Know What The Scriptures Teach

The Scriptures Teach

 

Micah 2:1 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

“1Woe to those who devise iniquity

and plot evil on their beds!

At morning’s light they accomplish it

because the power is in their hands.”

 

Jesus Christ taught that to come after Him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow Him in obedience to His commands. He taught that it is not enough just to claim Him as Lord with our lips, but we must be those who are doing the will of God the Father who is in heaven. For if sin is still what we practice, and not obedience to His commands, and not righteous living, we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what our lips profess. And we will not be saved from our sins.

 

The False Teachers Say

 

Micah 2:6-7 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

6“Do not preach,” they preach.

“Do not preach these things;

disgrace will not overtake us.”

7Should it be said, O house of Jacob,

“Is the Spirit of the LORD impatient?

Are these the things He does?”

 

But the false teachers are teaching the opposite of what Jesus taught, for they teach a very diluted and altered gospel message. They teach that all you have to do is to give a verbal profession of faith in Jesus Christ and now you are saved, done deal, and heaven is guaranteed you when you die, regardless of how you live. They say, “God will not judge you for your sins.” They say, “God is pleased with you no matter what you do.” And so they give the people a false hope of salvation based off a lie coming from the devil.

 

But they are not content with just teaching the people a false gospel message. They also go after those of us who are teaching the biblical gospel of salvation, and they accuse us of teaching “works salvation.” And they convince many people that we are the false teachers and that they are the ones teaching the truth, even though what they teach is antibiblical and what we are teaching is supported strongly with the Scriptures. But they teach the Scriptures outside of their true context in order to teach lies.

 

So, this is why we must be students of the Scriptures who study them ourselves, who read them in their full and appropriate biblical context so that we get the true meaning of what they teach. Far too many people are relying on the teachings of humans to tell them the truth without testing what they are hearing against the Scriptures taught in context. Far too many are accepting the short messages which cut short the gospel message because what they are teaching feels good to the human heart and mind.

 

So, know what the Scriptures teach and follow our Lord in obedience:

 

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians 5:16-24; 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 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

 

Know What The Scriptures Teach

An Original Work / August 28, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

As the Deer

 

By Martin J. Nystrom

Based off Psalm 42:1

 

As the deer panteth for the water

So my soul longeth after You

You alone are my heart's desire

And I long to worship You

 

You alone are my strength, my shield

To You alone may my spirit yield

You alone are my heart's desire

And I long to worship You

 

[A Prayer of Devotion to God Alone]

The Lord, The Lord

The Lord, The Lord, He is my light.

He’s the Rock of my salvation.

In Him I trust.

The Lord, The Lord, He is my strength.

He’s my hope and He’s my comfort.

In Him I rest.

The Lord, The Lord, He is my song; 

My delight I now find in Him.

To Him belong.

The Lord, The Lord, He is the truth.

He’s the way of Christian living.

I trust His Word.

The Lord, The Lord, in Him secure.

Fellowship I now have with Him.

Through Him endure.

The Lord, The Lord, My husband is.

One day I will go to meet Him;

Forever live.

An Original Work / April 27, 2018

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Running From God

I started reading in the book of Jonah this morning, from the Old Testament, a story that may be familiar to many people. I will summarize some of it and quote parts of it due to the length of the story in the Scriptures.

 

Jonah was a prophet of God. And God commanded him to go to Nineveh and to preach against it, because of its wickedness. Jonah, however, resisted the command of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and he got on a ship bound for Tarshish. But the Lord sent a great wind against it, which eventually led to Jonah being thrown overboard and swallowed by a great fish which God appointed to swallow Jonah. And he spent 3 days and nights inside the fish.

 

Running Away

 

Jonah 2:7-10 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

While still inside the fish Jonah said:

 

“7As my life was fading away,

I remembered the LORD.

My prayer went up to You,

to Your holy temple.

8Those who cling to worthless idols

forsake His loving devotion.

9But I, with the voice of thanksgiving,

will sacrifice to You.

I will fulfill what I have vowed.

Salvation is from the LORD!”

