PODCAST
Bumpers
December 29th, 2012
Jude 17-25
I once chaperoned a group of special needs teens on a bowling trip. It was a fantastic day, and the experience was greatly enhanced by the presence of “bumpers” along both sides of the bowling lanes. These bumpers prevented the bowling ball from running into the gutters, and kept it on course all the way to the pins at the end. I have to admit, I bowled the best game of my life with those bumpers in place!
In Jude we are given a promise that when we remain in God’s love, Jesus keeps us from stumbling so that he can present us to God without fault. We are charged with the job of keeping ourselves in that love. Yet so many times, our experience of life is like my bowling ball. We start going right down the middle, aiming to stay in the middle of God’s love. But inevitably we begin to wobble from side to side, and may even fall into the gutter.
We need bumpers. These are the practices, disciplines, and relationships that keep the gutters off-limits and keep us in the middle of God’s love. What can you do to keep yourself in the love of God today?
Author: Michaele LaVigne
December 29th, 2012 at 8:57 am
“In Jude we are given a promise that when we remain in God’s love, Jesus keeps us from stumbling so that he can present us to God without fault.”
For those that didn’t understand the remaining in “God’s love,” Jesus is God’s love (Matthew 3:17).
The guidance of the Holy Spirit is our spiritual bumper (John 16:7).
We are given the message of Christ in the Gospels; and, when we accept Christ, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38) to guide us down the right path. We have to walk in the Spirit (Romans 8:13-14) to stay on the right path. The gift can’t be ignored.
In John 4:14, Jesus explains that the water (Holy Spirit) that He gives is a spring (flowing with an abundant source) ending with eternal life.