grace allows us to live however we want? Probably. But, it seems to me a bigger issue in the church today is embracing the world’s philosophies. Gentle Parenting, gender equality/identity, emergent thinking…

Jude 1:8 These people claim authority… but they live immoral lives, defy authority and scoff at supernatural beings… they scoff at things they do not understand. (10) Like unthinking animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them, and so they bring about their own destruction. … (12) these people eat with you in your fellowship meals commemorating the Lord’s love, they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you. They are like shameless shepherds who care only fro themselves… (19) These people are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They follow their natural instincts because they do not have God’s Spirit in them.

This sounds a lot like today! Interesting that Jude says these guys are in the church, fellowshiping with us, and commemorating the Lord’s love! Wow! That’s sobering!

So, how do we respond to that?

Jude 1:20-22 But you, dear friends, build each other up in the faith, pray in the power of the Spirit, and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourself safe IN GOD’S LOVE. And, you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering.

Build each other up in the faith.

How? By reminding them of their salvation. The guarantee, because of Christ, the hope that will never fade away because it’s reserved in heaven. (1 Peter 1:4; Col 1:5)

Pray in the power of the Spirit

Praying prayers that God will answer. We talked about that a couple days ago with Solomon.

Live with an eternal perspective… Christ is coming back. Your eternal life is a guarantee.

Jude comes full circle back to what he had on his mind from the start. “Jude 1:3a Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share.”

We saw in 1 John, that was a big part of God’s love motivating us . Because we know we have eternal life (1 John 5:13), we love God because of that confidence (1 John 4:17-18), and we also love God’s people (1 John 4:12; 1 John 5:2). 

Jude 1:21 In this way, you will keep yourself safe IN GOD’S LOVE. And, you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering.

Declarations

  • No matter how others act, even in the church, it’s my responsibility to live by faith and to encourage others to do the same.
  • We need each other. We need each other to remind each other of our great salvation and the deep love God has for us.
  • When we live with an eternal perspective, nothing of this earth will hold us, because our eternal home is so much greater (1 Peter 1:4-5)

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