Today you should read: Jude 1:1-16
Jude is one of the smallest books in the Bible, and although it’s often overlooked, it’s RICH in truth.
This small book is written by Jude (Judah) who identifies himself as “the brother of James” implying that he is also the step-brother of Jesus (Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3). This introduction gives him the authority to deal with some of the difficult and hot burner issues that he addresses.
Although the recipients of the letter are not specifically mentioned, we know they are people who are familiar with the Old Testament and Jewish literature. They are probably the churches that Jude had visited on his journeys.
Jude is short but powerful. It deals with the subjects of false teachers who tried to manipulate the grace of God, spiritual discipline, how to defend your faith, and much more!
Jude jumps right into the action in verse 4… false teachers have wormed their way into your churches – undermining God’s teaching on grace. Do we struggle with this today? You bet! False teaching is so prevalent that many Christians don’t know the false from the true. This is also due to the lack of time many of us spend in God’s Word for ourselves “examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things are so” (Acts 17:11). False teaching comes to us freely from the pulpit, the ipod, the radio, and the pen. We MUST be careful!
Undermining God’s grace is still a big issue on both sides. Some still teach a salvation by works such as doing the right things, attending church, or baptism. Others take the opposite side and say that God’s grace gives us the freedom to do whatever we want and God will simple turn His head and wink. Neither is correct.
Jude goes on to spell out the condemnation that these false prophets will experience in verses 5-16.
So… how can we know True from False?
1. It begins with knowing God yourself – the Holy Spirit in you will guide you and “bear witness” to truth if you learn to listen to Him and follow Him.
2. You need to know your Bible (and that only comes from spending time in it). Read it, study it, memorize it.
3. Don’t be gullible – don’t simple accept everything your hear or read as truth. Much of it isn’t!
4. Ask questions of those you trust, if you don’t understand something or have doubts about its’ accuracy.
5. Protect your family from false teaching. Kids are where cults strike
Thank you SO much for reading JumpStart faithfully. It’s a privilege to provide it for you. Our prayer is that God is growing you through it!
Posted by: Tim Parsons
JumpstartCPC.com 
Good Friday Morning! So blessed to be reading through the Bible with my CPC family — I have not yet read Jude so I’m super excited! He really does take the bull by the horns! I pray each of us is in the Word daily and our hearts are absorbing Truth. Love you all, have a great day! Kelly
Wow…is this ever a world that we live in today!! Tim, you are right on the mark! This is all around us. We are all challenged by this daily! However, knowing God’s word will set the record straight for us all! It’s dependable, trustworthy, tried and true and the ONLY instruction manual that is valid! Praying today that we will be a church that will learn and learn quickly all that we can about what GOD says and how to live holy lives pleasing to him. So grateful for this body of believers!!
What a powerful chapter in God’s word! This is definitely something that I will review this weekend because so many of us, including myself, stay strict to our routine of studying God’s word Monday-Friday, but are lax on the weekends! Praise God for His word.
BOOM!! What a great way to start a new book! Though, like Kelly, I’m not as familiar with Jude, there is so much truth in these 16 verses.
Church we must keep our minds and hearts strong in faith and truth, because there are many false teachers, and Christians for that matter. Keep learning and diving into the true Word of God which is the gospel, aka the bible. And like Paul writes in Rom 6:1-2 we must not continue to live in sin so that we can continue to receive His grace. Receive His grace, repent from your sin, and move on! If you are having problems with certain sin ask for help and move on. You don’t know what your sin is causing in the hearts of those around you.
May our Lord bless your day and weekend church.