I was stuck this morning. Not stuck in traffic. Not stuck in mud. Not stuck in bed. Not stuck in a rut. Just stuck mentally.
On any given day I have half a dozen ideas racing through my head; not today.
I breathed an “Ok Lord. What are we going to write about today?” as I turned the page on my desk-calendar hoping for inspiration; nope.
I pulled up biblegateway dot com, it opened to John chapter 4. I am more familiar with this story as we just filmed two episodes of the woman at the well on Women in the Word. Also, I had written about her before; not today.
I then felt inspired to pull up Jude instead of John; and then, why not start at the first chapter; oh wait, there’s only one.
Most Bible’s give headings or titles to break up subject matter. By Bible is no different. There is: Greeting To The Called. Contend For The Faith. Old and New Apostates, and then my eyes fell on ‘Apostates Depraved and Doomed’.
Those words carry such a heaviness to them.
Apostate: a person who abandons a cause or organization usually without right
Synonyms: betrayers, traitors, double-crossers, discontents, abandoners
Depraved: having or showing lowered moral character or standards
Synonyms: perverted, degenerate, vicious, reprobate; immoral
Doomed: facing certain defeat, disaster, or death
Synonyms: imperiled, endangered, kaput, done for, dead
Strong words; all three.
Jude wasn’t messing around. Listen to his poetic pronouncement for these doomed, depraved apostates:
They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds;
Late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots;
Raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame;
Wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.” - Jude 1:12-13 NKJV
For whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. Wow, that is weighty!
Eternal separation from God is what is promised for those who choose to serve only themselves.
The inspired writers of the Bible seem to have a common theme: “Get right with God; separate from the world; spread the message of Jesus; He is coming again.”
Jude was no different and went on to predict who these apostates would be.
“These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage.
“But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.” Jude 1:14-19 NKJV
We find similar verbiage in 2 Peter 3:3 “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,” KJV
The Message version reads like this:
“First off, you need to know that in the last days, mockers are going to have a heyday. Reducing everything to the level of their petty feelings, they’ll mock, “So what’s happened to the promise of his Coming? Our ancestors are dead and buried, and everything’s going on just as it has from the first day of creation. Nothing’s changed.”
“They conveniently forget that long ago all the galaxies and this very planet were brought into existence out of watery chaos by God’s word. Then God’s word brought the chaos back in a flood that destroyed the world. The current galaxies and earth are fuel for the final fire. God is poised, ready to speak his word again, ready to give the signal for the judgment and destruction of the desecrating skeptics.” 2 Peter 3:3-7 The Message
Jude ends his little chapter with encouragement and a reminder to stay faithful. The words still ring true, perhaps truer, for us today.
“But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
“And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.
“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
To God our Savior,
Who alone is wise,
Be glory and majesty,
Dominion and power,
Both now and forever.
Amen.” Jude 1:20-25 NKJV
Have you seen the movie Forest Gump? I had not until recently. I mean very recently as in this past Sunday afternoon. There is a scene, where a young Forest is being chased by 3 bullies, and he is in leg braces, mid-thigh to the soles of his feet. These braces are not made for running; in fact, they resemble a mid-evil torture device made of leather and metal.
But as he runs in these two contraptions, something begins to happen.
Little by little, with Jenny yelling in the background, those braces began to fall off. The movie was now in slow-motion as parts of metal and pieces of this and that fell away as Forest ran faster and faster and Jenny kept yelling: “Run Forest, Run”.
Hebrews 12:1 and 2 gives that same sort of visual when Paul wrote “…let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”
Throw off those braces or whatever it is that is slowing you down and run!
“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” - James 1:12 ESV
by Jeanette Stark – Wednesday, June 21, 2023
Commenti