Overview of: JudeToday's Reading:
Jude 1:1-25
"Warning and Encouragement"
Focus Verses: Jude 1:17-21
17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires." 19 These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. 20 But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. 21 Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
Insight:
The Apostle Peter warned his readers to be discerning about false teachers and heresy; Jude does the same. In fact, Peter may have been drawing upon Jude in his second letter (compare 2 Peter 2 with Jude 4–18). Jude gives a number of markers for discerning heretical teachers and leaders. These include: a twisting of God's grace that leads to disregard for holy living (v. 4); a refusal to acknowledge Jesus as the only sovereign Lord (v. 4); a selfish pattern of putting themselves first (v. 12); boastful arrogance (v. 16); and being divisive and opposing the unity of the Spirit (v. 19).
Response and Action:
I need to recognize godly teaching and leadership. It is essential for the life and mission of my church family that our leaders follow the Lord Jesus Christ; he alone is able to keep us from falling. In order to live by the truth, I will build myself up in the true Christian faith; I will pray and look to the Holy Spirit for guidance and integrity; and I will look to the Scriptures and the teachings of the Apostles for direction and doctrine. In my Christian community, I will oppose heretical teaching and leadership, yet be merciful and redemptive toward others as I endeavor to be a voice for truth and sound doctrine.
O God, help me to know and live by the truth. Help me to be a student of the Scriptures. Help me to follow Jesus with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. By the power and grace of your Holy Spirit, give me the honesty and integrity to recognize your will and your ways. Deliver me from pride, selfishness, and unholiness. Grant me the faith and the perseverance of Christ Jesus, who is able to keep me from falling and present me without fault before your throne with great joy. To the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
Old Testament for Today: Ezekiel 34:10-11
10 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them. 11 'For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.'
In Context: Ezekiel 34
Proverb for Today: Prov. 11:3
"The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity."
Recommended Reading:
Shepherds After My Own Heart: Pastoral Traditions And Leadership in the Bible
by Timothy S. Laniak
