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Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.Jonah 1:16Here are three things we learn from the ship’s crew about pursuing a God-centred life:1. Turn to God and ask Him for mercy“They called out to the LORD” (1:14).The crew saw that their religion was worthless. They abandoned all other gods. What mattered was finding peace with this God who made the land and the sea, who sends storms, and who speaks through prophets to save them! So, they cried, “O Lord, let us not perish for this man’s life… for you… have done as it pleased you” (1:14). In other words, “Lord, have mercy on us!”2. Abandon self-rescue and stake your life on Jesus Christ“They picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging” (1:15).These men saw their guilt in the sacrifice. Yet to their amazement they found salvation through the sacrifice. “We crucified the Son of God—that’s our guilt. Yet He laid down his life as a sacrifice to placate God’s wrath for us—that is our salvation.”3. Pledge your redeemed life to Jesus Christ“They offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows” (1:16).Many people make vows to God in the middle of a storm. These men made vows to God after He delivered them. That shows a real change of heart. These men knew that they had come back from the dead. And their new life had been bought with a price (Jonah’s). They felt that they were no longer their own, so they pledged their redeemed lives to God.Which of these steps could you take today?

“Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you.”Jonah 1:12How did Jonah know that the sea would become calm if the crew threw him out of the boat? There can only be one answer: God revealed it.When Jonah’s sin was exposed, God’s silence was ended, and Jonah spoke as a prophet again. This prophetic word was a command from God: “Sacrifice Jonah and you will be saved.” The sacrifice of Jonah will be the salvation of the crew.Notice that the crew’s first instinct is to refuse the sacrifice: Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land” (1:13). Feel the weight of this picture. God has spoken through the prophet. But these men think they can save themselves without the sacrifice!The strength of this impulse to refuse the sacrifice is significant. A deep-seated pride in the human heart says, “We can make it through the judgement of God. We’ll just row harder.” That is the polar opposite of a God-centred life!When the crew realised that they could not beat the storm, they turned in their desperation to what God had said through the prophet. They staked their lives on the sacrifice of Jonah.God’s storm is stronger than you are. You can’t overcome sin enough or make yourself good enough to survive God’s judgement. The storm of His judgement will wreck you unless you are saved by the sacrifice of Someone else.That is why Jesus Christ came into the world. That is why He went to the cross. He was cast out as a sacrifice to calm the wrath of God on your behalf. He died on that cross so that you should survive God’s judgement against sin.Has pride been causing you to “row harder”? What will it take for you to stop refusing Jesus’ sacrifice?

The LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest… so that the ship threatened to break up.Jonah 1:4Notice, it was God who sent the storm. In Jonah’s life, the storm was an intervention to save him from a life wasted in disobedience. At the same time, God was stepping in to redeem the ship’s crew who knew nothing about Him. Even God’s judgements are a means of His mercy.Each crew member “cried out to his god” (1:5). A lot of “gods” were being asked to help, but it wasn’t making any difference. So, the captain said to Jonah, “Call out to your god… that we may not perish” (1:6). He was saying, “Our gods haven’t done anything—why don’t you try yours!”But the problem was that Jonah could not pray. How can you pray to God when you are actively disobeying His word? Christians running from God are of no use to lost people in a storm. Maybe you can see yourself in Jonah here.Jonah was the only one who knew God, but he was immobilised by sin. So God exposed Jonah’s sin in an unusual way: The sailors cast lots to learn “on whose account this evil has come upon us… and the lot fell on Jonah” (1:7).If God exposes your sin, it is because He loves you (Heb. 12:6). When God exposed Jonah’s sin, it was the beginning of hope for Jonah and for the entire crew.Jonah told them about the God of the Bible. When the crew got a glimpse of Him, they said, “What shall we do?” (Jon. 1:11). How can we pacify God’s anger? That is the single most important question in the Bible. If God is against us, we have no hope. What can we do?How have you seen God’s mercy and His loving hand at work even in your fiercest storms?

Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish.Jonah 1:3When Jonah refused God’s call, he knew that God would no longer give him prophetic revelations. If he made up his own prophecies he would be a false prophet. If he stopped prophesying, his rebellion against God would be exposed.So, his choice was either to obey God or to quit being a prophet and start over in a new place. That is what Jonah decided to do. He “found a ship going to Tarshish” (1:3). If you decide to go to Tarshish, there will always be a ship to get you there! If you decide to disobey God, you will always have the opportunity to do so.C. H. Spurgeon told of a man with a violent temper. The man would get angry, then he would lose his temper, and then he would throw something. Spurgeon said, “What struck me was not that he got angry, nor that he threw something when he was angry. But that whenever he was angry there was always something at hand to throw.”Never trust circumstances when you are resisting God’s Word. There will always be opportunities to make your sin and rebellion worse. Thank God that’s not the end of the story. Jonah’s sinful heart was taking him away from God, but God was intent on bringing him back.Jonah tells us how the ship’s crew became God-centred believers. In their remarkable story, we have one of the clearest pictures of the gospel in the Bible. The gospel is about the storm and the sacrifice—the storm of God’s judgement and the sacrifice by which we can be saved.Think of a circumstance that gave you an opportunity to disobey God. What was your thinking? Why might you choose differently in the future?

*Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish.*Jonah 1:3Jonah avoided a God-centred life. He had planned where he wanted to live and what he wanted to do, and when God disrupted his plan, he quit.If your plan becomes more important than God’s plan, you cannot live a God-centred life. What if God calls you to a different life for the sake of people who need to hear the Gospel? Here is how you can live a God-centred life:1. Recognise what you are doing now is only for a timeThe world wants you to believe that everything is secure and permanent. But your home, your work, and the people you love are yours only for a time. Hold lightly to what you are doing now. It will not be forever.2. Keep your dreams on the altar of GodGod is free at any time to disturb your dreams and to give you a new calling. While God planned for you to be here today, He may have you doing something you never imagined a year from now.3. Practise making yourself available to GodThe more comfortable you are in life, the more difficult it will be for you to obey God’s call. Keep your heart in a place where you can say, “If there’s something else You want me to do, Lord, I’m ready and willing to do it.”Have you ever asked God if He wants you in cross-cultural ministry? Have you asked how you can be most useful to Him? Or is it all about you? Practise making yourself available to God.

The word of the LORD came to Jonah... “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”Jonah 1:1, 2Jonah was already running from God at the beginning of his story, but even after God used him to evangelise an entire city he was still out of sorts with God.The book of Jonah was likely written later in Jonah’s life as he looked back on his ministry. He tells us, “God used me remarkably, but I spent much of my life avoiding the God I was serving.”This was a man who spoke the Word of God. His prophecies came true. He walked in the presence of God, spoke the Word of God, and was filled with the Spirit of God.But then God said, “Arise, go to Nineveh” (1:1, 2). It’s hard for us to grasp how shocking this must have been. The Assyrians were known for their brutality, and Nineveh was described by the prophet Nahum as “the bloody city, all full of lies and plunder—no end to the prey!” (3:1).Jonah was settled and secure in what he was doing for God, and God said, “Go to Nineveh!” We all have dreams for our families, our finances, our futures. Then God breaks into the plan. Suddenly, your life is not what you thought it would be.When God stepped into Jonah’s plan, his heart was revealed. Jonah’s self-centredness was hidden under the surface of his successful ministry, but it was exposed when God called him to start something new.Can you think of a time when God exposed self-centred motives in your own heart?

