Reading Through the Bible - JUDE

Some Books of the bible are very short and some are very long but this one is one of the shortest.

JUDE  -  NEW TESTAMENT  -  EPISTLE 

26th book of the NT 

65th book of the Bible

It starts with a great greeting v.1-2  -  believers are beloved by God and kept for Jesus

and also pronounces a blessing on the believers.

I love the blessings pronounced in God's Word and they are still blessings to us as well.

What is it?

The Book of Jude is one of the Epistles in the New Testament which means it is a letter.

How Long is it?

It only has 1 chapter which contains 25 verses.

When was it Written?

It is generally thought to have been written between 60 & 80 AD

Who Wrote it?

Jude

The first half of verse 1 tells us who Jude was

"Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James,"

"Teach Sunday School" tells us the following

"Jude is the half-brother of Jesus who did not believe in Him until after the resurrection."

Jude was of the same earthly family as Jesus but was also a believer.

He himself said he was the brother of James and this is the James who was the brother of Jesus.

Other verses in the bible name brothers of Jesus as James and Judas and Simon but it is also known that the name Judas could also be used as Jude.

Who was it Written to?

It was written to believers as we see in verse 1

 "To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ"

Why was it Written? 

It was written as a warning to the believers about ungodly people who portray themselves as believers to change the meaning of God's Word and that the believers are to stand firm in the Word.

The Overview Bible  tells us the following

"A letter encouraging Christians to contend for the faith, even though ungodly persons have crept in unnoticed."

which is what verses 3 & states

"Teach Sunday School" tells us the following

"The purpose of this book is to address false teaching.   An attempt by an early Church leader to keep errors out of Believers' thinking."

Jude verse 3 reminds me of advice Paul gave to the people in Corinth in 1 Corinthians 16 v 13

What is it normally well-known for?

Instruction about scoffers in the end times and those who will infiltrate the church with false teaching.

verses 17 -19

"But you, dear friends, remember what was predicted by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They told you, “In the end time there will be scoffers living according to their own ungodly desires.” These people create divisions and are worldly, not having the Spirit."

Who does Jude refer to from the Old Testament?

Angels v 6 & 9

Moses  v 9

Enoch  v 14

What new info is found here and not in the Old Testament?

Enoch prophesied that the Lord would come in judgement against the ungodly.

What does Jude write to encourage the believers? 

He writes about their faith, prayer, the love of God and the mercy of Jesus in verses 20 & 21

How does it end?

The best way possible in verses 24 & 25

 in a prayer of praise to God

reminding the saints of what is before them,

 the upholding hand of God.

This prayer is also a great example of how the early believers ended their letters in praise of God.

OTHER BOOKS OF THE BIBLE ARE ADDED REGULARLY AND AN UPDATED LIST CAN BE FOUND AT OUR READING THE BIBLE PAGE 

Christmas Handwashing Songs for Kids - Need Help?

Do You

Need Help?

The Kids Must Wash Their Hands!!!

BUT

Are they Tired of Singing Happy Birthday all the time?

YES!!!!

Let's have some Christmas Songs for washing our hands.

UPDATED to include 5 songs now

I'm going to put up videos & free printables for you to use to teach your children new songs that are the right length or longer for those handwashing routines.

List of Songs included below:

1.  Away in a Manger.

2.  Jingle Bells.

3.  Christmas Bells.

4.  Christmas is a Time of Joy.  

5.  Little Donkey.  NEW!

DON'T FORGET TO CLICK FOR ALL THE FREE DOWNLOADS

at the
 END OF THIS BLOG POST

1.  Away in a Manger.

All kids learn at least the first verse of this song and if you sing it slowly you will have well covered your time for the handwashing.

PRINTABLE

Now watch the video below to learn the tune and the words.

Fred & I did a live on facebook singing this song but we did sing it a bit faster than most people.

You can see the recording below from Fred's You tube channel.

Just fast forward to skip the bit of talking at the start.

or click through to my facebook page to watch it there

Sandra's Ark on Facebook

To Download a copy of these words with chords for guitar and piano  &  the  powerpoint for printing on  A4 card  or  Letter size

CLICK HERE

2.  Jingle Bells.

I don't think there is a child who has not heard this song before so it will be very easy to get them to use this for washing their hands.

Don't worry if you all get confused with the verse part - so do we and really you only need the well-known chorus part.

3.  Christmas Bells.

This is another easy song for the children to learn because some of the words are repetitive and it is sung to the tune of Jingle Bells.

PRINTABLE

Now watch the video below to learn the tune and the words.

