TWO BUILDING BLOCKS FOR OUR FAITH: GOD’S LOVE AND HOW WE PRAY
BIBLE PASSAGE:
Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the
mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
(Jude 1:21)
MEDITATION:
When we are told to
“keep ourselves in God’s love”,
it could be referring to ‘our love for Him’ or ‘His love for us’
or both. Rather than debate which one is meant, we can know
that the underlying message is for us to live a life that pleases
God.
How does that benefit us? When our efforts are to please God,
we will naturally love Him more, and as a result, we can rise
above the irritations of life. Why? Because, in spite of what is
bothering and challenging us, we know that God loves us. It
also means we are willing to be diligent about giving a higher
priority to the things in our lives we know are pleasing to Him.
The scriptures tells us to
‘pray in the Holy Spirit’ and to ‘build up our faith’.
But you, dear friends, by building yourselves
up in your most holy faith and praying in the
Holy Spirit
(Jude 1:20)
How is ‘praying in the Holy Spirit’ different than any other
type of praying?
When we pray ‘in the spirit’ we are connecting with God in a new
way. Why? Because we are praying for the right things, and not
out of a selfish, or self-centered heart. Since the two are ‘connected’
in this verse, when we are ‘praying in the Spirit’ it is one of the ways
to ‘build our faith’.
‘Praying in the Spirit’ shows we are genuinely concerned about the
salvation of others. We also have a desperate desire to see all people
saved from eternal condemnation. If we were to ask anyone,
“Would you like to see everyone go to Heaven?”
most everyone would answer, “Yes”. But when are ‘praying in the
Spirit’, it means much more than a simple, “yes”, it means we want
to do whatever we can to encourage others to receive salvation from
the Lord (not only for our family members, but also for friends and
even strangers).
Since we understand the doubts others may have (because we had
them ourselves before we were saved), we become more sensitive to
the opportunities God provides for us to gently (mercifully) and
compassionately share with them how He saved us, and changed
our lives forever.
Be merciful to those who doubt; save others
by snatching them from the fire; to others
show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even
the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
(Jude 1:22-23)
Many people have shown an interest in serving the Lord, but they have
said that,
(1) they don’t know how and where to serve Him, and
(2) they have no idea what spiritual gift they received
from God when He saved them.
Sharing our testimony with others is an area where we all can actively
serve the Lord while we are waiting for Him to make it clear what ‘gift’
He has given us, and where He wants us to use our ’gift’ in serving Him.
If we don’t have a desire to discover our ‘spiritual gift’ and begin using
it to serve the Lord, then we should ask ourselves,
“What is holding me back from connecting to the Lord in this way?”
Love is an emotion, or feeling, in action. Love can soothe the discouraged
and lonely feelings which are trying to control our minds and emotions.
We need to be thankful for the love of God, that heals us from a myriad
of illnesses. We all want to ‘feel’ the love from others, and we all ‘need’
the love from God.
His love sustains us until the Lord escorts us into an eternal life with Him.
Without being ‘connected with’ and ‘feeling the presence of’ the Lord, it
can be difficult and at times seem impossible to meet the challenges of life
that we face daily (especially the ones that seem overwhelming).
One blessing we should never overlook is, when God saves us, He begins
a ‘sanctification’ process of purging the ‘unrighteousness’ in our lives
and filling us with more ‘righteousness’. His process might feel painful
at times, because it may require His discipline as a way of ‘freeing us’
from the chains of Satan, which have been causing sinful thoughts and
actions in our lives.
God’s actions may feel like punishment, and they are to a certain degree,
but it is during those times that we need to remember what He has said,
Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set
on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance
with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
(Romans 8:5)
We can see from this scripture that we need a complete reversal from
our ‘fleshly desires’ to ‘spiritual desires’.
Sometimes extreme
circumstance require extreme actions, but we should never forget,
And we know that in all things God works for
the good of those who love him, who have been
called according to his purpose.
(Romans 8:28)
What may seem harsh to us, is really God showing His love for us.
