v. 1b – to those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Christ Jesus

Devotional:

I love how Jude addresses his letter to “those who are called, beloved in God…” How do you know if you are among the “called” he is referring to here? Being called is an often-abused term in the Church. implying that only some have a connection to God. This just isn’t true. We all have a calling and that calling is to be loved by God. You are called to have God’s love lavished on you, poured out on your head like Samuel poured the king’s oil on the head of David (1 Samuel 16:13). You are called to be overcome with the unrelenting love of God. That is your highest calling.

My counselor once asked me, “How well do you give and receive love?” I had a hard time answering. I found myself breaking people down into categories in my mind who were qualified based on how I thought I treated them. I began to reach for things that gave merit to my lovingness and quickly found my
definition of giving love was very transactional and shallow. For me, the measure of how loving I was or how loving someone was toward me was measured based on what we could or were doing for each other. If you needed me and I needed you then we loved each other. As I said, these were very shallow
qualifications.

Over the years, I’ve put together a new definition of love. “Love is when your affections, attention, and desire are purposed on another person and their ultimate good.” When I think about loving through that lens, it is easy to see there is a lot of room for growth in my ability to give love; but what really shocked me about the question and my refection on it was my inability to receive love. I found that I carried – and probably still carry – a tint of distrust toward people which prevents me from really being able to enjoy being loved by them. What a discovery that was for me! I want to live from the place where I trust fully
and wholly that I am loved by Him through Jesus Christ and accepted completely based on His merits. I know that all joy and happiness in God comes through receiving the free gift of His love over and over again as He liberally gives it without end. And I want this love to be the source from which all my living and loving is done.

How about you? How well do you give and receive love? We can’t really give love until we learn how to receive love. Do you consider yourself to be one of God’s beloved children? Do you believe it gives God joy to love you and his love steadfastly holds you in the grip of his grace through Christ Jesus which
resounds his glory through eternity? I hope so because it is and it does.

Notice Jude writes we are “…kept for Christ Jesus.” Here is how you can rest assured of God’s endless love being set on you: it’s not for you. It is on you but it is not for you, it is for Jesus. This simply means all the love the Father has for the Son has been placed on you for the sake of Himself. You are kept for His sake which means He will never let go of you because God’s character is unchanging and He will always be true to Himself – which means He will always be true to you because He is keeping you for Himself.

REFLECTION:
How well do you give and receive love? If it’s a struggle, what holds you back?
How would having the assurance you are “kept for Christ Jesus” help you give and receive love better?