{"id":9239,"date":"2020-05-13T20:00:32","date_gmt":"2020-05-14T03:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=9239"},"modified":"2020-05-13T22:55:38","modified_gmt":"2020-05-14T05:55:38","slug":"jude_1_17-24","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/jude_1_17-24\/","title":{"rendered":"The Spirit-Empowered Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jude 1:17-24 \u00a0\u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\u00a0\"\"<\/div>\n
\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

\n

Today\u2019s passage is Jude 1:17-24.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Jude 1:17-18 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold.
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.”
\n<\/em>
\nOn verses 17-18:\u00a0 In the face of false teachers, Jude tells his Christian readers to remember how the apostles had warned them that false teachers would come.\u00a0 What can we learn from this?<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. When false teachers try to lead you away from the truth we have in Jesus, don\u2019t be surprised.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0This is something Jesus Himself warned about (for example, see Matthew 7:15; Matthew 24:11, 24).\u00a0 This is also something the apostles warned about (for example, see Acts 20:29;\u00a02\u00a0Corinthians 11:13; Colossians\u00a02:18).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. \u00a0God uses spiritual leaders in your life to warn you and to guide you.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0When facing a difficult situation, remember what your spiritual leaders have spoken to you in the past to help you in the present.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Jude 1:19-20 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
      \n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
      \n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.
      \n<\/em>
      \nOn verses 19-20:\u00a0 Every day you and I have two options.\u00a0 Option 1:\u00a0 follow those who do not have the Holy Spirit, who make decisions based only on \u201cmere natural instincts\u201d instead of relying on the Holy Spirit, and who have the effect of pulling us away from God and God\u2019s church.\u00a0 Option\u00a02:\u00a0 build yourself up in the Christian faith and \u201cpray in the Holy Spirit\u201d.<\/p>\n

      What does it mean to \u201cpray in the Holy Spirit\u201d?\u00a0 It means to pray with a reliance on the Holy Spirit to guide and empower us.<\/strong>\u00a0 This can include (although it is not limited to) praying in tongues, which is a spiritual gift the Holy Spirit gives to enable a Christian to pray in a new language that the Christian himself does not understand – a very useful gift that I encourage to use if you have it, and to ask for if you don’t (Luke 11:13).<\/p>\n

      Every day seek to live a life empowered by the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 As a daily habit, pray, “Holy Spirit please fill me.\u00a0 Give me wisdom and courage to live for Your glory.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Jude 1:21-23 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
      \n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
      \n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Be merciful to those who doubt;
      \n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear–hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.<\/em><\/p>\n

      On verses 21-23:\u00a0 What does it to mean to \u201ckeep yourselves in God\u2019s love\u201d (v1)?\u00a0 Jude points to three specific things we can do:<\/p>\n

      (1) for those who have honest questions about their faith, be merciful (v22), since God Himself is merciful toward us;<\/p>\n

      (2) for those who are veering off the right path, strongly reach out to them in the hope of helping them back on track (v23a); and<\/p>\n

      (3) for those who are struggling with sin, \u201cshow mercy, mixed with fear\u201d (v23b).\u00a0 In other words, be merciful and compassionate to those who are struggling with sin, but at the same time be careful not to let the sin they are trapped in entrap you as well.<\/p>\n

      What can we learn from this?\u00a0 Don\u2019t be one dimensional in the way you love people.\u00a0 Instead,\u00a0may you have wisdom to know which loving approach to take with people depending on what situation they are in.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Jude 1:24-25 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
      \n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy–
      \n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
      \n<\/em>
      \nOn verses 24-25:\u00a0 These last two verses are sometimes called a \u201cdoxology\u201d, or a formal expression of praise to God.\u00a0 From this doxology we can learn several things about God:<\/p>\n

        \n
      • \u201cTo him who is able to keep you from falling\u201d (v24):\u00a0\u00a0Our God is for us, not against us.<\/strong>\u00a0 He\u2019s not out there to make you stumble or laugh when you fall.\u00a0 Rather, He wants to keep you from falling.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
          \n
        • \u201cTo him who is able\u2026to present you before his glorious presence” (v24).\u00a0\u00a0Our God is glorious.\u00a0 No one compares to Him.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          –\u00a0 \u00a0 “…to present you before his glorious presence\u00a0without fault and with great joy<\/em>\u201d (v24).\u00a0\u00a0God is our joy and justifier (the One who declares us not guilty).\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>The reason He sent Jesus Christ to die for our sins is so that He could present you as blameless and joyful in His presence, not counting your sins against you anymore.<\/p>\n

            \n
          • \u201cto the only God our Saviour\u201d (v25):\u00a0\u00a0He is the only God, and a saving God at that.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
              \n
            • \u201cbe glory, majesty, power and authority\u201d (v25):\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Our God is worthy<\/strong>\u00a0of all the glory, majesty, power and authority we can give Him.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
                \n
              • \u201cthrough Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.\u201d (v25)\u00a0 Both right now and for the rest of eternity,it is only through Jesus Christ that we can have anything to do with God<\/strong>\u00a0and give God the worship He deserves<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                Finally, the fact that Jude would include a doxology to end his letter to his readers also teaches us one more thing:\u00a0make praising God a part of your conversations and interactions with other Christians<\/strong>.\u00a0 When you\u2019re talking or texting with other Christians, don\u2019t hesitate to praise God in the middle of your conversation.\u00a0 When you do so, you give God glory, you remind yourself and your Christian friend of the One who knits you two together, and you build an atmosphere of joy and praise in your friendship.<\/p>\n

                Heavenly Father, thank You for all the lessons we can learn from Your powerful Word.\u00a0 Thank You for being for us and not against us.\u00a0 Thank You for saving us through Your Son Jesus.\u00a0 Thank You for our joy and justifier, and for giving us Your Holy Spirit to empower us.\u00a0 And thank You for spiritual leaders who help me see Your Son and hear Your Spirit more clearly.\u00a0 Come Holy Spirit and fill me today, that I would love You and love the people around me with wisdom and courage. In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

                This brings our look at Jude to a close. What were the most impactful lessons you learned from this book?\u00a0 I encourage you to make a note of them in your Bible so that the next time you come across this book you\u2019ll remember what you learned.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

                <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
                <\/div>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

                Today\u2019s passage is Jude 1:17-24.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!
                \n\u00a0
                \nJude 1:17-18 (NIV)\u00a0
                \n17\u00a0\u00a0But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold.\u00a0
                \n18\u00a0\u00a0They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.”
                \n\u00a0
                \nOn verses 17-18:\u00a0 In the face of false teachers, Jude tells his Christian readers to remember how the apostles had warned them that false teachers would come.\u00a0 What can we learn from this?
                \nWhen false teachers try to lead you away from the truth we have in Jesus, don\u2019t be surprised.\u00a0\u00a0This is something Jesus Himself warned about (for example, see Matthew 7:15; Matthew 24:11, 24).\u00a0 This is also something the apostles warned about (for example, see Acts 20:29;\u00a02\u00a0Corinthians 11:13; Colossians\u00a02:18).\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9240,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9239"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9242,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9239\/revisions\/9242"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}