Salvation belongs to the LORD!Jonah 2:9Today’s title might seem a little strange: How to Avoid a God-Centred Life, but that’s what Jonah was doing for a huge part of his life! This month we’re going to look at eight different ways Jonah tried to avoid a God-centred life, so we can avoid making the same mistakes he did.The book of Jonah tells a simple story: God called Jonah to go and preach in a pagan city, but he got on a ship and went the opposite direction. When Jonah was thrown overboard, God provided a fish to rescue him. Jonah decided he had better do what God said, and the people of Nineveh repented and were saved.Here are three things you can expect to find in the story of Jonah:1. Expect to see yourself in JonahGod used Jonah to change a whole city. But instead of being happy about it, Jonah was angry, dissatisfied, and out of sorts with God. Those who throw themselves into the service of Jesus often experience inner conflict more intensely than others. The more useful you are to Christ, the more intense your struggles.2. Expect to be disturbed by God’s passion for the worldNothing is more disturbing to a comfortable faith or a comfortable church than God’s passion for the world. God called Jonah to leave the life he loved to reach the people God loved. God’s call revealed the selfishness of Jonah’s heart. God’s passion for lost people can turn things upside down in your life and in His church.3. Expect to be surprised by God’s care for His servantsIf God cared only about the work, He could have ditched Jonah and sent someone else. But God cared about Jonah. In God’s mercy a great city was saved from judgement, but the city gets very little attention in the book. The book is about God’s patience and perseverance and perseverance with Jonah. God cares more about you than about what you are doing.*Where do you expect to be most challenged by Jonah’s story?*

Now to him who is able to... present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy...Jude 24Try to imagine what this will be like.First, you will be presented before God’s glorious presence… blameless. The word translated “blameless” is the same word that was used to describe a sacrificial animal in the Old Testament that was acceptable to God. It had to be blameless, without defect or fault.Can you imagine yourself faultless? Every one of the effects of sin will be healed. Now you are like a burned stick pulled from the fire. Sin has done damage to us all, but when you are presented to God, you will be healed from every scar, every wound, every effect of sin.Your mind will be faultless. You will know God even as you are known. Confusion, uncertainty, and doubts will be gone forever. You will be faultless in your soul. Fears will be gone. You will love God with all your mind and strength. Your desires will be undivided.Your body will be faultless—no more pain, disease, or medication. You will live at the height of your redeemed and perfected physical powers. And you will be able to offer yourself fully to God. You will reflect the perfect Lamb of God who loved you and gave Himself for you. You will be in a position to offer your whole self to God, who will embrace and welcome you.Second, you will be presented by God the Son to God the Father with great joy! Imagine what the joy of God is like. Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before Him (Heb. 12:2). He saw the joy of the last day, and it was so great that He counted it worth the agony of the cross. When He looked at the cross and He looked at the joy, He said, “It’s worth it!” If His suffering was so great, what must this joy be like?God “will exult over you with loud singing” (Zeph. 3:17). Try and imagine this.

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling...Jude 24God is able to give you victory over the power of temptation. Do you believe this?No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Cor. 10:13)What temptation do you think Jesus is not able to deliver you from? This really goes to the heart of whether we believe the gospel. Some of us simply do not believe that Christ can break the power of cancelled sin and set the prisoner free.Think about a boxing title fight. There is always a great deal of “trash talk,” and nobody was better at this than Muhammad Ali, who said about himself, “I float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” Imagine his challenger saying, “He is much bigger and faster than me. He punches harder. And, besides, he’s the champ. I don’t really have a chance.”This is how some of us talk when it comes to sin. It’s the language of unbelief. You need to make up your mind if you believe in the God who is able to keep you from falling. Many people believe that Jesus can forgive their sins, but they’re not convinced that He can give them victory over temptation.We sometimes say, “You can talk the talk, but you have to walk the walk.” That’s true, but here is a new spin on that phrase: “If you want to walk the walk, you have to talk the talk.” Don’t talk defeat before you even get in the ring. Sin shall no longer be your master. The Spirit of God lives in you. God has put you in a position to fight, so use the power He’s given you. Fight!.*Are you fighting your sin? Or are you trying to walk the walk without talking the talk?*

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling…Jude 24This doesn’t mean that when you become a Christian you will never fail. We all fail in many ways. But God is able to keep you from falling.When Jesus was going to the cross, He said to Peter, “Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail” (Luke 22:31-32). Peter did fail. He denied the Lord three times. He called down curses upon himself. But the prayers of Jesus were answered. Peter’s failure was not final.If you have fallen into serious sin, you need to know that this is not the end. Imagine two climbers scaling a sheer cliff face. They are roped together. As they are climbing, one of them slips and falls. If he was climbing alone, he would have fallen to his death. But he is roped to his friend, and his friend is in a secure position.Being a Christian means that you are roped to Jesus Christ. If you have fallen you need to know what kind of Saviour you have. If you fall, He is able to hold you. Your fall will not overwhelm Him. He will not cut the rope. He will not let you go.Maybe you can picture yourself dangling. Get back on the rock face, and start climbing from where you are. Failure is never final in the Christian life. The Saviour looks down and He says, “Get back on the wall and follow me.” That’s what Peter did after his big failure, and God used him in wonderful ways. God is able to keep you from falling when you have failed.Have you failed big-time? Will you get back on the rock face today and follow Jesus?

To the only God, our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.Jude 25Jude says that there is only one God, and this God is the Saviour God. Now if God is the Saviour, what does this saving look like? There are three dimensions.1. God is our Saviour from sin’s penaltyWhen you came to faith in Jesus, God forgave your sins. He freed you from guilt, condemnation, and hell: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). This is the beginning of your salvation but is not the end.2. God is our Saviour from sin’s powerWhen you become a Christian, you are no longer under sin’s power: “Sin will have no dominion over you” (Rom. 6:14). Think of it like a boxing match. Before you came to Christ, sin was your master. Your hands were tied and you were blindfolded. You were defenseless. You were in no position to fight back. But now, in Christ, God has put you in a position to fight. He takes off your blindfold and frees your hands. You are on an entirely different footing. Though you will bear the scars of battle, in Jesus Christ you will prevail.3. God is our Saviour from sin’s presenceImagine yourself in the ring. You have been sparring for ten rounds, and you’ve landed some blows, but your opponent just won’t go down. He just keeps coming back. That’s a picture of your battle against temptation. The longer the fight goes on, the more you long to see the enemy hit the canvas. One day he will. When Jesus comes again in glory, sin will be knocked out. Your battle will be over, and you will receive the crown of victory.God is our Saviour. He saves us not only from sin’s penalty but also from its power, and one day He will save us from its presence. Which of these is clearest to you now?

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling…Jude 24Jude has been telling us that we need to watch ourselves, because we live this Christian life in the body, but we are also to find our rest in God.Verses 24 and 25 are all about God. That’s significant because the first six workouts have been all about you: “But you, beloved, [build] yourselves up in your most holy faith” (Jude 20).Notice where the responsibility lies: Who is to do this? You are. Who is to pray in the Holy Spirit? You are. Who is to wait for Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life? You are. Who is to reach out in ministry that is merciful and snatch others from the fire? You are. Who is to hate even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh? You are.It is a great mistake to say that the Christian life is all up to God. He calls you to do these workouts. And if you do them, you will grow. If you do not do them, you will be like a spiritual lazy person. God will not do these things for you. He has called you to do them.A lot of Christians spend years waiting for God to do something to make them grow. That is a terrible mistake. Don’t expect God to do what He has told you to do. You do it.Are you waiting for God to make you grow, or are you busy doing what He’s told you to do?