10And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

 

Have you ever been there, not necessarily in the belly of a huge fish, but running from God’s will and purpose for your life, trying to escape what you did not want to have to do? I have! Not for a long while now, but I had a period of time in my life where things were really hard, and I mean hard, not the light and fluffy stuff, and to where I was overwhelmed by it all. It was beyond my ability to bear, and so I gave up, and I gave into my flesh, and I caved to the pressure of my surroundings, and I left God’s presence, too.

 

If that is where you are presently, don’t go there! Don’t let the enemy of your soul defeat you. It will never make anything better, only worse. Resist Satan, flee temptation, and draw near to God. Commit your life to the Lord and to His service no matter how hard it gets, and no matter who rejects you and mistreats you and misunderstands you. Let the Lord give you the strength to endure the trial you are going through, and trust Him to work it all out for your ultimate good. Then walk with God. Follow His leading.

 

A Second Chance

 

God, in His grace, gave Jonah a second chance to obey Him. Again he called him to go to Nineveh and to proclaim to the people the message that God gave to him. This time Jonah obeyed God. Jonah announced to the people, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned!” And the Ninevites believed God. And they proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth. And word then reached the king of Nineveh, and he did the same as the people.

 

Jonah 3:7-10 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

7Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh:

“By the decree of the king and his nobles:

 

Let no man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything at all. They must not eat or drink. 8Furthermore, let both man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and have everyone call out earnestly to God. Let each one turn from his evil ways and from the violence in his hands. 9Who knows? God may turn and relent; He may turn from His fierce anger, so that we will not perish.” 10When God saw their actions—that they had turned from their evil ways—He relented from the disaster He had threatened to bring upon them.

 

Amen! So, what can we learn from this? From my own experience I learned that running away from God never solves anything. It never makes matters better, but only worse. No good is accomplished at all by running away from the Lord just because our circumstances got too difficult or just because we did not want the responsibility and the most likely results that would take place in our lives if we did obey God. Obedience is always best. Will obedience produce more suffering? Yes! But the results will be worth it.

 

For me, when I finally said “no” to running away from my problems, and “yes” to God with a willingness to face them, then God was able to use me in ways I would never have imagined. He called me to a ministry that I would never have even thought of, to write down what I am learning from Him each day and to post these writings on the internet where a herald would “Run With It,” the name of what became my blogs. For the Lord then takes these writings where He wants them, and He uses them for His purposes.

 

So, if you are presently where Jonah was, running from God because you don’t want the responsibility of doing what God has for you to do, or because life just got too hard for you and so you decided that you would run away as a way to escape your problems, even though that never works, then I pray that today you will stop running, stop escaping, and give your lives totally to the Lord to do His will His way. Trust in His sovereignty over your life, and let Him use you for His glory to minister God’s love and grace to other people.

 

[Matthew 5:13-16; Matthew 7:21-23; Matthew 28:18-20; Luke 9:23-26; John 4:31-38; John 10:27-30; John 13:13-17; John 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 26:18; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 10:14-15; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-14; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Peter 2:9,21,24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

 

Running From God

An Original Work / August 28, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

Where is Jesus? 

 

An Original Work / May 22, 2011

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

Fishing, swimming, boating, sailing,

Driving, hiking, camping, trailing,

Bowling, golfing, TV watching,

Videos, movies and talking –

Where is Jesus found?

 

Friends and Facebook chat and email,

Internet, blogs, news sites, retail,

Magazines, books, sports and music,

Laptops, I-Pads, smart phones, texting –

Where is Jesus now?

 

Jobs, careers, and data bases,

Business, money, many faces,

Get ahead of everyone who’s

Competition; always running –

Where does Jesus fit?

 

https://vimeo.com/119508871

Those Failing to Grieve

 

What Does God Hate?

Some People Hate Truth Tellers

 

Amos 5:10 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

“10There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate

and despise him who speaks with integrity.”

 

So, who do these people hate? They hate people like me who speak the truth of God’s Word to the people, who call the people to genuine biblical repentance, to putting sin to death in their lives, and who call them to sincere walks of obedience to our Lord and to His commands, as a matter of life practice (not necessarily in absolute perfection in every way). But lack of perfection is never to be used as an excuse for deliberate and habitual sin against God. For if sin is what we practice, we will not have life in God.

