Called, Beloved in God the Father, and Kept for Jesus Christ

Thursday, July 2, 2020
Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. Jude 1:1-2

Called, Beloved, Kept
Yesterday we looked at the blessing in Jude 1:2. Today I want to focus on who that blessing was for.  Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ.  Jude was writing to a group of believers to warn them about the false prophets in their midst, and we know they were believers because they were called, beloved, and kept. But what exactly does it mean to be called, beloved, and kept for Jesus Christ? We are also believers – does that mean we are called, beloved, and kept for Jesus Christ? Yes it does! In those words we should be able to find much security, comfort, and value.

Called – What does it mean to be called? We tend to think of this word as reserved for ministers – being called into the ministry. Even though we do not work in a church as a vocational minister, we are all called if we are Children of God. He calls us out – away from our lives of sin. God calls us to Him, He softens our heart, He speaks to us and draws us to Him. We are called by Him, to Him. Some other examples of called used in the Bible:

God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 Corinthians 1:9
To this He called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thessalonians 2:14

Beloved – Most of us can imagine what beloved means here. We are God’s beloved. He loves us enough to give His Son for our salvation. Beloved, to me, makes me think of being cherished.  Not just love, but beloved – a deeper love. He called us because He loves us.  We give Him no reason to call us – we are sinful by nature and have done nothing to deserve it - yet He offers His grace and mercy to us anyway.  That we are beloved in God the Father, is confirmation of His love for us.

Kept – We, like Jude’s recipients, are called, beloved, and kept.  This may be one of my favorite concepts of God.  How much safer can you feel than to be kept by the God of the universe? We are kept by God – safe, protected, watched, covered, surrounded. And not only are we kept here on earth by God, but our inheritance in Heaven is being kept for us as well. 1 Peter 1:3-4 says Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven. Your place in heaven is secure.  It is safe, and it cannot be taken from you.  Your name is there, waiting for the day you get to heaven.  There is nothing you can do here that wipes it away or cancels it. Just as you are kept, your inheritance is
kept also. 

Who doesn’t need to be reminded that they are called, beloved in God, and kept for Jesus Christ? Especially when there are false teachers all around us, and Satan is trying to lead us astray.  Today, our world seems divided and torn apart.  It is easy to get into a heated discussion with someone or a debate online and forget who we are and what we represent. Satan is having a heyday because he has lured our gaze from our Heavenly Father to the uncertainty and chaos going on all around us. Let us not forget who we are and what we are to be about – we are called, beloved by God, and kept for Jesus Christ.