Growing in the Lord (Jude 20-21)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 06-08-09

My Worship Time                  Focus:  Growing in the Lord

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  Jude 20-21

            Bible Reading & Meditation:  “20 But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.  21 Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.”  (NIV)  “20 But you, dear friends of mine, build yourselves up on the foundation of your most holy faith and by praying through the Holy Spirit 21 keep yourselves within the love of God. Wait patiently for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ which will bring you to the life eternal.”  (PHILLIPS)

            These two verses speak of faith, hope, and love, which are the three Christian graces.  Jude is writing in these to verses to encourage his readers to grow up in their faith, by being built up in the Holy faith.  The question is how is this done? And of course the answer is to spend time in the Word of God each and every day, to read it, memorize it, and to meditate upon it so that it can be applied to one’s life.  Jude also tell his readers to pray in the Holy Spirit, which means that one should be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit when he prays so that the Holy Spirit can guide and direct your prayers.  The Holy Spirit has very much to do with the growth of the believer, and it is so very important to be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit in all areas of one’s life in order to advance in one’s walk with the Lord.

 Jude then tells his readers to “keep yourselves within the love of God.”  Jesus told his disciples “if you love me keep my commandments,” and that is exactly what the believer can do to demonstrate his love to God and by doing that he will also show the love of God to others.

Jude now writes about the hope of the believer, and that is the soon return of the Lord Jesus Christ for His Church.  When a person participates in the “Lords Supper,” he is to look back at the suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ for his sins, and then he is to look forward to His soon coming again.  Because we do not know exactly when the Lord will come for us we are to be doing His bidding as we wait for Him, we are to be obeying His commandments, and we are to be growing in His grace, and we are also to love God and others.

So in conclusion faith, hope, and love cause us to grow up in the Lord.

Spiritual meaning for my life today:  One of the things that I have been having trouble doing lately is praying, and I know that that is a big part in the growth process of my walk with the Lord. 

The Word of God has brought great challenges to my heart as I read it and studied it this morning.

My Steps of Faith Today:  Trust the Lord with the removal of my tooth today, and also with the recovery process.  Trust the Lord with the judge’s decision, and also then with the decision of Andrew to return our funds.  Trust the Lord with the decision of whether or not to go to work for Tim if that opportunity comes up.

Memory verse for the week:  1Corthinitians 13:4

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,