Ungodly Characteristics, Jude 1:16

Ungodly Characteristics

Jude 1:16 These men are grumblers and fault finders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

Have you ever grumbled or found fault with how others do things? It seems like most people do. Why I am the one who does it right; Why would anyone do it like that; why do people have to be so stupid; why is the boss telling us what to do; anyone could have thought of a better way to do it; its so hot outside; why did it have to rain today; whose idea was it to invite them; this is boring and on and on... people love to complain about any and every thing.

Then there is pride: I did a great job putting that program together; my way always turns out so good; my girl is the goalie, isn't she's amazing; no one can sing like my daughter, she sings like an angel; Whoa, that was a great hit, who did that, oh, it was my boy, should have known, he's the best player on the team. And flattery: your really pretty, who are they in the picture, you have such a beautiful family; I really like you dress, you look so good in it; is that a new haircut, you are gorgeous; are they your children, they are so well behaved. People act like this when they are trying to puff themselves up above others and when they are trying to get something from others.

These are dangerous places to live. From this verse, we see that they are signs of ungodliness; ways to lift yourself above others; ways to put others down.

K and A, pride can be sneaky. It enters into one's life subtly and takes over. It can be hidden from our conscience and from others but at some point it rears its ugly head for all to see. You know how I despise the words I'm so proud of you; you make me so proud; you must be so proud of your daughter,  and on and on... but it is a holy pride. Yeah, but pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. If you read much of Proverbs you'll find it a major theme. And so is flattery and complaining; I'd rather live on a corner of a roof than to share a house with a quarrelsome wife. That's for sure.

These are characteristics for you to avoid in your life, and they are signs to watch out for in others. Encourage others to rise above these traits and avoid any resemblance in your own life.

~Dad

Let God Convict, Jude 1:14-15

Let God Convict

Jude 1:15 [The Lord is coming] to judge everyone and to convict the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against [the Lord].

I know a person who, when double crossed, becomes angry and looks for ways to get back at them. I guess I know more than one... The people I know, some who claim to be Christians, think that should be the normal response.  And, I guess it is for non-believers, but it must not be for the one who has given their heart to Jesus. The Bible is specific in saying that it is for the Lord to take vengeance. He will repay, the Scriptures say.

Daughters, there will be a day when the Lord will not only judge, but he will also convict the guilty. Verse 13 says that there is a place he has reserved for them where they will be forever; blackest darkness, Jude calls it. Yet, when you are taken advantage of, do not striking back, rather forgive. This is the heart of God. He desires all to come to repentance, so let your light so shine by loving them, and pray that they will see that light in you and find Christ as their Savior.

~Dad

Cliche's Of The Ungodly Church Goer, Jude 1:12b-13

Cliches Of The Ungodly Church Goer

Jude 1:12b-13 They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted - twice dead. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom the blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

Here are a few clichés that are fitting for the ungodly church goer, those who sway back and forth and "worship", say amen, or clap their hands. They look holy at the right times, but sadly they deny the power of God in their daily lives.

• Clouds without rain, blown along by the wind
• The look and talk like Christians, but when you need their help, they disappear
• Autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted - twice dead
• You take care of them, feed them and water them, but all for nothing. The never produce anything satisfying or lasting. They never brow in the Lord, they are dead inside.
• Wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame
• They continually come at you. You seek to tame them, fight against their never ending attacks but they never give up. All that is produced is anger and confusion. It billows and rolls over the weak among you
• Wandering stars, for whom the blackest darkness has been reserved forever
• They never solidify their faith. They build their lives on the shifting sands of the world instead on the firm rock of Christ. They are taken away by deceptive pleasures. Soon they will be sucked into the black hole sinful living, never to return.

K and A, this section would take more time to decipher than I have to give it this day, but hopefully you get the point; there is more to your Christian walk than looking good. You must be good! Christ saved you to do more than eat and drink of the goodness of God. He provides spiritual food to supply the strength to serve him and others. Each one of these clichés starts with a promise and expectation, but ends in emptiness. Let the promise you portray bring hope and fulfillment to others.

