Gather at the Door

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

GATHER AT THE DOOR

Mark 1:32-34

32 That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. 33 The whole town gathered at the door, 34 and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.

NIV

Not sure if we ever need to have a conversation with a demon in order to find out who Jesus is, but it seems that would be one way. But the point here is not about demons, but about Jesus healing many, and driving out many demons. These are the two things which cause so much hardship in people’s lives. Both sickness and demonic powers bring all sorts of torment and temptation into the lives of people, but Jesus can heal both. As it was in the time Jesus actually walked on earth it is the same today. If we believed enough the whole town, well maybe the whole church would gather at the door where Jesus is and be healed of various diseases. Yes the churches send out prayer requests for individuals, but when we gather together, for the most part we ask prayer for someone’s aunt who has a friend whose next door neighbors daughter needs whatever. We might suppose that is right because we are bringing the needs of others Jesus, but what about us? Are we not part of the whole town? Are we so healthy we don’t need any healing? What about the demons in our life? What about those things which continue to tempt us? What about the area of our life we are too embarrassed to admit? Should we not bring everything to Jesus? It is one thing to ask for forgiveness and it is quite another to ask to be healed or delivered. Maybe we just want forgiveness but actually are not ready for healing and deliverance because we want to hang on to illness or temptation for a little longer. It seems, at least with us older ones that our conversations mostly turn towards all our infirmities. Doesn’t Jesus heal the older ones too? So what’s with all the conversations about what’s wrong with our bodies? Do we think just because we are old we should have infirmities? Noah was five hundred and worked on building the ark for one hundred years. Moses was over eighty when he traveled for forty years leading people, lots of walking, lots of miles. So what is so different about us? Sure we don’t live as long as some of those of old did, but we surely should not sit down and live with our infirmities, comparing ours with others, to see who has more or worse ones. We should get to that door what Jesus is and he will heal us, as he is so inclined to do. And if we are bothered by demonic powers, by temptations that is seems we cannot overcome alone, then we need to get to the place Jesus is, and he will drive them either out or away. We need to gather at that door. 

Tell Jesus

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

TELL JESUS

Mark 1:29-31

29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. 30 Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus about her. 31 So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.

NIV

Well, we do see that the disciples did have homes, and apparently they stopped by them from time to time as we are told here. It doesn’t appear that Simon and Andrew left their families behind, just their work in the family business. But nevertheless that is not the point of this statement about what happened. Their mother was in bed with a fever and they already thought Jesus could do something about it. They surely had just seen Jesus cast out an evil spirit with authority and were convinced that he must also have authority over a simply sickness of fever. Now we should also remember that in those days a fever could be deadly and this mothers two sons were concerned about her. They told Jesus about her. The lesson for us here could well be that we should bring the needs, at least the health needs, of others to Jesus. Yes, we should bring our own needs to Jesus, but we should also be concerned about those who are sick and talk to Jesus about them. It is apparent that when Jesus heard what they had said about her, he went to her and helped her up, which means he healed her from the fever immediately because she began to wait on them. Should we not expect an immediately healing as well? Do we use the excuse that Jesus uses doctors today to heal us? Do we not bring our needs to him, but to the doctors? Do we claim that Jesus gave us doctors therefore he intends for us to be healed by them? There were physicals in those days because after Jesus healed the leper he told him to go show himself to the doctor. Maybe, just maybe, we should tell Jesus about that fever first, rather than the doctors. Of course maybe the doctor had already made his house call and could do nothing about this fever. Now we shouldn’t exclude Jesus from using the doctor, if that is what he has told us to do. But again, if we are to refrain from the ways of the world, would that include relying on doctors for our every illness? We know it is a fact that Jesus healed this woman, as well as many others. So why is it so difficult for us to completely trust in his healing power today? Maybe, just maybe we don’t actually believe he heals. But that can’t be true because we are believers. Could it be that we have some doubts? Could it be we have never actually seen or experienced a divine healing? Some of us have both seen and experienced healing by Jesus. We need to tell others, build up others in their most Holy faith. When illness occurs we need to tell Jesus. 

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS

Mark 1:23-28

23 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, 24 "What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are — the Holy One of God!" 25 "Be quiet!" said Jesus sternly. "Come out of him!"  26 The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek. 27 The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, "What is this? A new teaching — and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him." 28 News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.

