What Love Is

Love is not dependent on my feelings,

Not contingent on what is appealing.

It matters not if I feel good today.

It matters not, about me, what they say.

If I am treated badly, I still love,

‘Cause love comes from my Savior up above.

I follow His example, what He did

When others hated Him and from Him hid.

Do not run away ‘cause how I’m treated,

Even if the treatment gets repeated.

Love as Jesus loved be what we’re teaching,

Put in practice now what we are preaching.

Now do for others what is for their good,

And even if us they misunderstood,

And pray for them for what is for their best,

And find a way that to them you can bless.

But love, it speaks the truth, and not the lies,

And love, the truth it surely not denies.

Love extends beyond what lies on surface,

Does for others what is for their service.

Love thinks about the future, what’s in store

For those who faith in God they do abhor,

In practice, how they do relate to Him

Who died for them to take away their sin.

Love for God, it is not just lip service.

Love God, His commands we give observance.

If God we love we leave our sins behind,

So we can live the life that He designed.

Share the love of Jesus now with others,

With those who are your sisters and your brothers,

With neighbors, friends, and enemies alike,

And share with them of Jesus’ death and life.

An Original Work / March 6, 2025 

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

No Confidence in The Flesh

“Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:2-3 NIV).

In context, the situation was that there were Judaizers among the Christians who were trying to convince the Christians that they had to be more like Jews, and that they had to keep to some of the Old Covenant liturgical, ceremonial, and dietary laws and restrictions, including the requirement of the circumcision of all males. So Paul was writing to correct that wrong teaching. The Christians were not to be led astray by these Judaizers who were adding on to the salvation that Jesus Christ provided for us.

And some Judaizers still exist today, who are being invited to speak in “churches” throughout the USA, who are convincing Christians that it will enhance their worship of God if they follow some of the Old Covenant ceremonies and/or Jewish religious traditions, some of them insisting on the keeping of the Jewish Sabbath and on dietary restrictions which are not required of Christians under the New Covenant. We do not have to listen to them. We are free from the Old Covenant liturgical laws and customs.

But this is not the only area where these “dogs” (false teachers), who are evildoers, are having an influence over those professing faith in Jesus Christ. We have false teachers (dogs) among us today who are convincing those professing faith in Jesus Christ that God requires nothing of them at all other than a profession of faith in Jesus. And they are teaching against repentance (dying to sin) and walks of obedience to our Lord, calling that “works salvation,” even though the gospel message requires both.

For Jesus taught that if anyone would come after him that he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and walk in obedience to our Lord’s commands under the New Covenant, in the power of God, then we have the hope of salvation from sin and of eternal life with God. This is the message of the gospel (see Luke 9:23-26; cf. Romans 6:1-23).

Jesus also taught that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven. And to do the will of God is to die with Christ to sin and to now walk in obedience to his commands, in practice, by the Spirit, in the power of God. For if we don’t, we will not have salvation from sin nor eternal life with God. It is what Jesus taught, and it is what his New Testament apostles taught, that we must die to sin and obey God (Matthew 7:21-23).

So, it is not “works salvation” to submit to Jesus as Lord, to surrender our wills to the will of God for our lives, to die with him to sin, and to now walk in obedience to his commands, by the Spirit, in the power of God, as part of God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in the Lord Jesus, as required of God for salvation and for eternal life. For faith = obedience, and disobedience = unbelief. For Jesus died on that cross, and he put our sins to death with him so that we will die to sin and walk in obedience to his commands, by faith.

So, what they are trying to sell you is that if you believe what Jesus taught and what his New Testament apostles taught, and so you obey the Lord, in practice, and so you are putting sin to death, that you are trying to earn your salvation by your own fleshly “good works,” and that you are not being saved by God’s grace, through faith. But that is a lie! For God’s grace is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives until Jesus returns (Titus 2:11-14).

And Jesus and his New Testament apostles clearly taught that if sin is what we practice (what we obey), and not obedience to God and to his New Covenant commands, that we will not inherit eternal life with God, case closed. And this is not saying that we must be absolutely perfect in every way or else! It is God showing us what it looks like to believe in him and what it looks like if we don’t believe in him. True faith will result in us dying to sin and obeying our Lord in practice or it is not faith which saves.

So, whether you are listening to a Judaizer who is trying to convince you that you have to get circumcised and keep the Sabbath and not eat certain foods in order to be truly saved, or you are listening to a charlatan who is trying to convince you that your salvation has no requirements of death to sin and walks of obedience to our Lord, they are lying to you. And both are teaching what is of the flesh and not what is of the Spirit. For many are altering the gospel to make it more appeasing to human flesh.

