A Den of Thieves

Luke 19:45-46 NKJV

 

45Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, 46saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”

 

The Temple of God

 

“The Temple of God” at that time was a physical building built by human hands, and it was in a definite physical location where people went to hear the Word of God spoken and to worship the Lord and to give offerings and sacrifices to God. It was literally the house of God, for the presence of God was there, so it was sacred territory.

 

But when Jesus died on that cross, and he rose from the dead, that physical temple was no longer the dwelling place of God. For now God lives within all  of us who by faith in Jesus have died with him to sin and who are now walking in obedience to his commands, in practice, although not necessarily in absolute perfection. We the people of God are that temple (the church, the body of Christ) in whom God dwells, by his Spirit.

 

Therefore, no physical building called “church” is the church. It may be a place where the church gathers, but we the people of God are that building, that temple in whom God dwells by his Spirit. And we can gather together in any location (even on the internet) on any day of the week or time of day with other believers in Christ. But the purpose of our gatherings is for mutual edification and exhortation to help one another to grow to maturity in Christ and to not be taken captive by sin, but to obey God with our lives.

 

Where are We Now?

 

So much of what is called “church” today are just institutions of human making in partnership with the state and with the world in unholy unions, which God forbids. And they are marketing “the church” to the people of the world, which God also forbids. And so they have literally turned “The Temple of God” into “a den of thieves” where business models and marketing schemes and even AI (artificial intelligence) have taken over, and where the “Gospel of Christ” has been altered to make it more acceptable to the world.

 

[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]

 

In The Driver’s Seat

 

So an enemy, a supplanter has infiltrated the gatherings of the church and has taken the place of Christ as the head of the church, and the place of the church being the body of Christ comprised of those who by faith in Jesus have died to sin and who are now obeying God, in practice. And this enemy has also altered the gospel message to make it more acceptable to human flesh. No longer is Jesus’ gospel message taught as “the only door” into the church and into faith in Jesus Christ, but now there are many doors, many of which do not require death to sin and obedience to God as required by God.

 

So we also now have people sitting in positions of power, authority, and rule (in the driver’s seat) within our government, and within the gatherings of “the church,” and as heads of households who are not true servants of the Lord, even if they profess to be, but who are the prideful, the self-indulgent, the intoxicated to sin, the dishonorable, and those who are giving in to wickedness, dishonesty, corruptness, depravation, and moral impurity. And even though God is calling on them to change, and it may appear outwardly that change has taken place, fundamentally they are still in the same place.

 

In other words, appearances can be deceiving. Someone may mouth words of a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, or of a changed life, and yet remain unchanged in position, still doing the same things as they did before, still remaining in control of their own lives, and not yielding control over to God. They are still in the “driver’s seat,” while Jesus is treated more like a passenger in their vehicle. And they may even look as though they are moving forward but while they never changed positions, in reality. And sadly it appears as though the majority of “the church” is perfectly okay with that.

 

The Gospel Truth

 

But 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).

 

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).

 

For God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for Jesus’ return. For it is not the one who claims he is “in Christ” who is “in Christ,” but it is the one who has denied self, died with Christ to sin, and who is now walking in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in practice, and no longer in sin. We have the hope and the promise of eternal life with God in heaven (see Titus 2:11-14; 1 John 1-3).

 

[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]

 

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 Den of Thieves

An Original Work / May 16, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

If You Had Known

Luke 19:41-44 NKJV

41Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, 42saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, 44and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

Weeping Over Nations

I live in the United States of America where I was born into this world on December 31,1949. And I have lived here all my life. I have not ever visited another country but my own nation. And I have lived here in the USA in five different states and in ten different cities over my lifetime, as well as I have visited an additional nineteen US states over my years here on this earth. So the USA is my homeland, and it is what I know. And I weep over my nation much as Jesus wept over his, and for many of the same exact reasons.

So, why did Jesus weep over Jerusalem? Because he, their promised Messiah, the Christ who was to come had now come and was living among them, and he was performing all sorts of miracles in their sight, as well as he was teaching them the truth of the gospel of our salvation, but the majority of them hated him and they wanted him dead, and they were, in fact, plotting out his death at that time. Even though he taught them the truth, the majority of them rejected him and his teachings as false.