This was also from the series of songs for Christmas that Fred & I did live on Facebook & YouTube

You can see the recording below from Fred's You tube channel

or click through to my facebook page to watch it there

Sandra's Ark on Facebook

To Download a copy of these words with chords for guitar and piano  &  the  powerpoint for printing on  A4 card  or  Letter size

CLICK HERE

4.  Christmas is a Time of Joy.

Another easy song for the children which is sung to the tune of Jesus Loves Me.

This one teaches about their gifts and toys not being the main part of Christmas and points to Jesus as the gift from God.

You can find more detail about the song on my songs for Kids post Christmas is a Time of Joy 

PRINTABLE

To Download a copy of these words with chords for guitar and piano  &  the  powerpoint for printing on  A4 card  or  Letter size

CLICK HERE

5.  Little donkey.

Lovely song appropriate for adults and children but for handwashing for the kids it's great.

We only need to use the first verse and chorus but it still teaches the children a great message about how God kept Mary safe and everyone can be of use to God.

PRINTABLE

To Download a copy of these words with chords for guitar and piano  &  the  powerpoint for printing on  A4 card  or  Letter size

CLICK HERE

To download words or chords for any of these songs

CLICK BELOW

Song Printables at Sandra's Ark

Or if you have already subscribed to my blog you will find the link in any of the emails we send out.

10 Little Things I am Thankful for at Home - Coffee & Conversation

The weather may be something we tend to talk about a lot in Northern Ireland because it can be so changeable but we shouldn't let that have any sway on our feelings.

We should be happy and contented inside or outside, fair weather or wet weather.  

Those types of things may have some bearing on our actions but should not have any control of our feelings.  

We can be determined to find things to enjoy no matter where we are or how much we can manage to do.

So today I'm thinking about some of the small things indoors that make me happy, that put a smile on my face.

10 little Things that I am thankful for  -  not big things  -  but little things that should not always go unnoticed or unappreciated.

Maybe these will remind you to be thankful for the little things too.

1.  These coasters sit on my desk and always bring a smile to my face no matter what I'm working at.

You see I practically always have a mug of coffee with me as I work at the computer and because my desk is white wood I need to be careful not to stain it hence the need for a coaster.

2.  I love to hear Fred enjoying himself on the keyboard or guitar making up some tunes or playing some songs we know, it is very relaxing for both of us.

Pity you don't get the sounds as well.

Fred playing another of his musical "toys" a Cajon.

Thankful for his musical abilities and the joy they bring him.

Thankful for the input these abilities have been in our worship life both at home and in church

3.  These negatives are just an example of the many we have of old photos which may not be in great condition these days.

But we can still enjoy and be thankful for the memories they bring back.

Having old photos and especially the negatives of them today mean that we can get them transferred to digital and store with the more recent ones too.

Now I just have to get enough time to actually do that!

4. This little plaque that is very old ( from sometime before we got married ) still makes me smile. 

Still thanking God for giving him to me.

5.  This picture reminds me of the ordinary everyday laugh out loud fun I can have with family.

Thankful for all the silly, giggling moments with Fred, our kids, grandkids and friends.

6.  If I didn't include my coffee break with one of my various mugs many people would be surprised.

Nowadays most of my coffee breaks are enjoyed along with Fred as he is home more often since he took early retirement. Only thing is he's a tea drinker!

Oh the happiness of anticipating a lovely coffee in this mug I got on our first trip to South Korea and sometimes I even get to enjoy some Korean Coffee when my daughter can bring it over for me from her friend's Cafe.

Oh you thought I was going to forget the mug!

and maybe

A little treat too

7.  Every month I get a notification about this pic I have on Pinterest from a previous post on this blog.  They say it is one of my best performing pins.

  

Really?  

It was such a simple pic to make and is rather a personal pic so why would it be of any interest to others?

But it does make me happy to have this little reminder of the good marriage I am blessed with.

8.  This little gif from last Christmas is always a little reminder for me to be thankful for my family and the happiness and faith we all share.

Thankful for a loving marriage (not taking it for granted)
Thankful for our grown-up children (and spouses) and their love for us and each other
Thankful for our grandchildren and the love shared between them and all of the rest of us.

So I am thankful to be a wife, mother, mother-in-law and grandmother.

9.  A lot of things I do or think about seem to feature my husband in some way. Of course with us living on our own and him having taken early retirement then I suppose a lot of the things that make me happy will involve him.

There are little things like:

 He is not normally one for going to the shop just because I want something but he is the one that mostly goes to the shop because I hate supermarkets and prefer to do online grocery shopping.

