08/12          Romans 1:1-4

This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News. 2 God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures.  3 The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line, 4 and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord. 

GOOD NEWS

Jesus is the Good News.  He is God’s Son.  He lived a perfect life fully man, fully god and willingly paid the price for our sin-dying on the cross.  The Father raised Him from the dead and he is alive, seated at the right of God, interceding for us this moment.  Jesus is Lord and God, the Creator, providing life for those of us who believe in Him.  He is God’s everything.  

08/11          Jude 1:24-25 

Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault.  25 All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen.

BELIEVE

Believe in Jesus and He will keep you close.  Follow Him.  Praise and honor the Son of God.  Jesus is God’s everything.  Every-thing you need for living a Christ like life is in Jesus.  He is able.  

08/10          Jude 1:17-23 

But you, my dear friends, must remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ predicted. 18 They told you that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to satisfy their ungodly desires. 19 These people are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They follow their natural instincts because they do not have God’s Spirit in them.  20 But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, 21 and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love. 22 And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering.  23 Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives. 

SUBMIT

Submit yourself to Jesus.  He is worthy.  Talk about what Jesus has done in your life and share with everyone you come into contact with.  Jesus is Lord and He will keep you safe and unwavering.  

08/09          Jude 1:14-16

Enoch, who lived in the seventh generation after Adam, prophesied about these people. He said, “Listen! The Lord is coming with countless thousands of his holy ones 15 to execute judgment on the people of the world. He will convict every person of all the ungodly things they have done and for all the insults that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These people are grumblers and complainers, living only to satisfy their desires. They brag loudly about themselves, and they flatter others to get what they want. 

BRAG

Brag about our Lord Jesus.  Remember what He says.  Believe in Him.  Repent, pray, follow and let Him have control of your life.  Surrender to Jesus.  Serve Jesus. 

08/08          Jude 1:10-13

But these people scoff at things they do not understand. Like unthinking animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them, and so they bring about their own destruction. 11 What sorrow awaits them! For they follow in the footsteps of Cain, who killed his brother. Like Balaam, they deceive people for money. And like Korah, they perish in their rebellion.  12 When these people eat with you in your fellowship meals commemorating the Lord’s love, they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you. They are like shameless shepherds who care only for themselves. They are like clouds blowing over the land without giving any rain. They are like trees in autumn that are doubly dead, for they bear no fruit and have been pulled up by the roots. 13 They are like wild waves of the sea, churning up the foam of their shameful deeds. They are like wandering stars, doomed forever to blackest darkness. 

FOCUS

Focus your life on Jesus.  Teach what Christ taught.  Learn what Jesus calls us to learn.  Do no focus on some novel teacher but instead on the Lord Jesus Christ.  He will teach you.  He will lead you.  He is worthy of all of your honor and glory.  No one else but Jesus.  

08/07          Jude 1:7-9 

And don’t forget Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, which were filled with immorality and every kind of sexual perversion. Those cities were destroyed by fire and serve as a warning of the eternal fire of God’s judgment. 8 In the same way, these people—who claim authority from their dreams—live immoral lives, defy authority, and scoff at supernatural beings.  9 But even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, did not dare accuse the devil of blasphemy, but simply said, “The Lord rebuke you!” (This took place when Michael was arguing with the devil about Moses’ body.) 

IMPORTANT

Jesus is important. We focus our faith on Him and Him alone.  Christ is all and in all and there is no other way to the Father but Jesus.  Jesus is who we live our life with and who we live for and there is no other.  Jesus Christ alone is our cornerstone.  

08/06          Jude 1:3-6 

Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people. 4 I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. 5 So I want to remind you, though you already know these things, that Jesus first rescued the nation of Israel from Egypt, but later he destroyed those who did not remain faithful.  6 And I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them but left the place where they belonged. God has kept them securely chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the great day of judgment. 

REMEMBER

Remember two things that the Lord said are important: First-Love the Lord with all your heart and second-love thy neighbor.  

08/05          Jude 1:1-2 

This letter is from Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and a brother of James. I am writing to all who have been called by God the Father, who loves you and keeps you safe in the care of Jesus Christ. 2 May God give you more and more mercy, peace, and love. 

NEED

We need the Lord.  We need Him now and every moment.  His mercy, peace and love are more than we need but we are overwhelmed with His grace and receptive to His overwhelming mercy, peace and love.  

08/04          3 John 1:10-15

When I come, I will report some of the things he is doing and the evil accusations he is making against us. Not only does he refuse to welcome the traveling teachers, he also tells others not to help them. And when they do help, he puts them out of the church. 11 Dear friend, don’t let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do good prove that they are God’s children, and those who do evil prove that they do not know God.  12 Everyone speaks highly of Demetrius, as does the truth itself. We ourselves can say the same for him, and you know we speak the truth. 13 I have much more to say to you, but I don’t want to write it with pen and ink. 14 For I hope to see you soon, and then we will talk face to face. 15 Peace be with you. Your friends here send you their greetings. Please give my personal greetings to each of our friends there.

PERSONAL

God’s Word to us in personal.  He speaks to our heart and to our situation.  The Lord never forgets where you are, what you need and what you are doing.  He is intimately involved in your life whether you are intimately involved with Him or not.  Serve the Lord with gladness and rejoice in Jesus.  

08/03          3 John 1:8-9 

So we ourselves should support them so that we can be their partners as they teach the truth.9 I wrote to the church about this, but Diotrephes, who loves to be the leader, refuses to have anything to do with us. 

REACH

Reach out to others in need especially those in ministry positions.  Help the needy.  Be frugal and do not be greedy.  Be a cheerful and faithful giver.  People count.