First, forgive the long absence! Honestly, when my friend, Mark, asked about when I’d write again, I realized someone is reading the blog, and I also realized I had stopped writing here feeling a bit discouraged that no one reads this! Thanks, Mark, for the encouragement to get back in the saddle!
Second, I was reading the book of Jude this morning and I came across a verse that struck a chord with me: Jude 1:24 (or do you just write Jude 24 since there’s only one chapter?). In the ESV, it reads, “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy…” There are two things that stand out as I read and reread this verse that I want to share with you. They will be the focus of my meditation all day, and I’d encourage you to do the same.
Jude tells a church that is already stumbling God is able to stabilize them, to actually keep them from stumbling. How often in our lives do we dismiss sin as the inevitable result of living in a fallen world, leaning into God’s grace, forgiveness, and mercy? I know I do. What if I/we would put in some time with Jesus asking him to keep us from stumbling. He is able! As Jude writes to a church where false teaching has crept in and is perverting the Gospel, he reminds the believers there that they don’t have to stumble. Jesus is able to keep them from the things that so easily entangle them. We are guarded by God, as Peter reminds us, too, in 1 Peter 1:3-5. How about leaning preemptively into God’s stabilizing grace instead of accepting that sin is inevitable and asking him to pick-up the pieces afterward?
The other piece here is the closing phrase. When I do lean into him for stability, for wisdom that keeps me from sinning, and still fail, it is his GREAT joy to present me blameless before the presence of His glory! Whether it’s in the asking for forgiveness after the sin is committed OR in the asking for stability that keeps us from sinning, he answers with GREAT JOY that we can be presented blameless before his glory! What an encouragement! I’m not a burden. I’m not a disgrace. I’m not left out in the cold due to my choices. My cries for deliverence, both pre and post sinning, fall on ears who hear them with great joy. My meditations today will focus on stepping to the throne of grace with confidence that he, with great joy, wants to keep me from stumbling. I’m not a disappointment or drain on his unlimited grace.
I hope this verse from this seldom-read book of the New Testament helps you today. It sure helped me.
Second, I was reading the book of Jude this morning and I came across a verse that struck a chord with me: Jude 1:24 (or do you just write Jude 24 since there’s only one chapter?). In the ESV, it reads, “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy…” There are two things that stand out as I read and reread this verse that I want to share with you. They will be the focus of my meditation all day, and I’d encourage you to do the same.
Jude tells a church that is already stumbling God is able to stabilize them, to actually keep them from stumbling. How often in our lives do we dismiss sin as the inevitable result of living in a fallen world, leaning into God’s grace, forgiveness, and mercy? I know I do. What if I/we would put in some time with Jesus asking him to keep us from stumbling. He is able! As Jude writes to a church where false teaching has crept in and is perverting the Gospel, he reminds the believers there that they don’t have to stumble. Jesus is able to keep them from the things that so easily entangle them. We are guarded by God, as Peter reminds us, too, in 1 Peter 1:3-5. How about leaning preemptively into God’s stabilizing grace instead of accepting that sin is inevitable and asking him to pick-up the pieces afterward?
The other piece here is the closing phrase. When I do lean into him for stability, for wisdom that keeps me from sinning, and still fail, it is his GREAT joy to present me blameless before the presence of His glory! Whether it’s in the asking for forgiveness after the sin is committed OR in the asking for stability that keeps us from sinning, he answers with GREAT JOY that we can be presented blameless before his glory! What an encouragement! I’m not a burden. I’m not a disgrace. I’m not left out in the cold due to my choices. My cries for deliverence, both pre and post sinning, fall on ears who hear them with great joy. My meditations today will focus on stepping to the throne of grace with confidence that he, with great joy, wants to keep me from stumbling. I’m not a disappointment or drain on his unlimited grace.
I hope this verse from this seldom-read book of the New Testament helps you today. It sure helped me.