Isaiah, in this passage, is speaking to a nation who has wandered from the path God had put them on.  Not only had they wandered, but they found themselves wandering down a road that was leading to their brokenness, to pain, to frustration, and to a life that they had longed to leave behind in Egypt.

Isaiah tells of someone who is going to come and suffer on behalf of his people, in order to bring them back onto the path they were originally called to.  Although there is a present truth in this promise, that God is going to redeem them and free them from their exile in Babylon, this was also a promise of one to come, who would free all of us from the exile that sin puts us into.  What Isaiah is promising the nation is what Jesus fulfilled on the cross.  A suffering servant, who gave his life on our behalf, to stop us from continuing to travel down a road of destruction, and to offer us a chance to come back to the path of life.

Humanity is hopeless in our pain and suffering, but Jesus became a suffering servant, which defeated sin, but also gives us hope in the midst of our pain and despair.

The Passover was a foreshadowing of what would happen on a spiritual scale through the death of Jesus.  Punishment was coming on those who would not submit to God and trust in his way and offer of life.  But there was hope to be rescued and redeemed from this punishment and destruction.

A lamb could be killed, and its blood spread over the doorposts of a house.  Blood could cover a family and forgiveness and grace would be offered to them, if they trusted in God’s invitation and followed his commandments.

This lamb was really just a foretaste of the ultimate lamb, whose blood would one day be shed to cover all of humanity.  Jesus is the great passover lamb, and God’s grace and mercy is offered to us when we cover the doorposts of our lives with his blood.

Humanity is deserving of death and punishment… our sins should lead to our destruction as well, but Jesus shed his blood to offer us life instead.

Jude doesn’t just warn his readers to avoid false teachings. His letter is not just about what to avoid, but rather, where to build your life, and why.

Jude tells his readers to build their lives on the most holy faith. Contending for the faith is about continually revisiting our faith through prayer and making sure that it is built on the foundation of the gospel.  We must keep ourselves in God’s love by showing that love to others around us. 

We cannot do this on our own, however, and we need the grace of God and the aid of community to keep us faithful in Jesus.

Holy Spirit

Community

We often think that we can do faith in isolation.  But we really need community to hold us together.  To make sure we are not getting thrown off course and being influenced by false teachers preaching a false gospel.  Pursuing the way of Jesus is not something we can do on our own.  It’s too dangerous and we far too easily succumb to false gospels.

What does actual community look like?

Praying for one another

Saving one another

Having mercy for people who doubt

Jude sits down to write a letter to a group of Hebrew churches spread out among the Roman world. But before he writes his full letter, he hears about false teachers who have taken up leadership at these different churches. So he chose to instead write this short letter of warning to these churches.

His letter begins with a warning about how these false teachers are corrupting the church. Not with their teaching, but actually through the way they are living. Jude links this present truth to ancient stories the Israelites would have been very familiar with to show that living in rebellion to the way of Jesus always leads to a life of ruin. But not only does this have the power to corrupt us, but living in this way can actually bring ruin to those around us.

Although Jude is speaking about leaders in the church, this is actually a warning for all of us. The Old Testament is filled with stories of those who ignored God’s teachings, thinking they knew how to find true life on their own, only to have their story end in ruin. We must be on our guard for false teachers in our world today, but we must also be on our guard against the way lies can infiltrate our own belief system and affect the way we live our lives. When we live out the lies we believe, and rebel against God, we can bring ruin to ourselves and others as well!

When we seek behavioral modification instead of true heart change, it is like stapling healthy apples to a struggling tree. Our temporary solutions and quick fixes will end up rotting because they are disconnected from a true source of life. Our world is obsessed with the visible fruit of productivity, however, without a secure identity we end up making fragile, cosmetic changes that only last as long as our will power. As followers of Christ, our identity is sealed in Him and His love for us. This truth should enable us to live freely and wholeheartedly for him, but division can still make its way into our hearts.

There will always be a temptation to withhold part of our heart from God, but we were created to remain in His love. In His mercy, God desires to unite our hearts towards Him. When we humble ourselves to learn how to fear His name and rely on His faithfulness, God promises to change our hearts to bear enduring fruit connected to Christ.

While the modern world is riddled with deceptive mindsets and mechanisms created to steal and waste our time, God calls us to be conscious stewards of our time, and aim to live in our current seasons with the knowledge and hope of our future in eternity with Him.

As creations intentionally made in His image, eternity is set into our hearts, providing us with a purpose that should drive our lives on Earth.  Many of us need a new perspective on time, what it actually is, and how we should actually use it.  Time is the most important commodity in our lives, and by moving from carelessness to carefulness we can honor God with the time He has given us on Earth. Treating our time foolishly can look like wasting it through exchanging worship of God for unsatisfying idols, hoarding possessions that will not last, and building our lives on weak foundations. However, pursuing a wise perspective ensures that we devote our lives to what truly matters rather than things that ultimately pull us away from God. When we live in light of the future, we can shift from squandering to leveraging our time to fulfill the purposes God has given each of us.

We are all given one life to live.  The problem for many of us, is that we aren’t entirely sure what we should do with it.  We don’t know how to focus it or what we should be giving the majority of our life to.  We don’t know how to live in ways that are honoring to God. We might end up wasting, or wrongly using our lives, but as followers of Jesus, we can actually live a life fully pleasing to the Lord. Spiritual gifts are sovereignly given spiritual abilities meant to serve the Christian community.

Spiritual gifts are one way in which we can love and serve the church, as well as the city around us.   We often fall into traps of believing our gifts are insignificant, that they don’t matter when it comes to the church or the world.  But our spiritual gifts should lead us to a life of love.  They should be an avenue for us to love others well, and find meaning and purpose of the life God has given us.  It’s a way to use our life to love others well, and build something bigger than ourselves… the kingdom of God.

As we kick off a brand new year, the last thing that many of us want to think about is a life that is full of regret.  Yet the truth is, as we come into this year, many of us want to begin again, or start over, from the year before because we are burdened by the regrets over the decisions we have made and the life we have pursued.  We want to leverage our life for something meaningful and beautiful.  Not think back and be faced with the reality of regret.

In order for us to do this, we have to think about the lasting impact of our decisions before we make them.  There’s almost no greater example of this than the life of Esau.  Esau, because he was so overwhelmed by the cravings of the immediate, sold his birthright, and the right to become a father of the people of Israel.  All of something as small as a bowl of soup.  It’s easy for us to look at him with a judgmental mind and spirit, yet we trade things that should matter to us for the cravings of the imminent.  

Esau serves as a reminder to us that if we want to leverage our life to create something meaningful, to love others well, and to, ultimately, find a life that can satisfy, it starts with us thinking ahead, and fighting regret before we have to face it.

A Christmas message from REUNION.

Jesus approaches a topic that is a universal struggle for all of humanity.  What does it look like for us to love people that we regard as enemies, or at least, that we don’t get along with and don’t like?

Although the Old Testament doesn’t instruct the people of God to literally hate their enemy, that sentiment was prevalent and widely accepted. Jesus confronts the cultural atmosphere that made it permissible to treat supposed enemies with abject disregard.

Jesus' invitation is not just to get along with those we do not like.  It’s much deeper.  It is an invitation to reflect the love that Jesus has shown us.  To turn enemies to friends, and friends to brothers and sisters, through freeing them from the brokenness they are entrapped in.