“The slothful man says, ‘There is a lion without! I will be slain in the streets!’” — Proverbs 22:13 One problem in life is that too many people stop dreaming when they become an adult. Children have many marvelous dreams, but too many times we abandon those dreams by the time we become adults. I think of a young boy who was but seven years old when Sputnik circled the earth. He became enamored with space. This was in Costa Rica, and he was very poor. But eventually, through hard work, he became the first Hispanic astronaut. He had a dream and would not let it go. We must work at our dreams. Many people think this is some sort of magic wand. They erroneously imagine that it is some sort of a genie in a bottle. Not so. One of the reasons some people do not dream large dreams is because they are too lazy to even think about putting feet under them. The very thought of it makes them tired. Sometimes we can invent supposedly “Christian” excuses for what is really just laziness. “I can’t go into politics because it’s all a dirty business.” “I can’t work on a movie because Hollywood is just corrupt.” “I can’t tell my neighbor about Jesus because he doesn’t want to hear it—besides, it would be unchristian for me to be so pushy.” An excuse is an excuse is an excuse, no matter how we tend to mask it. May God grant us the discernment to see the difference between legitimate obstacles and just plain excuses. God, help us to see clearly the dream You have planted in our heart as opposed to that which is there from selfish ambition and give us the wisdom to know the difference… BY GOD’S STRENGTH, GODLY DREAMS CAN BECOME REALITY.
“Therefore, when I have completed this and have given this blessing to them, I shall come by way of you to Spain…” — Romans 15:28 Throughout history, those who have accomplished great things or made a great impact have always had great dreams. Alexander the Great had a great dream. He had a dream of overcoming the centuries’ old animosity between the western cultures of Greece and Macedonia and the eastern culture of the Persian Empire through military conquest. However, his dream was not built upon the purposes of God, and it crumbled at his death. Napoleon’s dream was to make one great European nation out of France and Germany and Italy. But his dream was shattered at Waterloo. It was not based upon the Word of God. Karl Marx had a dream of a classless society—a dream that does not conform with the nature of man nor the teachings of God’s Word, and it is in retreat. The Apostle Paul had a dream based upon the truth of God. He saw men and women out of every nation, tongue, and tribe loving and worshiping the living God and coming to know the forgiveness and peace of Christ. He put feet under that dream and it is still being carried out. Do you have any dreams? Or did they end with your childhood? How big are your dreams, my friend? Are they consonant with the teachings of the Scriptures? If so, you must then trust in Christ for their fulfillment. Lord, You are a God of great and mighty things. Grant us great dreams for the sake of Your kingdom and the strength to live them out… BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN DREAM BIG DREAMS.
“But Jesus came and touched them and said, ‘Rise, and do not be afraid.’” — Matthew 17:7 Do you realize that all of life is a school? Through all the difficult circumstances in life, the Master is trying to teach us a few key lessons over and over, mainly to trust Him. This is why over and over again the Bible says, “Fear not.” “Be anxious for nothing.” “Be not afraid.” Why? Because Jesus said, “It is I.” But in the Greek, it means “I am.” It was the great tetragrammaton, the four letter name of God, Jehovah, in the Old Testament. When Jesus said that same word to the soldiers in the Garden of Gethsemane, they fell on their backs. “I AM.” The great “I AM,” is here. “Fear not.” “Do not be not afraid.” Are you afraid? Honestly? Is there something you fear? Is there something you are concerned about? Is there something you are anxious about? God doesn’t want us to be afraid. He doesn’t want us to be fearful. In fact, fear and faith cannot exist in the same person about the same thing at the same time, any more than water and air can exist in the same glass at the same time. One displaces the other. So, if you are fearful, it is because you are not trusting Jesus Christ for whatever it is you are fearful about. So, trust Him. Again we come back to the basic class, the basic lesson in all of the classes in the school of life: “Fear not, it is I.” My God, help me to know that nothing comes into my life except through Your loving hand. When I am afraid, I will trust in You. Life can be terrifying, but You are mighty and You have me in the palm of Your hand… BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN OVERCOME OUR FEARS.