NIV

Sometimes, if not all the times, actions speak louder than words. Because we know the end of the story it is a little more difficult to place ourselves in the time frame of this event. Yet what we are seeing is action does speak louder than words. We could suppose that if the only thing Jesus did was to teach with authority he would eventually become known, but only as a different type of teacher than the people were used to. His messages were not about all the laws the Pharisees kept drilling into the people, but about a relationship with God the Father. They were new and innovative in their approach with parables that connect men and God. Yet if that is all he ever did, he would not accomplish the purpose of his coming to earth. So an action causes things to get rolling much quicker than some words. When he commanded, with authority, an evil spirit the news spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee. So it is with us as well. We can talk until our face turns blue about the love of God, about the truth of God, about sin and the need to repent, about the free salvation of God through faith in Jesus Christ and asking for forgiveness and accepting him as Lord and Savior and we can even speak with authority, but if we don’t back it up with action, the news will not spread very quickly in our region. Now should we go looking for an evil spirit to command, most likely not?  But one came to Jesus, and maybe just maybe when we are speaking with authority and we get a really nasty opposition to the truth, perhaps we need to take action instead of just more words. There is another point here as well. The fact that our actions as believers will spread far more quickly than all the words we could preach. We know this to be true in the sense actions of believers that are perceived as hypocritical spread faster than a speeding bullet and are more powerful than a locomotive. Look up in the church it is hypocritical-man. But if we were to take action, or simply live a life of action which actually reflects the love of God, than the right kind of news would spread quickly all over our region.  If we were to allow the grace of God fill us, that grace, that divine influence on our heart and how it is reflected in our life, than all the people, believers and unbelievers alike would sit up and take notice, and the news about us would spread quickly all over our region. The truth is actions do speak louder than words.

With Authority

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

WITH AUTHORITY

Mark 1:21-22

21 They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.

NIV

It is true that this is Jesus and we know he should be able to teach with authority because we know who he is and where he came from and what he was going to do, did, and what happened and where he went back to and we even know that he is coming back again for us, but those people knew nothing of what we do. Of course there is a lot of people today who would be amazed if they heard the truth spoken with authority rather than the same old preaching about the law, the do’s and don’ts, the rules and regulations, the doctrines, dogmas, and denominational bias. For the most part those are all the things which make the unbelievers look at us believers as hypocrites. If we speak like the teachers of the law we are just that, because what we teach we cannot live. If we live in self-righteousness like those teachers of the law the unbelievers see right through us, and see us for who we really are. Should we be able to teach with authority? Has Jesus given us that authority? We know he gave authority to his twelve to preach the good news and to cast out demons. We know Paul talks about having authority from God. What that the end of all the people who Jesus gave authority to? We must believe he continues to give authority to his people to teach in the synagogues, the churches, with authority. We must believe he still gives authority to preach the good news with authority, not as one of those people who tells others what is the correct way to behave as a Christian. Yes, we all need to read the Word, hear the Word and pay attention to all the proper conduct sermons, but not as a checklist, but as a relationship with God. We need to hear teaching empowered with authority and we need to teach as one empowered with authority.

Follow Him

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

FOLLOW HIM

Mark 1:19-20

19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

NIV

It would appear Jesus was still walking along the water front area where many of the fishermen had tied up their boats and spent the morning mending nets and getting everything ready for the next nights outing in the water. James and John who we will see later Jesus calling them the sons of thunder were with their father in their boat. Again we see a family business that must have been rather successful as Zebedee also had hired men working for him. So we might conclude that both James and John were not poor men, but were of some substance. Again they left right away when Jesus came by and called them to follow him. We do not know if they said anything to their father like, “This is the one who we saw at the Jordon, and heard the voice of God” or “Father we have to go, this is Jesus the one we have all heard about”. We have no record of any conversation between James and John with their father. But we do know they left the boat and followed Jesus. This might have put “dear ole dad” in a bit of a pinch as now he was two men short.  Yet we do not hear anything about this. All we know is that when Jesus called them, they left their family business and followed him. Again we do not know where they slept, if they went home that night and explained the day’s activities with Jesus or they all simply camped out somewhere getting acquainted with their new friends. We know from the next sentence of this account they ended up in Capernaum. But we do not know the time frame, so all we know is when Jesus called them they left what they were doing and followed him.  We also do not know why Jesus called them instead of some of the hired men, or even Zebedee for that matter. We do know that it is the will of God that all men are saved through the blood of Jesus, so why just call James and John? Why didn’t the hired men yell out, “Can we come too?” Maybe they did and Jesus waved them off, we just don’t know. What was so special about James and John? Can we conclude that Jesus does call some particular people for a special calling in life? It surely would appear that way. It is true Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to convict all men of their sin and need for repentance. It is true God so loved the whole world, all the people of the world, his entire creation, so much that he sent his only Son to die on the cross for all of them, not just a select chosen few. But we also know it is true Jesus calls some of us to a very special calling and if we are among those he has called for a purpose we have the choice to stay where we are, doing what we are doing or leave what we are doing and follow him. 