If we are honest with ourselves, each of us can probably point to at
least one area of our life where we are weak and vulnerable to the
the influences of Satan. We may have tried several times to overcome
them in our own strength, but they never go away completely.
We know we need God’s help in breaking these chains, but we are not
always prepared to accept His method of helping us. With that in mind,
when He disciplines us, we can either reject His efforts, or embrace them,
even when they seem extremely harsh to us at the time. It is a challenge
for us to decide if we ‘really’ want to overcome Satan’s control, or not.
We need to answer this question for ourselves,
“Do I really want/need God’s love or not?”
Love is an emotion that most everyone wants to experience in their lives.
A husband and wife visited an orphanage where they hoped to adopt a
child. In an interview with the boy they wanted to adopt, they told him
in glowing terms about the many things they could give him. To their
amazement the little fellow said,
“If you have nothing to offer except a good home,
clothes, toys, and the other things that most kids
have, I would just as soon stay here.”
The woman asked,
“What on earth could you want besides those things?”
The little boy replied,
“I just want someone to love me”
Even a little boy knew that
“man shall not live by bread alone”.
Our deeper yearnings and longings can be met only by a renewed
fellowship with the One in whose image we were created – God.
ACTION:
How often do you ‘pray in the Spirit’ for the salvation of others?
I have heard stories of people faithfully praying for the salvation
of another person for a long time. They could have given up after
a few years, but they didn’t, and after many years of prayer, the
person they had been praying for, invited the Lord into their life.
We should never impose a time limit on how often we pray for the
salvation of others (and especially those we love who are a part of
our family, but might be living a life estranged from us). The bible
tells us that Jesus prays for those who belong to Him.
At which point would we want Him to quit praying for us? We
wouldn’t, would we? We should never stop praying for others
either, right? We should never be guilty of thinking,
“I’ve prayed for this person for a very long time,
but they are hopeless; they are never going to change.”
As you think about the magnitude of God’s love for you, hopefully
it will motivate you to freely express your love for Him, and for
others. God’s love is not a ‘feel good’ phrase, but it is a genuine
reality that everyone needs to experience in their lives; without
it, a huge void will remain which cannot be filled from any other
source.
As you think about the importance of sharing your testimony with
others and your desire to see them saved, think about the following
(written by a registered nurse):
“I’ve seen wonderful Christian death experiences. They’ve said
they saw family members, angels, and a bright light. Many died
with a smile in their eyes.
I’ve also seen non-Christians die and it was horrifying! One
woman said, “The devil is here! He’s coming to get me!” She
was sitting up terrified. Suddenly she said, “He’s got me!”,
and fell back dead.
I’ve seen a vile man die with the most terrified look on his face.
Absolute horror. Even after he was dead, his face was contorted
with a silent scream, which is kinda impossible since all muscles
should relax after death. The physician’s assistant who saw it
said she started going back to church because of it.
One man, who was sexually inappropriate, took a couple of minutes
of not breathing to die. He grabbed ahold of my shirt, trying to hold
on to life. He had the most horrifying, terrified look on his face.
Please people, Heaven and hell are real. Say this prayer,…Jesus
come into my life. Forgive me of my sins. I believe You died for
my sins and rose again. I love you Jesus. Amen!”
God loves us and He has a plan for everyone who is a member of
His family. He didn’t ‘save us to sit’, but He ‘saved us to serve’.
Every Christian is important to God and He has equipped us to
be a part of His earthly ministry, because His desire is that ‘none
should perish’.
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some
understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you,
not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come
to repentance.
(2 Peter 3:9)
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for loving me. Your
love never ceases to amaze me, especially in the light
of my failures to live a life that is pleasing to You. I
pray that as I think about these scriptures in Jude,
I will have a renewed desire and effort to live a life
pleasing to You. When I please You I know that I
will have a greater love for You, and for others.
Create in me a burning desire to see others saved,
and to remember the obstacles I had to overcome
in order to invite You into my own life. Help me to
love others as You love me. I praise and love You,
my Heavenly Father.”
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