 

They do not hate all “preachers” of “the gospel” because many of them are lying to the people, and they are diluting the gospel message to make it more tolerable and acceptable to human flesh. Many of them are telling the people that God does not require that they repent of their sin and that they obey His commands, for they call that “works salvation.” Or if they teach repentance and obedience, they make it more optional and do not teach that how we live will impact where we spend eternity, either in heaven or in hell.

 

God Hates False Worship

 

Amos 5:21-24 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

“21I hate, I despise your feasts!

I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies.

22Even though you offer Me burnt offerings and grain offerings,

I will not accept them;

for your peace offerings of fattened cattle

I will have no regard.

23Take away from Me the noise of your songs!

I will not listen to the music of your harps.

24But let justice roll on like a river,

and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”

 

God hates fakery. He hates false worship of Himself. He hates what is done  in performance only, without genuine submission to Him as Lord. And so much of what is called “church” today are these “solemn assemblies” which God hates because they are just going through the motions of religious practice, because it is a Sunday (or a Saturday). So they sing the songs, and they listen to the sermons, but then they go home and they live life as they choose all throughout the week. And God is not really Lord of their lives.

 

Now, so many of what are being called “churches” are these businesses of human origin which are in partnership with the government and with the world which are marketing “the church” to the people of the world. And so many of them are being led by marketing books and seminars on how to “grow your churches,” and so they are doing things man’s ways and not God’s ways. Thus, so many of them are teaching a false gospel which does not require repentance and obedience to God for salvation from sin.

 

But God is not pleased with ritualistic and/or emotional gatherings which get people all pumped up with lively music which they then call “worship.” For biblical worship of God is via surrender of our lives to the Lord in submission to Him as LORD (Owner-Master) of our lives, in walks of obedience to His commands, in death to sin, and in following Him wherever He leads us in being and in doing all that He has made us and called us to be, for His purposes and glory, and for the salvation of people from bondage to sin.

 

[Matthew 21:12-13; John 2:13-17; Acts 5:27-32; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13; 1 Corinthians 3:1-9; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Philippians 3:18-19; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22; Revelation 13:5-8; Revelation 18:1-5]

 

God Hates Idolatry

 

Amos 5:25-27 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

“25Did you bring Me sacrifices and offerings

forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

26You have taken along Sakkuth your king

and Kaiwan your star god,

the idols you made for yourselves.

27Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,”

says the LORD, whose name is the God of Hosts.

 

How did the majority of God’s people during their forty years in the wilderness treat God? They were idolaters, and those who indulged in revelry (wild, boisterous, uncontrolled partying, drunkenness and sensual indulgence), who committed sexual immorality, who put Christ to the test and who grumbled against God. And these things took place as examples to us and they were written down for us to keep us from craving evil things as they did resulting in eternal death as a judgment of God against us.

 

If You Hear His Voice

 

Hebrews 3:7-11 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

7Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says:

“Today, if you hear His voice,

8do not harden your hearts,

as you did in the rebellion,

in the day of testing in the wilderness,

9where your fathers tested and tried Me,

and for forty years saw My works.

10Therefore I was angry with that generation,

and I said,

‘Their hearts are always going astray,

and they have not known My ways.’

11So I swore on oath in My anger,

‘They shall never enter My rest.’”

 

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

 

For by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in Him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).

 

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

 

What Does God Hate?

An Original Work / August 27, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

Arise and Shine

 

Based off Isaiah 60

An Original Work / March 6, 2014

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

Arise and shine; your Lord has come.

Allow His light to flow through you,

For many walk in wickedness.

Show them the way to life anew.

Arise and shine. Your Lord loves you.

 

Lift up your eyes, and look about.

Some do believe, while others doubt.

Believe in all God’s promises.

The many will, in Christ, find rest.

Lift up your eyes, and you’ll be blessed.

 

Arise and shine; salvation comes

To all who trust in Christ, God’s Son.

Forgiven of their sins, they’ll be,

When they repent on bended knee.

Arise and shine, so all will see.

 

Lift up your eyes, and see your Lord.

He will revive His church, forlorn.

Though humans have forsaken you,

They will find Christ, and walk in truth.

Lift up your eyes; God honors you.

 

https://vimeo.com/88371130

Love Pursuing

Time is ticking, running out.

Where is your faith? Do you doubt?