~Dad

Unworthy Diners, Jude 1:12a

Unworthy Diners

Jude 1:12 These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm - shepherds who feed only themselves. The are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees without fruit and uprooted - twice dead.

Like the people caught in Korah's rebellion, these people think they are holy, but they lacked spirituality. In fact, they are worse, for they are ungodly pretenders leading others astray. They come to the Lord's supper, as Paul described, in an unworthy manner.

It should bother us when everyone feels welcome to take communion. That may sound shocking, but that is because we have been programed to please everyone who enters the doors of the church. We wouldn't want someone to feel out of place, or like a sinner or something, far be it. We have become so accustom to calling everyone a sinner that we now call everyone holy. In fact the words are somewhat interchangeable today. That is how we get the leaders like Jude spoke of... they look good and sound good. Sure they do some questionable things, but we each have our own fault, our own dark side. But the good they do far exceeds their faults.

K and A, do not take communion lightly. When you take it in an unworthy manner, you are sinning against the body and blood of Christ... that's scary. There have been times when my heart did not feel worthy for communion, so I stayed in the pew and prayed instead. If you fake it once... you will begin to eat away at the corners of your conscience, and then after a couple more times, it won't bother you any more. And, you'll do as you please without feeling wrong.  Be true to your soul, purify yourself, then fill yourself with all Christ has for you, then you will be worthy to partake of him!

~Dad

Pretentious Korah, Jude 1:11, Numbers 16

Pretentious Korah

Numbers 16:3 they came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them,  You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, everyone of them, and the Lord is with them. Why then do you set yourselves up above the Lord's assembly?"

You have to read the whole chapter to get the whole feeling of the event. The basic story is this: Korah, a self proclaimed Levite leader, was upset that Moses and Aaron were setting up laws for the people of Israel. He claimed that Moses and Aaron were not chosen by God and had led the Israelites into the desert to kill them. Moses sees through this attempted coup and declares that what Korah is really upset at was that the sons of Aaron were the only ones fit to be priests. They were the only ones holy enough to serve before the Lord and that Korah and the 250 plus others felt slighted.

So, how does this relate to the godless men that Jude was talking about. This is how I see it... We have a problem in the church today. We make everyone equal and we are not! I'm just as good as you is a common theme. So we take the common, immature believer and make them a leader in the church. How did we get to this point? One area is in minimizing sin. We equalize by claiming that we all sin in thought, word and deed everyday. You are no better than the next guy. We are all sinners. If you claim Christ then we are all equal. In fact, We are all holy! I heard a preacher say that he believes everyone has the right to come before God and praise and worship him, even non-believers.

This is dangerous, in our own church, we set an alcohol salesman as an elder of the church board. We put new believers in charge of Sunday school classes to teach out children. We equate the wisdom of children to that of mothers and fathers. We allow those who we know want to commit willful sexual sins and place them as worship leaders. This must not be! We are not all fit for leadership. We are not all mature enough to lead the church. We are not all holy! This is Korah's rebellion - we want to be leaders but are not willing to live holy lives that are required to do so.

K and A, seeking to be a leader in the church is a noble task. It pleases me that you have taught SS, led music, ran VBS, and have been involved in junior church and other things... all good and noble things. But, remember this! Know that God see you as a leader differently than others. You have a special role not to be taken lightly. You hold the hearts and souls of others in their hands. Their eternal destination may be determined by you by your life outside of church! James says it this way... not many of you should presume to be teachers , my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

Daughters... we are not all holy! If you read that chapter in Numbers you will see what God thought about the subject. Keep your heart right before the Lord, so you can lead others with a clear conscience. Then they will mature in righteousness learning from your words and from your life!

~Dad

Money Hungry Baalam, Jude 1:11, Numbers 22-25

Money hungry Balaam

Numbers 22:16-17 They came to Balaam and said: "this is what Balak son of Zippor says: Do not let anything keep you from coming to me, because I will reward you handsomely and do whatever you say. Come and put a curse on these people for me."