At Once

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

AT ONCE

Mark 1:16-18

16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."  18 At once they left their nets and followed him.

NIV

At once they left their nets and followed him. Do we see that? Oh Sure it was Jesus in the flesh who called them to come, follow me, but who was he, they didn't know he was the Son of God, they didn't know he was the Messiah or that he was going to be their savior. Although maybe they were part of all the people from the Judean countryside that were there at the Jordan River when Jesus was baptized and saw the Holy spirit and Heard the voice of God. Or maybe they just heard about it and did know what had happened. We also do not know if these two brothers were just a small part of a big family business, or if they were married with children or much else about their business as fishermen. What we do know is they left whatever they were doing and followed Jesus. We do not know where, or if they went home that night and gathered up their family, or packed a bag, kissed the wife and kids and told them they would be gone a while or what. All we know is they left their nets and followed him. We know of some of the things which happened over the next few years, like Andrew finding the boy with the fish and loaves, but we have no details of the day to day life, where they slept, where they ate, if they ever stopped off home for a change of clothes, or to see their families. But what we do know is when Jesus called them to follow him; at once they left their nets and followed him. The question which we have to ask ourselves is, have we left our nets, at once, and followed him? Sure we are not fishermen, and we don’t have nets, but we do have something we look to for our livelihood. It is doubtful Jesus would come by and ask us to leave our jobs, or our business to follow him, right? But he surely has come by and asked us to follow him, and at once we left our lifestyle behind and followed him. Or did we? Have we just added him to our lifestyle? Have we just left a portion of our lifestyle? What does it mean to leave our nets and follow him? Is there a cost to following him? Did Jesus promise them a good time? Did Jesus promise them a good life? Did they expect to get anything out of following him? It would appear they knew nothing about the life they would live by following him. It doesn't look like they were seeking any rewards, or better life, or blessings from God because they decided to follow Jesus. All we know for sure is that at once they left their nets and followed him. That is our calling, to leave whatever we need to leave and follow him. Although we know the whole story, we have read the last page, we know how this all ends, we should not be seeking rewards, a better life, or blessings from God because we decided to follow Jesus. We merely have to leave whatever and follow him, at once!

The Time Has Come

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

THE TIME HAS COME

Mark 1:14-15

14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" 

NIV

Once again Mark gets right to with not only the words of Jesus, but this is the first words that Mark records and it is the point of the whole story held within the covers of the Bible. The time has come; the Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news! It just isn’t any clearer than that. Of course he said that around two thousand year ago and as far as we can tell it isn’t any nearer than it was when it said it. Now maybe it is, but it would seem many of those people were looking for some change to occur in the rule of Rome. They may have been thinking God was once again going to deliver them from their oppressors. Yet Jesus was not talking about a physical kingdom, but he was talking about God was about to truly deliver them from the oppressor of their souls. We have those same words today and each one of us has arrived at that time. Some of us have understood the truth about the kingdom of God and know that not only is it near, but it is here because we have repented and we have believed the good news. As a believer we are living in the kingdom of God because we have accepted him as our Lord, our Master, our King, our Sovereign and our Savior. True in some sense it is still not the physical kingdom where we will spend eternity with him, but nevertheless it is still as real a kingdom as ever. As citizens of this kingdom of God are duty is to serve our King. All too often we think we can be have dual citizenship, both in the Kingdom and in the world. All too often we have a tendency to serve our self far more than we serve our King. Is that because we do not believe the kingdom is here yet, and we are still waiting for it to arrive? The true is it did arrive for us the moment we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. So let us live as kingdom children. Let us live as not just citizens of the Kingdom, but also as members of the royal family, children of God, brothers and sister of Jesus and co-heirs. So let us wear our royal robes well, standing tall with our crowns held high, for we are one with Christ, as he is one with the Father. We need not shrink back from this world, but stand tall proclaiming the good news as Jesus did and still does. The time has come!