Let a person examine himself.1 Corinthians 11:28Make it your regular practice to give your soul a thorough examination to see if there is anything displeasing to God hidden inside you. There are several ways of doing this. As you read the Bible, note anything that displeases God and ask yourself, “Do I see any evidence of this in me?”Don’t ask vague questions like “Are there any sins in my soul?” Go hunting for specifics. Here is a checklist of some sins that could easily infect you: taking God’s name in vain, crude or vulgar conversation, enjoying unclean jokes, cruelty toward others, especially those who are weak, cynicism, greed, and bitterness. These are as deadly to your soul as cancer is to your body.Let’s consider pride for a moment. Peter said, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (1 Pet. 5:5). It doesn’t say that God “ignores” the proud. It says that He “opposes” them. He puts up His hand, and He says, “You aren’t going anywhere.” The proud person thinks he is achieving all kinds of marvellous things. But, actually, he never makes any progress. On the last day there will be little of lasting value to show for his work.The humble receive grace from God. So, there are going to be some surprises in heaven. Jesus said, “The last will be first, and the first last” (Mat. 20:16). We may well find ourselves wondering why so many people we have never heard of are receiving such rich rewards while others who we thought were front-runners in the kingdom seem to be empty-handed.If pride or greed or lust or self-pity or bitterness or cynicism are anywhere in us, then they must be identified, confessed, and destroyed. That’s the language of the New Testament: “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you” (Col. 3:5).Will you take a few moments now and examine your soul using a passage from the Bible like the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20)?

To others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.Jude 23When you reach out to others in ministry, you need to be very careful that you do not end up falling into sin yourself. Jude uses the word “fear.” You need to have a healthy fear lest you fall into the same sins as somebody else you are reaching out to.The Bible speaks of two kinds of fear. There is an unhealthy kind of fear. You should not be afraid of your enemies or of danger or of those who kill the body, but there is also a healthy kind of fear. You should fear God, and you should fear being stained by the corruption of this world.This fear of falling into sin arises from a healthy scepticism about yourself. If you have understood the Bible rightly, you will be fully confident in Jesus Christ and deeply sceptical about yourself. Our culture gets this backwards. We are confident in ourselves and doubtful about Christ. That is why we don’t have the fear of falling into sin.Notice the beautiful balance of Scripture here. In verse 24, Jude says that Jesus “is able to keep you from stumbling.” We have a Saviour who is able to protect us from the devil and to keep us from falling into his snares. But, at the same time, Jude says that we must watch ourselves. We need to be on our guard so that as we live in this world, we do not become conformed to it.If you don’t watch yourself, don’t expect Jesus to keep you from falling. This truth is like a bicycle with two wheels. You need both, and if you lose either one, you won’t make much progress.In your daily life are you more conscious of your need to watch yourself or of Jesus’ ability to keep you from falling?

Save others by snatching them out of the fire…Jude 23Those who can see that they’ve been burned know what the fire can do, and they reach out to others in the flames. That takes courage. You can’t do ministry without being burned. There is no pain-free ministry.There is an old story about an African village. One night there was a fire in a wooden building, and the whole family who was sleeping there died, except for a tiny baby boy. As the fire flared up, a stranger rushed in and carried the child to safety, and then vanished into the night.In the morning, the village elders had to decide what should be done with him. No one knew how the child had escaped, but all felt it would be a privilege to adopt this child whom the gods had smiled on. So, the elders argued with one another about who should adopt the child until a young man stepped forward and insisted that it should be him. When they demanded to know why, he showed them his hands—they were burned.After Jesus died and rose from the dead, He came to some discouraged believers and showed them His hands and His side. Jesus went into the fire for you. He endured the pains of hell for you. All so that you could be snatched like a burning stick from the fire!This Jesus, with scars in His hands, comes to those He has rescued and says, “Take up your cross and follow me.” Take up your share of the pain and cost of ministry in this fallen world.Are you trying to do ministry without being burned? What is keeping you from taking up your cross and following the One who went to the cross and laid down His life for you?

Save others by snatching them out of the fire.Jude 23If you’re going to be useful in ministry, you need to have a proper understanding of yourself and what God has done for you. Sin has damaged us all, but the Bible makes it clear that sin has done deeper damage to you and to me than staining our lives. It’s changed our nature. Like wood that’s been in a fire, sin burns. It consumes.The Bible makes it clear that we’re sinners because we sin. It also teaches that we sin because we’re sinners. Behind our wrong actions, there is a damaged nature. Your greatest problem is not your behaviour. It is your nature that gives rise to your behaviour. Sin goes deeper than clothing stains or graffiti; it’s like wood burning.Here is an appropriate way to describe a born-again, spirit-filled, I-read-my-Bible-every-day kind of Christian: “I am a burned stick” (see Zech. 3:2). That’s not the only thing the Bible says about you, and it certainly is not the most flattering thing, but the Bible makes it clear that you’re a burned stick. You’re a charred piece of wood, and you’ve been snatched from the fire.One day you will be completely free from all the effects of sin in your life, but that will only happen when Christ comes again. Until then there will always be a charred side to you. When you understand that, it will help you to grow in humility, and it will also help you to grow in compassion and patience with others.Can you see how you have been charred by your own sin? Thank God for snatching you (or ask Him to snatch you) from the fire. Can you name one person in your life who is being burned by his or her own sin? Bring this person before God right now.

Have mercy on those who doubt.Jude 22“Those who doubt” would include those whose faith has been undermined and those whose faith has not yet been fully formed. There are many people like this today.How are we to minister to folks who are confused about their faith? Jude says, “Do this with great compassion.” There’s a big difference between the child who struggles to do what’s right and the child who refuses to do what’s right. And there’s a big difference between the person who struggles to believe and the person who refuses to believe. Wonderfully, God can tell the difference.Your ministry will be more effective if you can learn to be merciful to those who doubt. Imagine a lady who is widowed and six months later she is still struggling with questions. Her friend is losing patience with her, and so she says, “You should be over this by now. Are you going to trust God or not?”Now imagine a middle-aged person who knows very little of the Bible but feels that he believes and that he wants to grow. So, he finds his way into a Bible study group, and someone in the group says about his church background, “Oh, dear! You wouldn’t learn very much there.” Don’t forget—God has placed many people around you—some whose faith may be unformed, and some whose faith may have been undermined.Be compassionate toward those who don’t have the insight that you have. Remember, another person may struggle with a particular frailty that you know nothing about. Don’t expect other people to grasp in a week what you took twenty years to learn!What “doubting” person is in your life right now?How can you show them mercy?

