Cynde Layne Wilkerson
Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some have compassion, making a difference: Jude 21-22
 
Have you ever heard the phrase, “Who said life would be a flowery bed of ease?”  It sounds wonderful when you imagine floating through life on a bed of flowers free from worry, free from stress, free from the cares of the world, and free from some folks. However, as believers, life is not going to give us a free pass and especially, from any of the abovementioned. Everyday is not going to go as planned or as we might hope. We can expect that there will be some hiccups, some bumps in the road and even some surprise impacts that we can’t possibly anticipate. Many of those darts will come from the antics of the enemy as he uses whatever and whomever he chooses. He is an expert at using the people closest to us; friends, family and loved ones; however, we have to master the art of recognizing his tactics and adjust ourselves accordingly.
 
Earlier in this passage of Jude, the writer said, “Dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, in the last days there will be people who won’t take these things seriously anymore. They’ll treat what’s been taught like a joke; they will ridicule it, laugh and mock it and make religion to fit their ideas and desires in order to follow their own ungodly desires. These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit, but you, dear friends, must continue on by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit.” We can’t say that the love of God is keeping us and then outwardly, people see something different in us because things aren’t going our way or someone has said or done something to douse our spirit. We have to, as Jude said, “building ourselves up in our most holy faith and praying, it’s essential to this life and could save someone else.
 
What this passage tells me is that we must stay focused on the Lord, what we have been taught and continue to keep ourselves securely fastened in His love, because we are definitely going to encounter things that will come to disturb our peace. There is so much going on in every place; at home, work, church, and in the world that we cannot get distracted by the thing that comes to hinder us or knock us off balance. Staying engulfed in God’s love helps us along this journey. It also helps us to stay in His peace as we wait for Him to work out and perfect every situation or circumstance that concerns us (Psalm 138:8). As hard as that may be at times, it is imperative that we keep it at all cost. Otherwise, we would be running off on a tangent more often than not which accomplishes absolutely nothing except mental and emotional chaos. The enemy loves to see this happen so we have to make a conscious choice to stay in perfect peace by trusting God (Is 26:3).
 
I decided to look up the phrase, “a flowery bed of ease” to see where it originated. It actually derived from a hymn called “Am I a Solider of the Cross” written by Issac Watts in the 1700s. He wrote the hymn with this scripture as a base, "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong." In other words, keep your eyes open, hold tight to your convictions, give it all you’ve got, be resolute, be determined, be steadfast, be unwavering, unyielding and persevere (1 Corinthians 16:13). It also goes on to say in verse 14, “and love without stopping.” How befitting, because aren’t we soldiers of the cross?
 
We are going to have to endure some battles in this way as soldiers in this army. Yes, we will get weak sometimes, wounded, and even worn but we can’t stop fighting or stop being concerned about the cause in which we fight. We are to hold up the blood stain banner right? We’ll need to continue in the action of watching, guarding, as well as keeping our eye on what’s going on around us so we’ll know how to proceed as we fight the good fight of faith, Continue being the pillar of love, displaying compassion, and giving hope; we who are in Christ. If we are staying wrapped in love, which is our shield of protection, we should be giving off said love and making a difference, amen?
 
Until the morning, be blessed,
Cynde

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