Temptation

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

TEMPTATION

Mark 1:12-13

12 At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, 13 and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

NIV

Mark doesn't mess around with any of the details here about those forty days, of course nobody was really there except Jesus and Satan and all the wild animals plus at the end of it all a few angels. So the accounts of the conversations and types of temptations the other guys reported had to have been told to them by Jesus at some point in time. Yet Mark leaves it out, but he does tell us enough for us to know that when temptations come our way, there is going to be us and Satan alone by ourselves in what we could call a wilderness or desert situation. Now although the Spirit sent Jesus into the desert for whatever reason, of which we really do not know, even though one of the other Gospels states the Spirit led him into the desert to be tempted by Satan, he took advantage of the fact Jesus was isolated from all others. We also know from the letter by James that God cannot be tempted by evil, and Jesus being God, but also being man had some part of him the could be tempted yet he did not yield. That is something we cannot say about ourselves. Although some believers think they can live a life free of sin, there is not one of us who could claim we have never yielded to some temptation Satan has brought our way. After all that is why Jesus did not yield so that he would be the perfect Lamb of God, the perfect sacrifice that would take away our sins. But we can rest assured that temptations will come our way. Satan will try his best to either isolate us physically, or he will try to spiritually so that we are in a weakened state and more apt to yield. This would be on good reason for us to be among other believers, both physically and spiritually all of us standing our ground together with our shields of faith extinguishing the flaming arrows, the temptations, of the evil one. If we try to hide our lives from each other, refusing to admit our areas of temptation to each other, then we are in fact isolated and more susceptible to even greater temptations. Satan will also try to attack the ones who are the weakest, alone and hungry. We may not be like Jesus in the sense we hunger for food, but we might well hunger for things, for fame, for recognition, for appreciation or even for some magical mystical experience. Whatever our hunger Satan will come and make his offer. So we must feast on the Word of God, we must fast from the things and the attitudes of this world as much as we can so that we are not hungry. We must not forsake the assembling of ourselves so we are not alone and hungry. Let us look for our ministering angels. 

Just the Beginning

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

JUST THE BEGINNING

Mark 1:9-11

9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."

NIV

One of the greatest statements in all the scriptures is right here. It is one of the best proofs of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. It would be difficult to even imagine what those who were actually witnesses to this event felt. For them to actually see the Holy Spirit descend out of heaven, much less to actually see the heaven being torn open must have been a frightening yet wonderful experience. Then if that wasn’t awesome they heard the voice of God declaring Jesus to be his Son. Talk about instant fame, who wouldn’t immediately follow him? Yet with all that going for him there were people who said no thanks, I think I will stick with the old ways. We cannot be certain how many of all the people in Jerusalem were there that particular day or how many of the people from the Judea countryside, but we can assume there were still a lot of witnesses to this awe inspiring, once in a lifetime event. We have it recorded for us so that we can share in that experience. Sure we cannot travel back in time in the physical but we can travel there spiritually. We can experience this incredible truth for our own selves. We merely, after reading it need to close our eyes, sit quietly and feel the presence of the Holy Spirit as he gives us assurance of this events wonderful truth. But like with everything else there are those who cannot, or refuse to accept this event as actually happening. All those people have to live in Missouri because they want to be shown it before they will believe it, or they will only believe what they can see, which means they actually live in misery not Missouri. But here it is for all to read and believe, God the Father torn open the heavens, not sure how that would look like, but it had to be awesome, and the Holy Spirit came soaring down gently, in the way a dove does, and landed on Jesus right there in the Jordon river and then, again not sure if it was a booming, or a soft and gentle voice, God declares Jesus is his Son, that he loves him, and is so well please with him. It just doesn’t get any better than that. And this is just the beginning. 

Prepare

DEVOTION

THE GOSEL OF MARK

PREPARE

Mark 1:1-8

1:1 The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.   2 It is written in Isaiah the prophet:

"I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way"— 3 "a voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'" 

4 And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothing made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And this was his message: "After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."

NIV

This may be a difficult task working through the gospel and it may require large amounts at one time in order to complete a thought or phrase, but we will find so much in here it will be worth it. We start right of with the account of John the Baptist, no small talk about the birth and childhood of Jesus, we get right into it at the beginning of his ministry. Now we know that all of Israel was looking and waiting for a messiah to arrive. Once again they were a occupied people under the rule of an oppressing government. It really wasn’t much different than when their forefathers were in Egypt. They were not a free serve governing people. They were hoping the Messiah would free them. So it is not surprising the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to John because he was preaching the coming of the Messiah. It did not matter how strange his appearance, or lifestyle, but what he was saying struck deep in the hearts of those people. They needed a Messiah and he was claiming one was coming. It is strange how times have not changed that much. Most of the time we live a fairly normal, go about our own way, life although we know about Jesus, some of us simply leave it at that, knowing about him. We do not spend as much time as we should with him, talking and listening, obeying and serving. We simply know about him, think about him once in a while especially on Sunday Morning. But it is our hour of need that we really search for his help, it is when we really need the Messiah. When we are in trouble, oppressed by health or material matters, that is when we want his relief and seek him. Praise God he is there to save the day. But as John only baptized with water, Jesus baptizes us with the Holy Spirit. This should mean something to us; we are filled with the Spirit of God and should not seek only a Messiah when in need. Jesus is coming, he is coming to save his people, he has come to save us. We are going to see an account of his public ministry, his words, his life and what it means to the whole Judean countryside, what it means to all the people in Jerusalem and all the people of the world, which includes us. Although we know all this account is true and is now history, the words can ring true in our hearts today. Jesus is coming, prepare the way of the lord, and prepare our hearts for the Lord. 