Have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire.Jude 22–23If you want to live a healthy Christian life, you need to learn to wait. The obvious question is, What does God want us to do while we are waiting?The answer is that we are to give ourselves to ministry. God calls us to ministry. There are people in need all around us. So, from now until the day when Jesus comes or calls for us, we are to give ourselves to the work of ministry.Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me” (John 4:34). You will find that God sustains you in your walk with Him as you give yourself to serving others. Maybe you are already doing this. Serving is part of who you are. If not, the best form of spiritual exercise for you would be to get out and do something that ministers to somebody else.If your spiritual life is to be healthy, you need to build up your faith, you need to pray, and you need to keep yourself in God’s love. These are the private spiritual disciplines. But a healthy Christian life is more than just Jesus and me.If all you have is a relationship with Jesus in which you know sweet times of prayer and study, then your Christian life is out of balance. It is not healthy. Spiritual health involves this dimension of ministry in which your life touches the lives of others.A wise pastor once talked about “irrigating your soul in the joys and sorrows of your people.” Your own soul will be watered as you enter into the joys and sorrows of another person.Be intentional about building this into your life. Look for ways to bring the blessing of God to others, to lighten somebody else’s load. Let there be someone who, at the end of today, has reason to thank God for you.How could you be more intentional about ministry to others?

Wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ...Jude 21The people who bring menus to your table at a restaurant are called waiters or waitresses. They have no other agenda but to wait on you. They take your order, bring your food, and then make sure everything is all right.Some people think God exists to wait on us, but the Bible tells us that our calling is to wait on Him. The purpose of our lives is to make ourselves wholly available to Jesus Christ, the guest of honour, who has come into this world.Maybe you’ve had this experience. You go to a restaurant, and every time the waitress comes to your table, she wants to tell you another episode from her life. That’s inappropriate. The waitress is there to serve the guests. No one would be surprised if her manager soon let her go.Jesus is the perfect model of waiting on God: He delights in the will of the Father, and He’s ready to do it even when it involves a cross. He says, “Don’t expect a trouble-free life. Expect joy and disappointment, pleasure and pain, unfathomable mysteries, unanswered questions, unresolved problems, and unfinished business. Will you take up your cross in all that and follow me?”Think of the great disappointments of your life—the heartfelt prayers not yet answered, the great longings of your soul not yet satisfied. You can think of every one of these as invitations to come into God’s gym. He is saying to you, “You want this to be over. I want to make this useful.”Evaluate your love for God. Are you moving toward or away from Jesus’ perfect model of waiting on God?

[Wait] for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.Jude 21When Jude talks about waiting, the obvious question is, Don’t we already have God’s mercy? Yes. Don’t we already have Jesus Christ? Yes. Don’t we already have eternal life? Yes!If we’ve already received these things, why does Jude tell us to wait? This is teaching us something important: All that you can experience in the Christian life is only a taste of what Christ has in store for you.The Holy Spirit is a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come (2 Cor. 1:22). If you buy a home, the down payment is only a tiny fraction of your mortgage. Everything you experience of God in this life, every good gift from His hand, every blessing, and every pleasure is only a tiny advance on what God has in store for you.Use the disappointments of life (the waiting) not only to detach yourself from the pursuit of paradise in this world, but to cultivate a healthy anticipation of what God has promised: “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away” (Rev. 21:4).What will life be like when the mercy of Christ brings you to everlasting life? Your body will be redeemed from the curse. Your relationships will be redeemed from the taint of sin. Your soul will be free to serve God as you always wished you could. All creation will be redeemed from the curse. You will be completely at home in the presence of God.What is one disappointment that has you waiting right now? Pray about how it could help you detach yourself from the pursuit of paradise in this world.

[Wait] for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.Jude 21Patience is what you need when things have not worked out as you hoped. Somewhere deep within every heart there is a dream of life as we want it to be. That dream is placed in your heart by God. The word “wait” reminds us that the dream will never be fulfilled in this life.Our first parents were driven out of the garden of Eden. Paradise was lost, and the dream can no longer be fulfilled here because this world is under a curse. This is very hard for many of us to grasp. We easily become confused into thinking that we’re in paradise now.Imagine buying a sign that says: “This is not paradise.” You might hang it over your front door. It would remind you that you’ll never have “the perfect family.” That would take a lot of pressure off everyone. Some couples ought to put that over the door to their bedroom. Perhaps you need to put it in your car. It would be a great sign to place over the entrance to your church.The problem for many of us is that we expect more than God has ever promised in this life, and we’re constantly disappointed and frustrated. So, we run up massive debts, only to find out that paradise is beyond our grasp. You cannot create paradise in this world. The sooner you discover this, the sooner you will be able to break free from the pursuit of the advertiser’s dream.When God calls you to wait, it is a wake-up call to reality. There are discoveries of God’s grace that you can make while you are waiting that you could never make if the longing of your heart was fulfilled. You cannot grow in patience when what you long for is given. The moment it becomes yours, the opportunity to wait for it and to grow has been lost.Where could the reminder ,“This is not paradise”, most help you right now?

Keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.Jude 21Once you see how important the theme of waiting is in the Bible, you’ll have new motivation to exercise this neglected area of the Christian life. Here are five passages on waiting:Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him. (Ps. 37:7)I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope. (Ps. 130:5-6)They who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength. (Is. 40:31)You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven. (1 Thes. 1:9-10)Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. (Heb. 9:28)Waiting seems to be a complete waste of time, so we often look for something to do while we’re waiting. That’s why there are magazines in the doctor’s waiting room. We try to fill up the time with something useful.We think of waiting as something to endure in order to get what we want. But God speaks about waiting as the way we grow when we don’t have what we want. Waiting is not wasted time.Waiting can be the greatest growth opportunity of your life.What are you waiting for right now? Do you see this waiting as the greatest growth opportunity of your life, a waste of time, or something else?

God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.Romans 5:5In one of the books by American author, Garrison Keillor, about Lake Wobegon, he describes a rather awkward teenager growing up in a small town. The lad gives a speech at his high school graduation, and afterwards somebody comes up to him and says, “Nice speech!” But he can’t receive a compliment.“Oh no,” he says, “I was just rambling. I didn’t know what I was talking about. I was just glad when it was all over.” He couldn’t receive a compliment because inside he was a monster starving for a compliment. He didn’t want somebody to say, “Nice speech.” What he really wanted was for someone to fall at his feet in worship.That’s the problem with some of us. We are so consumed—either with our own pain or with our own perfectionism—that we’re unable to hear the Word of God. So, when God tells us that He loves us, we just brush it off.When the apostle Paul prays for young believers, do you know what he asks God for? He asks that God would give them the power to grasp the “breadth and length and height and depth” of the love of Christ (Eph. 3:18). That is a great way to pray. Ask God to give you the capacity to contain a greater sense of His love for you.“We are so consumed—either with our own pain or with our own perfectionism—that we’re unable to hear the Word of God.” To what degree is this true of you?

The Son of God… loved me and gave himself for me.Galatians 2:20Some time ago, a pastor from England went to India to deliver a series of evangelistic messages. When he arrived, there were posters hanging all over town advertising the evening meetings at which he would be speaking.The posters were supposed to read: “The visiting pastor from England will bring the evening messages.” But instead, there was a typo, and the posters actually said: “The visiting pastor from England will bring the evening massages.”The work of the preacher is to massage the Word of God into the soul until it changes what you think and feel. But some of us who have experienced very little love earlier on in life, or who are perfectionists by nature, tend to have great difficulty in feeling that we are truly loved by God.If this is true of you, then you need this workout: Start to memorise and personalise Bible passages that speak directly of the love of God. Massage them into your mind until they begin to loosen up your heart: “God shows his love for me in that while I was still a sinner, Christ died for me” (Rom. 5:8, author’s paraphrase).Allow God to tell you that He loves you. This is the Word of God. This is what God is saying to you. Learn to listen to what He says.Identify a Bible passage or two about God’s love that you’d like to personalise and memorise.

