Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working....My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

James 5:12-20

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working....My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. James 5:16, 19-20

My preparation for teaching this upcoming Sunday 25AUG on James 5:12-20 continues and today I prepared the presentation I will use to guide our discussion.  The core of the discussion looks at prayer in suffering and how we should pray, and how a community of believers is important to support and encourage one another from wandering from the truth into sin.  

I look forward to our Sunday school's discussion!

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who gives me Your Word, the Holy Spirit, my church and so much more to help me understand Your Word and help me understand the message You have for me.  I am not deserving of my salvation nor any of the blessings You pour out for me.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.

Ecclesiastes 7:14-25

In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. Ecclesiastes 7:14

I resume my study of Ecclesiastes using the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for this book. Building on my study yesterday, my focus this morning is Ecclesiastes 7:14-25 and how the takeaway of this text relates to the first division of the commentary: God Has a Design for Everything. Clearly, Solomon's text in v14 describes how God designed and has providence over both prosperity and adversity - God is in both and we should see God at work in both.  The text also shares how this should humble humanity such that - apart from God - we should not think with any certainty we know what happens to us after we die. Yet for believers we know we have eternal life as God promises this and He is faithful.  Surrender your life to Jesus Christ - be saved from sin now and for eternity. 

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are SO good - I know all things come from You and that You are in all circumstances.  Thank You for using all circumstances to make me more like You.  I am broken without You.  Your grace is amazing indeed.  Thank You Jesus! I am not deserving of the grace and blessings You pour out for me.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

[T]o the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Jude

[T]o the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. Jude 25

I resume (and conclude) my study of Jude using the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for this book - the final post for Jude will be based on a study of a commentary-assisted review of Jude 25, the final verse of Jude.  Here, we look at attributes of God:

• He is One True God, there are none others like Him
• Through God the Father, we have Jesus Christ - Our Lord and Savior
• He is the King of Kings, He is glorious, He rules and has dominion over all from the beginning of time to the end of time - Alpha and Omega

 The commentary describes two divisions from this one final verse:

1. Believers Are Secure in the Person of God.
   
2. Believers Are Secure in the Praise of God.

God is glorious, it is not given to Him as it is "intrinsic to who He is."  We must acknowledge this glorious God.  We must praise Him for His majesty, power, and authority.  The commentary shares: "[h]uman extinction is not a possibility because he has all things in his hands. Nuclear annihilation is not a possibility because he has all things in his hands. Evangelistic defect is not a possibility because he has all things in his hands. Missionary failure is not a possibility because he has all things in his hands. Losing my salvation is not a possibility because he has all things (including me) in his hands. In the end our God wins! He is glorious and majestic. He has dominion and power. For his glory he will keep me. In his majesty he will keep me. Through his power he will keep me. By his authority he will keep me."

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who is full of grace and compassion - thank You Jesus for my eternal security.  What an amazing blessing!  I am not deserving of such blessing.  My sin is great and it continues...please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy[.]

Jude

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy[.] Jude 24

Today, I come back to conclude my study of Jude using the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for this book.  Today, my study consists of a commentary-assisted review of Jude 24-25, the final verses of Jude, typically used as a doxology - my focus is v24 as the commentary shares two divisions from this one verse:

Excerpts from the introduction to the commentary emphasize how Jude 24-25 should greatly encourage us and give us peace as we read how God keeps us from stumbling and how He presents us as blameless before Him.  This gives us security in knowing that He will keep us sealed for Him to the end when we shall meet Jesus face to face. The commentary shares the doctrine of eternal security: "[a]ll true believers endure to the end. Those whom God has accepted in Christ, and sanctified by His Spirit, will never fall away from the state of grace, but shall persevere to the end.  Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, and bring reproach on the cause of Christ and temporal judgments on themselves; yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation." We are referred to John 10:27-30 and Romans 8:38-39.  Additional references on this doctrine include: Ephesians 1:13-14, Hebrews 7:25, 13:5, 1 John 2:19, and 5:13.

1. Believers Are Secure in the Power of God: As our Great Shepherd (Jehovah Rohi) and Protector, Jesus is able to protect and seal us for eternity.  He is the Creator and holds all things in His hands. See Colossians 1:17 and Hebrews 12:5-13 (God disciplines us to help us endure and persevere).
   
2. Believers Are Secure in the Promise of God: The commentary shares: "[w]e will not simply stand faultless; we will stand faultless before the presence of the glory of God. Because of his promise to bring our salvation to completion, we will see his glory. We will know his glory. We will enjoy his glory forever. This will be our joy. Jude says in his presence, as we see and experience his glory, there will be great, exceeding joy. There will be a celebration with rejoicing and exulting."
   