It is Well With my Soul

DEVOTION

JUDE

WELL WITH MY SOUL

Jude 24-25

24 To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

NIV

Now this is more like it. What a glorious moment that will be when we are presented before God without a single fault. As a matter of fact it will be a moment filled with great joy. We can also note that he is the only one who can keep us from falling. Now we just looked at the fact we need to keep ourselves in his love and in doing so we have his divine protection against falling. But let’s get back to being presented before God the Father by Jesus Christ. Jesus is coming back for us and will take us to the Father. He will present his bride, that is us, without spot or blemish. We will not have a single flaw or fault. We will be absolutely perfect. Understanding this, the question that must be asked is why we cling so strongly to this life which is filled with imperfection. This brings to mind the words to that hymn; it is well with my soul. The song writer says, “And Lord, haste or hasten the day when my faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll; the trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend, Even so, it is well with my soul." Should we not also want for that day to hasten? What could be any better than to have Jesus Christ come and get us and take us to be presented before God the Father? Who on earth could do that? What person who we esteem as being really spiritual, or really intellectual and super knowledgeable about the scriptures could present us before God without fault? So why should we praise any person? Why should we lift anyone up to a position of honor? We are all sinner who are saved by grace. No matter who we are, we need Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. That is why he is the only one worthy of glory, honor and praise. He is coming back for us; haste the day Lord, for it is well with my soul. 

Who Will Do This?

DEVOTION

JUDE

WHO WILL DO THIS?

Jude 22-23

22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear-hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

NIV

This may appear one thing on the surface, but in the context of the whole letter this is about those who know the truth speaking to those who either have been seduced by the false teachers because of weakness imprudence or because of pride and arrogance of their heart and their unwillingness to submit to wholesome discipline. They must have been and still is for that matter people who are led astray by these silver tongued purveyors of lies. Some of them are simply immature in their faith and discern the lies spread by these false teachers. Those we should have mercy on showing compassion not contempt. We need to snatch them from the fire. If a person is in danger through no fault of their own, catch in the clutches of Satan, would we not rush in to save them? Would we not try our very best to show them the truth and help them escape from those who would simply use them? There are also some who are following after those false teachers, because of their message. There is approval for behaviors which God would abhor. These people follow after because of their own evil desires and may well know the difference between the truth and those they follow. They refuse to hear the truth and are arrogant in their beliefs. These are much harder to save from those evil false teachers. Yes, we still need to love them, we still need to show mercy, but it needs to be mixed with fear. We need to see them as children of God led astray, but at the same time hating their sin, being so very careful not to get trapped by their ways and fall prey to their thinking. They are the ones who will argue their case, they will try to intellectually debate the reason for their believing these false teachers, showing them to be the truth and that we are the misguided. They arguments might even sound good and even righteous, but the fact remains they are trapped and they like it. These we need to be very cautious in our efforts to bring them back to the truth. But nevertheless all those who have been seduced by the false teachers are in need of saving. Who will do it, if it isn’t us? If we do take action, we need to remember to be merciful. We cannot allow ourselves to feel the least bit more righteous then them. We cannot allow ourselves to feel superior because we know the truth and have not been seduced by false teaching. Our approve must be motivated by love, compassion and mercy. Who will do this?

Build, Pray and Keep

DEVOTION

JUDE

BUILD, PRAY AND KEEP

Jude 20-21

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

Done with the warning about the bad guys and now for the encouragement to the good guys, that would be us. So we are to build ourselves up in our most holy faith for one thing. That requires some action on our part, that is an active verb certainly not a passion one. We cannot just come to church on Sunday and hear some sermon and hope we have done enough to build ourselves up. This kind of construction needs daily work. We need to be in the Word of God each and every day of our lives. This would also mean that just reading it might not do the trick, but that we need to study and seek the help of the Holy Spirit in understanding how we apply the truth to our daily lives. It is just like we tell our children that they have to each good foods so they can grow up strong and healthy. If when children if we did not eat good foods we would grow up sick and weakly, so it is with the Word of God, we need to eat and digest it daily so we can build ourselves up, to be strong and healthy in our most holy faith. We should also pray in the Spirit, which is not pray in the flesh. Often times we can think that what we or someone we love needs, but that may not be the right thing, if we are thinking in human terms. We know that we have not because we ask not or we ask with wrong motives. Those wrong motives are usually generated by human thought. If on the other hand we pray in the Spirit, allowing him to direct our prayer to God, then we will be asking for exactly the right thing, and within the will of God the Father and we can then be assured that what we ask we will receive. Now we can get into a sticky part here as we see we are to keep ourselves in God’s love. Often we hear people say that God will keep us in his love. In the letter to the Romans we see the phrase or question, Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Then Paul goes on to list, trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness or a sword as things not able to separate us from his love. He goes on to state that nether death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present not the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, not anything else in all creation, will able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. What he doesn’t say is we cannot separate us from the Love of God. Yes, God will also love us, but that does not mean we would always love God. If we do not keep ourselves in his love, we would be refusing that love, walking away, keeping ourselves from his love. So we must never allow anything including ourselves to make a wedge between us and God while we wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ who will take us to that place he has been preparing for us, that place of perfection, a paradise where we will spent all eternity with him. So we build, pray and keep.

