Jude 1: 1 From Jude, servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James—
To those who have been called by God, who live in the love
of God the Father and the protection of Jesus Christ:
2 May mercy, peace, and love be yours in full measure.
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Seeing the family
as chess pieces, I wondered where I fit. I was the youngest and my siblings had
moved on by the time I had questions about life. Was I on the side “for” or “against”
the family? Was I a pawn or a rook? Please excuse the chess terms.
- I wondered where I fit in the family?
- I wondered if I was part of something or if I needed to fight what was established.
- I wondered if other families had it “better” than mine.
Jude, brother of
JESUS, begins his letter in a somewhat awkward way. He recognized James as his
brother and that he was a servant of JESUS. He did not mention his other two
brothers, Joses and Simon. James wrote an epistle and so did Jude. Both
recognized JESUS as the Savior and saw a different perspective of family.
My Observations:
- Families can be messy, BUT GOD welcomes all into HIS loving family.
- Families can have rivalries, fights and divisions, BUT GOD’s family includes love, peace and harmony.
- Families can have hurt, pain and poor affirmation management, BUT GOD showed HIS love to the extreme by allowing JESUS to die for us and being raised from the dead.
There is no greater
love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends, and that’s what JESUS did
for you and me. HE became the solution to the biggest problem, namely all
humans were lost. HE wanted us back in HIS family so HE did something about the
problem. HE became a human and took all the blame humans can dish out.
HE then allowed
HIMSELF to be murdered and was raised from the dead. HE now invites anyone to
believe HE did all of this out of love. Unfortunately, many twist HIS actions
and fall prey to the Enemy who wants people to remain blind to true love. I gladly
accept HIS love and HIS invitation to join an eternal family.
Challenge
- Who does the writer address the letter to?
- Have you ever questioned where you fit within your own family?
- Will you join GOD’s eternal family that is filled with love and appreciation for you just as you are today?
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