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Jude 1:20, 21 - Keep Yourselves In The Love Of God.

Jude 1:20, 21 (NLT) But you, dear friends, 
must build each other up in your most holy faith, 
pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, 21 and 
await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will 
bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep 
yourselves safe in Gods love. 

COMMENTARY PEARL

   A sign posted at the end of the road on 
an airport runway reads, "Keep moving. If you 
stop, you are in danger and a danger to those who 
are flying." We could apply the same principle 
to the Christian life: Keep moving. If you 
stop, you are in danger. 
   Why should we keep moving? Because we 
have a natural tendency to slip back into our 
old, sinful ways. Just as a car parked on a hill 
will naturally roll backward when shifted into 
neutral, we will naturally go the wrong way if we 
shift our Christian lives into neutral and stop 
seeking to learn and grow as believers. 
   Take a flower and a weed for example. Our 
old nature, that part of us that doesn't want to 
obey God, is like a weed. Our new nature is like 
a flower. Now, my wife, Cathe, loves to grow 
flowers. She will tend them, care for them, fertilize 
them, and pull any weeds that get remotely close 
to them. And in the time it has taken for those 
flowers to grow a few inches, a weed will have found 
a crack in the sidewalk and has grown eighteen 
feet tall. How much nurturing did the weed need? 
None. It simply took off. Like Cathe's beautiful 
flowers, our new nature needs nurturing. We need to 
do the things that will build us up 
spiritually. But if we cease to do those things, that old 
nature will come back to haunt us. 
   The Christian life isn't just about 
obeying commandments. it is also about wanting to 
please the Lord, wanting to grow, and wanting to 
become more like Him. [Greg Laurie from Harvest 
Ministries; https://www.harvestdaily.com] 

COMMENTARY

   According to Gallup surveys, confirmed by 
other polls taken over the past fifteen years, 33 
percent of all Americans over age eighteen indicate 
they are evangelical or "born again" Christians. 
That translates into 59 million Christians, or 
one in every three adults, who experienced a 
turning point in their lives as they made a personal 
commitment to Jesus Christ. 
   This information should grip us with 
terror. It means that the greatest revival in 
history has so far been impotent to change society. 
It's revival without reformation. It's a revival 
which left the country floundering in spiritual 
ignorance. It's a change in belief without a 
corresponding change in behavior.... 
   How did the building blocks of the gospel 
become glued together with the cement of 
self-centeredness? The American gospel has evolved into a 
gospel of addition without subtraction. It is the 
belief that we can add Christ to our lives, but not 
subtract sin. It is a change in belief without a 
change in behavior. It is a spiritual experience 
without any cultural impact. It is revival without 
reformation, without repentance.... 
   The proof of religious conversion is to 
demonstrate that we have both added a relationship with 
Christ and that we have subtracted sin 
(repentance). And we multiply proof to a weary world by 
what we do-our deeds, our obedience. What we do 
must confirm what we say. Our deeds are the proof 
of our repentance.... 
   A changed life is one that has added 
Christ and subtracted sin, that attracts a world 
weary of worn-out words. Obedience is the proof. 
(From Walking with Christ in the Details of Life 
by Patrick Morley) [Inspirational SB] 

License Revoked
   Margaret can hardly wait to get her 
driver's license. As soon as Margaret turns sixteen, 
Mom will drive her to the Department of Motor 
Vehicles where she will take the test and, if all 
goes well, get official permission to drive a 
Class A motor vehicle. It will mean new freedom 
and new responsibility.  
   Just as driving is a privilege, so is 
freedom in Christ. In this letter, Jude tells of 
Christians who have taken their freedom too far. He has 
no patience with their abuse of this privilege 
because they know the rules of the road and have 
deliberately disobeyed them.  
   Also in this reading you will find strong 
fight language for the spiritual battles we face. 
And our duties to one another conclude the 
letter.  
   Jude wrote this brief letter to rebuke 
false teachers. These false teachers taught that 
Christians can live "immoral lives" because God has 
forgiven them (Jude 1:4). Such false teachers were 
wrong, and God's severe judgment awaited them 
(1:5-11, 14-16).  
   The same heresy taught back in Jude's day 
still flourishes today. Many people try to justify 
immorality and wrongdoing by appealing to God's 
forgiveness. But God never forgave us so that we could 
sin without consequence. Jesus died to free us 
from sin. He did not die to free us to sin.  
   Take care of how you use your freedom in 
Christ. Do not freely sin and cheapen God's 
forgiveness after you have indulged your appetites. 
Having this freedom is a privilege that comes with 
great responsibility. Live wisely and reverently 
before God. [The One Year Through the Bible 
Devotional by Dave Veerman] 

