Monday, October
16, 2017
But you, my dear friends, must remember what the apostles of
our Lord Jesus Christ predicted. They
told you that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life
is to satisfy their ungodly desires. These
people are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They follow their natural instincts because
they do not have God’s Spirit in them. But
you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in
the power of the Holy Spirit, and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in
God’s love. And you must show mercy to those
whose faith is wavering. Rescue others
by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so
with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives. Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you
from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence
without a single fault. All glory to him
who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are
his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen. Jude
17-25(NLT)
Living
in a war zone is not the happiest place on planet earth. Most of us do not want to be in a place of
combat. Yet, there are enough of those
places in our journey through life to validate the old phrase out of the frying pan, into the fire!
The effects of living
too long under the stress of actual combat circumstances can leave one empty and
debilitated. There are a lot of names
for it: battle fatigue, combat neurosis, combat fatigue, shell shock, anxiety
disorder, survivor guilt, posttraumatic stress disorder.
Posttraumatic
stress disorder is an anxiety disorder associated with serious traumatic
events and characterized by such symptoms as survivor guilt, reliving the
trauma in dreams, numbness and lack of involvement with reality, or recurrent
thoughts and images[2]. Medical studies show PTSD occurs in as much
as 35% of Vietnam Veterans, 50% of survivors of natural disasters, and as high
as 80% of survivors of manmade disasters, such as the chemical disaster in Bhopal,
India in 1984[3].
It is a reality that the human
mind was not meant to live in horror! I
have dear friends, family, and have personally experienced the PTSD effects of
living in a war zone. I am thankful for
the unselfish dedication and skill of those who help victims of all kinds get
through the dark periods of remembering the hell that never should have been!
Jude warns that divisions in the
church would be a constant threat to the spiritual health of Christians, because
war-like conditions are brought about when selfish ambition takes over. If you have followed Christ, and been part of
the church, you understand; despite the smiles on Sunday, there are spiritually
shell-shocked believers in every pew.
Jude also offers the Rx for spiritual
PTSD – mercy, plenty of mercy!
Those of us in the church who have tried to follow Christ faithfully, and
been helped along the way with our own wavering faith, are to be there for
others. We are to be an example of what
genuine faith looks like; we are to be hands-on, standing committed to shore-up
the faith of those who stumble.
Contrary to the cynical remark
about the church of Jesus Christ being the only army that shoots its own
wounded…the genuine Church is the one that follows the example of
her Master, willing to bear one another’s burdens, and even die for each other.
For You
Today
There
are many today who are walking around hollow-eyed, emptied of hope, and ready
to give up. Some are “former” believers,
blown-apart by the struggles of the war zones of our culture. They need someone to come alongside and be
their hope while Christ becomes their salvation.
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