In Christ Alone

(This was supposed to be yesterdays post, but due to sickness I am posting it now. Just goes to show you I am by no means perfect, but that's okay too, because I have a God who is!) 

"Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." Jude 1;24-25 (KJV)

Again, the in the tiny little book of Jude, we find another hidden verse. This verse is very different from the verses before it. Yesterday, I talked about how we are to constantly build up and grow in our relationship with Christ, but today I am reminding you of His amazing ability to keep us from falling and how awesome and powerful He is. 

Now those who know me at all know that I am one of the most accident prone people you will ever meet. Even in the military my callsign was "casrep" which means casualty report because I fall down and or get hurt so often. However, it is not only in the physical world where I stumble and fall all the time, but also through my Christian walk. I often feel like a toddler learning to walk, I am down on the ground more than I am up. 

The wonderful thing though is that God is always waiting and right there ready to offer His hand to pick me up and help me back on my feet so that I may stand and worship Him. Even with my belief in Christ and my sincere earnest effort to live for Him, not one day goes by that I don't find myself stumbling and crawling back to Jesus on my knees asking for forgiveness. God is the only one "who is able" to keep me from falling away from Him. I used the " " there because those words are important. He is the one that is able; not me, not you, not anyone but our Savior is able to preserve our faith and keep us in Him. 

And if that is not enough, because He shed His blood on the cross, paying for sins which He never committed, He is able to present us as faultless before the throne of God. Yes you heard me right... FAULTLESS! Do we have any right to stand before the throne of God in robes of pure white as though we have never sinned? HECK NO! Not by ourselves; only through the righteousness of Christ, our Lord and Savior. How AWESOME is that gift! 

Yesterday, I explained how Jude is telling us to continually strive to build on our relationship with Christ by praying, keeping ourselves in His love and looking to Him, calling us to be watchful, careful, diligent and devoted. But here, Jude pauses to not only say we need to actively work to improve our faith, but to remind us that in the end, what will ultimately keep us can only be the power of God; it is"He who is able" because we can't do it on our own, actually we can't do it at all. 

This is why we should be pouring our hearts and souls out in full allegiance, thanksgiving and worship to the Lord. He is the only wise God, He is our only Savior, He is our blessed assurance, He alone is our hope and refuge.

Dear Lord, 
It is me,Your daily prodigal daughter, once again coming to You, because I can't do it alone. Thank You so much for being the only one who can save me and keep me. Thank You for always being there to pick me up when I constantly fall and once again shower me with Your mercy and love. You are an awesome God and it is You alone that I worship and adore and I desire to live for You and bring glory to You in all that I do. Please Lord, let me remember how awesome, powerful and loving You are and never lose sight of the fact that it is You alone who is able to guard and keep me. Thank You and I praise Your name. Amen.