READING: Jude, Revelation 1-5
As we move toward the end of another year (in my case, my 49th year as a believer), I’m reminded again today that my faith is dependent on God rather than on me. While God does expect me to strive to keep myself in His love (Jude 21), I am able to do that only because God graciously watches out for His own. He is the one who guards me from stumbling into apostasy, and He’s thus also the one who sets me before God “without blemish” (v. 24). In His glorious plan and power, God redeems His own, protects them, and carries them into eternity for His glory. With that truth comes great joy for the believer. Indeed, our response to Him should be the same response as Jude: “to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and power, before all time, and now, and for evermore” (v. 25).
I do not know what 2024 will bring. If it’s similar to this year, I might face anything from changes in employment responsibility to unexpected deaths in the family. Sickness is always a possibility, and spiritual struggles are often just around the corner. More corporately and globally, we will face an increasingly anti-Christian culture that will likely produce even more serious opposition to the people of God. The work of the gospel will not get easier. No matter what we face, though, we can rest in the truth that God guards us as His own. We need not worry; we need only trust.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: Are you spiritually prepared for growing opposition to God’s work?
PRAYER: “Father, to You be glory, majesty, dominion and power.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Revelation 6-11
Thank you, your reminder that our faith is dependent on God and not us has helped and encouraged me more than once🙏❤️