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for securing my salvation for eternity...I have great peace knowing how no one or nothing can take me away from You.  Thank You.  I am not deserving of such a blessing. My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please continue to heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

Jude

To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. Jude 1b-2

I proceed with my study of Jude using the Christ-Centered Exposition commentary series volume for this book.  Today, my study consists of a commentary-assisted review of Jude 1-2.  Per the commentary:

Main idea: "Because of the mercy, peace, and love of God shown through Jesus Christ, Christians can rejoice in their status as the Lord’s servants."

Excerpts from the introduction (for the entirety of the book):

• Jude writes "a word of encouragement about “the salvation we share,” [and] is redirected by the Holy Spirit to bring a word of warning, calling all believers “to contend for the faith”".
• "[Jude] will expose the false teachers for who they are, and he will prescribe a plan of attack that allows us to take the fight to these spiritual terrorists. However, he lays the foundation for the battle both at the beginning and at the end of the letter with a word about our security: we are safe in Christ (vv. 1,24)."
  

Divisions for Jude 1-2:

1. Know Who You Are in Christ (1): Jude, like many from Jesus' family, did not believe in Him during Jesus' earthly ministry years; however, the "resurrection changed everything" for Jude. In v1 Jude describes himself first as a "servant of Jesus Christ." We are referred to 1 Corinthians 6:20 where believers are "bought with a price." We are owned and belong to Christ. Also in v1 we are called, and "[h]ere the word means the effectual calling of God that opens the heart to freely respond to the gospel.  In Scripture there are two types of calling. There is a general call (see Matthew 11:28-30), and there is an effectual call (see Romans 8:30).  There is a mysterious wonder in this truth that the sovereign God effectually brings persons to salvation in perfect harmony with their freewill response to the gospel...This is the only place in the Bible where this phrase “loved by God the Father” appears. There is a sense in which God loves all persons indiscriminately as his creatures (John 3:16), but there is also a sense in which God especially loves his children. It is comparable to the difference between the love I have for my friends and that which I have for my wife and sons....Kept: by his work on earth, Jesus obtained my salvation. By his work in heaven, Jesus maintains my salvation. God is preserving fallen angels and apostates for judgment (vv. 6,13). God is preserving you and me for glory!"
   
2. Know What You Have from Christ (2): "[Mercy] is a characteristic of God that moves him to seek a relationship with persons who have no right to be in relationship with him. The word speaks of compassion, loving kindness. It is gracious, undeserved, and unmerited; yet it is not blind, dumb, or ignorant. It is something in God that moves him to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves and we do not deserve....God saw us beaten by Satan and left for dead by sin; and he went into action and sent his Son, binding our wounds, healing our souls, and making us his own!...God is the Lord of peace. Jesus is the Mediator of peace. We are the heirs of peace....Jude prays that his readers would see...love from God as ever real and ever increasing toward them....In John 17:23 we are told, amazingly, that as the Father has loved the Son so he has also loved us. In Romans 8:31-39 we are informed that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is ours in Christ Jesus. And in 1 Corinthians 13:8 Paul reminds us that because love is at the center of who our God is, it will never fail, never end! Jude knows the power of this love, and he wants his readers to know it as well....Because we are his, we have internal security in our hearts, external security in the world, and eternal security in heaven."

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who showers me with mercy, peace, and love - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such blessings.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me and help me overcome and turn from such sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Romans 8

And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. Romans 8:30

As I continue to be in between studies, having wrapped up my study looking at the life of Paul using John Piper's 30 Reasons Why I Love the Apostle Paul, I lean on DesiringGod.com's Solid Joys daily devotional, which today looks at how believers should feel "as secure as God is faithful." Security is a key need for all of humanity.  Listening to the devotion made me think of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, which of course is a secular view of how humanity seeks a higher order of needs once a certain level of needs is satisfied.  What is lost on this hierarchy is how all of these needs are in the context of creation that is wasting away and only temporary.  It is possible to move up and down this hierarchy depending on life circumstances which are beyond our control.  While my thoughts must evolve, my initial thought is that as believers experience the process of spiritual formation and maturity, we grow in feeling eternally secure which is the topic of today's devotion - and this eternal security is by definition temporal nor subject to the ups and downs of our circumstances.  John Piper, starting with Romans 8:30, in today's devotion, shares "an unbreakable chain" that "[n]o one who is predestined for sonship fails to be called. And no one who is called fails to be justified. And no one who is justified fails to be glorified. This is an unbreakable steel chain of divine covenant faithfulness."  Piper then goes on to refer us to Philippians 1:6 and 1 Corinthians 1:8-9 and use these verses as examples of "promises of our God who cannot lie. Those who are born again are as secure as God is faithful." Brother and sisters in Christ: pursue God and experience eternal security!

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are so good to me and You give me eternal security with You - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of the peace of mind this provides.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus.  Help me overcome and turn from this sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.