Jude 1:25

This verse is the closing benediction — a burst of praise — at the end of a short letter written by Jude, believed to be a brother of Jesus. Jude wrote to warn early Christians about false teachers who had quietly worked their way into their communities and were distorting the faith. After a serious, urgent warning, Jude ends not with fear but with an eruption of worship, declaring that all glory, power, and authority belong to God alone — not just now, but across all of history, before time began and stretching into eternity. It is a reminder that no matter how chaotic things appear, God's rule is unshaken and his authority is not up for debate.

God, you were glorious before I was born and you will be glorious long after I'm gone. Teach me to anchor myself in that truth when everything around me feels uncertain. Today I want to say it plainly: you alone are worthy of all glory and power. Let that reality be bigger in me than my fear. Amen.

Have you ever been in the middle of a hard conversation — a difficult diagnosis, a phone call you dreaded — and then stepped outside and looked up at the sky? There is something disorienting about how enormous the world keeps being when your own feels like it is collapsing. Jude does something similar here. He spends most of his letter describing betrayal, spiritual danger, people leading others off a cliff — and then he just lifts his eyes. "To the only God our Savior be glory." Not as an escape from the hard things. As the anchor that makes them survivable. Notice the sweep of time in this verse: "before all ages, now and forevermore." Jude is saying God's authority wasn't invented recently to help you feel better. It's older than the universe and will outlast everything you're afraid of today. That doesn't make your fears small or silly — it makes them held. Whatever you're carrying right now, this doxology is an invitation to say it out loud: glory belongs to God. Not because everything is fine. Because he is.