Stay in Tune with God

Stay in Tune with God

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”

 (Jude 1:20-23).

 

            The Apostle Jude encourages the church to uplift themselves in faith and prayer. It is virtually impossible to walk this Christian journey without these key elements. Fear and faith cannot reside in the same glass. If you are going to fear, then you cancel out faith. However, if you have faith, then it will cancel your fear. Prayer is the best weapon God has given to the believer to sustain one’s faith. Without it, fear can overtake the faith one would have by shooting darts of doubt in one’s mind. The authors of the Bible spoke a lot about those who had faith, such as Noah, Abraham, Job, Daniel, and the woman with the issue of blood. It took faith for Noah to believe God and build an ark when it had never rained (Genesis 6:13-22).

Abraham was credited with being the father of faith because he trusted not only his life but his son’s to the Lord (Genesis 22:1-19). Let’s take a little journey into his life. Abraham did not have proof that God would fulfill His promise when he left his father’s home to an unknown land, yet, he followed. Abraham had little indication, other than God’s word, that he would father a son in his old age; nevertheless, he believed. Abraham possessed no evidence that God would save his son from immenent death when told to sacrifice him, yet, he obeyed. Abraham walked blindly with the Lord and was accounted as being righteous (Romans 4).  

Job had to have faith to serve God even when he had lost everything, including his health (Job 13:15). Job’s world came crashing down suddenly when he lost all of his earthly possessions, yet, he still had faith. His ten children were killed at the same time, but Job still had hope. He was once a respected man in the community but became the object of scorn; nevertheless, he remained faithful. Even when Job’s friends deemed him as wicked, he held on to his integrity. Despite his wife telling him to curse God and die, Job considered her foolish and still believed in the Lord.

Daniel trusted the Lord to care for him and his three friends when they first arrived in Babylon. They continued to have faith in God even when they had to reject the heathen king’s food. Daniel’s faith required that he believed God would spare them from death when Nebuchadnezzar sent out a decree for all the wise men to be killed. Daniel had faith in the Lord to boldly deliver hard words of judgment to Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar. Even when the law of the land banned anyone from praying to any god other than the king, Daniel had faith to know  God would deliver him from the lions’ den (Daniel 6:10-11).

Finally, the woman with the issue of blood first had faith to defy a law that prevented her from going among people due to her being considered unclean with the possibility of defiling others. Second, she had to have faith to believe that the mere touch of Jesus’ garment would heal her. Third, she not only had to believe, but she had to put her faith to work by following through with what she believed (Luke 8:43). The Word of God details the lives of so many people who had nothing but faith and God’s promises of deliverance to go on. Yet, they were credited with being righteous (Romans 4:1-22). Therefore, we must have faith to know that God will keep us during these last days until He comes. He will protect, provide, cover, and encourage His faithful ones.

            Jude stated that we should pray in the Spirit. However, let’s not confuse this with praying in tongues. The Bible says: “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people” (Ephesians 6:18). This text lets us know that we can go to the Lord and present our specific requests to Him without limitations, but we are to do so as the Spirit leads, and not with fleshly desires. Therefore, we should always pray that God’s will be done, just as Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane. The Bible says: “He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, ‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done’ ” (Luke 22:41-42).

Believers should be of the mindset that we ought to desire God’s will for our lives above all else. In so doing, we crucify our flesh, thus decreasing as He increases to allow the Holy Spirit to take control. The Word tells us that we do not know what we should pray for, apart from the Spirit, but He intercedes on our behalf (Romans 8:26). Therefore,  when we pray in the Spirit, we are allowing Him to lead and guide us in what to say. As it pertains to praying in tongues, the Holy Spirit, once again, is making moans and groans on our behalf, even when or if we do not have the interpretation. He does such because it is His language and not our own.

            The Apostle Jude encouraged the church to stay in
God’s love. This takes us back to the biblical text, which states: “ I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (John 10:28-30). The Lord will keep all who are willing to be kept in the safety of His hands. Whenever there is a separation between us and God, it is that we have left God, not that He has left us. Therefore, we can rest assured that His love endures forever and will bring us into His eternal life.

            Jude spoke of another important aspect of staying close to God – mercy. Many Christians fail to be compassionate and merciful to one another. Sometimes believers can be the harshest critics and can cause many to become distraught in their Christian walk. They accomplish this by making people believe that God is forever against them and nothing they could ever do would be right in His eyes. One can visit any social media platform and find a troll, disguised as a believer, acting like a piranha at the least little thing they disagree with, such as if the earth is round or flat. What difference does it make when God is going to destroy this earth and create a new one anyway? Therefore, we are to show the same mercy and grace to others Christ has shown us. The Bible says: “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36). Many Christians would benefit from taking one-a-day mercy pills.

Jude didn’t stop with just instructing the church to show mercy; he said it was to be mixed with fear. This means that we are to be merciful while still being respectful and reverent for the things of God. Mercy does not include compromising His ordinances; on the contrary. The world says: “If you love me, you will support me even in my wrong.” However, remember Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). It is not unloving to tell someone about their wrong, which is why we are to hate those things that displease the Lord but not the person. If done correctly, trying to save someone from the fires of hell will be an act of love.