What’s your practice? Where’s your life?

Who’s your idol for tonight?

Making noises, sing your songs.

Blow your trumpets. Clang your gongs.

Throw your parties. Chat with friends.

Entertainment never ends.

Love pursuing. Never find.

Sin’s addictions not rewind. 

Going nowhere. Spin your wheels.

Lust and lewdness are the thrill.

Jesus Christ is not your life.

You profess Him. That’s not right.

Make Him your Lord, King today.

Humble yourself. Bow and pray.

Turn from your sin. Flesh depart.

Let Him now live in your heart.

You will be glad that you did.

Your life now in Him be hid.

An Original Work / April 14, 2018

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Prepare to Meet The Lord

The Israelites of the Old Testament times were sinning against the Lord deliberately and habitually. And so God was warning them of a judgement of God to come against them. And their sin wasn’t just about all the evil that they did, but it was about the hypocrisy that they performed, as well.

 

Religious Hypocrites

 

Amos 4:4-5 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

“4Go to Bethel and transgress;

rebel even more at Gilgal!

Bring your sacrifices every morning,

your tithes every three days.

5Offer leavened bread as a thank offering,

and loudly proclaim your freewill offerings.

For that is what you children of Israel love to do,”

declares the Lord GOD.

 

So, today, this might be like those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, who regularly attend what are considered by most to be “church services,” who sit through the weekly services, sing the songs, listen to the sermons, put their offerings in the collection plate (or however it is being done today), and who volunteer for various projects or social activities or ministries. But then they live for themselves, for their sinful pleasures, doing what pleases the flesh but not what pleases God. And the next week they repeat the same.

 

But it isn’t just that they are religious hypocrites, but that they brag about their religiosity, i.e. they boast loudly about their offerings or their other “good works” that they believe that they did, because they want the applause of other humans. They want human approval. Privately (or publicly) they are sinning against God habitually, but then they put on a show of righteousness, and they act as though they are godly because of the religious rituals which they perform. But they do so hypocritically.

 

They Did Not Return

 

Then, in verses 6-11 we read how God had cast judgments against them, and against their cities. He afflicted them with lack of bread. And He withheld rain from them. People staggered from city to city for water to drink, but they were not satisfied. And He struck their gardens with blight and mildew, and the locust devoured their trees. And He sent plagues among them. And He killed their young men and their horses, and He overthrew some, yet in all of this they did not return to the Lord.

 

God Will Judge

 

Amos 4:12-13 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

“12Therefore, that is what I will do

to you, O Israel,

and since I will do this to you,

prepare to meet your God, O Israel!

13For behold, He who forms the mountains,

who creates the wind

and reveals His thoughts to man,

who turns the dawn to darkness

and strides on the heights of the earth—

the LORD, the God of Hosts, is His name.”

 

God was letting the people know then, and He is still letting all who profess His name today, but not in truth, and not in righteousness, know that judgment is what awaits them. God is going to judge them for their lies, their adulteries, their deceptions, their hypocrisies, and their false worship of God. He will judge them for their idolatrous worship of false gods and for their loyalty and devotion to hypocritical liars who portend to be righteous. Religious performances mean nothing to Him. He requires our obedience.

 

For Jesus Christ taught that to come to Him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) Him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to His commands, in His power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls Him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

 

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians 5:16-24; 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 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

 

Prepare to Meet The Lord

An Original Work / August 27, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

In Harmony 

 

Based off Romans 12:9-21; 1 Peter 3:8-17

An Original Work / September 2, 2012

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

Love each other truly. Cling to what is good.

Hate all that is evil. Never lack in zeal.

Serve the Lord with fervor. Joyful in hope be;

Patient in affliction; Praying faithfully.

Honor one another. Live in harmony.

 

Share with all God’s people who are found in need.

Do not be conceited. Sympathetic be.

Love, and show compassion in humility.

Keep your tongue from evil. Peaceful you must be.

Honor one another. Live in harmony.

 

God sees who are righteous; listens to their prayers.

But He’s against evil – is His to avenge.

Do not fear what they fear. Suffer patiently.

In your hearts, make Christ Lord. Serve Him faithfully.

Honor one another. Live in harmony.

 

https://vimeo.com/112832903