Worship

“Closer” by Maverick City Music, Brandon Lake 

Scripture

“Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” -Jude 1:1-4, ESV

Our Identity in Christ

Greetings to you, saints, who sparkle in the land; God’s glorious ones, who shine like stars in the universe. You, who bear His name and carry His glory. You, His beloved Bride. You, who are marked and sealed by the precious blood of Jesus. You, who are indwelt by the very Spirit of God, who are consecrated unto Him and appointed to live for Him all of your days. You, saints, who are chosen, dearly loved, called, set apart, and anointed. This is the day that the Lord has made, written, and ordained for you, and we are going to pause and choose to rejoice in it because we know who has the final word and who sits on the throne. He holds victory in store for the righteous. Your Jesus is coming soon for you, child of light. As the darkness grows even more dark, my prayer is that we walk in our identity as His beloved—one who is as bold as a lion in this hour, who carries the very heart of God for the nations and the lost. You, who will bring Jesus His inheritance and fill Heaven with nations. This is who you are and who all of Heaven recognizes as they cheer you on to your finish line! Don’t give up, don’t fall away, and don’t cash-in the lie of the prosperity of Earth for the abundance of Heaven. Contend, and stay tucked into the shadow of the Almighty, where you are hidden and protected and preserved. God is for you and will fight for you in this hour; just don’t let go of Him or let your eyes stray like Lot’s wife toward what her flesh longed for, back in Sodom and Gomorrah. He’s calling us up higher to a road narrower than we have walked before. But His grace will be sufficient for you, and His strength will be perfected in you, glorious saint.

I have walked with Jesus for 44 years now. I can recall for you seasons of great disappointment and disillusionment with the Lord. There were times I didn’t understand His way or grasp His heart toward me. I ran my perceptions of Him through my own human frailty and ignorance, minimizing God to my level of understanding. I equated vagueness with absence. I translated seasons of pruning into seasons of punishment, simply because I didn’t grasp the depth of His perfect love for me. When my heart strayed in seasons of distraction, He flooded me with mercy and grace, and His presence tethered me to Him. After 44 years, I can say He is too good; far better than I can comprehend! His ways are often mysterious to me because of this limited, fragile humanity I am contained in. But in the rubble of life, He emerges as my Victorious One who loves me and fights for me.

Understanding Jude’s Message

The fiery book of Jude is a revival book. I love the passion to which Jude writes to believers. He was a half brother of Jesus but didn’t believe that Jesus was the Messiah until after the resurrection. But then he became a revivalist in the Church. All doubt was redeemed! His opening words of identity—called, loved, and kept—are so beautiful. It’s upon this basis of identity that Jude exhorts the believers to hold on and contend for the faith. Mercy, peace, love, and faith was theirs in abundance—poured out from an open Heaven over these believers—a gift given to them by the Holy Spirit. But what was entrusted to these saints was the mystery of the knowledge of God that had been revealed to them. They believed, and yet Jude was urging them emphatically to wrestle with all of their might that they may hold on with everything they had to the truth and faith, so as to not stray or forsake it all together.

Jude warns of great deception that sneaks in and subtly begins to distort the grace of God into a license to sin. This deception started out as a subtle idea, wrapped in a partial truth here and there, until a whole doctrine of false grace, leading to immorality would be birthed in this Church. Repentance and tenderness toward the leading of the Spirit becomes faint as this newfound doctrine of freedom rewrites a life of humility and holiness and the training unto godliness. That same Antichrist spirit rules and reigns today, taking the form of doctrine designed to lead Christ followers to sin and law. Essentially, the new nature you have been given in Christ that enables us to put to death the misdeeds of the body and the Spirit to give life is trampled by false doctrines.

The struggle is real!

Contemporary Challenges

To contend for our faith, to know Christ and His Word, and to keep that flame fanned like Paul urged Timothy is a fight. I will be that honest with you. The Spirit of God will counsel, comfort, and correct course, but we have to be willing and teachable and surrendered. It’s a decision of the will in submission to the Spirit, to not go the path of least resistance, laziness, and godlessness. We live in a world of information overload, and now with the influx of AI technology, we are going to have to know the Word of God with a double portion of discernment to know what is true and false. When the 2020 COVID-19 crisis hit, I had to silence every voice except the Spirit of God and the living Word of God. I didn’t want others’ interpretations of the times and seasons; I only wanted to hear from the Lord, my Shepherd. It was a time of around 18 months that I couldn’t even listen to other sermons. I just needed the counsel of the Lord to me, in order to know how to navigate.

So, it is for us today. We have a clear warning that before the Antichrist is revealed, there will be a great apostasy, or falling away, of the saints (2 Thessalonians 2). One little false doctrine, one little twist of Scripture here and there, and we are off in spiritual quicksand. Beloved, stay the course with Jesus. Hold fast to Him in this hour. Fix your eyes and your heart on Him. Turn off the other voices that are flooding your airwaves and get the Word of God deep in you. With all of my heart, I urge you to know Him and His Word so that you can make it to your finish line with your faith intact and be able to say to others confidently, “Follow me as I follow Jesus.”

Paul’s Charge to Timothy

I want to close with a Scripture that Paul wrote to Timothy. This devotional is not my normal cadence; that is why I opened with the worship song I did. Allow the lover of our souls to pull us in closer and minister to us, heal us, and make us whole. This entire message is under the banner of His great love for you. But we also have a responsibility to not let go or become passive in this hour as it pertains to our faith. That is the cry of my heart for my own life, my daughters and husband, my dearest friends, and for you. Let this be your prayer:

“But as for you, O man of God, flee from these things; aim at and pursue righteousness [true goodness, moral conformity to the character of God], godliness [the fear of God], faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith [in the conflict with evil]; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and [for which] you made the good confession [of faith] in the presence of many witnesses. I solemnly charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and [in the presence] of Christ Jesus, who made the good confession [in His testimony] before Pontius Pilate, to keep all His precepts without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about in His own time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign [the absolute Ruler], the King of those who reign as kings and Lord of those who rule as lords, He alone possesses immortality [absolute exemption from death] and lives in unapproachable light, whom no man has ever seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal power and dominion! Amen.” -1 Timothy 6:11-16, AMP

Will you join me in April, through 10 days of consecrated time apart with Jesus for my Easter devotional series, as we journey to the cross and climb the mountain with Him to our salvation and commissioning? You can fast with me for 10 days whatever the Lord calls you to let go of during that time.

A few reminders:

• Dallas residents, our Knee-deep in the Garden prayer and worship night is coming soon! Come posture your heart toward surrender with us on March 26 from 7-9 p.m. at the Hope Center.
• Journey with me to Israel this August 26-September 2 for a Covenant Tour and your commissioning. Cost is $5,000. Email me for more details. Husbands and wives are welcome! It’s the 75th anniversary of Israel becoming a nation, so it’s a significant year to go!

Subscribe to Arise weekly devotionals here!