“From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” — Matthew 4:17 There are some unbelievers today who are in the church and are doing great damage to the church. Their type was around in the first century. Jude warns about “these ungodly dreamers,” who “defile the flesh” and “reject authority” (verse 8). Some of them today say the church has a ministry to alcoholics and to criminals, so why can’t it have a ministry to homosexuals and this sort? Wonderful, it certainly ought to have, by all means. But the ministry it has to alcoholics and criminals is one of repentance by which a gracious God will forgive you and receive you and cleanse you from your sins. It’s not that we are going to form a club of continued professing alcoholics and criminals who will come to church on Sunday and worship, and they will go the rest of the week to rob banks. How utterly absurd. Jude adds that they are blind in their sin: “But they destroy themselves in those things that, like unreasoning animals, they know by instinct” (verse 10). These are those who are sensual and not filled with the Spirit of God. My friends, the spirit of lasciviousness and license, and of lawlessness, is the very spirit that was rebuked when God says to us, “Go and sin no more”—whatever our particular sin is. Jesus may meet us in our sinful state, but if you have a true encounter with Him, He does not leave you there. Jesus said, “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruit you will know them” (Matthew 7:19-20). Holy Savior, give me strength for today to repent of any sin in my life. Let Your light shine in my soul, so that I can see my sin and run to You for cleansing and forgiveness… BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE LIVE IN DAILY REPENTANCE.
“But, speaking the truth in love, we may grow up in all things into Him, who is the head, Christ Himself.” — Ephesians 4:15 God has called us to walk in the truth and not in error. But the minute you begin to discern truth from error, immediately there are those who spring up to denounce you, while they declare the only Bible verse they seem to know: “Do not judge or you will be judged.” The Epistle of Jude says that we are to contend for the faith that was given to the saints. We are told that we are to contend earnestly for the faith, and yet somehow or other we are to do it without being contentious. To contend in love is the secret, and it is always a difficult one. We tend either to lose sight of love and compassion and just hack people to little pieces with our theological axes. Or we become so loving and so compassionate that we let Christian doctrine just sort of melt into a marshmallow type of thing it can be shaped however anyone wants it. But we are to contend, though non-contentiously, for the faith once for all delivered unto the saints. There is a faith once and for all delivered to the saints. Faith here means not the subjective activity of our exercise of faith, but it means the objective body of doctrine which has been given to us, the Gospel of Jesus Christ that has been given to us. God of truth, help us to see clearly by Your Spirit. Give us the right balance between truth and mercy, so that we may speak the truth in love… BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN BE CONTENDERS FOR THE FAITH.
“Beloved, while I diligently tried to write to you of the salvation we have in common, I found it necessary to write and appeal to you to contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints.” — Jude 3 Jude tells us why he wrote his epistle in verse 3. Initially, he had planned to frame a general epistle perhaps something along the line of Romans, which would contain an overview of all Christian doctrine. But as he was giving all diligence to do this, something had suddenly come up that made it necessary for him to exhort them and to write them about a particular problem, which needed their earnest attention. So we see that the rest of this Epistle of Jude is not what he set out to write in the beginning. But God had other things in mind—he was to remind them and us of a particular error, which was springing up into the church. The gist of this error is that certain false teachers have crept into the church, “who pervert the grace of our God into immorality and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ” (verse 4). Their coming had not been noticed; the ungodliness was not observed, but now they are in the church and now they are turning the grace of God into liberty to sin. Therefore, he contends earnestly for the faith, which was once delivered unto the saints. God has called us to liberty. But it is wrong to turn that liberty into a license to do whatever our sinful heart desires to do. Lord, give me strength for today to never take Your grace for granted. Free us from false teachers who preach that sin is permissible and without consequences. Help us to take sin seriously… BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN RECEIVE GOD’S GRACE.
