“Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

— 1 Corinthians 1:31

I think if you asked the average person where you would find the letter of Judas in the Bible they would be somewhat taken aback, and yet that is what we find in the second to last book of the Bible. We know it as the Epistle of Jude. His full name was actually Judas.

As many of you probably know, this man was the half-brother of our Christ. You recall that the Pharisees in Nazareth said, “Is He not the carpenter’s son… And are not His brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us?” (Matthew 13:55-56a). So we know that Jesus had four half-brothers, and at least two sisters who, in good first century Palestinian form, were not named.

As an unbeliever, Jude (along with his brothers) mocked Christ (John 7:3-5). So did James his brother, who was converted after the resurrection. James became the leader of the early church in Jerusalem. “Old camel knees,” he was known as from much praying.

While little is known about Jude, other than this epistle, which we shall consider over the next few days, we should notice how he identifies himself. He writes, “Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James.” You notice he doesn’t say the brother of Jesus Christ, but the servant of Jesus Christ and the brother of James. Today, we have too many people trying to boast about who they are or who they know. We can learn a lesson in humility just from this one statement of Jude.

Father, with a humble heart I come before You. I praise You for the great examples in Scripture and ask that I may acquire some true humility. Lord, give us strength for today to walk humbly before You…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH,
WE CAN BE TRULY HUMBLE.

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear…”

— 1 John 4:18

How many people are prevented from ever succeeding because they allow past failures to short-circuit their faith in the Lord? They forget what God can do with us when we let Him.

Questions put to me sometimes are very amusing. One young man recently said to me, “Oh Dr. Kennedy, I so admire your intellect. You graduated from graduate school summa cum laude.” That’s not the way it was always. Before I was a Christian, I went to college for two and a half years before I quit. In the last course I took, I received an F—F for failure.

“Oh, you speak so easily. You are so articulate.” I remember when I stood up and could not get out three sentences in a row. I sat down in great humiliation.

“Oh, you are such a good teacher.” I can still feel the pressure on my back when the first time I taught a class. Someone had to physically push me into the room to teach my first students. I was paralyzed with fear.

But I learned something. I learned that God can use me when I concentrate on the power He gives me. His perfect love casts out our fear. Instead of focusing on your fears and your past failures, realize that God can use even those failures for His glory. He can make you a new person and remove those doubts and fears.

God of love, cast out my fears today, and give me strength for today to go forth in Your power and do the things You have set before me. Let Your love so fill my heart, mind, and soul that there is no room for fear…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH AND IN HIS LOVE,
OUR FEARS ARE CONQUERED.

“So you also, when you have done everything commanded you, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done our duty.’”

— Luke 17:10

We need to forget our successes sometimes. Some of us are wonderful laurelsitters. We have been sitting on our laurels for years. We reach a certain level of accomplishment and are satisfied. That should not be.

I recall reading that one of Napoleon’s generals came to him and described a magnificent victory he had won in one of the campaigns. He described how they had brought the artillery up to just the right point and smashed the enemy. Having concluded a detailed narrative, he waited for Napoleon to commend him. There was a brief silence, and then Napoleon said to him, “Yes, and what did you do the next day?”

I think we need to hear those words because God is no doubt going to be asking us, “What did you do the next day?” What are you doing now for God? Are you resting on your laurels? We need to forget our successes. We need to have a holy discontent.

Sometimes we may be quite content and unconcerned about the advancement of the kingdom of God, but very discontented about the state we are in. We do not like the car we drive, the house we live in, the clothes we wear. We are envious of others—what they have, what jobs they hold, and what cars they drive. But we have it all backwards. There is a need for a holy discontent in the progress we have made in the kingdom of God.

Lord, give me strength for today to realize I do not need to be great in Your kingdom. I only wish to be Your servant. Neither do I wish to miss opportunities to serve and to grow and do great things for You…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE PRESS ON
IN THE WORK OF THE KINGDOM.

“I will give You thanks, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify Your name forever.”

— Psalm 86:12

Life has purpose. The handle of an ax has only one purpose. The weighty end of the head has no other purpose than to bring the whole momentum created by the handle and the weight created by the head to bear on that small, sharp, knifelike edge. When that hits the wood, the purpose is fulfilled. So it is with a bow and arrow. The head of the arrow, the shaft, the feathers, the bow, the string, the arm and the eye are all designed for just one purpose: the front end of the arrow to hit the target.

Everything that accomplishes anything great has an integration toward a single purpose, whether it be a football team or a 747. Can you imagine a football team which is not integrated toward a single play?

