Today’s blog post is from a friend and blogger, Misty Keith. Enjoy!
“keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.” Jude 1:21 ESV
During the early 1900s, there were newsboys (and girls) hard at work selling the daily newspaper. In today’s modern times, all anyone has to do is google the catchphrase “Extra! Extra! Read All About It!” and images of children standing with newspaper in hand or tucked under the arm will pop up on the computer screen right before your very own eyes. These early morning, freshly informed and cheaply sold newspapers offered sensational news, letters of war, outbreaks and latest developments of the current times. The book of Jude, although written some 1700 years prior to the age of newsies, is no different. It is a letter written with urgent appeals warning about false teachers and a call for those who believe in Jesus to contend for the faith. Jude also heralds the fact that God LOVES those who put their faith in His Son Jesus.
All throughout the epistle, Jude calls the believer “beloved.” The word beloved literally means dearly loved. I don’t know about you, but I believe that we all need to be reminded from time to time, that we are dearly loved by God, our creator. You see, we can’t keep God from loving us. We can, however, get out of that love.
Dr. J. Vernon McGee, an old-time gospel preacher likes to use the illustration of the sun shining. We can’t keep or stop the sun from shining, but we can keep from being outdoors where the heat is both felt and seen. Dr. McGee further uses the analogy that we can put a roof of sin over us. We can also put a roof over us of stepping out of the will of God. Further, we can put a roof over us of indifference which all cause us to not feel the warmth of God’s love, but we can NEVER keep God from loving us.
Jude 1:21 urges believers to keep themselves out there in the sunshine of God’s love. Let God’s love fill and flood our hearts and let it be seen in the way we live out our life.
If one wants to be obedient and contend for the faith, there are several short steps to follow. These steps are necessary as the wait for Christ’s return progresses.
- God calls us to hate sin but to love the sinner.
- God calls us to rebuke or reject anything that seeks to glorify self rather than glorify God.
- God calls us to be “built-up” in the faith, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ which leads us to eternal life.
As we believers become built-up in the faith, we maintain a life and walk with Jesus. God sent us His Son and therefore, He calls those who believe in Him, to keep themselves in the sunshine of His love. (“Keep yourselves in the love of God,…..)
If we could only stop for a moment to realize the full measure of what Christ’s love did for us on Calvary or what it fully entails, we would be moved to contend daily for the faith. Keeping ourselves in the love of God would be a natural occurrence. There would be no need for a “newsflash” from the book of Jude.
Rather than waiting for the mercy that Jesus extends to us, we would already see the richness of His mercy at work in our lives and in our hearts. We would notice how it leads us to an eternal life spent in Yahweh’s presence. Who wouldn’t see it in our lives and then want to experience the fullness and richness of God’s mercy and love in their own life?
Let’s not be distracted or wooed into sinning. Today, let’s look for ways to reject anything that seeks to build oneself up rather than being built-up in a faithful relationship with Jesus Christ. Keep in mind that (waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, leads to eternal life.”) This positive exhortation from the book of Jude leads us to live a life fully alive in Christ and faithful to the gospel in which we contend for the faith.
Be Blessed With the Richness of His Love, Dearly Beloved
~Misty~
I’m Misty Keith and I am a daughter of the King of all Kings, wife to Richard, Mommy to Reagan (11 years), Kylee (9 years), and Karis Delaney (6 years). I am a teacher by trade, an encourager and up-lifter by calling and a writer by practice.
You can catch up with Misty on blog: beyoutifulmom.com Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest
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