“I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ.” — Philippians 1:6 Jude is one of the shortest books in the New Testament, but it has much to say. For example, even in the opening, after identifying himself as the author, Jude speaks of those to whom he is addressing his letter: “To those who are sanctified and called by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ…” We see that when we are Christians we have been called by God, by His Holy Spirit unto Him. This is that effectual calling, which by the Spirit, combining with the Word, quickens a person from the deadness of sin and brings them into a condition of saving faith and repentance. They also have been preserved. Here is the perseverance of the saints—we are preserved by God. We are kept, as Peter says, by God. It is good to know that we are saved by Christ, we are saved by His grace, but we are also kept by that same grace. The very same grace that saves us, keeps us, and holds us. At this point in my Christian life, after decades of following the Lord, it is more astonishing to me that He has kept me over all of these years than that I was converted in the first place. And when I think of all of the ways that I have failed Him, and have come so far short of what He would have had me to be, I am astonished that He preserves me in the faith. What the Lord has started, He promises to finish. Faithful Father, thank You for keeping us in the faith. Thank You for upholding us by Your mighty hand and thank You that You will complete the work You started in us… BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE ARE KEPT FOR ETERNITY.
“Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.” — 1 Corinthians 1:31 I think if you asked the average person where you would find the letter of Judas in the Bible they would be somewhat taken aback, and yet that is what we find in the second to last book of the Bible. We know it as the Epistle of Jude. His full name was actually Judas. As many of you probably know, this man was the half-brother of our Christ. You recall that the Pharisees in Nazareth said, “Is He not the carpenter’s son… And are not His brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us?” (Matthew 13:55-56a). So we know that Jesus had four half-brothers, and at least two sisters who, in good first century Palestinian form, were not named. As an unbeliever, Jude (along with his brothers) mocked Christ (John 7:3-5). So did James his brother, who was converted after the resurrection. James became the leader of the early church in Jerusalem. “Old camel knees,” he was known as from much praying. While little is known about Jude, other than this epistle, which we shall consider over the next few days, we should notice how he identifies himself. He writes, “Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James.” You notice he doesn’t say the brother of Jesus Christ, but the servant of Jesus Christ and the brother of James. Today, we have too many people trying to boast about who they are or who they know. We can learn a lesson in humility just from this one statement of Jude. Father, with a humble heart I come before You. I praise You for the great examples in Scripture and ask that I may acquire some true humility. Lord, give us strength for today to walk humbly before You… BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN BE TRULY HUMBLE.
“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear…” — 1 John 4:18 How many people are prevented from ever succeeding because they allow past failures to short-circuit their faith in the Lord? They forget what God can do with us when we let Him. Questions put to me sometimes are very amusing. One young man recently said to me, “Oh Dr. Kennedy, I so admire your intellect. You graduated from graduate school summa cum laude.” That’s not the way it was always. Before I was a Christian, I went to college for two and a half years before I quit. In the last course I took, I received an F—F for failure. “Oh, you speak so easily. You are so articulate.” I remember when I stood up and could not get out three sentences in a row. I sat down in great humiliation. “Oh, you are such a good teacher.” I can still feel the pressure on my back when the first time I taught a class. Someone had to physically push me into the room to teach my first students. I was paralyzed with fear. But I learned something. I learned that God can use me when I concentrate on the power He gives me. His perfect love casts out our fear. Instead of focusing on your fears and your past failures, realize that God can use even those failures for His glory. He can make you a new person and remove those doubts and fears. God of love, cast out my fears today, and give me strength for today to go forth in Your power and do the things You have set before me. Let Your love so fill my heart, mind, and soul that there is no room for fear… BY GOD’S STRENGTH AND IN HIS LOVE, OUR FEARS ARE CONQUERED.
