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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
Jude 1:20-23
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
For most of the Jude’s letter to fellow Christian believers, we find him invested in warning against the impact of ungodly people on the church and the sure judgment of God that would come on them for choosing their own sinful desires over His. But as he finishes out his correspondence, we find him first exhorting his brothers and sisters in Christ toward behaviors that would be pleasing in the sight of their Lord and in step with the Jesus they followed, before closing with as beautiful benediction that will form the foundation for the last message from this letter.
Let’s look at the exhortations now as we see the power of spiritual encouragement at work. They are found in verses 20 through 23 of chapter 1.
But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
Through these words, we can see seven specific recommendations that are even demands in a few places. We’ll look at across two messages, covering them one by one with three today and the other four tomorrow. And we’ll receive them today just as the believers did more than 2,000 years ago, as these exhortations translate through the ages and transcend human history.
1. Build yourselves up in your most holy faith.
I think the most important word here is “build” and I say this around the truth that every single Christian believer is a work in progress. None of us have reached the point of righteous perfection and that’s spiritually encouraging good news. It means that we have an opportunity each day to become a better version of ourselves in Christ than we were the day before.
To that end, we can start every single day with a simple prayer:
Dear Lord, thank You for the gift of life and the opportunity to live and love and learn with You leading the way through the Holy Spirit. I offer myself to you as a living sacrifice and submit myself to do whatever you would see fit to bring the Gospel to others and further advance Your kingdom here on earth. I pray this knowing you will use me for Your purposes that are always good and look forward to fulfilling them in Your precious and holy name. Amen.
When we do this, when we surrender our will for His, then we can expect that our holy faith will be built up, edified and fortified by the mighty power of our Lord Most High.
2. Pray in the Holy Spirit.
You know, the preceding prayer was a perfect lead in to this second exhortation, the invitation to pray to the Lord “in the Holy Spirit”, a Holy Spirit who will always be there to help us be heard and even give us the words when we don’t know what to say. Here’s what we read in the eighth chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans:
...the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. Vv. 26-27
We also find Jesus telling His disciples this in the Gospel of Luke, letting them know that in a time when they are up against things and don’t know what to say, they can always count on the intercession of the Holy Spirit to enter in to help them in their time of need.
“When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.” 12:11-12
No matter what our circumstances, we can turn to the Holy Spirit in prayer and know He is there to help us through in accordance with God’s will.
I don’t know about you but this is a deep encouragement for me as a believer of Christ Jesus.
3. Keep yourself in God’s love.
Our final exhortation in today’s message is centered on staying within the love of the God Most High.
What’s the best way to do that?
By following this greatest commandment, spoken by Jesus when asked about it. He said:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Mark 12:30
Here we find that the way to keep yourself in God’s love is to love Him first with every fiber of your being.
With all your heart.
With all your soul.
With all your mind.
And with all your strength.
When we truly do this, when we love the Lord our God with every part of who we are, then we become immersed in Him and His love, saturated with a perfect devotion and compassion found nowhere else.
I don’t know about you but this is the kind of love I want so I can share that love with others.
In other words, the power of spiritual encouragement that comes from being fully invested in my Lord allows me to then extend that power to others. The perfect gift from the perfect Giver gets shared, one Christian to another, and as a result, life becomes blessed, joyful, and glory-filled, just as God intends for it to be.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
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