Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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Mission from Everyone to Everywhere
Jude 17-25

Mereen Mammen 
Carmel MTC, Boston MA
20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
Jude is the second last book in the New Testament, right before Revelations, where God gives us instructions on how to live and also shows us glimpses of how the future looks before the final judgement when Heaven’s doors open. This letter from Jude was written as a warning for all Christians to observe the signs of false prophets, and tells us to stay in our holy faith till we meet our Heavenly Father and live in eternal life. 
The truth is that we face false prophets everywhere. How do we identify them? Verse 19 tells us that they are controlled by their natural desires, and not by the Spirit.  False prophets do not necessarily need to take the form of a human being, they can be as simple as an unholy thought. Temptation is in every decision we make, as long as we are on this planet, and as long as we have the free will to make decisions. The way we approach temptation is by relying on the Holy Spirit – to guide us back to our faith.  If we call on the Holy Spirit to protect us in God’s love, we can navigate safely through this life.  As believers, this might seem obvious, but what about all the non-practicing Christians, and people who have not been saved yet?  How will they rebuke temptation? Or are they false prophets as well?
It might not seem as extreme as the scripture portion  says, but if we pay attention, we know that there are people in our lives that tend to sway away from the holy faith. There are also people who claim to be Christians, but their actions speak against the Holy Spirit.  What we can do as followers is to pray for those around us, that they may see the Light of the World and the Holy Spirit builds their faith as much as our faith is renewed.

PRAYER

Dear God, We love You for Your amazing greatness. We pray that You build our faith so that those around us will see Your goodness through us. Let Your work shine through us, we believe in the Power of the Holy Spirit, speak to us and show us the Way of Life. Amen.  
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
“Faith is putting all your eggs in God’s basket, then counting your blessings before they hatch.” – Ramona C. Carroll 

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