Even though the Scriptures which they had in their possession told them of his coming and of what he would be like and of the kinds of things that he would say and do, still most of them refused to acknowledge him as their Messiah, the Christ, the only begotten Son of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Even though their Scriptures written by many of their prophets of old told them about his coming and what kind of man he would be and what kinds of sufferings he would endure, still they did to him what was foretold.

Warnings in the Scriptures

Well, the Scriptures (Old Testament and New Testament) forewarned us of the last days before the return of our Lord, and of a Beast who would arise, and of a false prophet, and of an antichrist, and of the takeover of nations to bring us all into one tyrannical order of rule. And they told us that this Beast would force everyone to bow to him (or them) and to worship him, and that all who refused to bow to the beast, and to take his mark, would be killed or they would not be allowed to buy and sell. But many are ignoring all this.

Worse than that, many who profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior have been following after a man of lawlessness who profanes the name of Jesus by his words and by his actions while he himself professes faith in Jesus as the Messiah. Not only that, but he raises himself up as some kind of God to be worshipped, and he creates idols of worship of himself for others to bow down to. And he thinks he is the greatest, and that everyone else should see that he is the greatest, for he is a very self-absorbed man, full of arrogance.

So, here we are, nearly 2000 years past Jesus’ death on that cross, and the things prophesied in the Scriptures about these last days before the return of Christ are being fulfilled. A New World Order of the Beast has been and is still being formed by the wealthy and powerful people of the world who are rulers of nations and CEOs of companies, etc. And the nations of this world have been and are being taken down one by one, and all of us are in the process of being brought underneath the rule of this Beast, it appears.

The Adulterous Church

And the church at large, at least here in the USA, has largely gone the way of the world and of the flesh, and they have mostly rejected the gospel of Christ taught by Jesus and by his New Testament apostles. And God has sent his messengers throughout my nation, I believe, to proclaim the same truth that Jesus taught – although we are few in number – and to refute the lies of the enemy being passed off as truth. Yet it appears that the majority who proclaim Christ are following after the lies, instead of obeying the truth.

And we are promised in the Scriptures that a harlot who serves this Beast will eventually be hated by the Beast and he will destroy her. And the US government, in combination with the institutional market-driven “churches” which support the government, fit this description of the harlot who has world-wide influence. For many generations this harlot has served the beast in taking down one nation after another, killing, raping, stealing, and destroying others for personal gain. And what goes around comes around.

But even though there are very obvious signs of the corruption of the USA government, and that our nation is now under a rule of order which does not fit with our nation’s constitution, and that our country’s leaders are allowing the USA to “go to hell,” basically, still many “Christians” are bowing to this man of lawlessness who raises himself up to God-like status, and they are ignoring the demise of our nation, and they are giving their support to a godless nation which has denied Jesus Christ as their Messiah and Lord.

Surrounded by Enemies

Therefore, the USA, as a nation, is on the brink of disaster and of being destroyed from within, and from without, by this New World Order of the Beast. We are in the process of being overtaken in full force because, as a nation, we did not honor the God we claimed to be “one nation under,” but as a nation, and as a people proclaiming faith in the Lord Jesus, we honored the flesh of man over and above God. And so many people have believed the lies of the enemy and have stubbornly refused to accept the truth of God’s Word. So God is bringing US under judgment, because our nation rebelled.

[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] 

For Our Nation  

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Recording Via Gerry Peters, music producer and arranger

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.

http://youtu.be/_XQkomPFz4Y

Caution: This link may contain ads

If You Had Known

An Original Work / May 16, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Seemingly Without Warning

Luke 17:26-30 NKJV

26And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 27They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; 29but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. 30Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

We live in very troubled times. The signs of the end of the age are everywhere we look these days. And yet it is not yet apparent that the multitudes, at least here in the USA, are truly seeing what is going on, and that they are taking it seriously enough to get their hearts right with God. So many get caught up in the lies being taught them either from “the church,” or from the government, or from the news media, that they are completely not seeing that all hell is breaking loose all around us and we need to be about the work of the Lord in doing all that he commands we should do.

