…they follow their own evil desires…
Jude is almost done with his description of those who pollute and dilute the Body of Christ. It is as if Jude is looking into the face of Jesus himself, and in that face he sees the purity that Jesus wants for his church.
Let’s join Jude and imagine what the Body of Christ could be like.
Instead of perverting the grace of God, the church honors and abides by God’s grace.
Instead of immorality, the church is moral.
Jesus is our only Sovereign and Lord.
Instead of human dreams, God’s Word is our only authority.
We keep our bodies pure for the service of our Lord.
Jesus is our only authority.
We honor all who serve God in heaven and what we do not understand we trust that God does.
We avoid anger, hunger not for profit but to serve, and we fear God.
The Body of Christ is a humble servant, joyfully feeding others instead of self.
We serve the Lord instead of our own evil desires.
Jude is telling us what Jesus’ church really looks like. Strip away all those who have “secretly slipped in” and what you have is a little slice of heaven. After all, is anything Jude describes very far from loving God above all else, and your neighbor as yourself?
Application: Jude highlights the church Jesus longs for. Let’s strive to give Him that church.
Food for Thought: How do we avoid following our own evil desires?
By making Jesus Lord and following His desires instead of our own. If we make His desires our desires then our desires will not be evil.
Rich,
Sounds simple! 🙂
Keeping our eyes on Jesus with all of the worldly distractions around us is a bit of a challenge though!
Psalm 37:1-5.
JEC –
What a beautiful passage!
Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.
For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.
Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
(Psalm 37: 1-5 KJV)
Matthew 6:24 No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
James 4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
As we fight this battle with our flesh, understand/know the reality of our actions. When we live in our flesh, we are turning our backs on, demonstrating hatred of Jesus.
Resist evil desires by submitting to Christ, prayer, study His words, serve others, God says we will then despise evil. The truth is so simple, why do I keep complicating it???
Nice reference verses, Ron. Thank you!
By the way, it is not just you who complicates things. I am right there with you! 🙂
Hey Jeff, Great work you’re doing. Helping to keep our eyes on the Lord!
It’s amazing we humans place a higher value on a tiny moment in time, ( our physical lifetime, maybe 100 years ) than we do enjoying time with our eternal Father and Savior now. Go figure.
Came here to get plugged in as I missed the study this evening. 🙁 Glad to read the comments here and the wonderful material Jeff has provided. Thank you brothers, good to keep in touch even at a distance though I truly miss the face to face fellowship.
Chris,
Your secret is revealed!! That is hilarious!!
Very clever my friend. I don’t think I would ever have figured that one out on my own. Thanks for checking in! 🙂
Great to hear from you NMOP3PISdn = upSIDEDOWN 😉 …chris. I had not realized that either. That is clever. We missed you in the study but glad you checked in here.
Ha , all I his time I thought the jumbled signature code looked a bit like a Russian contributor…
👍🏻