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.1 John 4:10One way to work God’s love into your mind is through the Lord’s Supper. At the very centre of Christian worship, God has given us this exercise to keep us in spiritual shape.We come to a table where we receive bread and wine. They direct our attention to the cross, where Christ’s body was broken, and His blood was shed for you.God uses the supper to tell us that He loves us. Here is an old hymn that used to be sung at the Lord’s Table: “Give me a sight, O Saviour, of your wondrous love to me. The love that brought you down to earth to die at Calvary. O make me understand it, help me to take it in. What it meant to you, the Holy One, to bear away my sin.”Come to the table with open eyes, open ears, and a believing heart. The body of Jesus was broken for you. The blood of Jesus was shed for you. Christ invites all His people to take the bread and eat it, to take the cup and drink it. This love that was poured out touches you.You may go through days when you find it difficult to feel the love of God. Go back to the cross, and say with Paul, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32).How might you approach the Lord’s Supper differently in the future?

Keep yourselves in the love of God...Jude 21The Bible talks about the love of God in a number of ways:1. Providential love is God’s kindness to His enemies as well as His friends. God’s enemies will come under His judgement, but right now they receive good gifts from His hand. Why do good things happen to bad people? Answer: God’s providential love.2. Saving love is God reaching out to us: “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Whoever believes is no longer God’s enemy, but His friend. That’s God’s saving love.3. Covenant love is God’s unshakeable commitment to His own people. God bound Himself to Israel: “I will be your God, and you shall be my people” (Jer. 7:23). Then His people broke that covenant. But God will never let go of His own people. That’s God’s covenant love.4. Disciplining love is how God forms the likeness of Christ in His children: “The Lord disciplines the one he loves” (Heb. 12:6). The wicked do not experience this love. God allows them to go their own way, but He intervenes with loving discipline when His children go astray.5. Affirming love is the joyful affirmation the children of God experience when they’re walking with Him. There was no discipline in the garden, Adam and Eve simply enjoyed life under the smile of God. But when they sinned, they found themselves outside of God’s affirming love.The love of God is free, unchangeable, unconditional, unmerited, and unearned. At the same time, Christ calls us to remain in His love, and we do that as we walk in obedience to Him.What do you know about the love of God?

[Pray] in the Holy Spirit…Jude 20Another way to pray in the Spirit is by using the Lord’s Prayer (Mat. 6:9-13). Martin Luther structured his entire prayer life around the Lord’s Prayer:1. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. (6:9)Luther prayed that God would be honoured in his own life, and in the church, and in the nation where he lived.2. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (6:10)He prayed for the advancement of God’s kingdom, and he prayed for what is true, just, and right.3. Give us this day our daily bread. (6:11)He prayed about his own daily needs, and for the needs of others that he was aware of—money, energy, peace, direction, patience, and guidance.4. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. (6:12)He prayed about his own sins, and he asked for God’s help in forgiving the wounds that were inflicted on him by others.5. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. (6:13)He asked God to help him identify the activity of Satan, and then he called on God against all of it that he was able to see.That covers the whole of life. You could pray these five headings every day for the next year, and you would always find something fresh, and you would be praying in the Spirit because you’re praying in line with Jesus Christ.Take a few moments and try praying through the Lord’s Prayer yourself. Compare this with your normal routine for prayer.

[Pray] in the Holy Spirit…Jude 20The Bible contains some marvellous prayers that were breathed out by the Spirit of God. You will find many of them in the book of Psalms.The whole Bible was written as men were carried along by the Holy Spirit, and as you fill your mind with God’s Word, you will begin to think God’s thoughts after Him.If you learn to form your prayers from the Bible, you will be praying in a way that reflects the heart and mind of God. You might like to begin with the Psalms:Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked…Help me to recognise advice that is dishonouring to You today and not to follow it.…nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. (Psa. 1:1)Lord, keep me from cynicism today. Keep me from looking at any wrong path.His delight is in the law of the LORD. (Psa. 1:2)Lord, help me to love You and to love Your law. Help me to see the blessing of walking in Your way, and to have new joy in doing that.Turning the Scriptures into prayers will help you keep your prayers fresh. Every day you will see something new. More than that, your mind will be guided into the thoughts of God.This is the difference between eastern mysticism and Christian prayer. Mysticism says, “Empty your mind so you can pray.” God says, “Fill your mind so you can pray.”Let an open Bible guide your praying, and you’ll find that you begin to think God’s thoughts after Him as you pray in the Spirit.Does your prayer life tend more toward eastern mysticism or Christian prayer?

We do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.Romans 8:26Imagine a teenage computer geek writing software in his basement: “How can I get this in the hands of the people at Microsoft?” He doesn’t know anyone there, and he has no idea how to introduce his ideas to them. Who knows how many requests they receive in a day.One day there’s a knock at the door, and a man in his late sixties, with grey hair and glasses is standing there. “Hi, I’m Bill Gates…” The next thing this teenager knows, he’s sitting at his laptop with Bill Gates at his elbow.“Let me tell you,” says Bill, “where Microsoft is headed. Move your work in that direction, and maybe we can be partners.”When this young man eventually sends his proposal to Microsoft, he sends it with great confidence, because he knows that what Bill Gates has prompted, Bill Gates will receive.God comes to every believer and teaches us what to pray. When that happens, we can pray with confidence, because what the Spirit has prompted, the Father will receive:This is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. (1 John 5:14)Sometimes we’re like the geek working in the basement. But true prayer involves the Father, the Son, the Spirit, and you. There’s a profound sense in which you never pray alone.Think about the geek’s confidence before and after he talked to Bill Gates. Does your confidence in prayer typically look more like one or the other?

[Pray] in the Holy Spirit...Jude 20Once you’ve grasped that there’s one God, and that He’s not whoever you want Him to be, the next question is “How do you come to Him?” That depends on what you want to receive.The Bible uses the picture of a throne to help us understand. There is one God, but more than one throne. That’s easy for us to understand in the United Kingdom. There is one king in Britain, but he has several thrones, and each throne relates to a different function.Likewise, there is one God, but He has more than one throne. There’s a “great white throne” (Rev. 20:11), where God administers justice. And there’s “the throne of grace” (Heb. 4:16). You can come to the great white throne any way you want. But if you want to come to the throne of grace, you need to come through Jesus.The Bible tells us to hold firmly to the faith we profess (Heb. 4:14) and to approach the throne of grace with confidence so we may receive grace to help us in our time of need (4:16). Access to the throne of grace comes through our great high priest, Jesus the Son of God.So “in the name of Jesus Christ” isn’t a tagline at the end of our prayers. It’s foundational. We’re invited to come to the Father through the Son. So, if you’re looking for grace, there’s no other way to pray but in the name of Jesus, because God’s grace comes to us through Him.When you pray, are you coming to God any way you want? Or through Jesus? What difference does it make?