Time is running out! The Beast is rising and is taking over the nations of the world. Leaders of nations have turned against their own people and so many of them are helping to bring in the order of the rule of the Beast. People in positions of power, rule, and authority over nations are turning against their own people to hand them over to the Beast, to this one world totalitarian government. So many people in positions of influence have fed lies to the people, and many folks have bought into their lies and have been following after the “wolves in sheep’s clothing” who are out to destroy, not to save.

Trickery and deceit abound just about everywhere you look. And so many people are being deceived by the liars to follow after one lie or another. People are being propagandized into believing that good is evil and that evil is good, and that what they see before them is the absolute truth and not a big fat lie. People are being convinced that political left and right are real and they need to take one side or another, but while the sides are actors in a play pretending to be on opposite sides so that we will take sides with them while truly they are one unit working together to deceive the people.

Too many people are far too trusting of people who, if truth be told, are not trustworthy at all, but who are those who masquerade as the “good guys” of the world while truly they are the “bad guys” of the world out to betray and to destroy us all. So we cannot judge other people’s character by what is being promoted about them, either for good or for evil, for so many are just actors playing their parts in the drama. We need to be people who examine what we see and hear, minus the influencers who want us to think their way. But we need to realize that so much today is being faked. So be discerning.

But even though all the signs seem to be pointing to the soon to be rule of this order of the Beast, and their one world government, so many people seem to still be focusing their lives on the temporary, on what pleases their flesh, and on what entertains them, and it does not seem to be impacting them spiritually in a way to bring them to genuine repentance and to walks of faith in obedience to God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit – the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So many Christians are focused on the fluff and are not taking the times in which we are living dead seriously.

And I am of the belief that “the harlot” spoken of in the book of Revelation is the US government partnered with the adulterous market-driven “church” of today, but whose influence has spread throughout the world, and many have joined her in her dissipation. And God is calling out to all who call upon his name to come out from among her so that they do not participate in her sins and receive the same punishment as her from God. And this isn’t just a physical separation, but it is a moral separation from those who would lead you into sin and to disobey God and to follow the ways of the flesh, instead.

[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] 

Just Are You  

Based off Revelation 15-16

An Original Work / August 26, 2013

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Great and marvelous are Your deeds, O God.

Just and true Your ways, King of all the earth.

Who will not fear You; glorify Your name?

You are righteousness. Praise Your Name!

Just are You, O Lord, our Eternal ONE,

For You judge the earth in Your righteousness.

They have shed the blood of Your righteous ones.

You give their reward. They’re to blame!

Kings of all the earth gather, one accord;

Make haste to engage in a mighty war.

They oppose the Lord and His holy saints.

They serve wickedness, to their shame!

Jesus comes again, to some unforeseen. 

Blessed are those who wait for Him at the gate.

They’ll not be ashamed. “Glad” be their refrain.

When He comes again, He’ll remain!

https://vimeo.com/115579013

Seemingly Without Warning

An Original Work / May 15, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

No More Excuses

Luke 14:16-24 NKJV

Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, 17and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ 18But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ 19And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’ 20Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’ 22And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’ 23Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. 24For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’ ”

I don’t know about you, but I have heard many excuses for why people who profess faith in Jesus Christ do not obey God and do not follow Jesus Christ with their lives. And I have heard many excuses from those not professing faith in Jesus for why they are holding back from putting their faith in him when they have acknowledged that Jesus is who he said he was, and that he did the things that he did, and that he is the Son of God and the Savior of the world. They know the truth. Many have been taught the truth from birth. And some whose lives are not given to the Lord have even taught the truth.

So, why make excuses when you know the difference between good and evil, but while you continue to do the evil and not the good? And I am most certain that I have not heard all the excuses being given, but I have heard plenty, and I see the same excuses being used by many people who must all be listening to the same lies, for they carbon copy each other’s excuses. And some people who have been living in sexual addiction, as one example, for a lifetime, are still living in sexual addiction, and so they are still reciting the same old excuses which they give over again for why they can’t be pure.

That is really what this passage of Scripture is about, for God’s invitation to us is an invitation, not only to believe in Jesus Christ, but to put that faith into daily practice by forsaking our sins and living to please our Lord in walks of obedience to his commands. And yes, this was first an invitation given to the Jews who were God’s chosen people of the Old Covenant, but most rejected Jesus, so the Gentiles (non-Jews) were invited, and many of them accepted the invitation and they believed in Jesus as their Lord and they died with him to sin and obeyed his commands, in practice, by his grace.