Our lives are so unlike that. There are many who build huge engines but have little stubby wings and so they will not fly. Others have wings that are a block and half long but have no power to get off the ground. There is not that integration where every part moves toward the same goal.

Everything a triathlon athlete does is designed to complete that one single event. His eating, his sleeping, his exercise, what work he does to make money just to continue toward that goal, his thinking, and his study, are designed toward that one end.

Godly goals are the best type. It’s good to be goal-oriented, especially if that goal is for God’s glory and our good and that of others.

Lord, give me strength for today to fulfill the purpose for which You have made me. Thank You for Your promise to give Your wisdom to those who need it. Help us to live on purpose and let that purpose be to glorify Your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH,
ALL MY WORK IS PRAISE.

“When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were illiterate and uneducated men, they marveled. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.”

— Acts 4:13

Many people are rendered failures because they remember what they ought to forget and forget what they ought to remember. This is a tragic thing. We ought to forget those things that debilitate and keep us from reaching our greatest potential. The first among those is that we ought to forget our failures. I believe that the remembrance of our failures is Satan’s chain that he uses to bind us to the ground like some chained bird. We may desire at times to spread our wings and fly up into the sky and that chain jerks us back down to the ground.

“I’ve tried it before, and I failed.” “I tried to one time, and it did not work.” “I stood up to speak and forgot my lines.” “I can still remember them laughing.” “I didn’t do well in school. I failed the course.” “I failed in business.” “I failed in life.” “I can’t do it.” “I can’t.” “I can’t.”

The apostles had their own failings. Three times Peter had denied that he knew Jesus. John and his brother James sought to be so honored that they would sit on both sides of the Lord up in heaven. The Gospels record the failings of the apostles repeatedly. But after His resurrection and the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit, now the apostles were bold changed men, so they forgot their failures and remembered God’s blessing. Be careful what you choose to remember and what you choose to forget.

Dear Lord Jesus, give me strength for today to remember Your blessings, the victories You have given me, however small or great, and to remember what is good. Help me to forget my failures and hurts. I lay these at the foot of the cross. Help me to leave them there…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN
LEAVE OUR FAILURES BEHIND.

“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?”

— Philippians 3:14

The junk heap has been designed for those things that fail to fulfill their purpose. In our house, one time we had a fancy electric can opener—a wondrous thing to behold. The chrome shone brightly as a delightful adjunct to our kitchen. It was even color-coordinated with the color of the walls. It made a marvelous whirring sound when it was turned on. There was only one slight fault: It did not open cans. Guess where it is today. That’s right. In the junk heap.

Outside the city of Jerusalem was a place called the Valley of Hinnom. We know it better as Gehenna, which is translated in the English version of the Bible as “hell.” Into the Valley of Ge-Hinnom was cast all the refuse, all the things that had failed to serve their purposes any longer. That is what garbage is. That is where people go who do not fulfill the purposes God has ordained for them.

Paul makes it very clear that he had a purpose: “This one thing I do.” This integration of all the faculties of life into one single purpose is one of the greatest secrets of success. It has been noted in anyone who has ever accomplished anything significant for good (or evil for that matter), whether it be Florence Nightingale, David Livingstone, Martin Luther or John Calvin—any person who has accomplished a great deal for humankind has had this consuming singleness of purpose.

Let us live for God’s purpose and avoid the junk heap.

Oh Lord, let me not waste my life in futile pursuits, but with singleness of mind, give me strength for today to press on toward the goal. Thank You for Your high calling in Christ Jesus…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH,
WE WILL REACH THE GOAL.

“For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?”

— Matthew 16:26

Tragically, the false view that human beings are just the products of time and chance, and that ultimately purpose is just a mirage, dominates most of our schools today. It is not surprising when people spend the first quarter of their lives in school learning that sort of nonsense, so they have very little defined purposes for their lives.

This is supported by some psychologists, such as the late B. F. Skinner, who would say that we are “beyond freedom and dignity.” To them there is no purpose; we are what we eat and are determined by those things surrounding us.

There are other psychologists who disagree and send contrary signals. They tell us that we have purposes for all we do, whatever it may be. They say to find those purposes we need to get in touch with our subconscious.

The Bible has no such contradictory signals. It makes abundantly clear the fact that God has given the entire world a purpose. Events are moving toward a definite conclusion when God will drop the curtain on history and everything will reach its appointed goal.

He has done this with the cosmos, and He has done it for every individual within it. Each of us has been given a divinely ordained purpose, and we are to fulfill that purpose in our lives. If we fail to fulfill the purpose God has given to us, our life will ultimately be a tragic failure, even if it’s a success in the eyes of the world.