“For to me, to continue living is Christ, and to die is gain.” — Philippians 1:21 This statement from Paul should be engraved like an intaglio upon the heart of every Christian. However, there are many cheap substitutes that clamor for our attention that we must eschew. To live is… ... NOT PLEASURE “For me to live is pleasure,” cry a whole host of voices today. For surely the Bible says that sin has its pleasure for a season—then come the consequences. ... NOT MONEY There are others who would replace Christ with “money.” “For me to live is money.” They spend most of their waking hours, energy, and thoughts, trying to gain money. But to what ultimate end? ... NOT FAME Others would say: “For me to live is fame.” They give their whole lives to its accomplishment. Perhaps they rise to the top of the ladder, but where are they then? They find themselves saying, “Is this all there is?” How many realize that the ladder they have sold their soul to climb is leaning on the wrong building? ... BUT CHRIST To live for Him is the secret of life. He goes on to say, “http://...and to die is gain.” Consider the other substitutes: For me to live is pleasure/wealth/fame/etc., and to die is an unutterable tragedy; it is the loss of all I spent my whole life working for. How sad it is that so many do not find until they are at the very brink of eternity that they have spent their lives foolishly. Lord of wisdom and power, give me strength for today to not accept cheap substitutes. Allow me to experience the true riches found in You. Help me to be eternally grateful for Your sacrifice for me. When I come to my own death, let it be my eternal gain… BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE LIVE AND DIE.
“So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her.” — Genesis 29:20 We are all familiar with Mel Gibson’s film, The Passion of the Christ. But turn the words around, now that we are saved, Christ should be the passion of our lives. Someone said that one man with a passion is worth a hundred men with an interest. There are a lot of people here who have an interest in religion, but, alas, I am afraid very few who have a passion for Christ. I have had the joy of knowing a few, and they stand out in my mind. They, indeed, are stars that flash through the heavens. As the Scripture says, “Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever” (Daniel 12:3 NKJV). They will not suddenly be eclipsed or fade away. They will shine forever. Is Christ the passion of your life? Jesus came with a heart full of passion. He said, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21 NKJV). So, too, should our hearts beat with a love for Christ. In Genesis, we read that because Jacob so loved Rachel, the days flew by as he worked for seven years to become her husband. He was a man with a passionate goal, motivated by love. Who or what are you passionately in love with? What do you long for and love to do? My Savior and Lord, give me a new passion, a deeper love for You. If ever my love for You grows cold or old, bring me back to the cross and show me anew Your love for me. Thank You for loving us first… BY GOD’S STRENGTH AND LOVE, WE LOVE ALSO.
“To them God would make known what is the glorious riches of this mystery among the nations. It is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” — Colossians 1:27 Christ is the power of my life. The Bible says that Christ will come to dwell in our hearts—that we can be strengthened with His might in the inner man and be able to accomplish many wonderful things through His strength. We had a number of folks come over to our house one time for some fellowship. Later in the evening, one of the young men said, “I have a question.” I said, “Yes. Don’t make it too hard or I will have to go and ask my wife. What is it?” He said, “How do you do it?” And I asked, “Do what?” He replied, “How do you do all that you have to do over there? Do you have unlimited energy?” I just started laughing. I can’t think of anyone who naturally has any less energy than I do, or any less strength than I do, but I have discovered a wonderful secret—the secret Paul had discovered, when he said, “I can do all things because of Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). Have you discovered that secret? I know from my own experience that Christ is the power of my life, because I know that I have done innumerable things that I was absolutely certain I could not do before. He has enabled me to do them. Christ is the power. We can be strengthened with might in the inner man to do things we never dreamt we could do because Christ lives in us. Almighty God, You are the all-powerful one. Give me strength for today to see my weakness and physical limitations, and my spiritual shortcomings. Thank You for being the strength of my life… BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE ARE STRONG.