But sadly too many people today are professing faith in Jesus with their lips but while they make continued excuses for why they can’t obey his commands, in practice, and live holy lives pleasing to God instead of continuing to live in sin. Some claim it is too hard to obey. Surely it is not easy for those who are still embracing their sinful practices, and it is not always easy even for those whose lives are dedicated to the Lord and to his service. But it is not impossible! For God does not require of us what he will not give us the ability to do if we will let him be master of our lives.

So, if God has called us, he will provide all we need to do as he commands. So there are no excuses for not obeying our Lord if we claim to believe in Jesus and/or if we know the right way to go but we resist because we want our sin more. We know right from wrong. We know good from evil. Even the devil knows that. So one can make all the excuses in the world for not doing what they know is right, and for deliberately and habitually continuing to do what they know is evil, but no excuses will give anyone a free pass from having to die to sin and to walk in obedience to our Lord’s commands.

[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] 

Give God the Glory  

Based off Psalm 19

An Original Work / March 10, 2014

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

All of creation now proclaims:

“Give God the glory; honor His name!”

Each day the stars in heav’n above

Show forth His wisdom; tell of His love.

They do not speak. They have no voice.

Yet, they declare we have a choice:

“Worship the God of heav’n above;

Believe in Jesus; trust in His love.”

God’s word is perfect, just and good,

Refreshing souls who trust in the Lord;

Makes wise the simple; radiant -

Lighting our lives with God’s righteousness.

Joy to the heart His words now speak;

Pure and enduring, now we seek.

They are more precious than our gold;

Sweeter than honey; never grow old.

Keeping the word brings great reward.

By the word Jesus speaks and He warns,

Convicting hearts of all their sin;

Forgiving all who call upon Him.

Praying You keep me, Lord, from sins.

May they not rule my life again.

Then will I walk in all Your ways,

Following Jesus all of my days. 

https://vimeo.com/88900305

No More Excuses

An Original Work / May 15, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

But You Were Not Willing

Luke 13:34-35 NKJV

34“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing! 35See! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”

Jesus Christ spoke this to the Jews, to the Israel of the Old Covenant, the majority of whom rejected Jesus as their Messiah, the Christ who was to come but who had now come. And largely they, as a people, had also rejected the prophets of old who God had sent to them, time and time again, to call them to repentance, to forsake their idols, and to follow God as Lord of their lives, in obedience to his commands. Many or all of the prophets of God they stoned and also killed. But this message is not for them alone.

This message can also be applied to much of “the church” today, to all who profess faith in Jesus Christ with their lips but whose hearts are far from God. Outwardly they claim to be the people of God, saved by God’s grace, forgiven of all sins, and on their way to heaven to be with our Lord for eternity. They might go through the motions of religious practice, attend institutional “church” gatherings on a consistent basis, and they may do some good deeds, but their lives are not surrendered to Christ as Lord.

But, despite their rebellion, despite their idolatry, despite their treatment of the prophets who were the messengers of God to the people, God the Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit still loved them, and he still longed for them to turn from their sins and to follow him in surrender to his will in walks of obedience to his commands. And this reminds me of Jesus’ words to the church in Laodicea (Rev 3:14-22), where he said he was standing at their door knocking, waiting for them to open the door and to let him inside.

But sadly, the majority of the Jews of Jesus’ day denied him as their Lord and Messiah. And the Bible teaches us that all who deny Jesus as the Christ are the antichrist. And this includes both Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews) in our world today. But one can profess faith in Jesus Christ with their lips but still deny him with their actions, with their refusal to die with him to sin and to follow him in obedience to his commands, and to let him truly be LORD of their lives, and for their sinful flesh to no longer be Lord over their lives.

But just as the Jews largely rejected God’s messengers who were sent to them by God to call them to repentance and to obedience to our Lord, many who profess to be Christians today do the same. And this includes many who call themselves pastors of “church” congregations. So many of them are being trained in business and marketing schemes and tricks and gimmicks, and they are being warned against people like me, i.e. “people with strong convictions.” And they are being encouraged to get rid of us messengers.

