Today’s devotion is from a friend of mine, Angel Torres. He is a young man with a passion for Jesus and I pray today’s devotion will bless you as it did me. Angel will be contributing his writings from time to time and if you are blessed by this or any of his future devotions drop him an email to encourage him as I know he will be encouraging you. His email is: angeljtorres77@gmail.com
Hi everyone, my name is Angel Torres and I would like to extend a warm “thank-you” to my friend Curt for allowing me to share some of my writing with you all! I’m a 23-year old student at Macedonia Baptist College and I enjoy reading, writing, and learning about apologetics (how to defend one’s faith). I am married to my beautiful wife, Grace, and we welcomed our daughter, Eden, into the world last year. Our growing family has been so blessed by God, and I’m looking forward to sharing the things that God has put on my heart with you all in the coming days. With that being said, I would like to share with you what I believe to be a great message of hope and encouragement!
“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen” (Jude 24-25 KJV).
These words round out the short yet extremely interesting and impactful Book of Jude. The focal point of this Book is about the threat of false teachers, however, Jude ends with a beautiful reminder that every believer should know: it is God alone who is able to keep us from falling, and it is God alone who will present us spotless before Him (and this will be a joyous occasion!). What does it mean that God is able to “keep us from falling?” Well, put simply, it is God who keeps on going on the right track. Imagine a time when you were driving and you made a wrong turn. If you were driving through a neighborhood or city that you were familiar with, it probably wasn’t too difficult to get back on track. If you were in an unfamiliar place, however, it might’ve been more tricky to get back to where you needed to go. As Christians, we are “strangers and pilgrims” (1 Peter 2:11) in this world. We are living in an unfamiliar neighborhood so to speak. As a result, we must rely on God’s power and strength to keep us going in the right direction. If it were all up to us, we’d be in trouble! (At least I know I would be!) Only God can keep us from going down the crooked path and falling into various kinds of temptations.
Additionally, it is God who will present us as “faultless” before Him. Though we stumble and struggle daily, God the Holy Spirit is actively working in the lives of His people, cleaning and furnishing us for the Master. This will be an occasion marked by great joy and celebration! If you have been born again, then you have an eternity of “exceeding joy” awaiting you! I pray that this will challenge and encourage us to live accordingly. Even before that time comes, however, we can still say in unison with our brother Jude, “To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.” When I read these kinds of prayers from men and women in the Bible, I’m amazed and inspired by their high view of God. Jude spares no expense in extolling God by highlighting His (1) wisdom, (2) salvation, (3) glory, (4) majesty, (5) dominion, and (6) power. Only the God who is wise, glorious, majestic, sovereign, and capable of bringing salvation to sinners is able to keep said sinners from falling!
Lastly, I want to encourage you to look carefully at Jude’s wonderful description of God. He refers to God as “God our Savior,” a clear reference to the divine nature of Jesus Christ. In fact, God emphatically declared that there is no Savior besides Him (Isaiah 43:11). Interestingly, it is believed and understood that Jude was actually one of Jesus’ half-brothers! Despite his familiar tie to the Savior of the world, Jude still exalted Him as God incarnate. May we do the same, both on this side of heaven and for all of eternity. I’ll close with one of my favorite quotes from the Prince of Preachers, Charles Spurgeon:
“He who counts the stars and calls them by their names is in no danger of forgetting His own children.”1
1 Charles Spurgeon Quote – Psalms 147 | “He who counts the sta… | Flickr