Are you standing on the firm foundation of Christ Jesus?

On Christ the Solid Rock, I stand.  All other ground in sinking sand………

Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend

 earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.  Jude 1:3

Jude’s passion and concern for the welfare of the church prevented him from writing of the joys and benefits of the common salvation he shared with those to whom he was writing.  Instead he wrote with deep concern, exhorting his readers to follow Jesus and Him alone.

Others, you see, had entered the church perverting the gospel and were leading many astray. Jude issued the following plea,

But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.            Jude 1:20-21

The challenges addressed by Jude still exist in the church today.  Scripture clearly indicates that scoffers who follow their own ungodly desires will enter the church, cause divisions and lead others astray.  But just as the problem remains, so does the solution.  As believers, we have the responsibility to ‘build ourselves up’ on the firm foundation of Christ Jesus.  We are to live Spirit-filled lives, following the disciplines of Jesus with discipleship as the pathway.  Humble submission is the Lord’s way.  A life of serving others is the Lord’s way.  Constant communion with the Father is the Lord’s way.  Love for the fellowship is the Lord’s way. 

Does your walk resemble His?

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.   Psalms 139:23-24

Is it your deepest heart’s desire to be filled with His Spirit?

Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Psalm 51:11

Are you a ‘hearer and a doer’ of the Word? 

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.  James 1:22

I believe these are the questions we must ask ourselves daily, always striving to live as He commands.  Between our own sinful natures, the cares of this world and the adversary of our souls, there’s much to lead us astray.  And there are those who would either intentionally or unintentionally try to have us follow their agenda and not Jesus’.  But Christ is greater than all these diversions combined. And He is able to keep and sustain us, in the midst thereof.  He is ever faithful to do His part.  And we must fulfill ours…..standing on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ!

Be blessed.