So much of what is called “church” today is repeating the same offenses against God and against his messengers as did the Jews of Jesus’ day and of the days before them. For so many of them are marketing their gatherings to the people of the world, and so they are altering and short-cutting the gospel message to make it more attractive to the ungodly and to human flesh. And they are giving many professing Christians the idea that they do not have to die to sin or obey God, for they call that “works salvation.”

Therefore, all of us who are still teaching the gospel that Jesus taught, and that his New Testament apostles taught, are largely being rejected and cast out of these institutional “churches,” which is good in some ways, since we are warned not to partake with them but to come out from among them. But it still means that the people who profess to belong to God are still casting out his messengers because they don’t like the messages. They don’t want to hear that God requires that we deny self, die to sin, and obey our Lord.

But one day Jesus will return. He will come to judge us all. And all who are following him in obedience at that time when he returns will be welcomed into his heavenly kingdom, Jew and Gentile (non-Jew) alike. But all who are still denying him, not just with their lips, but by how they live, still living for the flesh, they will not gain entry into God’s eternal kingdom. But they will be cast into hell where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth for eternity. So, deny self, die to sin, and obey God – all in the power of God.

[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]

Jerusalem  

An Original Work / May 2, 2011

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

…you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God… Hebrews 12:22

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, hear now your King of kings.

He speaks to you, Jerusalem, in all His majesty.

Oh, listen now, Jerusalem, He’s calling out to you.

Hear Him call you, Jerusalem; He’s waiting now for you.

Won’t you bow down, Jerusalem? Let Christ make you anew!

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, hear God’s call to obey

Your Lord and Savior, Christ the King; trust Him without delay.

Turn from your sin, Jerusalem; let Christ rule in your hearts.

Invite Him now, Jerusalem, to save you; grace impart,

And purify, Jerusalem, your hearts of all your sin!

Jerusalem, Jerusalem, hear your God’s final plea

To come to Him, Jerusalem, right now on bended knee.

Make Him your Lord, Jerusalem; He’s your Messiah, King.

Honor Him as the Holy One, your off’rings to Him bring.

And serve Him now, Jerusalem, for He is Christ your King!

https://vimeo.com/125966150

But You Were Not Willing

An Original Work / May 15, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

His Way, Not Our Way

Luke 13:22-29 NKJV

22And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?”

And He said to them, 24“Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ 26then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ 27But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ 28There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. 29They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God.

We live in a day and time when “the gospel” being widely spread throughout the world and in my nation (the USA) is not the same gospel that Jesus taught and that his New Testament apostles taught. But it is a watered down, diluted, and altered “gospel” which is taught largely from taking Scriptures out of their appropriate biblical context to make them say what they do not say if taught in the correct biblical context. And many are just flat out ignoring the Scriptures that do not agree with their way of life.

Therefore, the predominant “gospel” message being taught and accepted here in the USA teaches a faith which does not require death to sin and walks of obedience to our Lord in holy living. But it gives free license to continue living in sin, and not in obedience to the Lord, all marketed under the topic of God’s grace. And even if some are teaching putting sin to death in our lives and walking in obedience to our Lord, many are teaching this as optional and not as required for salvation and for eternal life with God.

But pay close attention to Jesus’ words here. For us to be saved and on our way to heaven we have to be walking the “narrow” road by the grace of God, in the power of God, by God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ. And the narrow way is limited, restricted, and controlled by God according to his teachings on what it means to believe in Jesus Christ and to know God and to have eternal life with God promised to us. So to follow Jesus we must deny self, die to sin daily, and obey God and his commands, in practice.

For one day Jesus is going to return, and we are all going to have to stand before him on the day of judgment and to give an account of what we did with his grace, with his salvation, and with his calling on our lives to deny self, die to sin, and obey his commands as a matter of life practice. And all those who did what he said, who surrendered their lives to him, who put sin to death, by the Spirit, and who walked in obedience to his commands, in practice, in the power of God, are going to be taken to be with him.

And then he is going to shut the door to eternal life with God. And many who thought they were saved by his grace, and that heaven was guaranteed them upon death, or when Jesus returns, they will knock on that door, and they will ask the Lord to let them inside. But he is going to say to them, “I don’t know you.” But they will say, “But I prayed the prayer to receive Christ,” and “I went to ‘church’ every Sunday,” and “I paid my tithe and I fed the hungry and I gave to the needy,” and he will answer, “I don’t know you.”

