keep yourselves in
the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal
life.
Jude 21
Dear Heavenly Father
continue to grow in me and help me to understand and follow your Word. Please be with my family, protect them from
the evil one. For my extended family who
don't believe, please send people to share the Gospel and send the Holy Spirit
to convict them that they need a savior.
In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
Jude continues to
close out the letter by giving instructions to the church. This verse is a continuation of the previous
verse. In verse 20, Jude encourages
believers, who are favored, esteemed by God-Christ-each other, to finish their
Christian understanding upon the foundation that has already been built by God
based on His Truth (right doctrine).
Jude also asks the believers to pray in the Holy Spirit. We learned to be able to pray, we need
faith. To bring deeper understanding to
today's text, let's examine some key words and their companion or similar verses.
"Keep" in
the Greek is tereo which means keep,
guard, observe, watch over, maintain, preserve, keep intact, spiritually guard,
cause one to preserve or stand firm in a thing.
2 Corinthians 13:14 states "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Amen." Acts 13:43 states "Now
when the congregation had broken up, many of the Jews and devout proselytes
followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue
in the grace of God."
"Love" in the Greek is agape which
means benevolence (well meaning, kindly), esteem, love which centers on moral
preference, divine love, what god prefers.
Stand firm in God's love that focuses on morality, what He prefers.
"Looking"
in the Greek is prosdechomai which means
expect, welcome, accept, welcome with warm repriocity, expectant, ready and
willing, wait for fulfillment of promises.
It is made of pros which means
toward, interchange and dexomai which
means welcome, receive. Titus 2:13
states "looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great
God and Savior Jesus Christ." 2
Peter 3:12 states "looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God,
because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements
will melt with fervent heat?"
"Mercy" in the Greek is eleos which
means pity, compassion, covenant loyalty, covenant-love, loyalty to God's
covenant, the mercy of Christ whereby at His return to judgement He will bless
true Christians with eternal life. Wait
expectantly for the fulfillment of Christ's compassion to believers.
"Eternal"
in the Greek is aionios which means
unending, age long, not brief and fleeting, life operates outside of time -
inside of time - yet is also time independent, has been and always will be,
without end. "Life" in the
Greek is zoe which means both physical
(present) and spiritual (particular future) existence, the Lord intimately
shares His gift of love with people creating each in His image which gives all
the capacity to know His eternal life.
Christ's mercy to people loyal to God is an unending existence with God.
Do I stand firm in
Christ? When I'm pressured and stressed
do I turn to Him or rely on myself reacting like the world does? We all struggle with the flesh. Resting in His love and focusing on a life
according to God's morality, we can ignore the distractions and be peaceful in
the stress. We can react by letting go
of the world's expectations and drivers.
No matter what happens during your day, remember God's compassion. Remember we are not of this world but the
world to come. Be loyal to Christ.
and keep yourselves
in the love of God, waiting anxiously and looking forward to the mercy of our
Lord Jesus Christ [which will bring you] to eternal life.
Amplified Bible
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