Our Indentifier

DEVOTION

JUDE

OUR INDENTIFIER

Jude 17-19

17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires." 19 These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

NIV

It sure appears the whole letter is about these wolves in sheep’s clothing and this time Jude even invokes the warning about them which Jesus spoke. The difference here is he also uses the phrase in the last times. Now Jude might of thought he was living in the last times, but it is evident that he was not. Hundreds of years have passed since Jesus gave that warning and when Jude repeated it. Of course we are not sure if we are indeed in the last times either, even though there are quite a few people who could qualify as scoffers that follow their own ungodly desires who infiltrate the church for the purpose of dividing it, gathering onto themselves followers for their own personal gain. So we are still left with not knowing exactly what Jesus meant when he said last times. The Greek does not give us any further insight as it says final of place or time. Could that be a complete era? The time from the ascension of Jesus until his return could be considered the final time, at least in respect to all of time. So from the moment Jesus left there has been and will continue to be people who will try their hardest to divide us. Sometimes it would seem it is not easy to determine just who they are, but if we are living or as we use the phrase, “Walking in the Spirit” we should be able to detect them easy enough as they do not have the Spirit. It should be like as if we all had a secret handshake or decoder ring or some other special identifier, which they do not and so it would be obvious to us they are not one of us, but are a scoffer. But that is exactly what we do have for we have the Spirit and they do not. Surely they will come in the name of the Lord. Surely they will use all the right Christianize phrases. Surely they will appear as children of light. They may even have all the degrees and pedigree certificates of ordination from somewhere, but they will be missing the one pedigree which certifies them as born again members of the Body of Christ. They will be missing the Spirit. They will use their smooth words to mislead believers and to divide us up. All too often the immature believer follows after men, rather than God. They follow after one person because of his personality or preaching style, the way he presents his message, or maybe even the way he looks, but are not looking for the Spirit within him. Once again we need to use the Spirit as our secret handshake, as our identifier.    

Dilgent and Vigilant

DEVOTION

JUDE

DILIGENT AND VIGILANT

Jude 14-16

14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him." 16 These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

NIV

We are still seeing the accusations against these false teachers; in fact, this is even a clearer statement of what these people are doing today. But the main theme here is more about the end these people will come to. They will be convicted of their ungodly crimes. Now we should note that these people must have grumbled and found fault as well as followed their own evil desires. It would seem even though we would not be considered false teachers, although in some sense by our life we do teach others, that we should be careful not to grumble, find fault with others, and follow our own evil ways. We are told in the letter to the Philippians to do all things without complaining which would be grumbling. And it is true that by our life we do teach other people what is means to be a follower of Christ. If we live by the truth, and live as we save we believe, then we teach the right way. But if we live different than want we say, then we teach them hypocrisy and we have in a sense become a false teacher. There is no question that unbelievers are watching us and forming their opinions about God and about Christians based on our lives. What we teach them must be the truth, not so much by what we say, but by how we live. Again this is not living or teaching them to follow a set of rules and regulations, but living a life of Christ-likeness. Jesus went to their homes, he ate with them, he healed them, he loved them and he died for them. So do we find fault with them? Do we grumble about their sinful ways? Yet do we follow our own evils desires? Do we boast about ourselves, how good a Christian we are, maybe if not to others, but if only to ourselves? Maybe the only thing we do not do is flatter others for our own advantage. That is surely all about the real false teachers, those who travel around fleecing the flock, or those who spend so much money to broadcast their pleas for support of their so called ministry. Again we need to be diligent in how we teach and vigilant about who we accept teaching from.  

