1 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:13,440 Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hello, and thank you for listening to your 2 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:17,279 Speaker 1: Daily Bible Verse, the podcast that examines one verse each 3 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:20,920 Speaker 1: day to learn more about God and his will for us. 4 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:26,000 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jessica Venerocle, and after this short word 5 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:30,280 Speaker 1: from our sponsor, we'll dive into today's Bible Verse Jude 6 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:45,120 Speaker 1: Verses twenty and twenty one. Today's Bible Verses Jude Verses 7 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:49,519 Speaker 1: twenty and twenty one. But you beloved, building yourselves up 8 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:53,320 Speaker 1: in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 9 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:57,600 Speaker 1: keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the 10 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:01,920 Speaker 1: mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. 11 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:08,039 Speaker 1: We're builders, maybe not of houses or boats or bikes, 12 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:13,120 Speaker 1: but of a life. We build families, careers, churches, and dreams. 13 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:17,280 Speaker 1: Our lives reflect what we've built based on the choices 14 00:01:17,319 --> 00:01:22,160 Speaker 1: we make along the way. Sometimes it's a carefully followed blueprint, 15 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:25,800 Speaker 1: and other times it's like a century's old manor house 16 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:30,080 Speaker 1: with additions stretching up and out. God gives us one 17 00:01:30,160 --> 00:01:33,440 Speaker 1: life to steward, and it's up to us whether we 18 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:37,640 Speaker 1: steward it well or not. If we make building mistakes 19 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:41,000 Speaker 1: along the way, God's grace and forgiveness are the tools 20 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:43,319 Speaker 1: of the trade to come in and tear down, to 21 00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:47,480 Speaker 1: rebuild or remodel. He gives us the power of choice, 22 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:52,480 Speaker 1: and he helps us with every step. Throughout Scripture, we 23 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:56,200 Speaker 1: discover concepts like being rooted and built up in Christ. 24 00:01:56,840 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 1: We discover to remain in His love and to abiden him. Jude, 25 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:06,120 Speaker 1: the half brother of Jesus, writes this letter emphasizing the 26 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:10,840 Speaker 1: need to contend for our faith. It means to wrestle, 27 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:15,240 Speaker 1: to build, to protect, to promote, and at the end 28 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:19,400 Speaker 1: of the letter he urges us to contend for our faith. 29 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:24,919 Speaker 1: It's a spiritual exercise done with the guidance and perspective 30 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:28,799 Speaker 1: given by the Holy Spirit. Let's dive into the meaning 31 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:33,360 Speaker 1: of today's verse. Keeping yourself in the love of God 32 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:37,040 Speaker 1: does not mean to make yourself lovable by how you live. 33 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 1: It means to keep yourself in harmony with God's ever 34 00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:45,200 Speaker 1: present love. Yes, God loves you just as you are. 35 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:48,760 Speaker 1: But somehow along the way we've twisted it to mean 36 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:51,160 Speaker 1: that it doesn't matter how we live, God's gonna love 37 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:57,079 Speaker 1: us anyway. The truth is God is so great that 38 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:02,840 Speaker 1: He loves even me. The former keeps us stuck in 39 00:03:02,919 --> 00:03:06,079 Speaker 1: old ways of living. The latter reminds us of our 40 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:12,400 Speaker 1: need for God's loving rescue. God loves even me. With 41 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:17,760 Speaker 1: his loving rescue comes benefits like eternity with Him, oneness 42 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:22,600 Speaker 1: with Him, peace that passes understanding, enjoy despite the circumstances 43 00:03:22,639 --> 00:03:27,560 Speaker 1: we face. Sometimes though, we can deny ourselves the benefits 44 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:30,240 Speaker 1: of God's love by living as if we're on the 45 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:33,680 Speaker 1: dark side of the moon, away from the Sun's rays. 46 00:03:34,560 --> 00:03:38,640 Speaker 1: Through Jude, God invites us into the building process of 47 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:43,640 Speaker 1: growing our faith. We can't wait for spiritual growth to happen, 48 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:48,320 Speaker 1: or even expect others to make us grow. We need 49 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:53,280 Speaker 1: to have partnership in it. It's true that other people 50 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:57,440 Speaker 1: can help provide a conducive environment for spiritual growth, but 51 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:01,200 Speaker 1: no one can make another person grow. Jude shows us 52 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:05,640 Speaker 1: the frailty of mankind and how deceivers can infiltrate the Church. 