1Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ: 2Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance. 3Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. Jude 1-3

Within the first few verses of Jude's short New Testament letter, he uses an important word twice: "loved." In verse 1, he writes, "To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ." He begins verse 3 with the same word. Here we have a foundational truth, which Jude brings front and center: We are loved of God.
How often we hear about what we are supposed to do for God. Yet the emphasis of the Bible is not so much on what we are supposed to do for God, but rather on what God has done for us. If we can get a hold of that reality in our minds and hearts, it will change our outlook and actions. The more we understand of what God has done for us, the more we will want to do for Him.
This is no small truth. In fact, it's fundamental to our spiritual lives. The devil would love to keep us from praying at all by reminding us how "unworthy" we are-telling us in effect that we have a lot of nerve to even think we could approach a holy God. He whispers. Do you think that God would hear your prayers after what you've done? But the real question to ask is this: "Is Jesus Christ worthy to come into the presence of the Father whenever He wants?" Of course He is.
The fact is that "he has freely given us in the One he loves" (Ephesians 1:6). Because Christ has open access to the presence of the Father at any time, we have the same access as we come to God the Father through our relationship with Jesus. It's not on the basis of what we have done for God; it is sorely on the basis of what Christ has done for us.
And that's the best news I've ever heard.

prayer: JESUS, THANK YOU THAT YOU CALL ME "LOVED" AND THROUGH YOU I HAVE OPEN ACCESS TO THE FATHER. I KNOW I AM NOT WORTHY TO COME TO THE FATHER ALONE, BUT THROUGH YOU I CAN BOW AT HIS THRONE AND OPEN MY HEART TO SHARE MY BURDENS, FEARS, AND PRAISES. AMEN.

• Where is my focus? Is it on what I can do for God, or is it on what God has done for me? When is the last time I spent dedicated quiet time thinking about or praising God for all that He has done for me?