v. 5b – …that Jesus who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.

Devotional:

Yesterday we were reminded of who Jesus is and what He has done for us. We have the grand luxury of living post the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead – as did Jude’s audience in the first century. However, his audience was primarily Jewish so bringing to mind the exodus would’ve been very fitting and a familiar story by which to call them back to the faith. Jude is going back in time reminding them, and us, of God’s faithfulness through the generations. In the exodus, God delivers His people from the hands of the tyrant Pharaoh. He saved them from the harsh burden of judgment in the land of Egypt and mercifully led them to and through the wilderness with smoke and fire. He loved them through hardship and protected them from enemies and themselves as he instructed them through Moses and the law. His work on their behalf never ceased but still, they were disobedient and rebelled against Him. Here are a few examples:

• The people were quick to grumble against God (Exodus 15)
• They cowered in fear after hearing the report of the spies to Canaan (Numbers 13)
• There was division in the ranks (Numbers 14)
• They rebelled against Moses (Numbers 16)

There are so many more instances we could discuss, but you get the point. The bottom line is despite all God did on their behalf, they still did not trust Him. And unfortunately, anyone who doesn’t trust God through Jesus gets exactly what they seek – which is a life without God forever. Life without God forever
is destruction and it is the judgment that awaits all those who reject Him. In 1 Cor. 10:1-3, Paul writes about those who don’t really trust God and their pending separation from God. “For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.”

There is no more fearful a place to be than to have experienced God’s grace in your life and yet not trust its source, or to have received blessings from God but reject the God who gives them by trusting in ourselves or in another. This is what breaks God’s heart as it puts those who don’t believe in opposition to Him.

Hebrews 11:6 says, “without faith it is impossible to please God.” Faith is the means by which we drink from the Spiritual Rock that is Christ Jesus. Faith is more than agreeing with a statement of facts, it is trusting the whole of your existence into the hands of Christ. It is trusting His death on the cross counted
for you and His resurrection from the dead secures you into God’s family. It is the willful placing of your dreams, ambitions, weaknesses, desires, money, family, past, and future into the hands of Christ. It is joyfully surrendering to His authority in all things believing His way is better and the outcome of life in His
hands is far superior to any version of life we could make up on our own.

Have faith in God today, lean not on your understanding but acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6).

REFLECTION:
In what areas or circumstances of your life do you lack faith in God? What causes you not to trust that God’s love is enough for you to surrender your life to His hands?