February 20: Jude 1:5-7
Key Verse: Jude 1:5
Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe.
Devotion:
One thing nobody is going to escape is the final judgement. Not a nice thought, but something which has got to be remembered all the time. We are living in a world that has been created by God, is maintained by God and will ultimately perish or be changed through God. This world is but here under God's grace and nothing more. We like to think we are in control of things and that we can control various things about this world, but we are only changing how we live in it.
At the allotted time we will all have to face up to God's wrath. From the beginning of time He has shown how people will not get away with evil and how we have to pay for doing things our own way instead of His ways. Just because civilisation was almost entirely wiped out thousands of years ago, we don't tend to think about it. God saved the Israelites from Egypt thousands of years ago, yet few people believe it. Christ came to earth only 2000 years ago, yet man insists on taking those truths away from us now too. God has shown what has happened in the past and has warned about what will happen in the future – yet man continues to try and ignore the truth.
Pride, lust and want will continue to separate us from Christ until we do acknowledge Him as Lord. No matter how clean a life we try to live, no matter how good we are, our hearts still have evil in them. Even when we inwardly acknowledge Him as our Saviour, our hearts still have that evil. No amount of outward displays of Christianity will prevent us from facing God's wrath. The only thing which will keep us from paying the penalty is our total inward belief that Christ is our Saviour and He paid our debt. Only then will Jesus be able to stand up and say “I know this person. I have paid for their sins. They are not guilty”.
Points to Ponder:
How much do you believe your friends?
How much do you believe the bible?