Balaam was an Aramean, which is basically land of Syria today. The Arameans were the descendants of Aram, Shem's son, the son of Noah. Although he was in a land that was in a continual struggle with the people of Israel, he was a prophet, a man of God. If he blessed someone, they would be blessed... even the enemies of God knew he was reliable. This is because he relied on God and when he prayed to God, God would speak to him. When he prophesied, it came to pass.

Sound like a pretty good guy so far... well, to cut-to-the-chase, When Balak saw the people of Israel coming to take the Promise land, they feared what God would do to them, so they contacted Balaam to curse them... but Balaam could not, because he only said what God wanted, and the destruction of Israel was certainly against what God wanted... But after Balaam was promised wealth - anything he wanted above and beyond the normal fee for a seer, he came up with a plan... he went to Moab, Balak's kingdom, and blessed the Israelites contrary to Balk's wishes but according to God's word and His desire. Yet afterwards, he told Balak how to destroy God's people... have your women entice the Hebrew men and defile them sexually and also spiritually by worshipping the gods of Moab with those women, of course... This Balak did this and many Israelites were destroyed by a plague. Balaam was willing to sin against God in order to become rich.

Many people today are willing to sell their soul to profit financially. This can be done on many ways. I know of families who would never have their family business open on Sunday's, but over time they succumbed to the pressures of the world and now it makes no difference. They are people who take jobs that are contrary to scriptural principles, because the money is good. Those who cheat on their taxes, earning money under the table and sell away their soul. We must be careful that the love of money does not capture our heart!

K and A, do you live for money? Is your success determined by how much you make? Will you take a job when required to work on Sunday, sell items that are contrary what is right? K, will you be a nurse in a abortion clinic? A, will you sing secular music? Do you give your tithe to the Lord on the gross you earn or just drop some money in the offering plate. Money is an important issue. Paul said, that The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Make sure that it doesn't capture your heart that you become money hungry and forget God!

~Dad

Your Dad Forever, Isaiah 9:6

Your Dad Forever

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Wow, hard to believe, but this is the 1000th post I have written to my daughters on the forever-dad blog!

How could that be!? It started when you, Anna, went off to college at Penn View. It was then I knew that just because your child is going off to a Christian school doesn't mean that my responsibilities as a father end. In fact, I believe that during their college years a father is even more responsible to fulfill his duties to love and care for the needs of his children, especially spiritual and emotional ones.

Anna, you are done college except for student teaching, and Kellie, you are married. Life is soon going to go faster and faster... moving away from home, married, children, houses, hopes and dreams, work decisions, money issues, even troubles, deaths and heartaches.

Life! That is what's ahead. Good times and bad, joys and sorrows, yet through it all you will have Dad. No, not me, for although I claim to be ~Dad, I can't be with you all the time. I will not be around forever. I do not have all the answers, I can not solve all your troubles, and I certainly cannot make you holy and pure. Sure, as long as I live, I commit to the responsibility to help you in all these areas, but you must live your own life. It is for you to seek the Lord and make the determination on what is right. Along with your husband, you are responsible to follow the Lord with all your heart, mind, body, and soul.

Yet you are not alone! I will not leave you fatherless, for Jesus is your Everlasting Father. He will be the best counselor, he will be your God, and he will bring you peace. Let me leave you with this verse...

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
    Lean not on your own understanding
        In all your ways acknowledge him
            And He will direct your paths Proverbs 3:5&6 jbv

This is why I write, that you will take what I have given you and search out what God has for you and take what he is giving you and live for him. Be the hands and feet and mouth of Christ. Deny yourself, go to others, serve them and tell them about Jesus! And when I hear of all your selfless deeds, I will be eternally grateful that God has taught my daughters far beyond what I could ever have done. May God be praised for his glorious deeds!

~Dad

Note... this is not the last post. I wanted it to be a special one. I wanted it to show how much I care for you two. Honor me by honoring Jesus!