[Pray] in the Holy Spirit…Jude 20Imagine meeting with your minister at church. The minister places a number of envelopes in front of you and says, “We can talk about anything you want. But here are some envelopes with questions written on them. Go ahead and pick one.”The topics range from faith to spiritual growth to fellowship, but you choose the envelope on prayer. The question on the envelope reads: “How would you describe your prayer life?” and inside there are a number of cards with various words—some positive, some negative.You choose two cards to describe your prayer life: “Irregular” and “Aimless.” Many Christians today would agree, and say, “I’m doing okay in the Christian life, but I’d have to admit—I’m out of shape when it comes to prayer.”Sooner or later, you will come to a situation in which you will want to call on God to help you. The first question is “Which God?” If you say, “There is only one God,” who is He? And how can we know Him?Until you’ve settled this matter, your praying will not get very far off the ground. Here’s the reason: If God is whoever you imagine Him to be, then when you go to pray, you are just talking to yourself, or to a figment of your imagination, and that’s not much help.There is one God, and we can know Him and pray to Him, because He has made Himself known to us through Abraham, Moses, the prophets, the apostles, and supremely in Jesus Christ.How would you describe your prayer life? (Aimless? Vibrant? Irregular? Consistent? Shallow? Growing? Other?)

[Look] to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith...Hebrews 12:2Faith grows by looking at Jesus. Faith becomes strong as you fill your mind and soul with how trustworthy He is.Imagine yourself as a younger child, attending a professional sporting event with your family. Your parents get tickets about twenty-five rows from the game. The people are packed in like sardines, and they’re standing in front of you, so you find it very difficult to see.You eventually find a solution. Instead of sitting in your chair, you stand on it. It’s a bit shaky, but it’s the best way to get a glimpse of your favourite players in all their glory.That’s how you must read the Scriptures and come to worship if you want your faith to grow. You must come looking for a glimpse of Jesus and asking the Holy Spirit to open up the Word to give a fresh glimpse of Him to your soul.Some of us come to church, and to the Bible, like a little boy or girl standing behind a crowd of taller adults. We never see anything, and we no longer expect to see anything. Other people are catching a glimpse of Jesus, but we don’t see it.If you will come to worship and to the Word with great expectation, you will move from reading about Jesus to knowing Him. You will find yourself feeding on Him, and your faith will grow.On a scale of 1 (very low) to 10 (very high) what is your expectation of “catching a glimpse of Jesus” in worship? How about in your Bible reading?

[Build] yourselves up in your most holy faith…Jude 20Faith is like a muscle. It grows strong when it is used. If you want to develop a particular muscle, you pull or push against a weight. Faith grows when it has to push against a great burden.That’s what happens when God allows trials in your life. You lose your job, a relationship ends, or the bottom line of your business is the wrong colour, and suddenly you’re in the gym. This is the moment. God is handing you the weights.When God allows you to face difficulties, He is calling you to exercise faith. This is how faith grows, by being exercised under pressure. When you find yourself saying, “I don’t know how I’m going to get through this,” this is the moment to exercise your faith in God. This is the moment to walk by faith and not by sight.You will not grow in faith if every time God puts you in the gym, you just sit there until the session is over. If you don’t pray and you don’t exercise the muscle of faith, when you come out of the trial your faith won’t be any stronger than when you went in. You went through the trial, but you missed the opportunity for growth.When God puts you in the gym again, ask Him for eyes to see when it happens, and seize the moment. Come to God and say, “This time, I am going to trust you. Strengthen my faith and cause me to grow.”When was the last time God put you in the gym? Did you exercise the muscle of faith? If so, how? Or do you feel as if you missed an opportunity for growth?

[Build] yourselves up in your most holy faith…Jude 20Jude is talking about the same faith here that he mentions in verse 3: “The faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” You can build up your faith by affirming what you believe. That’s why Christians throughout the centuries have recited creeds in their worship: “I believe in God the Father, maker of heaven and earth…”C.H. Spurgeon preached to vast crowds in London over a hundred years ago. When the time came for him to enter the pulpit, he often felt completely overwhelmed. So, as he climbed the steps into his pulpit, he would say to himself, “I believe in the Holy Spirit.”You might want to say that when you go into a job interview or another situation that you find overwhelming. Maybe Satan keeps reminding you of some failure in your life. You have confessed this. You have repented. But the enemy keeps bringing it to your memory. Affirm your faith: “The blood of Jesus cleanses me from every sin. I believe in the blood of Jesus.”The Psalms are full of affirmations of faith in God. He has given us these affirmations to help us build ourselves up in the faith. The world, the flesh, and the devil are constantly assaulting our minds with lies, doubts, and questions.So feed your mind with affirmations of what you believe: “Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!” (Ps. 107:1). Affirming your faith by confessing what God has revealed will cause your faith to grow. It is like fresh air to the soul.What are some Bible passages that you keep going back to? Which verses have helped you over the years to affirm your faith?

[Build] yourselves up in your most holy faith...Jude 20There will be times when you seem to be making little progress, and you wonder, “What’s wrong with me? Am I a Christian at all?” Jude says, “You need to build up your faith.” How do you do that?Satan loves to point out how puny, pathetic, and embarrassingly small your faith is. You should counter by recognising that the faith you have—however small—is a miracle, a gift from God, and by giving thanks for it.When you begin to thank God for what He’s done and for what He’s doing, you’ll find that the cloud lifts and your faith begins to grow. If you cannot see anything God is doing—in your life or in the lives of other believers—the problem is not with God, the problem is with your eyesight: “My Father is working until now” (John 5:17).Faith is like a bulb that is planted in the ground and then gets a pile of dirt dumped on it. You’d think that would be the end of its life, but the miracle is that it survives and grows. Think of everything arrayed against your faith. How did your faith survive all the unanswered questions, all the bitter disappointments, and all the exhausting struggles of your life?The amazing thing about your faith is not that it is weak, but that it exists at all. There is only one explanation: The faith that you have, however weak, is the work of Almighty God. Thank God for that miracle. Recognise what God has done, and your faith will begin to grow.What is God doing in your life? If you can’t see anything right now, try to identify a few unanswered questions, disappointments, or struggles your faith has survived.

I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith...Jude 3Evangelicals often emphasise spiritual life and the importance of the new birth. We rejoice when people give testimonies of how they came to faith in Christ. But spiritual life is no guarantee of spiritual health. You may be spiritually alive, but are you spiritually fit?We know what it’s like to be out of shape physically. What does it look like when we’re out of shape spiritually? Here are some symptoms:Loss of vigour and vision: Lethargy creeps in.Loss of enjoyment of God, the Word, and worship: Your experience of the nearness of God or of brokenness of soul is a memory, but it is no longer a living experience.Loss of gratitude: You worry about what God has not given you, rather than rejoicing in what He has given.Loss of spiritual hunger and thirst: “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God” (Ps. 42:1). This is a soul that is in good shape.Loss of compassion: The needs of others are a burden to you; you become impatient with their faults, and you feel frustrated at their lack of progress.These are some of the symptoms of a soul that is out of shape. There is only one way to deal with the problem and that is to get into God’s exercise room.Rank these symptoms on a scale from 1 to 10: “1” means you see no signs, “5” means you see regular signs, “10” means you see signs of this symptom on a daily basis.

But you, beloved, [build] yourselves up in your most holy faith...Jude 20Jude’s message is very simple: Keep yourself in spiritual shape. It is also very practical, because Jude breaks this down into seven workouts for a healthy Christian life.You may be committed to some kind of fitness programme. You may work out with a coach or a personal trainer who gives you an exercise routine to help you get in shape.A good exercise routine will get you working on different muscle groups: “This one is for your abs. This one is for the quads,” etc. In any routine we’ll be drawn to some exercises, and we’ll be tempted to skip others that we don’t like doing. Remember, it’s usually the ones that you tend to skip that you most need to do.As with any good coach, Jude’s instructions are simple. Imagine yourself standing in the middle of a field with Jude as your coach. He’s been telling us what we’re up against. Then he says to the team, “But you…”Build yourself up in the faith.Pray in the Holy Spirit.Keep yourself in God’s love.Learn to wait.Reach out to others.Watch yourself.Rest in the triumph of God.These verses are a gold mine of how to live the Christian life in a world of doctrinal confusion and moral compromise. Let’s work with this trainer, Jude, to get ourselves into spiritual shape.Of the seven workouts Jude has for us, which one is your strongest area, and which one is your weakest area?

