02
So How Then Shall We Live & Lead?
John TiltonJude 1:17-23
But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. 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.
The timing of what Jude wrote in these scriptures is so timely given the recent ruling by the Supreme Court on same-sex marriage and what now is Federal law on the subject. We indeed see what Jesus foretold coming to fruition in people following fleshly desires and natural instincts; affirmed now by the Supreme Court ruling. However, Jude is also succinct in his brevity of how we are called to build up and equip ourselves in our faith, be perseverant in prayer and our devotion in love with God in these times. Jude goes further in prompting us to be merciful and gracious to those caught up on the fence in relation to these things, doing our best to share Christ with those who avail themselves to us, showing mercy, not judgment, yet sharing and instilling what lies ahead to invoke a fear of God and His judgment; all because we all are in agreement with Christ in the view of sin and corruption of the flesh.
My original reaction to the ruling was great disappointment and a reality check of these times, most probably the cusp or indeed within the end times. As we approach July 4th and what this day or remembrance stand for, I and others questioned our freedom and what may await us in the future if our religious freedom may be further eroded. However, God’s word and a word from our senior pastor set me on the course that I am so confident and resolved in. That course is that we were called and prepared for such a time as this. That we will continue to live and lead with confidence in who we are in Christ, living by His will, principles and precepts, separating ourselves from the preponderance of a world of fleshly and natural instincts, drawing closer to God in our devotions and prayer and continuing to show and example God’s grace and mercy for the lost, looking for every opportunity to lead the lost, the doubtful and those searching to Jesus Christ as the one and only Savior. More then ever before, we must live, lead and love with the ways of the Lord, being in the world but not of the world, resolute and sound in who we are and the Christ that we represent, example and live through.
Dear Lord, may you guide me to stand sound and strong in who I am, what I am called to in you and how I shall live and lead.
