Zech. 5-8
God spoke a lot through His prophets about how faithless His people had been. He destroyed Jerusalem, His chosen city, and left it desolate because of this faithlessness. But now, in Zechariah 8:3, God says He, “will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city”. Does this mean that God’s people learned their lesson, and when God brings them back to their promised land they will do differently than they had done before? I think not. People are, always have been, and always will be people. Fallible, faithless people.
No, Jerusalem will not be called the faithful city because of the people who dwell there. Rather, it will be called the faithful city because God will make it so. He will create a new heart in His people, and put a new Spirit within them. “And they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in faithfulness and in righteousness.” (Zech 8:8). This is God’s plan that He works in each of us through His Branch, Jesus Christ. Praise God!
Jude 1
There is a massive push in our culture right now. It has been building for years and is gaining momentum. It is a push to accept things that are not good, are not right, and are not true. Sadly, this push has even infiltrated our churches. The current of culture is carrying so many away from God. I have seen people try to defend things that are not good, right, or true as Biblically acceptable. They even go so far as to say that those who don’t agree are the ones being ungodly. Jude had a lot to say about all of this.
Jude said, and I like the way the NIV translation puts it, “For certain individuals…have slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality.” (Jude 1:4). When Jude added that these people deny Jesus Christ, I take that to mean by their actions. He later said that these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority, and slander what they don’t understand. “And the very things they do understand by instinct – as irrational animals do – will destroy them.” (Jude 1:10b). Thus he says of them, “These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.” (Jude 1:19).
Do you see it? I sure do! We need to work to cling to the truth and to keep ourselves pure, “by building [ourselves] up in [our] most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit.” (Jude 1:20b). Likewise, we need to make sure we are seeking and serving God’s desires, not our own. If we don’t, the lies will surely suck us in. They are coming at us even from places and people we are supposed to be able to trust. So we need to trust God and rely on His Spirit in us to reveal truth and lie. And we can know that God “is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy.” (Jude 1:24). Again, praise God!