He’s Able to
Carry Me Through
To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to
present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy — 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 24-25
A little boy
walked down the street, clutching his dad’s finger. Along the way, the boy
slipped, lost his grip, and fell. His father picked him up and they continued
along. It wasn’t long before it happened again. His father picked him up again,
but the next time, the boy said to father, “Instead of me holding your hand,
you should hold my hand.” The father took the son by the hand. He did not fall
again. In a greater, deeper, higher way, God is able to keep you when you
cannot keep yourself.
Jude 24-25 is
one of three New Testament doxologies that praise God for being able. Romans
16:25 says, “Now to Him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel
and the preaching of Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to Him who is
able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think.” Jude 24 says,
“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless
before the presence of His glory with great joy.” The emphasis is on divine
omnipotence—the inherent and infinite power of God.
If God does not
have this great power, then we should be very much afraid. If the Lord can’t
hold on to us, what hope is there? We would fail to hold on to God if He did
not hold onto us. We are nowhere close to being good enough or righteous enough
to hold on to him, but we would constantly choose our own sinful desires and
passions over His, if it were not for the wonderful work of Christ.
Jude 24 says, "To
him who is able to keep you from stumbling". Stumbling precedes falling. God is
able to keep you from falling on your face. If God is able to keep us from
stumbling, then this means we are to live in a radical obedience to the calling
He has for our life. We cannot say, "God, I do not know if I will succeed,"
because God has already won the battle for us. This is not success or
prosperity on this earth. It does not mean that we will always have food to
eat, a house to live in, or good health, but it does mean that every task He
has planned for our lives in order to spread the gospel will be accomplished.
There is no plan of His that will fail in our lives, so we must trust in Him to
see us through.
Jude does not remember when God was able in the past. He does not promise God will be able in the future. This is real-time assurance. Whenever it is, wherever you are, whatever you need, God is able. In Matthew 9:28, Jesus responded to a cry for help from two blind men by asking, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" This is the bottom-line. God is able. Do you believe it?
No comments:
Post a Comment