And this is why we have so many professers of faith in Jesus Christ today who are still walking in sin, still living in sinful addiction, still living to please the flesh and not to please God in walks of obedience to his commands. For they are being convinced that they don’t have to obey God, but that a profession of faith in Jesus will secure them heaven for eternity. But God’s word teaches that if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to God, that we will not inherit eternal life with God. And I take that seriously!

[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg 

Caution: This link may contain ads

No Confidence in The Flesh

An Original Work / March 6, 2025 

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Their god is Their Stomach

“Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.” (Philippians 3:17-19 NIV)

I am going to skip over Paul’s example of what a person of genuine faith in Jesus Christ should look like, for a few minutes, for first I believe the Lord wants me to talk about those who “live as enemies of the cross of Christ,” and what that looks like. For it has nothing to do with their profession of faith in Jesus, whether or not they profess faith in the Lord, but it has to do with how they live and whether or not they are living out the salvation that our Lord provided, or if they are still living to please their flesh, instead.

There are many people here in America today who are professing faith in Jesus Christ with their lips but who are living in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord. And it is their addiction to sin which stands in the way between their sinful desires and true freedom from their bondage to sin. For addiction to sin can be very inviting, intriguing, and deceptive. And the people who are drawn to it, and who habitually participate in it, are trapped  in its web of deceit which convinces them that there is no way out.

The addiction to sin they are trapped in convinces them that they cannot be rescued, and that they cannot stop what they are doing, and so rather than fighting the addiction and conquering it, by faith in Jesus Christ, they give way to it, because it is the easy way out, i.e. the cowardly way out, too. And even though they know the truth of what God’s word teaches about sin, and about slavery (addiction) to sin, and that Jesus paid the price for our freedom from slavery to sin, they continue to yield to the lusts of the flesh.

They also yield to the lies of the enemy which are teaching those who profess faith in Jesus that salvation from sin and eternal life with God are not at all contingent upon their walks of faith in obedience to the Lord in denial of self and in putting sin to death daily, by the Spirit. They give them this idea that if they profess faith in Jesus that all their sins are now forgiven and heaven is guaranteed them when they die, but regardless of how they live. And they cloak it as we are “saved by grace through faith alone.”

But the Bible teaches us that God’s grace is what sent Jesus Christ to that cross to put our sins to death with him so that, by faith in him, we will deny self, die daily to sin, and walk in obedience to our Lord’s commands. And this faith is not of our own doing, but it is of God, and it is persuaded of God, and he persuades us that we must deny self, die to sin daily, and walk in obedience to his commands, in practice. And if we continue in deliberate and habitual sin, we do not have salvation and eternal life with God.

Also God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce (say “No!” to) ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we await our Lord’s return. So God’s grace is not a free pass into heaven based on a profession of faith in Jesus, but it leads us to turn away from our sins and to now follow the Lord in walks of obedience to his commands in godly, moral, honest, and faithful living. And faith in Jesus must result in death to sin and in obedience to God, too.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-21; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

So, those of you who are trapped in addiction to sin, particularly sexual sin, which seems to be predominant today, while you are claiming faith in Jesus Christ and heaven as your eternal destiny, you need to know the truth which will set you free. For if sin is your practice (habit), and not obedience to God, the Bible teaches that you will not have salvation from sin nor eternal life with God. And this is not about us being perfect in every way, but this all comes down to what we practice – obedience to God or sinful pleasures?

And you need to know that Jesus died on that cross to put your sins to death with him so that, by faith in him, you will now die to sin and live to God and to his righteousness in walks of obedience to his commands. In the flesh, you cannot do this. But by submission to God, and the yielding of control of your lives to the Lord, and by denying self and dying to sin daily, and walking in obedience to our Lord daily (in practice) by faith, in God’s power, as you cooperate with God, you can be free from addiction to sin.

But if you are not willing and obedient, and you will only go so far in trying to stop your addiction, but you don’t totally let go, and you are not honest, and so that addiction never really ever leaves you, but it is still hanging in there just waiting for you to fail again, then you will fail again. And if you remain addicted to sin, and obedience to God is not your habit, then the Bible is clear that you will perish in your sins, you will not have eternal life with God, and the gates of hell will be what await you when you die.

But the example that Paul and the other New Testament apostles set for us to follow is a life of one who is committed to obeying the Lord and to no longer walking in sin. That didn’t make them perfect people, but they were not walking in sin and in disobedience to our Lord. Paul, especially, led a very godly and moral life in obedience to the Lord and in sharing the truth of the gospel which got him hated and persecuted and mistreated. But all obedience and death to sin is empowered by God, as we yield to him.

