Jude 1-4; Psalm 30

Jude 1-4
Jude calls himself the slave of Jesus Christ and a brother of James. As we have noted, Jude and James were both sons of Mary and Joseph. Perhaps Jude does not identify himself as the half brother of Jesus to show that he, like everyone else, needed to realize that he was a sinner and needed Jesus as his Savior. By calling himself a slave of Jesus Christ, he surely did not claim to be equal with Jesus in any way.

Jude is writing to believers, "to all who have been called by God the Father." He assures them and us that God loves us and keeps us safe in the care of Jesus Christ." He prays for more and more mercy, peace and love for them. This is a worthy prayer to pray often for others--mercy, peace, and love.

In vv. 3-4 we begin to see one of the themes that Jude will follow--warning concerning false teachers. This theme comes up often in the New Testament, and we must not underestimate the dangers false teachings pose. Jude had hoped to write about "the salvation we all share," but he felt he must issue a warning to "defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people." These holy people are believers, and we as believers today are part of this group. Ungodly people can worm their way into the church in any and all generations bringing their falsehoods with them. In Jude's day, they were apparently teaching that "God's marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives." He goes on to say that such teaching denies "our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ."

Psalm 30
David exalts (lifts up) the Lord in another wonderful Psalm of praise. Here are some examples of times to praise God.

• After a rescue from enemies. v. 1
• Upon healing from illness. vv. 2-3
• When we find joy after weeping. v. 5  Sorrow may seem to last a very long time, but God will bring relief and joy in the morning. In the physical darkness of night, everything always seems worse than in the light of day so don't be discouraged; morning is coming!
• When we experience mercy after hardship. vv. 6-10  When we are prosperous and comfortable, we tend to feel self-sufficient. Sometimes God has to take those props out for a while so that we will trust Him.
• When our joy returns after mourning. v. 11-12  Mourning is a natural and important part of our lives after a great loss. It's not wrong to mourn. In fact, it's necessary and good. However, God does not intend for it to last forever. He wants to take away our "clothes of mourning" and clothe us with joy so that we can sing praises to God and not be silent. 

Here are words to meditate on today, "O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!"