SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 05-29-04
My Worship Time Focus: Introduction to Jude
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Jude 1-2
Message of the verse: “Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and
brother of James, to those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and
kept for Jesus Christ: May mercy and
peace and love be multiplied to you.”
(NASB) “JUDE, a servant of Jesus
Christ and brother of James, to those who have obeyed the call, who are loved
by God the Father and kept in the faith by Jesus Christ—may you ever experience
more and more of mercy, peace and love!”
(PHILLIPS)
Jude writes this letter to believers
about the apostates that were, and still are, invading the Church of Jesus
Christ. In these first two verses he
goes over some of the things that prove to them that they are in fact true
believers, and this might be done so that they do not get confused as he begins
to describe the apostates. An apostate
is not a true believer who lost his salvation, but he is a person who has
professed to accept and put his trust in the Savior, and then turns from “the
faith, which was once delivered to the saints.”
(Jude 3)
The author is the half brother of
Jesus Christ, and the brother of James, who wrote the letter of James. He did not believe in Jesus Christ until
after His resurrection, and may have been present with the believers in the
upper room waiting for the Spirit of God to come. (Acts 1:14)
His letter may have gone to the same group of people that Peter sent his
too, and in Peter’s letter he did say the these apostates would come, and in
Jude’s letter they were there.
It is interesting that Jude
identifies himself a bond-servant of Jesus Christ and not the half brother of
Jesus Christ. This shows the humility
and also the respect He has for Jesus Christ.
He also identifies himself as the brother of James.
He identifies his readers as “those
who are the called,” and this speaks of the sovereign election of God. As stated before this is something that is
difficult, and probably impossible, to understand this side of glory, but the
Bible teaches it.
He next writes that those who are
called are beloved by God, and kept for Jesus Christ. Not only does God call the believer, but also
He is surely loved by God, and is kept, so that he can never be lost, for the
Savior Jesus Christ.
In verse two Jude speaks of mercy,
grace, and peace, and this is in many of the NT letters, so it may have been
something standard, but it does have a deeper meaning to it. Mercy is God holding back from us what we deserve,
and putting what we do deserve onto Jesus Christ. Grace is God giving us what we do not
deserve, because of our position in Jesus Christ, and because Christ died for
our sins. Peace is what we receive from
God because we have this peace through the blood of the cross, and Jude is
writing about the fact that the believer is now at peace with God.
Spiritual meaning for my life
today: In Dr. Wiersbe’s book that he
has written about Jude he states that Jude is writing to those who are
believers as in the army of the Lord, and says this because we are in a full
time battle with our enemies. There are
times when I realize the truth of this and there are times when I slack up and
am not a good solider of the cross. It
is very important to realize that I am in a battle, and that Christ has given
me all of the equipment that is needed for me to stand firm while in the
battle.
The Word
of God has brought a challenge to my heart as I read and studied it this
morning.
My Steps of Faith Today:
To continue to trust the Lord with the trials that I am in, and to trust
the Lord to equip me and sustain me for the task of teaching Sunday School
tomorrow.
Memory verses for the week:
1Cor. 13:1,2
If I speak
with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a
noisy gong or a clanging symbol. If I
the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have
all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
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