Hold on Tight!
   I dont keep myself saved, but I keep 
myself safe. 
   God saves me. Thats established. But I 
keep myself safe, which means that I keep myself 
in the love of God. 
   Though Gods love is unsought, 
undeserved, and unconditional, its possible for me to 
be out of sync with His love. 
   Jude wrote, Keep yourselves in the 
love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord 
Jesus Christ unto eternal life (1:21 NKJV). He 
was basically saying, Keep yourself away from 
those things that are unlike Him. Keep yourself 
from any influence that violates His love or 
brings sorrow to Gods heart. And keep yourself 
in a place where God can actively show His love 
to you. 
   In John 17 Jesus prayed to the Father, 
I do not pray that You should take them out of 
the world, but that You should keep them from 
the evil one (verse 15 NKJV). 
   In this context the world refers to 
a mentality. Its talking about a culture, a 
way of thinking, and the world system under the 
control of Satan. Thats why the Bible calls the 
devil the god of this world (see 2 
Corinthians 4:4 NLT). 
   There is Gods part and our part. If 
you were on a diet, for example, you wouldnt 
hang around donut stores, would you? 
   Just as donuts arent good for diets, 
there are things that feed sin. Thats what 
Jesus meant when He taught us to pray, And do 
not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from 
the evil one (Matthew 6:13 NLT). 
   Basically, thats saying, Lord, help 
me not to put myself in a place where I could 
fall into sin. 
   So, God will keep you, but if youre 
yanking your hand out of His hand, thats a 
problem. God is holding on to you. But the question 
is this: Are you holding on to Him? [Greg 
Laurie from Harvest Ministries; 
https://www.harvestdaily.com] 

ILLUSTRATION

Love Perfects Service
   Think of some young man a hundred years 
ago drafted into the service of the navy. Caught 
by the press-gang and torn away from home, how 
intolerable that service must have seemed! For a time, 
it would be the bitterest drudgery performed 
with many a muttering and curse. There was no 
escape"it had to be performed" the lash and the 
irons followed disobedience; that, in the harshest 
and extremist sense, was the service of 
necessity. But can we not imagine that young man 
rousing himself into a worthier mood? At the call of 
danger he would forget his bondage and think of the 
peril of his native land. And patriotic feelings 
would arise and duty to his country would awake, 
and now his service would be a nobler thing 
because it was the service of duty. Then suppose 
that a young man like that had sailed in the same 
vessel with Lord Nelson and had learned to love 
Nelson with that devoted love which filled the 
breast of every man who sailed with him. How 
different would his service now become! How gladly 
would he toil and fight and die! The thought of 
duty would be absorbed in love, and love would 
make his service perfect. [paulr1025@comcast.net] 
12/15/05 

YOUR COMMENTS

If anyone has a paraphrase, commentary or 
testimony on this passage of Scripture, either 
personal or otherwise, I would be interested in 
hearing from you.  Thanks in advance and let's keep 
uplifting Jesus that all might be drawn to Him. Fred 
Gibbs  

LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT

Most Important Decision in Life: 
http://www.youtube.com/embed/WGnEuGwvXqU?rel=0 

A Man without Equal by Bill Bright: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiVa7UoruIo 

Seeking God Made Real: 
http://vimeo.com/31489782 

Prayer Made Real: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc8VdMV26VE 

Importance of Choice: 
http://creationhealth.com/CREATION-Health/Choice [click on video]  

Medical Seminar on Healthful Living by David 
DeRose, MD, MPH: 
https://www.smartlifestyletv.com/lifestart 

LINKS FOR BIBLE STUDIES 

Lifting Up Jesus Bible Studies: 
http://www.liftingupjesus.net/ 

Amazing Facts Bible Studies: 
http://www.amazingfacts.org/bible-study/bible-study-guides.aspx  

Hope Awakens Bible Study Guides: 
https://www.hopeawakens.study/lesson-header;id=2 

Glow Tract Video Bible Studies: 
http://www.bibleresearch.info/ 

LINKS FOR BIBLE PROPHECY SEMINARS

Revelation Now by Pastor Doug Batchelor: 
https://www.revelationnow.com/ 

Unlocking Bible Prophecies by Cami Oetman of 
Adventist World Radio: 
https://bible.awr.org/en/the-signs/ 

Hope Awakens by John Bradshaw of IIW: 
https://itiswritten.tv/programs/hope-awakens 

Prophecies Decoded by Pastor Ron Clouzet: 
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1A435C5373550657