“For to this you were called, because Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps.” — 1 Peter 2:21 Christ has left for us an “example.” The Greek term hupogrammos is an interesting one that means, literally, an “underwriting.” This is a reference to that which was done in the Greek schools at the time when the teacher would very carefully write out the letters of the Greek alphabet for the primary students. Then the students would write over them in their own feeble attempts to reproduce and imitate the example the teacher had left. Many years ago, I visited one of the Hebrew classes at our Knox Theological Seminary. The students were doing what I clearly remembered doing some 50 years ago, and that is, carefully trying to copy those Hebrew letters. Christ has also given us an alphabet of life. He has given us an example—an underwriting by His life for us to follow. He is the great exemplar. He is the perfect person to imitate. Would you like to know what life is supposed to be like? Look at Jesus Christ; He embodies it all Himself—the perfect example of goodness and truth and love and kindness and firmness and righteousness and justice. Of course, no one can live up to His example. But after we receive His salvation, His Spirit gives us the grace to live in a way that pleases Him. He is the pattern of our life as well as the purpose and parent of our lives. Therefore, He is our life. Lord Jesus, give me strength for today to follow in Your footsteps. Help me to follow Your example: Your patience with Your disciples, Your compassion to all, Your kindness even to the outcasts, Your concern for Your Father’s house… BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN WALK IN JESUS’ FOOTSTEPS.
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” — John 3:6 The Scripture makes it plain that as we are born by nature, we are merely flesh—flesh that is corrupting, decaying, and dying. That which is flesh is flesh, and it goes the way of all flesh. We need to have a new birth from above. Jesus said we must be born again in a new and glorious and never-dying life. I remember one time being interviewed by a reporter who said to me, “Are http://you...are you one of http://those...those ‘born-again’ Christians?” I got the very distinct impression that he was under the impression that “born-again Christians” constituted some new denomination that must only recently have come into existence. I said to him, “Having studied the doctrines of all of the great denominations of Christendom, I am very definitely under the opinion that there is no other kind of Christian than a born-again Christian. According to the creeds and doctrines of every Christian church, it is absolutely essential that one must be born again.” To put it bluntly, and let me state it categorically: Unless, you are a born again Christian, you are no kind of Christian at all, for there is no other kind. Furthermore, you will never see, said Christ, the inside of Paradise. But if Christ has become the parent of a new and imperishable life, that is a life that is spiritual in nature. Dear Lord, thank You for giving me a new birth, for bringing me into Your family and making me Your child. Thank You that I am no longer a stranger nor a guest, but a child in Your home… BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE ARE GOD’S ADOPTED CHILD.
“But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear. And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.” — 2 Timothy 4:17 March 17 is actually “Sinner Patrick Day.” But though he was a young and rebellious youth, he was to be finally overtaken by the “Hound of Heaven.” This young man from England was captured by pirates. At age 16, living as he did on the beach of the western coast of England, just south of Scotland, he and two of his friends had spent the day in the breakers in the ocean. Suddenly, they looked over here and they saw a whole group of “freebooters”—Irish pirates. Fast forward years later, after a horrible time as a slave of the Irish, Sinner Patrick became Saint Patrick as he drew close to Jesus Christ. Eventually, he got his chance to escape slavery and escape from Ireland. But he returned to the place of his humiliating slavery as a missionary of the Gospel after theological training. What an effective ministry he had. His accomplishment was absolutely gigantic. No one had ever gone to convert a nation outside the rule of Rome, but Patrick did. Every day of his life he was in mortal danger. He was in the midst of some of the fiercest, cruelest people the world has ever seen—the Druids. But he trusted in Christ for his protection as he prayed regularly for the protection of Christ, “Christ before me, Christ behind me….” By the power of the Gospel, he changed that entire nation. Lord of the nations, thank You for the example of Your servant, St. Patrick, in proclaiming Your Gospel to people who so desperately need You… LORD, GIVE ME STRENGTH FOR TODAY TO SPREAD YOUR KINGDOM.
