Jude 1:17-23New International Version (NIV)
17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, “In
the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly
desires.” 19 These are the people who
divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
20 But you, dear friends,
by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy
Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s
love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal
life.
22 Be merciful to those who
doubt; 23 save others by snatching
them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the
clothing stained by corrupted flesh.
Do
these verses sound like the times in which we live today? We see and hear of people who do just this,
follow their own desires. I heard a story just the other day about a couple who
are male and female but the female is a male and the male is a female. Are they not following their own desires
rather than the plan God had for them? I
heard someone once say that there is no way to stop teenage pregnancies because
it is just a natural desire that cannot be controlled. Are we following God’s plan or their own
selfish desires?
How
are we built up in an ungodly world? We
pray, we read our Bibles, we fellowship with other believer, we show mercy to
others, and we believe. We seek Him with
all our hearts and at the day appointed by Him, we will see Him face to
face. We must hold on to that truth and
be true to Him while doing so.
When
we are able to do this, it will be much easier for us to show mercy to
others. Knowing that God has shown mercy
to us. There are times that I would like
that mercy shown to me rather than me always having to show it but that is not
what this passage tells us to do. We are
to not write off those who doubt but rather be gentle with them. Some are almost to the fire but possibly we can
give them hope through Jesus Christ and they will avoid the fire. Others, we need to be cautious of so we are
not entangled in their web but still we must show them mercy. It does not say to hate them but we must hate
the sin. We must realize that it is only
by the grace of God that we are not in their place and it is by His grace that
we remain free. To those that I mentioned
above as illustrations, we must pray for them that they too may find the love
of Christ. Seek Him and know Him so that
you may show the mercy to others that He has shown and will show us.
Seeking
Him with all my heart,
Sheila
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