August 10, 2023

Scripture: Jude 24-25 – “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.”

What it means

I guess this is “balance week” – didn’t intend for it to be, but here’s more scripture that encourages us to keep from stumbling. This has been used as a doxology of sorts and comes on the heels of an exhortation in verses 17-23 to persevere. Even as we encounter those people who scoff at our faith in Jesus and try to pull us away, we are to stay strong and keep following hard after Jesus. Not only that, but we are to be merciful to those who doubt. It is sad to see people who are lost and have no interest in discovering what life with Jesus can be. We are warned that such people divide us – they follow their natural instinct and don’t have the Spirit that comes from following Christ, so let’s keep our eyes on “him who is able to keep us from stumbling.”

What it means to me

This is a short but powerful book located right in front of Revelation towards the end of the bible. I love this image of Jesus presenting us to His Father one day – “before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy” – wow! Anybody who has the ability to do that for me is okay in my book, because without Jesus I am anything but faultless…my list of faults is long, and I praise God that I have One who has the ability, the desire, and the authority to present me to His Father one day. He makes me whole…and He actually makes me acceptable to stand before an Almighty God, simply because He chose to pay the penalty for my many sins 2,000 years ago. And for that…I am grateful. I hope you are as well.

Love you guys; see you in church this Sunday!

In Christ,

Brian