Dear Journal,

Here’s where I am with my daily Bible reading:
I’m in the book of Acts in the New Testament, and finishing off the Song of Solomon in the Old Testament- heading toward the book of Isaiah.

I’m looking forward to writing about Chapter 23 in Acts, but for now I want to share with you something else. The book of Jude has been “following” me for some time, and I love the glorious things spoken in this short but powerful book!

Verse 1: Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James.

The word for bondservant here is doulos or δοῦλος  in Greek. It means to be a slave and the root word of doulos is deo, which means to tie up or bind. So as Christians, we are giving ourselves up completely to Christ’s will.
We are slaves of Christ, because we were freed from the slavery of sin by His blood. Yet at the same time we are children of God.

Verse 1 (continued): To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ
I feel inadequate to say anything more on this rich statement… This is where we go in more detail about the wonderful plan of Salvation. Let me share some footnotes from my MacArthur study Bible.

called: As always in the epistles, this refers not to a general invitation to salvation, but to God’s irresistible, elective call to salvation

sanctified: Romans 5:8 and 1 John 3:1 expand on the idea of unconditional, thus unending love from God to the believer in Christ. It is certainly because of that love that believers are “sanctified”, set apart from sin to God by the transformation of conversion.

preserved: God not only initiates salvation, but He also completes it through Christ, thus preserving or keeping the believer secure for eternal life!

Verse 2: Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you
How comforting this is! It is addressed to us- every believer. In our fast-paced world where we must fight through daily problems, struggles, hurts, we need the refreshing mercy, peace and love of God to be multiplied and keep us secure.

Then Jude goes on to describe the false prophets and teachers with such words as:

these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, speak evil of dignitaries, …..They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds, late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame….wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. (v.8,12 b,13)

Pay attention to the powerful and brutal terminology he uses against the apostates!
Then watch as he uses such tender words toward the children of God:

But you, beloved. Jude says “But you” implying that as a believer, you are the opposite of the horrible description before. Then he explains how the Christians should gear themselves up as a soldier for battle. How does a Christian do that? Read the verse.

 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.The Christian keeps him/herself safe by doing four things:

building up in most holy faith=  reading and meditating on the Bible daily
praying in the Holy Spirit=  praying everyday and asking for God to guide you
keeping yourself in the love of God=  thinking on Christ’s love for you, and asking Him to help you delight in that
looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ=  preparing for and expecting the rapture; the second coming of the Lord with joy!

Finally, the book ends with the most wonderful doxology. It is a source of encouragement for me.

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory
with exceeding joy
To God our Savior,
Who alone is wise,
Be glory and majesty,
Dominion and power,
Both now forever.
AMEN!

When you have time, please watch the video below. It is worth ALL your time, I assure you, and much more worthwhile than the time spent reading a chain letter, or browsing through your Facebook account (if you have one).