–Kenneth S. Pratt  (Legacies of Spring)

       “That we should no longer be children tossed to and from and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting.”

                    –Ephesians 4:14(NKJV)
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How to Live in a Pagan, Apostate, and Foolish World

Key Verse:  “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.”  –1 John 5:19 (NKJV)

I can almost see Jude pointing his finger at the men who are trying to pervert the truth and warning them.  Not only is this small letter written as a warning to the Church, but Jude also warns those who are intent on harming the truth of God’s Word and destroying the faith of believers.
       These individuals thought of themselves as advanced thinkers.  They were more enlightened in regard to the truth.  They thought of themselves as the spiritual elite and were arrogant in their demeanor.  Jude issues warnings against them, and warns the Church.
       The first example Jude brings are those who brought the false report out of Egypt.  I say false report, not that the facts they presented were false, but in their lack of faith and the facts presented about God were false.  He was/is the God who delivers.  He was/is the God who provides the way.  William Barclay says, “It is the proof that even the man with the greatest privilege can meet with disaster before the end, if he falls away from obedience and lapses from faith.”  We do not focus on circumstances, but our focus is on the Almighty God.  Here they were, on the edge of the Promised Land, and they didn’t have faith enough in God to go into the land.  They then were sent into the wilderness wandering until the whole generation died because of their unbelief.  Warning!
       Jude then points to the fallen angels.  They, somehow, became filled with pride and lust.  They aimed for an office which was not for them.  In other words, they got too big for their angelic britches.  It seems that angels may be assigned specific ranks and responsibilities and they were not pleased with the position which they were given.  Verse 6, “An angels who did not keep (care for, guard, and hold to) their own first place of power but abandoned their proper dwelling place–these He has reserved in custody in eternal chains (bonds) under the thick gloom of utter darkness until the judgment and doom of the great day.” (Amplified)  These beings, refusing their assigned positions, are now in chains.  They went from once serving in the realm of light now they are in perpetual darkness.  Warning!
       The third example Jude uses to warn the false teachers is that of Sodom and Gomorrah.  These people practiced perversion and they indulged in it not concerned about the evil that they were doing.  In fact, they flaunted it, and made public their wickedness.  They had an unnatural desire.  This is the same thing that is seen in Romans 1:18, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”  These people received the punishment of eternal fire.  Warning!
       These false teachers are sternly warned by Jude and by doing so he also warns those in the Church.   Jude continues with his message by saying, “Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.” (vs 8).  The King James calls them “filthy dreamers”.  They claimed to receive special revelations and they became out of touch with reality.  They polluted the flesh, as was alluded to in verse 7.  “Those who walk in the flesh rather than the Spirit are actually involved in defiling or polluting their own bodies.”  (Paul A. Cedar).  In other words, they repudiated Jesus as Lord over their lives.  Warning!
       Watch then, do not be deceived.  Do not listen to those who proclaim a “new word.”  Stand firm in the faith guarding the truth and do not compromise that truth or become complacent in it.  Do not become curious about the profane things in the world.  Stay pure and holy and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit not false teachers.

                    –Kenneth S. Pratt  (Dragon’s Fire)