Broken Cord

An Original Work / August 29, 2018

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Your bond is broken with your Lord and Savior

And your testimony is separate from Him.

Your words not matching your actions today.

Repent of your sin and bow down and pray.

Live what you testify in truth always.

Purity’s lacking in your life and witness,

For you profess one thing, but other you do.

Not moral, spiritual. Still of the flesh.

Not living in truth to what you confess.

Lying about it puts you in a mess.

Living a lie is your practice, ‘tis true of you.

Masquerade righteousness – none of it true.

Your heart is not given to your Lord God.

Because of how you live, you are a fraud.

Turn from your sin and give your life to God.

https://vimeo.com/287303934

Their god is Their Stomach

An Original Work / March 6, 2025 

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

They Have One Pact

Tweedledum and Tweedledee

Went now on a spending spree.

One went this way, one went that,

But in truth they have one pact. 

Two in one with different stories

Stepping on their territories,

But the same with different colors, 

One is small, the other fuller.

Two in one, they look the same,

Yet to other they do blame,

Give appearance fight to right,

When together they take flight.

Double-dealing, two in one,

Work together world to run,

Bring to order all the people

Making them to be their sheeple.

Differences all for show now

So to them the people will bow,

Give their loyalty, give their praise,

While we go through their next phase.

All deception, keep them guessing

Who they next will be addressing.

All in chorus, they abhor us,

While they act as they are for us.

Don’t believe them, test their stories,

For in truth it’s for their glory,

Waiting for that magic moment

When they’ll try get our enrolment.

Don’t be simple, easy target,

Don’t eat of their all new banquet,

Test the waters, see what matters,

Don’t be caught in empty chatter.

An Original Work / March 5, 2025 

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

That Will Be Our Righteousness

“In the future, when your son asks you, ‘What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the Lord our God has commanded you?’ tell him: ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Before our eyes the Lord sent signs and wonders—great and terrible—on Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household. But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land he promised on oath to our ancestors. The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. And if we are careful to obey all this law before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.’” (Deuteronomy 6:20-25 NIV)

I am going to parallel this over to present day Israel, for Israel today is comprised of all who believe in Jesus Christ with God-persuaded faith in him, whether Jew or Gentile by physical birth. For in Jesus’ death on that cross he made us both one in Christ by faith in Jesus Christ. 

[Genesis 17:7-9; Genesis 18:19; John 8:18-19,38-47; Romans 2:28-29; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 9:4-8,25-28; Romans 11:1-36; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 3:16,26-29; Galatians 4:22-31; Ephesians 2:11-22; Ephesians 3:6; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-16; Hebrews 8:6-13;1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 2:22; Jude 1:5; Revelation 2:9; Revelation 3:9]

What God did for his people of old was a prefiguring of what Jesus did for the people of the world today. Jesus Christ, in his death on that cross, made the way for us to be delivered from our slavery (bondage, addiction) to sin so that we will now follow him in walks of obedience to his commands under the New Covenant God has with us, his people. For we once lived in bondage to sin, but by God-persuaded faith in Jesus we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with him to walk in obedience to his commands.

But not everyone has faith, just like not all who were rescued from slavery in Egypt served and obeyed God who delivered them out of their slavery. The majority of them, in fact, set their hearts on evil and refused to obey the Lord and his commandments to them. Many of them were idolaters, and revelers, and the sexually immoral who put Christ to the test and who grumbled against God and against his servant Moses. So they died in the wilderness and they did not get to go into the Promised Land.

[1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13]

So it is today. Many who profess to be children of God and those of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ are idolaters, revelers, drunkards, the sexually immoral, and those who put Christ to the test and who grumble against God when he doesn’t do things their way. Many of them, in fact, are now being taught that God makes no requirements of them and that they don’t have to obey God’s commands. And so they give them carte blanche to continue living in sin and not in obedience to God while promising them heaven.

But under the New Covenant God now has with us, his people Israel, both Jew and Gentile by faith in Jesus Christ, we still have to obey our Lord and his commands. We just don’t have to obey all those Old Covenant liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification, and dietary laws and restrictions, including the requirement of circumcision of all males. All those Jesus did away with in his death on that cross. But we still must obey God’s moral laws under the New Covenant specified for us in the New Testament.

And we, too, are to walk in the fear of the Lord, giving him honor, respect, admiration, and reverence in walks of obedience to his commands and in dying daily to sin, by the Spirit. For if we do not obey God, and if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin, then we will lose our lives for eternity, and we will not enter into eternal life with God. And it is critical that we realize this truth because so many professing Christians are still living for the flesh, still doing what their sinful hearts desire, and they are not obeying God.