Blemishes

DEVOTION

JUDE

BLEMISHES

Jude 11-13

11 Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam's error; they have been destroyed in Korah's rebellion. 12 These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm — shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted — twice dead. 13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

NIV

More condemnation upon false teachers and it surely is as true today as it was then. It has to be about warning us to be aware of this kind of predator. Yes, it is historical, but the Word of God is as relevant today as it was in the day it was written. It doesn’t take much investigation to find people who match up to this description. Many of them have already been exposed for what they are and some of them have even ended up in prison because what they did was not only morally wrong in the sight of God but illegal in the sight of man. But there are still others who prey on the weak minded, weak spirited believers. They send out their appeals by the fistful, using all sorts of tear jerking reasons to send them money. It is evident these people live a lifestyle of luxury on the backs of the ill-informed believers. Again we need to be vigilant in our walk with God, making sure we are not catch in the snare set by these hunters of the weak. Silver tongues, smooth words, large smile and promises of prosperity are just a few of their slick tricks to separate their prey from their money. There is no justification for their sucking the very life from others for their own personal gain. We cannot tolerate this kind of individual within the body of Christ; they should be expelled from fellowship, in hopes of bringing them back to a rightful relationship with God. We cannot hate them, although it surely seems Jude held no words back regarding their evil ways. Exposing them may be the only way to bring them to repentance. But is also would be great if we could in some way help those who fall victim to the schemes of these false teachers. Have we the church failed these poor souls? Have we not taught them the truth? Perhaps they have never attended the real church and have only been digital victims, hiding within the walls of their own homes. But still is they a way we can reach out to them, helping them to see the truth? One thing is for sure, we cannot afford to be taken in by these shepherds that only feed themselves. They are blemishes. 

Being Watchful

DEVOTION

JUDE

BEING WATCHFUL

Jude 8-10

8 In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings. 9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"   10 Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals — these are the very things that destroy them.

NIV

Can this be about people who are supposed to be sharing the gospel message? It sounds more like people who hate God and hate anything that has to do with Christianity. Yet Jude is talking about false teachers. He is talking about men who come in the name of the Lord, but teach that which does not resemble anything close to the truth. They have dreamed up their own doctrine, their own set of rules and regulations, establishing what we would call today a new denomination. These men reject the civil authority. It would appear they claimed that being a follower of Christ meant the civil government had no authority over them, which we know now is not truth. They even rejected the fact angels existed, yet who ministered to Jesus? These people simply had no idea what the truth of the gospel was, they just lived as base as animals not understanding anything. Surely we do not have such false teachers like this today. But maybe we do and we are just not aware of them. Hopefully we would be able to recognize them by they incorrect approve to the truth. It does appear these false teachers spoke with a passion about their beliefs, but still were wrong. There are people today who speak with such passions, trying their best to prove they have the correct way for us to live, but they are misguided by their own desires. We need to be careful not to get catch in their snare. The guidelines of the local church have been established in scripture, elders and deacons with all the qualifications of each. These people are known and from the local group, they are not “traveling evangelists”. These people have references and live they lives in front of others. We need to be cautious about people who promote themselves as purveyors of the truth. Some of them even sneak their way into the church under the pretense of being one of us. But their purpose is the same. We surely cannot apply these comments to ourselves as we are just the little people, the ones Jude is warning about those who come in the name of the Lord, but preach false doctrines. So once again we need to be on our guard against such people. We know the truth; we have the Word of God and are able to see the truth for ourselves. We do need to assemble, we do need to be under the spiritual guidance of a shepherd and we do need to continue to grow in our faith. But we also need to be watchful, especially in this age of multi-media for those false teachers who attempt to garner our allegiance

Clear Choice

DEVOTION

JUDE

CLEAR CHOICE

Jude 5-7

5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home — these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

NIV

It does get any plainer then this. We are either in or out, we have eternal life or we are destroyed. Those of us who believe get to go into the Promised Land and those who refuse to believe get destroyed. Yes, everyone who is refusing to believe asks, “What kind of a loving God is that”? And of course we can answer, “The kind of loving God who sent his Son to die on the cross so you won’t have to be destroyed”. But in all reality there will be those of us who believe and there will be those who refuse to believe. But the choice is left up to us. It just seems odd that people who are supposed to be so intelligent would choice destruction over eternal life. The other thought in here is about eternal fire. It seems a bit strange people think the hell is the place of eternal fire, and they will live forever in hell, in punishment in the flames. But it is so clear that hell is going to be thrown into the lake of burning sulfur. Hell is not the final end for those who die in unbelief. No, they will be thrown into the lake of burning sulfur and be destroyed. They will not be like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who stood unharmed in the flames, because Jesus was with them. This lake of burning sulfur will burn forever somewhere, but Jesus will not be there, and those who are thrown into the flames will perish. It is also notable the angels who followed after Lucifer and lost their place may not be who think of as the demons. It appears these angels are bound in everlasting chains in darkness, and they too will be judged. But it appears they are not roaming around the earth wreaking havoc upon unsuspecting souls. No mistake, there are demons, the scriptures verify that, but we may not be sure who exactly they are, but it sure appears they are not all the fallen angels. But back to the main point here, it serves as a warning to all unbelievers. This serves as an example of what will happen to those who refuse to believe. Again the fire is eternal, but those in Sodom and Gomorrah all perished, even Lots wife, because she could not bear to leave what she thought was her home. For any actual thinking person, the choice is clear. 