Lord of life, give me strength for today to finish the work You have given me to do. Thank You for the promise that You will fulfill Your purposes for me. Let me live close to You so I see them clearly…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, OUR PURPOSE
IN LIFE WILL BE FULFILLED.

“For Christ also has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God…”

— 1 Peter 3:18

There are religions, like Hinduism, whose followers talk about “karma.” The Hindus believe that salvation is wrought through karma; that all one has to do is reflect up to the gods, and the gods reflect it back to us and we get what we deserve—tit for tat, quid pro quo, something for something.

But that does not wash since every one of us is a sinner. If everything we have ever said, thought, or done that is wrong reflected up to God, it would come down upon us like a safe falling out of a window of a tall building.

Thank God, however, He takes all of that ill thinking and all of those unkind words to Himself, and all of our sin upon Himself. He goes to a Cross and there He dies in our place. He shines back upon us the soft beam of His love. It is no reflection of what we have done; it is a reflection of what He is, of His smiling face, of His willingness to accept us—not because of our success, but because He has given His Son to die for us.

If we will trust in Jesus Christ, He will receive us just as we are—with all of our moles and warts and imperfections, all of our sins and transgressions—by His grace. God operates, not by karma, but by grace, and offers through no merit of our own to receive us to Himself, just as we are, by His grace, if we will trust in Jesus Christ.

Gracious God, we thank You for not reflecting back to us our unkind words and ugly thoughts. Thank You, instead, for reflecting back to us Your pure love. Lord, give me strength for today to forgive others since You have so generously forgiven me…

IN GOD’S STRENGTH, WE
REFLECT BACK HIS LOVE.

“Let us look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…”

— Hebrews 12:2

In the early days of my pastoring, I had the pleasure of witnessing to a young man in his twenties, who finally accepted Christ. He was growing in the Lord. The very week after he joined the church, he made the central headlines of the newspaper. The FBI was looking for him for some kind of fraudulent activity he had been involved in before.

In fact, when they found him, he was so overwhelmed by this experience he had a mental breakdown. I visited him in Broward Hospital’s mental ward. When I went into his room, he was like a caged lion. He hardly seemed aware of my presence. He was pacing back and forth across the room, mumbling to himself, moaning, bewailing, and gesturing about what was going to happen to him. He was possibly facing twenty years in prison.

After some time, he quieted down as I read the Scripture to him about how Peter had looked at the waves and had begun to sink. I said to him, “You are looking at the waves, and you are sinking into total mental depression and agony of spirit. Lift up your eyes to Jesus. Fix your eyes upon Him. Look upon Him. Look unto Him.”

Gradually, all of his anxiety and distress just seemed to drain away. He sat down in a chair and began to look at me with eyes that obviously were quite full of understanding. He was restored. Later, the charges against him were dropped. Though your problems seem insurmountable, fix your eyes on Jesus.

Jesus Christ, give me strength for today to focus on You. Forgive me for too often focusing on the problems of life, but not You. If ever I should start to sink, let me say with Peter, “Lord, save me.” Thank You that You have overcome the world…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN
KEEP OUR EYES ON JESUS.

“Peter answered Him and said, ‘Lord, if it is You, bid me come to You on the water.’”

— Matthew 14:28

As we know, one night when the disciples were on the Sea of Galilee and Jesus was not present, a storm came up. They were afraid and even thought they saw a ghost. It was Jesus, walking on the water. Then, impetuous Peter said, “If it is you, let me walk on the water to You.” And Jesus said, “Come.”

Peter, climbing up the gunnel of the ship, steps down upon the water, no doubt very hesitantly. Holding on to the side, he pushes himself away and begins to walk upon the waves, coming to Christ. What an extraordinary experience. Other than Jesus Christ, he is the only other human being I have ever heard of who actually walked upon water.

Now, we may tend to smile at Peter because of the fearfulness that came upon him and his sinking into the waves. But, let us not forget that Peter did walk a number of steps upon the water. How about you? How many steps have you walked on water?

Then Peter took his eyes off Jesus and looked at the boisterous sea. He saw the effects of it in the waves that were dashing about him. And when he took his eyes off of Jesus and looked at the waves, he began instantly to sink.

How many times have you or I lain upon our beds at night microscopically examining the waves and wondering why we were sinking? If you would learn to walk on water, then don’t look at the waves, look at Jesus.

Lord Jesus, thank You for holding us up in life, even through difficult storms. Help us to focus on You and not the wind and waves. Give us the grace to keep our eyes on You through the storms of life…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH,
WE CAN “WALK ON WATER.”