God’s words to them do not move them to submit to Christ as Lord and to surrender their wills to the will of God and to forsake their sinful practices and to walk in obedience to our Lord’s commands. Even though our Lord has written letters to them (the Scriptures) encouraging them to show him love and honor and value and to commit their lives to him and to his service, so many are like the Laodiceans who are lukewarm, neither totally against God but not on fire for him, either. And he is about to spit them out of his mouth.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; Galatians 5:16-24 Galatians 6:7-8; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; 1 Corinthians 6:9-20; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

For Our Nation  

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

https://vimeo.com/379406352

That Will Be Our Righteousness

An Original Work / March 5, 2025 

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Do Not Follow Other Gods

“Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land. Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah. Be sure to keep the commands of the Lord your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you. Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors, thrusting out all your enemies before you, as the Lord said.” (Deuteronomy 6:13-19 NIV)

Now, fundamentally speaking, what was taught here under the Old Covenant is taught for us again under the New Covenant, only our “Promised Land” now is not a physical place on this earth, but it is our eternity with God in heaven. And as far as “oaths” are concerned, there is not much taught on it in the New Testament in relation to us Christians, from what I can find. But faith in Jesus Christ is an oath (vow) of covenant of marriage to Jesus Christ to be wholly his and to serve him in walks of obedience to his commands.

In the New Testament we are taught the fear (honor, respect, reverence) of God, our Lord. And this fear of God has to do with taking him and his word seriously, believing what it teaches us, and obeying its commands. It means we believe not only in his promises, along with their conditions, but we also believe in all his warnings to us, along with the conditions for those, too. And if we truly believe that God means what he says, we will honor him by doing what he commands we must do as his followers.

And that means that we will not follow other gods. And another “god” is not necessarily some statue, but it can be another person or an addiction or a fetish or entertainment or recreation or money or possessions or power or authority or self and self-pleasure and pride, et al. It is anything that is raised up or that is preferred by us or that is worshiped and venerated in place of or above God (Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit). It is what we give the most thought and passion and time to above God.

And God does not sit idly by while he watches those who profess his name with their lips live in opposition to his will and purpose for their lives. Jesus certainly did not. He spoke strongly to the Pharisees and the Scribes and other Jews who professed faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but who denied him by how they lived their lives and by their rejection of Jesus as the Christ (the Messiah) who they had long been awaiting. And God’s word speaks strongly to all hypocrites, as well, calling them to repent.

And we are warned not to follow the bad example of most of the Israelites whom Moses rescued out of slavery in Egypt. What the majority of them did when they wandered in the wilderness serves as an example to us to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. For they were idolaters, revelers, the sexually immoral, those who grumbled against God and his servant Moses, and who put Christ to the test. And they did not enter into God’s eternal rest (his salvation) because of their sinful practices.

1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-21; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13

And we read in the New Testament that, if our faith in Jesus Christ is of God, and not of our flesh, that it will result in us dying with Christ to sin, as a matter of life practice, and us walking in obedience to his commands, as a matter of how we live day to day. And if all we do is give lip service to the Lord, but we do not deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience, but sin is still what we practice, we do not know God, we are not born of God, we do not have salvation from sin, and heaven is not our eternal home.

So, under the New Covenant we must keep the commands of God and forsake our sinful lifestyles or we are not saved, and we will not inherit eternal life with God. And this is not saying that we will be absolutely perfect in everything we do or say or that we will never sin, but that sin and disobedience must not be our lifestyle, what we practice, instead of obedience to God and holy living. So we must also do what is right in the eyes of the Lord if we want his eternal rewards. And we must rebuke Satan.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

Walking in The Light  

An Original Work / November 16, 2011

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Based off 1 John 1-2

When I lift up my voice, and

Sing praise unto God,

I will fellowship with my

Lord and Savior, King.

In Him there is no darkness.

He is in the light of truth.

If we walk in His light,

From sin He purifies. 

If we repent of our sins,

He’ll forgive us now,

When we humble ourselves, and

Before Jesus bow.

The man who says, “I know Him,”

But does not obey His truth,

There is no truth in him.

In darkness still he’s found.

Do not love the world of sin,

For it is hell bound.

If you follow the world, you’ll

Not in Christ be found.

The world and its desires 

Will not last; they’ll expire.

The one who does God’s will,

Receives eternal life.

See that what you have heard from

Christ remains in you.

Then, you’ll remain in Christ, and

In His Father, too.

This is what He promised us –

His eternal life with God.

So, continue in Him, and

You’ll receive a crown.

https://vimeo.com/114160122 

Do Not Follow Other Gods

An Original Work / March 5, 2025 

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Biblical Israel Today