Jude 1:20-21
But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.
Devotional Thoughts
By David Wilkerson
When will God stop loving you? He'll stop only if he stops loving his own Son, which is impossible. Christ says, "The Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end" (John 13:1). This helps us to better understand what Jude is saying when he instructs, "Keep yourselves in the love of God" (Jude verse 21). He is telling us, "Keep this truth. Lay hold of it and never let it go. The knowledge of God's love is meant for your comfort, your strength. It will set you free and keep you free."
To keep yourself in the love of God is to know, believe and keep trusting in his love even in your struggles.
John tells us how we can keep ourselves in God's love: "We have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he who dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him" (1 John 4:16, KJV). In short, if we "dwell in God's love," we will keep ourselves in his love.
The word "dwell" here means "to stay in a state of expectancy." In short, God wants us to expect his love to be renewed to us every day. We're to live daily in the knowledge that God has always loved us and will always love us.
He is telling us in these passages, "No matter what trial you face, you must never doubt my love for you. If you are actively trusting in my love, then you're living the way I want you to live."
Are you enduring some great temptation? Have you been overcome by some old lust you hate? Is your marriage in turmoil, your family in chaos? These are the times you need most to keep yourself in the love of God. You have to know that, through it all, the eternal Father still deeply loves you.