Jude is a very short letter thought to have been written by the brother of Jesus. There is one part of its one chapter that stood out to me and it was the interaction of the angel Michael with the devil. Here is an archangel, the NLT reads ‘the mightiest of angels’, and when confronting the devil, Michael still does not rely on his own authority. He says, “the Lord rebuke you!”
When we’re doing well in life it is easy to start feeling pretty self-sufficient, even in the area of our Spiritual life. We think we can take the wheel for a while and take responsibility for ourselves. But we are always supposed to humbly follow Christ, relying on his power and his authority for all we do. If even an archangel confronts the devil by relying on Christ’s authority, how could we do anything else when it comes to trials and temptations? It is folly to rest on our own strength, especially when the power of God himself is offered to us.
Year in the Bible 