Daily Devotion with Pastor Tong Liu: Daily Devotion

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River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english

Jude 22-25

Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear - hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh... To the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

Jude mentioned about those who are weak; it is not that they are ungodly, but they are weak in the spiritual and they stumbled in sin.

First, some are in doubt, and we need to be merciful to them and not rebuke them. Sometime we see brothers and sisters in church who are weak and cannot completely trust that God will provide and guide. The fact is that the more we rebuke them, the weaker their faith will have. They need to be encouraged and feel that they are receiving support in prayer. We need to patiently teach them to cultivate their faith, teach them with God's word so that their faith is built upon the word of God, but not the circumstance around them. May God help us, let us support the multitude of brothers and sisters around us who have needs and are weak.

Second, there are those whom we need to snatch from fire and save, because they are on the verge on falling into sin due to temptation. It's like when you witness someone cross the street and a car is approaching them quickly; your first reaction would be to snatch and save him, else he'd be struck down and die. Similarly, when we see some people on the verge of sin, we need to snatch and save them. We need to ask God for courage, strength and wisdom to bring them back to Him.

Third, to others we need to show mercy mixed with fear, because they have fallen deep into sin and cannot rescue themselves. In some cases they may even unintentionally tempt others to enter into the same sin. Therefore, we must have more mercy on them and help them to be saved from sin. We must also be extra cautious when we try to rescue them, that's why we need to "show mercy mixed with fear" because we might be tempted to stumble and sin the same way! We need to share the gospel with them, but we also need God to guard our heart so that we won't also fall into sin. Praise God because this passage also says that "To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy."

Pray with Pastor Tong Liu

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Dear Lord, I thank you, and I ask that no matter what the circumstance is, guard us before you so that we would be without fault. I especially pray for the brothers and sisters around us; give us mercy, courage and especially wisdom to know how to support them, and also to experience your mighty power in keeping us from falling. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!