Building Ourselves Up

But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Jude 1:20-23 (KJV)

To give you some background on the author of this book, Jude was the half brother of Jesus, and he had another brother named James, in addition to other brothers and sisters mentioned in Scripture (Matthew 13:55, Mark 6:3). Jude became a believer after Jesus’ resurrection.

Jude speaks about building ourselves up in our faith by praying in the Holy Ghost, or praying in tongues. It’s like recharging our batteries so we can keep running. As we pray in tongues, our faith is built up, charged, and energized. This helps us to believe God for a need to be met. It keeps our faith strong.

Praying in the Holy Ghost will help keep us in the love of God. It keeps our hearts full of God’s love, no matter what we face. This keeps our faith operational because faith works by love. To have strong faith, we must have strong love.

As we pray in the Holy Ghost, we are to keep watching, alert and ready, for the rapture, which is Christ’s return in the clouds to catch away His bride, the church. We won’t be caught unaware, thus we’ll be counted worthy to escape all that will come on earth during the seven year tribulation period described in the Book of Revelation. We will obtain mercy from the Lord as we look for the rapture. Titus 2:13 calls this the blessed hope. Our hope is to be raptured before the tribulation.

Eternal life is ours, now and in the life to come. The mercy of Christ has made it available to us. As our faith is built up, we experience this eternal life now and forever.

We’re to stay full of compassion for others. we can get this by praying in the Holy Ghost. Life can be hard when no one cares, but as we pray in tongues, God’s compassion moves our hearts to make a difference by meeting people’s needs. Compassion causes us to reach out to save others, even from the flames of hell.

Praying in tongues helps us live pure lives, dominated by the Spirit of God instead of by the flesh. Holy Spirit will lead us as we pray in tongues. It gives us Holy Spirit power, keeping us strong to follow God wholeheartedly. Praying in the Holy Ghost promotes spiritual growth, giving us maturity in God, revelation of God’s Word, and power to live godly lives.

As we pray in tongues, we’ll be ready for every good work in God- and with godly character. Our spirits become stronger and we become sensitive to God, knowing Him, hearing Him, and being led by Him.