53 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 1: He urges us not to entrust our spiritual growth to 54 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:13,880 Speaker 1: someone else, because sometimes, frankly, it can hurt our growth 55 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:18,680 Speaker 1: or lead us away from God. Today's verse contains four 56 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:22,240 Speaker 1: steps to assure our growth. They are four steps we 57 00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:26,800 Speaker 1: can take. Number one, be diligent in the study of 58 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:31,240 Speaker 1: God's word and give determined effort to apply it to life. 59 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:35,880 Speaker 1: Open the Bible and follow along with a preacher or 60 00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:41,160 Speaker 1: teacher or author or podcaster. Learn basic Bible study methods 61 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:44,000 Speaker 1: of what are the facts, what are the lessons? And 62 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:48,000 Speaker 1: what should my response be. God gives us the tools 63 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:51,919 Speaker 1: for living this life well, living it with hope and courage, 64 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:56,440 Speaker 1: and it teaches, it corrects, it encourages us. But we've 65 00:04:56,480 --> 00:04:59,719 Speaker 1: got to open the Word of God and read to 66 00:04:59,880 --> 00:05:05,239 Speaker 1: us apply it. Secondly, pray depend on the Holy Spirit 67 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:09,880 Speaker 1: to inspire, guide, energize, sustain, and help us pray according 68 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:14,800 Speaker 1: to God's will. Prayer is an effective weapon in spiritual battle. 69 00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:18,839 Speaker 1: We can find ourselves in a struggle against wrong living 70 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:22,800 Speaker 1: and bad teaching, and prayer helps us through We pray 71 00:05:22,839 --> 00:05:25,800 Speaker 1: with our own intellect for our needs and desires, but 72 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:30,160 Speaker 1: we can also pray in the spirit. God can give 73 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:35,120 Speaker 1: us words to say when we pray. Praying engages both 74 00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:41,039 Speaker 1: our minds and our spirits. Third, remain under the care 75 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:46,080 Speaker 1: and influence of God's love through faithful obedience to him. 76 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:50,800 Speaker 1: Jesus called his followers to abide in him. The apostle 77 00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:53,840 Speaker 1: John writes that if we love God, we will obey him. 78 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:57,440 Speaker 1: Faith that Jesus delivered us from the cost of sin 79 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:01,520 Speaker 1: is what propels us to build our lives on Him 80 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:08,479 Speaker 1: and fourth, live with the anticipation of Jesus's return. The 81 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:11,240 Speaker 1: rotating of the sun and the seasons of life that 82 00:06:11,360 --> 00:06:15,440 Speaker 1: follow year after year after year can lull us into 83 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:19,919 Speaker 1: forgetting that this life is not all there is. There 84 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:24,800 Speaker 1: is a glorious future waiting for us. When we keep 85 00:06:24,839 --> 00:06:29,280 Speaker 1: the hope alive of this blessed coming return of Jesus, 86 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:33,160 Speaker 1: it helps us not to give away our faith when 87 00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:37,760 Speaker 1: life gets hard or we want an easy path. These 88 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:40,920 Speaker 1: four pillars to building ourselves up in the most Holy 89 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:44,880 Speaker 1: Faith is the foundation for my book Reframing Rejection and 90 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:48,120 Speaker 1: my Grace Notes. You can find more information about these 91 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:52,520 Speaker 1: on my website Welcomegrace dot com. Because I believe wholeheartedly 92 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:55,040 Speaker 1: what Jude writes in here that we need to build 93 00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:58,560 Speaker 1: ourselves up in our faith. You see, God longs for 94 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:01,760 Speaker 1: us to remain firm and our faith in Him, and 95 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:05,000 Speaker 1: he gives us the help we need through his word, 96 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:12,200 Speaker 1: through prayer and living for Him. Today, take one step 97 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:16,560 Speaker 1: toward building your faith by reading the twenty five verses 98 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:19,680 Speaker 1: in the letter of Jude and asking God to speak 99 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:23,720 Speaker 1: to you through them. Let's pray, Heavenly Father, thank you 100 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:26,360 Speaker 1: so much that you call us to live a life 101 00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:28,920 Speaker 1: for you, and then you give us the tools that 102 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:32,480 Speaker 1: we need so that we can live for you. Lord, 103 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:36,360 Speaker 1: help us to abideen You. Help us to remember that 104 00:07:36,480 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 1: you're coming back to feed the anticipation of your return. 105 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:45,480 Speaker 1: Give us the wisdom and courage we need to live 106 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:48,119 Speaker 1: this life for you in the here and now, while 107 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:52,600 Speaker 1: also keeping our minds eternity focused. God, I love you 108 00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:56,160 Speaker 1: and I'm grateful that we get to serve you. In 109 00:07:56,240 --> 00:07:58,000 Speaker 1: Jesus name. We pray Amen.