Be Watchful

DEVOTION

JUDE

BE WATCHFUL

Jude 3-4

3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. 4 For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

NIV

Some pretty tough words here about what would appear are some pretty bad people. Yet could this also speak to ordinary people, believers, who simply accept the fact that we are going to continue to sin and that is alright because of the grace of God? These whose condemnation was written about long ago could be those fallen angels, or the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, although it is not recorded what they beliefs about God were. But it is certain that some people pervert the gospel message for their own benefit. It might be noteworthy seeing that these men mentioned denied Jesus as Lord and Sovereign, but it is not mentioned they denied God. This is surely the case even today; as many people say they believe in God, but deny Jesus Christ as being their Sovereign and Lord. They deny the fact that in order to see the Kingdom of God they must be born again. They deny having to accept Jesus as their Savior in order to go to heaven. We only have to attend funerals of unsaved people to hear those words, “Their in a much better place now” to prove their position about Jesus. What we really need to be on guard for is that kind of thinking creeping into the church. Surely there were those in the days of the early church who entered into congregations of believers with all sorts of little twists and turns to the gospel in order to persuade people to follow them supporting their lifestyle. They may well have stretched the truth a bit teaching a more liberal view allowing behaviors which should not be in order to draw people into their fold. Some churches today do the same thing, some teaching their leaders can absolve sin by giving their followers certain penance to do, denying the need to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, denying the need to be born again, denying that Jesus is the only mediator between God and men, that God is the only forgiver of sin. They use piety and purity as a disguise for their own ruthless behaviors. We cannot ever allow anyone to come into our midst changing the truth of the gospel with smooth words, with Christianize phraseology, with highly educated intellectual persuasions, perverting the truth of the gospel for their own personal gain. They can come in sheep’s clothing but they certainly are not sheep. They may take years to employ their scheme, much as Satan himself does, but employ it they will. We have been gifted with discernment by God for this express reason, let us be vigilant in hearing the Spirit. Let us be on guard against such schemes. Let us be watchful.  

In Abundance

DEVOTION

JUDE

IN ABUNDANCE

Jude 1-2

1:1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ: 2 Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.

NIV

An introduction which is mild and affirming for those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, but precedes that which is not very mild but is affirming the end of both kinds of people, the believer and the un-believer. But first we should look at these three words called, loved and kept. Who are those who are called, loved and kept? Are the only ones who are loved and kept the ones who are called? What does he mean by called? Is that where some of the churches use to define their no free will doctrines? Is that why they teach the only ones who are saved are the ones God calls, and the rest are destined to the flames? If that is so, they simply do not understand the truth about God. All men have been invited by God through the proclamation of the Gospel to obtain eternal life through Jesus Christ is the meaning of the Greek word used here which has been translated as called. We are all called to eternal life through Jesus Christ, and we are all loved by God the father, but there is a distinction about who is kept by Jesus Christ. This would imply that Jesus Christ is able to keep us in the state in which we are. Once we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior he is able to keep us in the state of being saved. Can we walk away? Would this imply eternal salvation no matter what we do? That might appear so, but again that is not the truth. It is through Jesus Christ that we enter into salvation, and only through him. Once we accept him as our Lord and Savior and remain looking to him, he guards our life, keeps Satan away from destroying us. He is our guardian, our protector, our shield, our fortress, our hiding place. The Greek word translated kept implies a guardian not a guard. This letter is to all of us who believe. This letter is for all those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, not just those who think they are chosen but for all those who have choose to accept God’s offer of eternal life through Jesus Christ. For us he has affirmed that all his mercy, peace and love is ours and it is in abundance. This is not in a limited amount, metered out a little at a time, whenever we think we need it. His love, mercy and peace is ours in abundance, not just filled to the brim, but overflowing, spilling out all over, more that we can hold. Mercy denotes God’s action toward us sinners, Peace denotes the tranquil state of our soul assured of our salvation through Christ, and so we fear nothing from God and we are completely content with our earthly lot, of whatever sort that is. And of course love is that Agape love feast love that God has for us, that benevolent love. How powerful is all that and we have it in abundance.