Sweet Sisters,
It occurred to me recently while reading Jude 24, that God wants me to be successful in my walk with Him. He is more than willing to help me, in every way possible, to stand before Him blameless and without reproach and full of joy.
Let’s look at Jude 24. I like the way the New Century Version translates it.
24 God is strong and can help you not to fall. He can bring you before his glory without any wrong in you and can give you great joy.
Notice that Jude says that God is strong and can help us not to fall.
What this verse says to me is that God loves me so much that He is willing to run beside me and help me as I journey towards my ultimate goal of one day standing before Him and being received into my forever home with Him in heaven.
As I contemplate this concept, I wondered if there were other scriptures that supported what I was thinking? I want to share with you today what I discovered. Some of the verses I found actually use the word “help”. Others I have chosen show us what God does to ensure we are successful. Scriptures are from the New Century Version.
Let’s start in the Old Testament with Deuteronomy 20:3-4
3 He will say, “Listen, Israel! Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Don’t lose your courage or be afraid. Don’t panic or be frightened, 4 because the Lord your God goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies and to save you.”
Some of you are going to say, “but Debbie, God was talking to the children of Israel and they were going into a real battle.” Yes, this is true, but our God does not change. The Israelites were God’s children. We are God’s children. The Israelites were going into a battle they could not win on their own. We go into battles all the time that we cannot win on our own. God promised the Israelites that He would fight for them and give them victory in their battle. I believe God makes the same promise to us.
Psalm 28:6-7
6
Praise the Lord,
because he heard my prayer for help.7
The Lord is my strength and shield.
I trust him, and he helps me.
I am very happy,
and I praise him with my song.
God hears my cry for mercy and He helps me.
Psalm 46:1(New American Standard)
God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
God is an ever-present help in trouble. Thank goodness, because it seems I am always in trouble!
Psalm 63:6-7
6
I remember you while I’m lying in bed;
I think about you through the night.7
You are my help.
Because of your protection, I sing.
In the middle of the night when I can’t sleep, I remember that God will help me.
Psalm 118:13 (New American Standard)
13
You pushed me violently so that I was falling,
But the Lord helped me.
Have you ever felt like you were struggling to keep your balance on the edge of a deep chasm? The psalmist felt like that and he says, “but the Lord helped me.” Remember we learned in Jude 24, “God is strong and can help you not to fall.”
Proverbs 3:5-6
5
Trust the Lord with all your heart,
and don’t depend on your own understanding.6
Remember the Lord in all you do,
and he will give you success.
This is one of the verses that doesn’t use the word “help”. We see here that God promises that if we trust Him and acknowledge Him, He will make our paths straight. He will show us what to do.
Isaiah 41:10, 13
10
So don’t worry, because I am with you.
Don’t be afraid, because I am your God.
I will make you strong and will help you;
I will support you with my right hand that saves you.13
I am the Lord your God,
who holds your right hand,
and I tell you, ‘Don’t be afraid.
I will help you.’
Twice in verses very close together Isaiah tells God’s children to not be afraid because God will help them.
Now let’s go to the New Testament and see what we can learn about how God will help us to be successful in our walk with Him.
John 14:15 – 16
15 “If you love me, you will obey my commands. 16 I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper to be with you forever—“
Jesus promised that if we love him, He would ask the Father to send us a helper who would be with us forever.
I Corinthians10:13
13 The only temptation that has come to you is that which everyone has. But you can trust God, who will not permit you to be tempted more than you can stand. But when you are tempted, he will also give you a way to escape so that you will be able to stand it.
God promises to provide help for us when we are tempted.
Philippians 4:13
13 I can do all things through Christ, because he gives me strength.
Paul says that he was able to do all the things he did because God helped him. If God helped Paul, He will help us as well.
Hebrews 4:16
16 Let us, then, feel very sure that we can come before God’s throne where there is grace. There we can receive mercy and grace to help us when we need it.
I love the imagery of this passage. When I need God’s help, I can confidently approach His throne and ask for it. Earlier in verses 14-15, the Hebrew writer talks about how Jesus is our high priest and understands everything we struggle with. He sits in heaven next to God ready to help us and that is why we can confidently approach God’s throne.
My sweet sisters, let me encourage you to take Jude 24 to heart. Write it on an index card and put it on your bedroom mirror, on your refrigerator, on the dashboard of your car. God our Savior is NOT going to let you fall. He is going to do everything in His power so that you can stand before Him one day with great joy, ready to spend eternity with Him.
Debbie
FEBRUARY 1, 2022
