Page 33 - Power Guide - January week 1 2019 FINAL

4. Concepts to Consider

In our Scripture reading today, Jude was writing
to a church that had suffered an invasion of “cheap
grace” teachers; those who believed that God’s grace
would excuse any behavior. Of course, this is not
true. Our “sin will find us out” (Numbers 32:23) and the
consequences will bear themselves out, either now or
in the Day of Judgement. Jude paints a scene of chaos
and discontentment in a church that is ultimately
encouraged to find its answers in allowing God
to operate as the Righteous Judge, and by strongly
encouraging the believers to stay faithful to the basics
of the Faith. We contend best for the Faith when we
build ourselves up in it.

And how do we do this? Jude tells us that our
best weapons against false teaching and personal
disillusionment within a less-than-perfect church are
Holy Spirit-infused prayer and loving obedience.
These statements highlight the idea that the earliest
church was engaged in spiritual practices and
disciplines that kept the faithful “on the strait and
narrow,” both individually and corporately.

We often experience discontentment when our
expectations are not met. The secret to overcoming
discontentment is to allow the Lord to change and/
or fulfill our expectations. Our lives are not meant
to be characterized by frustration, anger, and
discontentment. As much as our broken selves fight
it, the reality is that we are called to release our grip
on false sources of perceived security and control, and
allow the Lord Jesus Christ to rule and reign in every

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