Keep Ourselves in the Love of God

Keep Ourselves in the Love of God

Good Morning Friends,

1Jude,^* a servant^* of Jesus Christ and brother of James, wrote a letter to those who are called and beloved^* in^* God the Father to keep safe ^*in the mercy, peace and abundance of faith that has been entrusted to the saints, so we might Keep Ourselves in the Love of God.

17Scripture: But you, beloved, must remember the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; ¹⁸for they said to you, ‘In the last time there will be scoffers, indulging their own ungodly lusts.’ ¹⁹It is these worldly people, devoid of the Spirit, who are causing divisions. ²⁰But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; ²¹keep yourselves in the love of God; look forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to^* eternal life. ²²And have mercy on some who are wavering; ²³save others by snatching them out of the fire; and have mercy on still others with fear, hating even the tunic defiled by their bodies.^*24 Now to him who is able to keep you from falling, and to make you stand without blemish in the presence of his glory with rejoicing, ²⁵to the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Jude 17-25 (NRSV)

“But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in the most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God’s love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life. Go easy on those who hesitate in the faith. Go after those who take the wrong way. Be tender with sinners, but not soft on sin. The sin itself stinks to high heaven.”

Jude 1:20-23 (The Message)

Message: In the introduction to the book of Jude in The Message Bible, Eugene Peterson writes that when we are sick physically, the pain draws our attention and we do what it takes to get well – but spiritually, we can be sick and unaware for a long time. Reading the commentary mentioned above, made me begin to ponder. What if I am – what if we are – sick spiritually and we are truly unaware? And if we are, how can we find this out? This much forgotten letter of Jude got me thinking. Maybe we are the ones that make it hard and get in the way, when what we are really called to do is keep our arms open and outstretched… relaxing and resting knowing that love going out will eventually come back. Friends, Jesus is the Good News and we can get into all sorts of theological debates on what is the correct interpretation the Gospel. But maybe we should stop and see if our hands are open. The goal here is to be in the amazing center of God’s grace surrounded by the Divine’s overwhelming goodness and love. So maybe we stop, and look at our hands to see if they are open and outstretched… maybe we look to see if we are still amazed by His grace and overwhelmed by His goodness. Friends, if our hands are closed, or pointing accusingly, just maybe we are not staying right at the center of His love. Maybe we are not ready for the mercy of our Master. Maybe we are spiritually sick, and numb to our own ailments. Maybe we are acting out of fear not love. Maybe our faith needs a little juice. If that is so, how do we get well? Jude began with the solution and it becomes my prayer:

Pray that mercy and peace is multiplied in us. Pray we learn to care. Pray we grow in the understanding of the gospel every day. Pray we preach the Gospel to ourselves. Pray we cultivate affection. Pray we build ourselves up in the most holy community of faith. Pray we attend to our hearts. Pray we keep ourselves in the love of God as we gather together. Pray we spend more time devoted to building up the faith. Pray we begin by preaching the Gospel to our hearts. Pray we overwhelm the evil and condemnation of the world with the love of the Father. Pray in the Holy Spirit in everything we do. Pray we are not surprised by evil. Pray we work together to keep the love of God present in your lives. Pray we be patient as we wait on the mercy of God. Pray we are not burdened by evil but healed spiritually in the love of God.

Blessings,

John Lawson