“ But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy
faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves
in the love of God, looking for the mercy
of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”- Jude 20-21
Jude, the half brother of Jesus, didn’t
believe in Jesus as the Son of God until He was resurrected. His name means
praise and he certainly learned to praise God through his Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. As he writes this short, powerful book of 25 verses we see that Jude
begins warning the people about the false teachers that were infiltrating the
church and then takes a sharp turn encouraging the believers to build up their own
faith.
Notice
that Jude says; “build yourselves,”
which indicates to me that we are responsible for the bulk of the building. No
one can make us build…only we can motivate ourselves to do it.
Next,
notice that it says “build yourselves up.”
To build up means the act or process of increasing, to
develop gradually in increments. The best way that I know to illustrate
this point is by using the activity of exercise. Muscles are not built
overnight, but are gradually built as we use them more and more each day. If
you want to get bigger muscles you use more weight and push yourself further
each time you work out.
The
same is true with our faith, if you are seeking to build your faith you will
need to use more weight and push yourself further and higher with the Lord…it’s
not enough to just settle for where we are with the Lord…going to church once a
week and reading a devotional each day…He wants more! The Christian life must
never stand still…if it does, it will go backwards.
If
you want to ensure that you are not going backwards with the Lord …you must
press forward and build up your spiritual muscles by building the foundation of
your most holy faith! If you are seeking
to build a single family dwelling you will need your foundation to go 6-8
inches down. But, if you’re wanting to build a skyscraper you will need your
foundation to go a hundred feet down into the ground to ensure that your
building will be secure and will not fall. The deeper the foundation the higher
the potential building! How high do you
want to go with Jesus? Will you settle for a normal home or do you want to soar into the sky? If you want to soar high you must build your faith like Jude
tells us in the remainder of the verse, by…
1.
Reading the Word of God
2.
Praying in the Spirit
3.
Loving the Lord and others
4.
Looking for His return
If
your heart is to go higher and deeper with Jesus…you will need to lay a deep
foundation in the Word of God. You will also need to use the your power tools
of prayer to raise the walls and cover the building with the love of God.
Lastly, if you are looking for His soon return you will have hope and your
building will be able to withstand any storm that will come your way! Let your
foundation go deep, pray in the Spirit, show the love of God and be earnestly
expecting His return and you will be building your most holy faith!
