December 30, 2013

Jude's Doxology

Devotion for the Week...

Can you believe this is the last Monday of 2013? I know we say it all the time, but the older I get the faster the years seem to go by. I said that to my dad a few months ago and he told me his father used to say the same thing, and now Dad understands it a little better each year.

I read the book of Jude a few weeks ago and I thought the Doxology at the end seemed like a fitting way to end off my devotions for the year. This is how Jude ended his brief letter:

"To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy - to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen" (Jude 24, 25).

There is so much in these two verses!

To him who is able to keep you from falling - What a wonderful promise this is. When we rely on God's power rather than our own, when we focus on His plan for us rather than what we think is best, then He is able to keep us from falling into sin. It is when we rely only on ourselves that we have no power to resist the temptation to sin.

...and to present you before his glorious presence without fault - I don't know about you, but I am far from without fault! Though I try to be a good person, the inescapable truth is that even the best people still do wrong. We cannot do differently. It is human nature. Only through faith in Jesus as our Savior can we be presented before a holy and glorious God as people without fault.

...and with great joy - Can you even begin to imagine the joy that will be ours when we stand before God? I doubt our wildest imaginings even come close. What amazes me is that God will also feel joy when we stand before Him.

...to the only God our Savior - The Creator of all life, Creator of the entire universe, God Himself provided the way for our salvation. Knowing that we could never redeem ourselves, Jesus came to be our Savior and that salvation is available to anyone who believes in Him.

...be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord - Though we glorify sports figures and celebrities, though we use the term majesty to refer to royalty or mountains, though leaders the world over exert power and authority over their people, in reality all glory, majesty, power and authority belong solely to God.

...before all ages, now and forevermore! - Through all time, and all eternity, God never changes. All glory, majesty, power and authority have always belonged to Him and always will.

...Amen - Amen simply means 'so be it.'

And so, as 2013 draws to a close, please join me in saying, "To God be the glory!"

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