Resting in the Truth That Jesus Will Hold Onto Me - Your Nightly Scripture - October 30th
Resting in the Truth That Jesus Will Hold Onto Me
Evening Scripture
Jude, Chapter 1
Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, to those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.
Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling — these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 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.
In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct — as irrational animals do — will destroy them.
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.
These people 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. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.
But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
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.
To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy — to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
Evening Reflection
Jude offers one of the most amazing and comforting promises in all of Scripture. Yet when you read through the chapter, it does not begin there. You first read about ungodly people who have slipped in among the believers, and bring with them immorality, perversion, and denying Jesus Christ.
Aside from that, we see the destruction of those who were delivered but later failed to believe. Jude talks further about those who are perverted, defiant, and scoffers who follow their own ungodly desires. Despite all of this, this chapter leaves us with an everlasting hope, and here it is:
To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy — to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen” (Jude 1:24-25).
The hope we find in Jude transcends anything and everything that is happening in our culture. It focuses our attention not on our ability to keep ourselves, but on Christ’s ability to do that. This is the essence of our salvation. We are saved by Christ and the finished work on the cross. However, we are also kept by Christ, and the one who saved us is the one who will preserve us.
This truth makes all the difference in the world. When you grasp this truth, then you realize that your salvation comes by grace through faith, and it is kept by grace through faith. You don’t have to hope in yourself to bring about salvation; you must keep your hope in Christ. He is the one who keeps you and who will present you faultless before God’s throne. That is an everlasting promise that you can hold on to.
Evening Prayer
Lord,
Today I want to pray a prayer of rejoicing. I thank you for saving me by your grace and that it was not by my own works. I also thank you for keeping me by your grace, knowing that too is because of your promise and not my own works. Help me rest in the truth that you are the one who is holding and upholding me. You are the one who has saved me and that you are the one who will keep me. Teach me not how to strive harder, but to trust more. And help me understand that trusting always leads to your perfect rest.
I pray all this in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
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He is the author of The Pursuit of Purpose, which helps readers understand how God leads them into his will, and the author of The Pursuit of Victory: How To Conquer Your Greatest Challenges and Win In Your Christian Life. Clarence is also committed to helping 10,000 people learn how to study the Bible and has released his first course, Bible Study Basics, to achieve that goal. To learn more about his ministry and resources, please visit clarencehaynes.com.
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