Certain people have crept in unnoticed... who pervert the grace of our God...Jude 4The book of Jude was written to a group of believers who were discouraged because of a growing number of church leaders who were marked by moral compromise and doctrinal error. Jude describes the quality of leadership (verse 12) in many churches:Shepherds who feed only themselves. These pastors were trusted to care for God’s flock, but they were more interested in their careers.Clouds without rain. These leaders seemed to be walking with God, but they were spiritually dry. A conversation with one of them would leave you with nothing for your thirsty soul.Blown along by the wind. These leaders took their direction from culture. Their minds were filled with marketing and management, but devoid of a living communion with Jesus Christ.Without fruit and uprooted. These pastors’ lives were filled with fruitless activity. The reason it was fruitless is that it was not deeply rooted in the work of God’s Spirit.This is a powerful description of how ministry gets compromised. Jude is writing late in the first century. The first generation of Christians is almost gone. The torch is being passed to a new generation. Jude says: Even in “church world,” faith is being eroded, reshaped, and repackaged.You are going to have to decide: Are you going to contend for the faith that was once and for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3)? Or are you going to settle for a faith that is shaped to suit your lifestyle and culture?What are some characteristics you would expect to find in the person who is “contending for the faith?” How about the person who is “settling for a faith?”

“Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”John 18:37Pilate had so many voices ringing in his ears. He had the voice of his wife, who said to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream” (Mat. 27:19).Much louder were the voices of the chief priests who had handed Jesus over to him. Pilate also had the voice of his own conscience. Three times he declared that Jesus was innocent (Jn. 18:38; 19:4, 6).And then there was the voice of Jesus declaring to him, “I am a king, but My kingdom is not of this world. I came into the world to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to Me.”Whose voice are you listening to? Are you listening to the voice of past hurts? The voice of anger and frustration? The voice of unbelief? The voice of pride and ambition? The voice of shame and condemnation? The voice of fear? None of these voices will bring you help or hope or healing.Listen to the voice of Jesus. He says, “My sheep hear my voice” (10:27). “Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice” (18:37).You listen to Jesus by hearing the words He speaks in the Bible. Get in the habit of opening your Bible and soaking in the truth that Jesus came to reveal. You will find strength, life, hope, and healing as you listen to Him.Whose voice are you listening to?

Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews.John 18:38Some suggest that this was a genuine question, but Pilate didn’t wait for an answer. It seems that he spoke these words as an exit line. Pilate asked, “What is truth?” And he said this as a judge charged with bringing justice.Imagine yourself standing in a court of law on false charges, and your only hope is that the judge will uncover the truth.The judge asks if you have anything to say. You reply, “Well, I have come to this court to bear witness to the truth.” But the judge snaps back, “What is truth?” How can you have justice if there is no such thing as truth?Pilate miscarried justice because he did not believe in the truthBut Pilate was not the only judge in this conversation. Jesus said, “The Father... has given all judgment to the Son” (Jn. 5:22). Two judges stood face to face, one from earth and the other from heaven.Jesus will bring justice because He knows the truthHe said, “I came into the world to bear witness to the truth” (18:37). There is a realm in which the whole truth is known, so there is a realm in which justice will be done.Normally a judge hears evidence to discern the truth. But on the last day, Jesus will not be seeking the truth. Jesus will bring justice because He already knows the truth completely.If you know your own heart at all, you know that you’re a long way from loving God with all your heart and from loving your neighbour as yourself. This is the reason we all need to humble ourselves and embrace Him, so that when the day of justice comes, we will have a defence.Is your heart prepared for the day when Jesus will come to bring justice?

“I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”John 18:37Jesus tells us here that there is a realm where all truth is known. It is not in this world. Jesus came into the world to “bear witness to the truth.”The Bible tells us that in this world, we know “in part” (1 Cor. 13:12). That is why we often feel that we are only getting part of the story. Where on earth is the truth fully known?Jesus tells us here that there is a place where truth is known. God knows the truth. He knows every thought, word, and deed of every person. God knows the truth about all that is, has been, and will be.One of the most encouraging signs in our world is that there is a new hunger for truth in many hearts. We’ve been told for a generation that there is no such thing as “the truth.” There is only “your truth” and “my truth.” How can there be justice if there is no such thing as the truth?If there is such a thing as “the truth,” there can be a conversation about what it might be. We can pursue the truth and seek after it together. We can disagree, we can debate.But if there is only “your truth” and “my truth,” discussion becomes difficult. To question “your truth” feels like a personal attack. People are so deeply divided that it is hard to have a reasonable conversation.If you long for the truth, you are not far from the Kingdom of God. If you hunger and thirst for the truth, you will be drawn to Jesus. He came to bear witness to the truth. The truth of who God is. The truth of who you are, of what life is, and of how your life can be blessed.In what ways have you sensed that the world’s idea of “truth” is lacking?

“For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth.”John 18:37This is the last statement of Jesus about why He came into the world. The chief priests have brought Jesus to Pilate’s house, and Pilate has to make a decision about Him.The religious leaders “began to accuse him, saying, ‘We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king’” (Lk. 23:2). So Pilate’s first question to Jesus is, “Are you a king?” Are you the king of the Jews?Pilate is a secular ruler. To him, the word “king” means a monarch who rules over a particular country. If Jesus had said, “Yes, I am a king,” Pilate would have been misled into thinking that Jesus was a rival to Caesar.So Jesus asks, “Do you say this of your own accord?”—that is, are you using the word “king” in the way that the Romans use it?—“Or did others say it to you about me?” (Jn. 18:34).Jesus is challenging Pilate to make his own investigation into the truth. “People say many things about me. But here I am, right in front of you. Make your own investigation! Don’t simply echo what other people think. I am a king. I have a kingdom. But you cannot put a geographical limit on it. You cannot put a historical timeframe on it. It spans generations.”“King,” as it is normally understood, is not a big enough word to describe Jesus. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. The Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ transcends all other kingdoms.Have you made your own investigation into the truth of who Jesus is?

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”John 8:12If you follow Jesus, you will never be in total darkness.He may lead you through some dark places. One day, He will lead you through the darkest valley, the valley of the shadow of death. But even there, He will walk with you.His light will shine in the darkness, and the darkness will not overcome it. Follow Jesus, and you will be able to say with David, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” (Ps. 27:1).What does the future hold for you? None of us knows.Is it possible that you will face a serious illness? Yes, that’s possible. But if you do, you will have the light of life.Is it possible that your children will face some great trial or trauma? Yes, that’s possible. But if they do, they will have the light of life.Is it possible that our whole world could descend into chaos, greater than any of us have known before? Yes, that’s possible. But if it does, we will have the light of life.If you are facing a time of great darkness, hear what the Lord Jesus Christ says to you today: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (Jn. 8:12).Think of someone who is going through a difficult time. How could you encourage them with the reminder that Jesus is the light in the darkness?