       “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

                    –John 10:10 (NKJV)
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There is so much to write about life.  I have spent much time in my Echoes regarding life, the journey of life, and the legacy of life.  What is life?  Is it something to be gone through with drudgery–here today gone tomorrow?  We should not spend our life in apathy or cynicism.  I remember one quotation by my childhood pastor, G.R. Kelly, “Life is to be lived.”
       Thoreau said that, “Most men live lives of quiet desperation.”  This may be truer than it seems in the light of the world’s condition.  People who fear live in desperation.  They are afraid to live their lives.  Carl Sandbug was more of a cynic, he said, “Life is an onion–you peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep.”  
       Let me say again, “Life is for living!”  Do not become the man of whom H.L. Menchem speaks about, “The basic fact about human experience is not that it is a tragedy, but that it is a bore.  It is not that it is predominately painful, but that it is lacking in any sense.”  These three, and their thoughts–Thoreau, Sandburg, Menchem–I pity folks like them.  Woe, to me, everybody is against me, or I’m so bored.  How can someone be bored with life?  God gave us life and He wants us to have and live it abundantly.  Paul writes, “Moreover [let us also be full of joy now!] let us exult and triumph in our troubles and rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that pressure and affliction and hardship produce patient and unswerving endurance.” (Romans 5:3, Amplified)
       What hope is there?  Solomon said, “‘Vanity of vanities,’ says the Preacher; ‘Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.'” (Ecclesiastes 1:2, NKJV)  What a mournful, dreadful view of life.  Why did he say this?  When a man seeks the things of this world he is never satisfied.  He wants more, then comes to the end of his life realizing that all is vanity.  What a terrible waste of life.  “Vanity alludes us to the uselessness and emptiness of life which is not lived in fellowship with God, and in accord with the divine will,” said one wise individual.  May lives with the illusion of gaining but finds it is all hopeless.  All is hopeless without Christ.  Life apart from Jesus Christ has no meaning and cannot produce true happiness and certainly not the joy that comes from the Holy Spirit.
       Man searches in all the wrong places.  Some of the saddest things of human life are the errors which divert men from their true aim, and plunge them into various and growing misery.  Seek Him while He is to be found–that is the place that needs to be searched.  Seek the Lord, look to Him, and He will satisfy the soul.  Verse 3 says, “What profit has man left from all his toil at which he toils under the sun?  [Is life worth living?]” (1:3, Amplified)  
       I would answer Solomon:  Yes!  It is worth living but only when we recognize Christ.  The words of G. Campbell Morgan come to my mind, “This man has been living through all these experiences [read Ecclesiastes] under the sun, concerning with nothing above the sun…until there came a moment in which he had seen the whole of life.  And there was something over the sun.  It is only as a man takes account of that which is over the sun as well as that which is under the sun that things under the sun are seen in their true light.”
       If you are bored with life try Jesus.  If there is sorrow, suffering, and pain, go to Jesus, He will be there with you through it.  If you are searching, find Jesus.   What a man does in this life in regard to eternity is what really counts.  What a man does with the person of Jesus Christ makes life either worth living or vanity (hopeless).

                         –C.M. Curtis  (Return of the Outlaw)

       “And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God.”

                         –Deuteronomy 28:2 (NKJV)
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                         “Count your blessings, Name them one by one;
                          Count your blessings, See what God hath done;
                          Count your blessings, Name them one by one;
                          Count your many blessings, See what God hath done.”
                                     –Johnson Oatman, Jr.

How many times have I sung the words to that chorus?  Mercy, into the hundreds.  The reason I bring it up today is that so often we as individuals, and as a nation do not take the time to look at or count our blessings.
       We are truly a blest people to live in America, yet so many in this country fight, terrorize, riot, and ridicule it.  We have all the food we want, and that includes a host of junk food that we shouldn’t eat.  We have abundance, but do we realize it?
       There are many things I do not understand concerning Christians.  One example are those who do not pay their tithes not even speaking about offerings that go beyond.  I don’t understand.  Not only are they withholding blessings, they are also robbing God.  Another example are those who stay home from church.  Can they survive?  If they are in their Bible and praying–yes, but they are not receiving additional blessings from God.  When we are not obedient God withholds.  I’m not saying that He curses, but there are times when people who disobey live under the curse of God.  The Israelites murmured and complained, they lacked faith and disobeyed, and God forced them to wander for years in the wilderness until that generation died.  Read Deuteronomy 28; it speaks of the blessings and cursings that come from either obedience or disobedience.
       Malachi begins with the wonderful statement, “I have loved you.” (1:2)  Right off the people question, “How?”  They cannot or do not see God’s blessings.  Because of that they do not see the wonderful love of God at work.  Malachi begins with that wonderful statement, but the book ends thusly, “Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”  
       Blessings, withholding blessings, and curses, much of which are our choice.  God wants to bless His children, and He does, but because of disobedience He will withhold blessings.  And at times because of sin, He brings a curse.  Captivity may come, as did happen to God’s people.  There is a time when God will allow people to be deluded and if they do not repent He will allow them to go into spiritual captivity.  Woe to a person or nation when it gets that far.  Hal Lindsey wrote, “The Bible warns that a nation that has been given great light from God, and rejects it, will be given a mind, by God, that cannot even think in its own best interest. That’s a perfect definition of ‘political correctness.’ And that’s what’s happening in America right now.”  Political correctness, woke, cancel culture are these curses that God is allowing to come upon the nation as it has rejected His moral teachings and laws?

                         “When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
                          When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
                          Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
                          And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

                          So, amid the conflict, whether great or small,
                          Do not be discouraged, God is over all;
                          Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
                          Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.”

       So be joyful, be obedient and count your blessings.  Do not get into the spiritual doldrums where God might withhold a blessing.  Live in the fullness of His love.