by David Brenneman
"Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ." Jude 1:3-4
"But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.” These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life." Jude 17-21.
Let's start with some definitions.
Contend: To strive, or to strive against; to struggle in opposition.
To strive; to use earnest efforts to obtain, or to defend and preserve.
Distress not the Moabites, nor contend with them in battle.
To dispute earnestly; to strive in debate.
To reprove sharply; to chide; to strive to convince and reclaim.
To strive in opposition; to punish.
To quarrel; to dispute fiercely; to wrangle.
To contend for, to strive to obtain; as, two competitors contend for the prize.
Licentiousness: promiscuous and unprincipled in sexual matters. Disregarding accepted moral rules or conventions.
Many people we know choose to fight for the worldly things they've attached themselves to. The most prolific example is with sports teams. In truth they contend for "their" team. They toss out most of the character of Christ when they do so but it is them contending for their team. That's not my stretching the example to fit the word defined it's the truth when you've lived it.
Many people would rather not think about the seriousness of what Jesus meant by saying to take up our own cross and follow Him.
The Disciples learned what that meant and that is exactly what the Spirit of God had them teach others.
Have been thinking about what my friend wrote in his book "My Godly Marathon" (Steve Crisafulli) available at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble if you are interested.
We are on a journey to Heaven and in our life we are to keep pace with our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. It may mean running some days, may mean walking other days. Some days it fully means sitting down and resting before the next leg of the journey we are on with Him.
We live in a world of complex compromises. We get inundated at a young age to compromise what our parents or maybe even our teachers and possibly Sunday School teachers might have taught us. Giving in to things sometimes might be the easier path but it can be fraught with dangerous things in order to get back to where Jesus is on the journey that is ours to be on.
We have so many candy-coated temptations to try to sway us and trip us up. We're worse than a dog distracted by a squirrel. We see not the dangers until maybe too late.
We aren't too keen on the lesson of Peter on the water with Jesus.
Take your eyes off your Savior and you begin to sink.
Yes the world was meant, originally, to be enjoyed by mankind. That was before the original sin that messed everything up. Demons corrupted the word of God among the people of this world since Adam and Eve had children. Demons still possess people today. They are just so good at it that they're often mistaken for people with mental illness. It's not to say that there aren't people with mental illnesses it to say that's one way they disguise themselves.
Then there's those demons who are presenting themselves as angels of light. Looking like preachers. Misleading congregations. Claiming that there's only their way to be a disciple of Christ.
Contending for the faith directly implies the need to fight to keep established in. Make every effort it says here.
It may mean alienating people who are of this world because of living the life in Christ that you are indeed called to be in.
We are in a struggle. A fight. A war even. There's no room for letting off the gas in driving that car. We have a relentless enemy of God who accuses Believers every single day before Jesus Christ.
Every single day! He's constantly seeking permission to go after you, me, and all Believer's in this world right now. You are never off the hook in this. He can't kill you, much as he wants to, but Satan and his companions are out to destroy the truth of God in Christ Jesus everywhere.
Earnestly contend for the faith.
I never realized how much I would enjoy spending an hour or so each day in so many study Bibles. Never really thought about how easy it was to get me to deviate from the path of my life that the Father intended me to be on in Christ.
Did you know that you are going to be tempted to worship someone or something else other than Jesus and you will be blinded from recognizing that is exactly what you're doing?
Without praying earnestly for discernment we can easily be blinded much as the world already has been. We are easily taken in by things that look harmless. Originally snakes didn't look harmless until the first time one bit someone.
How hard are you contending for your faith? How much effort are you putting into keeping that cross as the only thing you are carrying on your shoulders?
Going through this journey of life with Jesus is never Jesus and things of this world. No Disciple ever got far with Jesus AND money. Look at the life of Judas Iscariot concerning that one.
Paul said: "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.
Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God. For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me." Philippians 1:21-24, 27-30
Turn your Eyes Upon Jesus. Not just a hymn of great hope and comfort written in 1922 by Helen Howarth Lemmel, it's always an encouragement towards realizing that indeed Jesus's load is easy and His burden is light in being on this journey with Him on our way to Heaven.
"O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
Thro' death into life everlasting,
He passed, and we follow Him there;
O’er us sin no more hath dominion--
For more than conqu’rors we are!
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.
His Word shall not fail you--He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!"
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace."
The reality is its not just that we are to contend for the faith...we are going to fight to keep putting down what has tripped us up in the past.
We will be fighting all those things that we have compromised in that have been so much a part of our lives. We will be fighting every day to keep pace with Jesus because our sin nature wants nothing to do with living life for Jesus.
There's no room to coast or to think we can let our guard down.
Pray now, pray often, listen for what you will indeed hear from the Spirit of God.
We are to be lights in this world that aren't hidden under a basket.
It's for us to trust and obey. For us to keep the whole armor of God on us. To run from whatever is taking us away from the will of God for us in Christ Jesus. Taking up our own cross and following Him.
All NASB 1995 and NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. (C) Lockman Foundation.
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