“The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you.”John 12:35There is a profound sense in which these words of Jesus speak to us today. The light of Jesus comes to us through the Scriptures, and each of us has it for “a little while.” What will you do with the light you have received?Suppose that you and some friends decide to explore a cave. It is like a labyrinth. Every few yards there is a fork, and you have to decide, left, right, or straight. After a couple of hours, you and your friends are lost. Your torches grow dim and go out. Darkness has overtaken you.Hours pass. You and your friends sit in silence. Then, someone sees a point of light. As it comes closer, you can see a person. A bright light shines from his helmet, but it’s as if his whole face is full of light. He says, “Follow me.”As the man begins to move, the light around you becomes less, and if you want to have the light you need to follow Him. “Come on!” you say to your friends. “We have to follow the light!”“But who knows where he will lead us?” one of them says. “I’d rather try and find my own way out.”“But without Him you’ll be stumbling around in the darkness,” you say.A shadow is coming over your friends, and soon it will be over you. You have to make a choice. What will you do? “Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you” (12:35).What will you do with the light you have received?

“I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.”John 12:46The human story can be described in four eras. And in each of them, the light of Jesus shines in a different way.Moonlight“You search the Scriptures... and it is they that bear witness about me” (Jn. 5:39). In the Old Testament era, Jesus was there, but He was not seen directly, like the light of the sun reflected by the moon. The law shows us why we need Jesus. The sacrifices show what we needed Him to do. The promises show what He would accomplish when He came.Floodlight“I am the light of the world” (Jn. 8:12). The coming of Jesus Christ was like a burst of light in this dark world. But men loved darkness rather than light. Jesus was opposed at every stage of His ministry. It should not surprise us when we find that the world is a dark place.Starlight“Be blameless and innocent... in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights” (Phil. 2:15). Christian believers who hold fast to the Word of Life shine like lights in the world. God’s plan is that people will see the light of Christ through His people.Sunlight“The sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings” (Mal. 4:2). One day, we will see the full light of the sun. The Lord Jesus Christ will return in power and glory. “Night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light” (Rev. 22:5). We will live in the light of the presence of the Lord forever.In what ways can you be starlight to the world around you?

“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”John 10:10What does a more abundant life look like? It is a life with:More peace. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you” (14:27). Jesus can give more peace than any of us has yet received.More love. “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (15:13). Jesus has more love to give than any of us has yet known.More joy. “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (15:11). Jesus can give more joy than any of us have yet experienced.More faith. “Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith” (Heb. 12:2). Jesus can give more faith than any of us has yet exercised.More repentance. Repentance is the means by which we become more like Jesus, saying “no” to worldly passions and “yes” to upright, self-controlled, and godly lives. Jesus can give a deeper repentance than any of us has yet discovered.More strength. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). Jesus can give more strength than any of us has yet enjoyed.More hope. “This I call to mind and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lam. 3:21-23). Jesus can give us the hope that we need.Which of these blessings do you feel you need more of right now?

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”John 10:10Jesus came so that you may have life. If you are in Christ, you have it. Life is in Christ, and if Christ is in you, life is in you.But Jesus does not stop there. He adds these four marvellous words: “and have it abundantly.” What does this mean? It would be easy to say, “Jesus wants you to have a life of total fulfilment, health, wealth, and satisfaction. He came so that everything you want could be yours.”But that would be a complete misunderstanding of this verse. Believers get sick, experience loss, and know disappointment. Most of all, if we follow Jesus we must be ready to deny ourselves and take up our cross every day (Mat. 16:24). So, what does “and have it abundantly” mean? It means that Jesus Christ has more to give than any of us has received.This life that Jesus gives makes it possible for us to face loss, difficulties, and disappointment. If you have suffered loss from thieves, these words are especially for you. Jesus came so that you would have all you need, for all that you face.Don’t be satisfied with a small measure of life—a little faith, a little peace, a little joy. Jesus Christ has more to give than any of us has received!How do you get more? The same way you got what you have in the first place—by coming to Jesus. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened” (Mat. 7:7-8).What does it mean to you that Jesus came so that you would have all you need, for all you face?

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life... ”John 10:10Picture your life as a house. You are sitting in your living room, and there is a knock on the door. You pull back the curtain to see who is outside.Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Rev. 3:20).If you fear that Jesus may be a thief and that your life will be less if you let Him in, you will bolt the door. “If I let Him in, He will take away my freedom to do what I want. He will kill off what I enjoy.”But if you were to see that Jesus came to give you life, you would pull back the bolt and open the door. So, hear these words of Jesus: “I came that they may have life” (Jn. 10:10).Now someone may say, “Well, I have life already. I have good friends. I am content. I am happy, and I don’t need Jesus.”But here’s the thing: God gives us life, but we don’t hold it in our possession. Life can be taken from us in any number of ways—cancer, an accident, or an act of violence.But for Jesus, it is different. John says, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men” (Jn. 1:4). Life is in Jesus. He holds it as His own possession.Jesus knocks on the door of your life. He is not a thief. He has come so that you may have life, and when you believe that, you will open the door.Have you opened the door of your life to Jesus? When you see what He can give, you will freely and gladly open the door and welcome Him in.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”John 10:10Notice that alongside Jesus, who has come into the world to bring life, there is also a thief who comes to steal. The thief takes away what was yours and leaves you with less than you had.The thief has also come to kill and destroy. Once you had faith and hope and joy, but your faith is now a flickering candle. Your hope has been crushed. Water has been poured on the flame of your joy. You find yourself saying, “Something within me has died.”We live at a time when many people are moving away from faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. There’s always a story behind this, and if you have enough trust to ask, you may open the door to a fruitful conversation. “Who stole what you had?” This is a really important question, and by asking it, you may help a person who is losing faith.How are we to deal with thieves? Jesus said, “All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them” (Jn. 10:8). If you listen to thieves, they will take away everything of value.If you’ve been robbed of faith, hope, love, or joy, you will likely find that you’ve been listening to the voice of a thief. Your recovery will begin when you listen to a different voice—the voice of Jesus—and the first thing He says is: “Learn to recognise those who steal, kill, and destroy.”Have you been listening to the voice of a thief? Do you feel that something within you has died?

“This is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.”John 6:39Someone might hear that Jesus has come into the world, and say, “So what? What difference is that to me?” Here are two reasons to rejoice:1. Rejoice in the goodness of GodSuppose that this world was ruled by some dark power who sought our destruction. Suppose that this enemy sent his son to get his will done. There would be no Christmas. How could we celebrate the birth of one who came to destroy us?Instead of “I have come down from heaven to do the will of him who sent me,” we would hear, “I have come up from hell, and this is the will of him who sent me: that I should save nothing of all that he has given me, but tear it down on the last day.”However dark this world may seem, it is not ruled by some dark power. God in His abundant goodness offers eternal life to every person.2. Rejoice in your security as a believerYou may wonder, “Is it possible that after all my believing I may finally be lost? Could it be that my faith was not strong enough? Could it be that my repentance was not deep enough? Could I come up short?”No! It is the will of the Father that the Son should lose nothing of all He has been given. Your arrival in heaven does not depend on your feeble grip on Jesus but on His firm grip on you.Do you believe that Jesus Christ came into the world not to condemn you but to save you? Do you believe that if you come to Him, He will never cast you out? Why would you run from a Saviour like this?