Kept by the power of God

"Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life" (Jude, verse 21). "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 Saviour …

The Word of the Lord came to me.

Zechariah 5:1-8:23; Jude 1-25; Psalm 139:17-24 Again and again, in Zechariah, we find the phrase, “the Word of the Lord (Almighty) came to me” (Zechariah 6:9; Zechariah 7;1,4,8). Another recurring phrase, with similar meaning, is “This is what the Lord (Almighty) says” (Zechariah 6:12; Zechariah 8:3,4,6,7,9,14,20,23). The Word of revelation – This is the basis …

Good News for this generation

"God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son... " (Hebrews 1:1-2). This is more than the prophets speaking about God. This is God, speaking through the prophets.The prophets looked forward to Jesus, God's beloved Son. God speaks to …

A call to faithfulness from 1 John, 2 John and Jude

These are short letters. Each of them has only one chapter. They present to us a call to faithfulness in the face of departure from Gospel truth. 2 John: "There are many deceivers about in the world, refusing to admit that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh. They are the deceiver: they are the …

2 John, 3 John and Jude

2 JOHN ‘Look to yourselves, that you may not lose what you have worked for, but may win a full reward’ (8). Don’t let things slip. Build on the work that has already been done. This will not be easy - ‘many deceivers have already gone out into the world’. Such people do nothing but …

Faithfulness and relevance: speaking to believers – and unbelievers

"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" (Jude 3). Jude writes about "the salvation we share" and "the faith that was once for …

Responding to God’s Word (56): Faithful One, so unchanging

Keep yourselves in the love of God, as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life (Jude, verse 21). To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy, to the only God, …

Praying Through God’s Word: Jude

“Certain men whose condemnation was written long ago have secretly slipped in among you … godless men … ” (Jude 4). What are we to do when this happens? Your Word tells us: “Keep yourselves in the love of God” (Jude 21). How are we to do this when the pull toward evil seems to …

Earnestly contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to God’s holy people.

"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 earnestly contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people" (Jude 3). We rejoice in the great salvation that has been given to us. It is a good thing …

Faith, Holiness, Worship And Witness

"Come to him ... be yourselves built into a spiritual house" (1 Peter 2:4-5). This speaks to us of personal conversion and life in fellowship with God's people. The life of holiness, to which we are called, is to be lived in fellowship with God's people. We are to encourage one another to live a …

The Lord has blessed us – and there’s so much more still to come.

"The Lord bless you and keep you" (Numbers 6:24). "The Lord is your keeper" (Psalm 121:5). We are "kept by the power of God" (1 Peter 1:5). "Now to him who is able to keep you from falling" (Jude 24). "The Lord bless you and keep you." (Numbers 6:24). God loves us - and he …

“To Him who is able to keep you… be glory… forevermore.”

"My heart, O God, is steadfast" (Psalm 108:1). Can any of us really say this about ourselves? The answer is "No! We can't", but there's something we can say about God, something wonderful: "Great is Your love, higher than the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the skies" (Psalm 108:4). It's God's love and faithfulness that …

The Lord bless you and keep you.

"Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven" (Psalm 32:1). The forgiveness of sins - this is such a great blessing. The forgiveness of sins: it's just the beginning of so much great blessing which will continue throughout our life on earth and for all eternity. "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit …

Link to Rev James Philip’s notes on Jude

Jude

Keep yourselves in the love of God. He is able to keep you from falling.

JudeThe wrong kind of people had come among God’s people: ‘certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you...godless men...’(4). Such people do not like to hear the words, ‘The Lord rebuke you’. They ‘speak abusively against’ those who speak the Word of the Lord to them (9-10). God’s …

Rejoicing in God’s salvation and earnestly contending for the faith

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 (Jude 3).  Jude speaks here about "the salvation we share", and he, also speaks about "contending earnestly for the faith …

One Year Bible: Days 334-361

Day 334 Daniel 7:1-8:14; 1 John 2:12-27; Psalm 136:13-26 Daniel 7:13-14 looks forward, prophetically, to the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the future towards which history is moving, the future towards which God is working, the future of the Kingdom of God. This world is passing away, "but the man who …

Falling…

Sometimes, it seems like everything is falling apart. What are we to do when we feel like this? What about another kind of falling: falling in love with Jesus? Human love can, at times, be very disappointing. It can leave us feeling disillusioned. What about the love of Jesus? What can we say about his …