Thanks be to God

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Scripture: Jude 24-25 (ESV)

24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Devotion:

            Living as we do in an age where hardly anything seems to be going right. It is easy to get discouraged and lose hope for our world and ourselves. These last two verses of the short letter of Jude help us to regain our bearings in this crazy world. The letter of Jude has been warning the people about false teachers who were seeking to lure people away from Christ. It is a letter designed to keep disciples then and now on the right track in their faith.

            Jude first explains that God is able to keep you from stumbling. The verb keep in the Greek has the sense of watching over or guarding someone. What a great comfort to know that the God who created the universe is so interested in keeping us safe from false teaching and error that he would personally watch over us. And not only us but all who believe in him. God wants us to be kept pure and without fault so that we can rejoice for eternity with Him in heaven.

            Jude is then inspired to give praises to God. Jude praises God for being the only true God who saves us from our sins through the work of Jesus on the cross. Jude then praises God for his glory, majesty, dominion, and authority with which he rules the universe. We can learn to imitate Jude’s anthem of praise when we pray to God. God loves to hear his people at prayer and is especially pleased when we lift up heart felt praises to him.

            This old world may be heading for a brutal fall. There is sin everywhere. That sin is sometimes celebrated as virtue. Crime and violence fill our streets. The church has become largely a place for worship of self and if it is anything like what Jesus taught his disciples it is harassed or banned. The church is full of false teachers who try to attract crowds and make lots of money selling a false gospel. Without God’s powerful help we would be without hope. Jude uses his letter to encourage God’s people to live faithful and productive lives in him. Let us pray that God will continue to keep us for his very own.

Prayer:

            Heavenly Father, thank you for saving us and keeping us in your care. Guide our steps in this world so that we would not stumble and fall to the temptations of sin. Help us to be effective in spreading your gospel in the world. The world truly has no hope without you. Let us be salt and light to this dying world. Strengthen us for the fight ahead that we might be prepared for whatever the devil has in store for us. Amen.

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