Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. ~Jude 24-25

As I pondered these verses, I asked … “who is our God?”

My eyes drifted across the verses and what jumped out was…

He is the One who is:

• Able to keep us from stumbling
• Able to present us blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy

So, what is He due?

Our acknowledgment of…

• His glory (splendor)
• His Majesty (honor)
• His Dominion  (power, might)
• His Authority (before all worlds)

As I read through my Tozer devotional for the day the dots were connecting:

Abraham found the desire within himself to

• Know God
• Believe God
• Live for God

Tozer said “See the effect of this encounter on Abraham? He was prepared to pay any price for the privilege of knowing God.”

I slipped to my knees asking “Lord, how am I not living for you?”

It was quiet for a while. But it wasn’t long before conviction swept over me with the soft prompting of the Holy Spirit…

The way you take care of the body I have given you does not honor Me. You know eating junk food, not hydrating adequately and not moving your body is not honoring to Me.

“OH GOD! I don’t want to have to get sick to take this admonition seriously!”

I went on to cry out to Him asking him to help me to change, as I cannot do it on my own. I so need His help to be faithful in this!

My own words echoed in my head as I sat quietly. A memory flashed across my mind.

“Nathan, you can’t exist on McDonalds and Mountain Dew! Part of navigating mental health challenges includes eating healthy foods.”

This was a perfect example of my hypocritical “Do as I say, not as I do!” behavior. I may not eat junk food for every meal but still I do it way too much, and I’m SO out of shape!

As I continued to read out of Colossians, He let me know that He was strengthening me … my word of the year, even in this struggle.

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, SO THAT WE MAY…

Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord

Please Him in every way

Bear fruit in every good work

Grow in the knowledge of God

Be strengthened with all power according to His glorious might

Have full endurance and patience

Joyfully give thanks to the Father

Share in the inheritance of the Saints in the light

BECAUSE HE HAS

Rescued us from the dominion of darkness

Brought us into the Kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have REDEMPTION, the forgiveness of sins.

Yes, He is able to keep me from stumbling and present me blameless … but I must respond to His admonishments and the Holy Spirit’s conviction with self-control and choices to walk in a manner worthy of Him, pleasing Him in every way…honoring Him in how I care for His temple.

Has He been admonishing you lately? How did you respond?

Thanks for taking some time with me today!

Athena