 He is wide awake once he gets up but he knows that I am the opposite and like to enjoy my coffee quietly before I'm ready for the decisions of the day.

etc. etc. etc.

So 

It is great that we can be happy together after all these years even in the little things and we are thankful that we have a 43 year marriage. 

10.  How lovely to look out from our home to this view of the sunset over our town.

Here is something to remind me of the assurance we have that the sun will rise and set each new day.


Thankful that we know our God is in control of everything.

Thankfulness & Happiness go Hand in Hand - A Dose of Encouragement

When you think of Thankfulness what comes to your mind?

When you think of Happiness what comes to your mind?

When my husband and I think of thankfulness we often talk of God's protection over the years.         

       One winter Sunday evening we were driving home on the same road on which we then travelled twice every Sunday to go from our home in Banbridge to the church we attended in Lurgan. The drive takes 20/25 mins depending on traffic but on Sunday evenings there is normally very little traffic on that road.


        A certain section of the road has a few quite significant dips so that as you drive up towards one of these you have no real view ahead and the road is clearly signed to tell drivers about this in advance. So as we drove along in the dark around 8.30pm and came to the slight brow of a hill before one of these dips we suddenly saw several lights of cars coming towards us but as well as this we saw a set of lights coming towards us on our side of the road. 


       This is a country road with a very narrow footpath and hedges or walls etc. so usually no room to manoeuvre. A large lorry (truck for my American friends) was trying to overtake 3 or 4 cars and was still on the wrong side of the road; he had obviously ignored the signs about the dips in the road and also the road markings which clearly showed that no overtaking was allowed on that stretch of road.


        The only thing my husband Fred could do was to swerve in to the side of the road as the lorry tried to cut back into his proper side in front of the lead car. Up until then there had been no break in the narrow footpath but at the exact place that we had to cut in there was a gap in the footpath and in the hedge because there was an entrance to something there. 

Just enough room for our car to get in out of the way as the lorry skimmed past us.

Obviously God had brought us to the right spot at the right time

 and saved our lives.

There are big things in our lives that can cause us to be thankful & happy like this time and the other times He has protected us in the car. 

 You can read about these occasions at:
4 Accidents and a ????  (pt1)
4 Accidents and a ????  (pt2)
4 Accidents and a ????  (pt3)
4 Accidents and a ????  (pt4)
4 Accidents and a ????  (pt5)



But there are also the other smaller things everyday that we sometimes forget to be happy about. 

We have had several times when we have been thankful to God because of his hand of protection but so many other times we forget to be thankful for the things that make us happy.  Most of us will have something each day which makes us happy but often we forget to thank God for that (however small) thing He has provided in our life.

Then also we often forget to thank others who in some big or small way help us out.

One example is the time I was happy to have been able to help someone I only knew online, with somethings that I used to have to ask others to help me with.

Isn't that nice that Caroline acknowledged the help I had given her, she didn't need to do that, but thankyous are always appreciated.


Then there are the friends that you make that no matter what happens throughout the years you know they will always be your friends.  The ones who know you for who you really are.  Such a gift to be thankful for.

Who or what are you thankful for & happy about today?

So many times we are drawn to think on the more unpleasant things in life which lead to unhappiness and they can keep us from being thankful for anything when we are in that frame of mind.  

What can we do to keep the right frame of mind and not get into that attitude that can get worse and worse as we dwell on the hurts and unpleasantness caused by others?

 

We can remember that God has not promised us that everything will always be perfect for us, that every day will not be full of happy events, that many days will bring upon us the more unpleasant things in this imperfect world.

 

One of the saddest times in my life was when I miscarried my first pregnancy.

All those years ago most people did not know what to say or how to comfort someone but God sent me someone – not a particularly close friend, not someone who had gone through a similar experience, not someone who was even married.

He sent me someone who simply said they were sorry about what had happened and were praying for me and then they gave me a card with a little poem.  Somehow that card got lost – I just don’t know how or when but then one day I saw the same poem

 

I bought this box and it sits in my study now (empty) but it reminds me to be thankful and happy that God will care for me through the worst of times.

Memories of times when we proved God's comfort and love are GOOD! 

God’s word also reminds us that: 

• God’s love to us never ends.
• God’s mercy to us never ends.
• God’s faithfulness to us never ends.

So let's not forget that:

• God has promised to be with us at all times, the best and the worst.
• God has given us His Holy Spirit to guide us in all our days.
• God is still with us even when we don’t feel we are close to Him.
• God is still demonstrating His love even if we are not looking for it.