Body Snatching Posture

‭‭Jude‬ ‭1‬:‭20‬-‭23‬      

“But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. 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 ‭1‬:‭20‬-‭23‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jude calls believers to posture themselves to continually experience the love of God through building themselves up in the faith, praying in the Spirit, and waiting for Jesus to return and make all things new.

But the passage doesn't say we seek mercy from Jesus. It says we are to "wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ." In other words, we are to stay strong in our faith, remain aligned with the Holy Spirit, and know that our spiritual unfoldment will express as the mercy demonstrated through the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.

These were people who were waiting for the mercy of Christ to bring them to eternal life. They were living in this world, but looking forward to the life that was to come. This is the opposite of those who are focused on this world and the pleasure that it offers.

As they waited, Jude told them to keep themselves in God’s love. I believe this is similar to the greatest commandment, to love God with all that we are. This is not something that just happens. It is intentional and it is intimate. It is living our lives in such a way that God is at the center of all we do.

Jude gives us two ways that we can keep ourselves in God’s love. The first is by building ourselves up in our most holy faith. Become deeply rooted in the faith and in God’s word. Intentionally invest time and effort in understanding and practicing your faith. It will not happen by accident or by passively sitting on the sidelines.

And, secondly, he tells us to pray in the Holy Spirit. I do not believe that he is telling us to pray in tongues as some might suppose. Rather he is telling us to pray in the power of the Spirit. As you pray, allow God’s Spirit to fill you and guide you in your prayer.

And listen to the Spirit’s response to you. Prayer should be a two-way communication. All too often, we make it one-way, talking to God but not listening to His response.

Even though the book is so unyieldingly critical of people who might stray or cause others to stray from the Christian traditions, Jude supports, still at the end, in verses 22-23, there is a command to show mercy to those who are “wavering.”

The mercy of Christ, named in verse 21, should motivate people to be merciful to their neighbors. 

In addition, people who are disobedient still have a chance to turn things around, and so Jude tells the audience to snatch them “out of the fire.” At the same time, this work needs to be done with care.

So much of our physical world is dependent on power. Yet the spiritual world is even more about power than the physical world. One of the great avenues of power, a place where power is available to us and flows through us, is prayer.

We are commanded to rely on this power and not our eloquence, position, or physical might. So as we pray each day, let's consciously invite the Holy Spirit into our prayer life and ask the Spirit to empower our prayers.

So, while you wait for the Lord to come for you, grow in God’s love by investing time in His Word and in prayer. Not just a casual reading and simple listing of requests. But investing your whole self in it. Keep growing as you wait for the return of Jesus to take you to heaven for eternity.

We need to be building up, growing, going deeper, in our faith, in our relationship with Jesus. We need to be keeping in, staying focused on the awesomeness of life with God now and what He has for us in eternity. 

And with mercy, compassion, we should be focused on those around us who have no clue what it means to know that God loves them. They need Jesus!!!

Father thank You for this day and for Your amazing grace that sustains us through it. Lord open the floodgates of heaven and rain down Your abundant blessings over my friend and family today. Lord in a world that is spiralling out of control and a Church that is becoming increasingly apostate, we pray that You would keep us from straying from the path of righteousness. Lord guide us into all truth by the power of Your Holy Spirit, as we study the Word of God and seek to do only those things that are pleasing in Your sight. Lord let my friend be the blessing someone has been praying for today.

Father, we love You. Amen !