Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now forever. Amen.

Epistle of Jude 24, 25  (NASB)

The Letter of Jude is quite a read. It is one of the shortest books in the Bible—one chapter with twenty-eight verses—but verse for verse, it packs a punch. Jude is never one to shy away from confrontation and exhortation and his main purpose in this little book is to point out all the types of sin that were flourishing in the church(es) he was writing to. (This was believed to be a circular letter, meaning that Jude saw these problems in more than one congregation he visited.)

Early on Jude captured the essence of the problem: ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into indecent behavior and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. (Jude 4) There is more there than I could unpack in ten weeks of devotions! You line those words alongside the behavior you see, hear, read about these days and you will have a perfect fit.

However, Jude’s ultimate goal was not to drop a list of sins in their laps: Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. (Jude 3)  

Is Jude saying to polish up our yard signs and call the carpool? Absolutely, but not ultimately. Contending for the faith should always be on our radar, in whatever form current events dictate—it is part of the believer’s experience while on this earth, whether the battle is internal or external.  

As Jude remind us in his sublime benediction. Life is short and often a struggle. But the things of this fallen world have no ultimate power over those who are called, beloved and kept in Christ (Jude 1) Our real hope, our true joy will be to stand one day in the presence of our God and our Savior Jesus Christ in whom alone there is glory, dominion and authority. All other glory is fleeting, all other dominion is temporal and all other authority is passing.

 Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. After you have suffered a little while, the God all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. Amen.

Nancy Shirah