The Second Level

The Second Level
Words of Faith 7-22-24
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2024
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><

Jude 1
[17] But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. [18] They said to you, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires." [19] These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. [20] But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.

It would be easy to read Jude as a pretty depressing little book of the Bible. So far, we have heard mostly about infiltrators, troublemakers, and rebels. Today, however, a series of positive responses to the troubles that Jude saw in the early Church begins.
The Apostles predicted that during the last times, there would be scoffers who would only seek to follow their own desires. So, how does one respond in a season in which the Church is not pure? There are five clear responses, and we will look at the first today.
We must realize that Jude was not saying that the members of the Body had to be "perfect" in their every judgment or action. The Church will never be "perfect" in that sense. But when there is infiltration from those who do not believe in honoring Jesus as Lord and those who use "grace" as a license for sin, what is the response? What is the reaction when some enter the circles of the Church only to scoff and divide? These answers are pointed and practical.
Jude first called believers to "build yourselves up in your most holy faith and to pray in the Holy Spirit." The word used here has a literal root meaning related to house construction. But that word is combined with another that means "up or upon." It is a word that might have been used to describe building a second story above a house. Having a firm foundation and a solid first floor, it was common in the first century to build a second floor to expand the family. That is precisely the image Jude portrayed.
In such times of difficulty and infiltration by errant ideas and rebellious practices, we must do more than sit still. We are not called to argue or battle in the flesh, but we are to do more than strengthen the ground level of our faith. We are to build... up.
How do we do that? The other part of this directive tells us how. We are to pray in the Holy Spirit.
There are many ideas about what "prayer in the Holy Spirit" means. Jude was not specific about the type or language of such prayer-- praise, petition, intercession, or meditation upon Scripture. Jude was specific that such "building prayer" is to be immersed in and led by the Holy Spirit. He was not specific about whether such prayer involved words or what Paul described as "the Spirit helping us in our weakness interceding for us with groans that words cannot express" (Romans 8:26). Perhaps some of both. What is clear is that the "building up" of a believer happens through prayer in the Holy Spirit.
The truth is that we live in a time when there are many in the circles of the "church" who deny the Lordship of Jesus in their lives and proclaim a form of "grace" that is a cheap license for sin. Some claim the name of Jesus but then live in very worldly ways, taking on the trappings of the culture rather than the character of the Spirit. Rather than battle, rail, or rant against such people, Jude guides us to pray. Build the second level of faith through prayer immersed in the Spirit.

Lord God, take me to the next level. Show me how to build the house of prayer that moves to the second story level. Show me how to build upon firm foundations and practice the life of prayer in the Spirit. Keep me free from the temptation to battle in the flesh. Keep me close to You. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< ><> <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><
© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2024
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SUBSCRIPTIONS - To receive the Words of Faith devotion five days a week, send an e-mail message addressed to join-words-of-faith@hub.xc.org. To stop receiving Words of Faith, send an e-mail message addressed to unsubscribe-words-of-faith@hub.xc.org. The daily devotion and archive are posted at https://www.faithfellowshipweb.com/blog
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2024 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.