Brown's Daily Word 4-3-08

Good Morning,
The Book of Jude, one of the shortest books in the Bible, ends with these powerful and promising words: “To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy...” When we read the Book of Revelation, we know how it ends. Jesus wins! The whole of the New Testament, especially the final pep talk of Jude, is to prepare us for that grand finale.
Throughout the New Testament we are told again and again of our Lord's mighty power. Let us look at the list of seven “ables” in the New Testament. Each confirms a truth we must never forget.
Romans 16:25: "Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past..."
2 Corinthians 9:8: "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work."
Ephesians 3:20: "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us..."
2 Timothy 1:12: "That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day."
Hebrews 2:18: "Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted."
Hebrews 7:25: "Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them."
These all naturally lead to this last word before the final battle, Jude 1:24-25: "To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great job.”
Our God can do what we cannot. He will keep us standing. He will present us complete and spotless. In ourselves, we will never accomplish this. The enemy is too strong. We are too prone to falter and give up. But God can this, His good purpose in us! We are going to win!
Jude reminds us that It is not about us. It’s not about the church. It’s not about our forefathers or even the saints of old. None of that is what motivates us. It is all about him! Our God and Savior deserves all the credit. “to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!”
He is the only God. There is no other Savior, "no other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved". Glory describes his worth, majesty his status. Power refers to his mighty control over the universe. His authority is his right to rule. All of this is His. It belongs to Him. That’s what the battle is about. We are warriors for the king. We are servants of the one and only God.
"To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy, to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen!"

In Christ,
Brown

Life is half spent before we know what it is.
George Herbert

Modern Day Tribal Wisdom
The tribal wisdom of the Dakota Indians, passed on from generation to generation, says that when you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount.

In modern education and expanded government, however, a whole range of far more advanced strategies are often employed, such as:

1. Buying a stronger whip.
2. Changing riders.
3. Threatening the horse with termination.
4. Appointing a committee to study the horse.
5. Arranging to visit other countries to see how others ride dead horses.
6. Lowering the standards so that dead horses can be included.
7. Re-classifying the dead horse as "living-impaired."
8. Hiring outside contractors to ride the dead horse.
9. Harnessing several dead horses together to increase the speed.
10. Providing additional funding and/or training to increase the dead horse's performance.
11. Doing a productivity study to see if lighter riders would improve the dead horse's performance.
12. Declaring that as the dead horse does not have to be fed, it is less costly, carries lower overhead, and therefore contributes substantially more to the bottom line of the economy than do some other horses.
13. Rewriting the expected performance requirements for all horses.
14. Promoting the dead horse to a supervisory position.
15. As a last resort, sell it on Ebay.