Why? Because they didn’t do what he said they had to do. They didn’t submit to him as Lord (Owner-Master) of their lives. They didn’t surrender their lives to him to now live for him and no longer for the sinful pleasures of the flesh. They didn’t put sin to death in their lives, but they continued to walk in sin. They didn’t obey his commands in practice, but they obeyed the cravings of their flesh, instead. They didn’t make Jesus the Lord of their lives but they continued to be lord of their own lives, choosing their own destiny.

But 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).

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).

So, just because we “pray the prayer” to receive Christ, or we proclaim him as Lord with our lips, or just because we get baptized and we attend weekly gatherings of “the church,” or we read our Bible or pray before meals or do good deeds, it does not guarantee us that we are saved from our sins, that we are in relationship with Jesus Christ, and that eternal life with God is ours to possess. Jesus requires that we die to our old lives of living in sin and for self and that we now surrender our all to him to follow him wherever he leads us in doing whatever he commands us to do, from now to eternity.

[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] 

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

Video talk on the same subject

https://youtu.be/weyscy4jb8g 

His Way, Not Our Way

An Original Work / May 14, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Traditions vs Compassion

Luke 13:10-17 NKJV

Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. 12But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” 13And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.

14But the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath; and he said to the crowd, “There are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on them, and not on the Sabbath day.”

15The Lord then answered him and said, “Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead it away to water it? 16So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?” 17And when He said these things, all His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him.

Now, I am going to preface this by saying that, as Christians, we are not under the Old Testament Sabbath law. When Jesus Christ gave his life up for us on that cross, he did away with the Old Covenant liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification, circumcision, dietary, and Sabbath laws. But what remained intact were God’s moral laws. For Jesus Christ is now our Sabbath rest, and we are to worship him in spirit and in truth every day of the week, at any time of day or night, and at any location, even on the internet.

But the Scriptures do give us the freedom to have one day that is more special to us than the others if that is what we choose, but we also have the freedom to see every day alike if we choose. For the day of the week has nothing to do with our relationships with our Lord, for we are to worship our Lord 24/7, day or night. And by worship I don’t mean having a song service followed by someone preaching a sermon. For true worship of our Lord is us dying to sin and obeying our Lord in submission to him and to his will.

And while I am on this subject, please know that “the church” is not a building built by human hands. And those buildings called “church” are not “the house of the Lord” in whom God dwells. And the church is not to be joined together with the ungodly and with the world in unholy unions. So the church is not to be incorporated under the state, nor is it to be run like a business being marketed to the people of the world in order to “grow their numbers.” We who believe in Jesus are the church. We are its building.

[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] 

But for those who still hold to keeping the Sabbath or who hold to having to attend a “worship service” once a week on a Saturday or a Sunday, please know that the purpose of our gatherings is not to follow some strict religious practices passed down to us from generation to generation, which were decided for us by human beings who saw ritualistic practices as true worship of God. And they are not to serve as concerts and for entertainment purposes in order to attract the world to our gatherings, either.

The purpose for our gatherings is so that we, the body of Christ, might encourage and exhort one another in our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord in holy living. This is so we can help one another to develop close walks with our Lord in faithfulness to his service and to warn one another against “wolves in sheep’s clothing” who are teaching lies to the people, and who are leading many astray. And so we are to be speaking the truth of God’s word to one another, in love, so we are not hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

[Acts 2:14-18,42-47; Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 1 Corinthians 14:1-5; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:15-21; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:12-16; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20]

In other words, we are to serve one another as God’s healing agents who help one another to grow close to our Lord in walks of obedience to his commands. Our gatherings are not to be so traditionally structured with human-based traditions that there is no room for us to serve one another in helping one another to heal spiritually and to live holy lives pleasing to God. God never intended our gatherings to be so ritualistic that there was no room for us, his body, to minister to one another as we ought.

For “church” is not something we go to once a week, on one particular day of the week, at any specific time of the day where we sit as spectators who sing some songs and who listen to a sermon and then go home until the next week where the same thing gets repeated over and over. We who believe in Jesus are the church, and all of us are its ministers. And God has given us all gifts and body parts which we are to be using for the building up of the body of Christ to maturity in our faith, as EACH PART does its work.

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

Traditions vs Compassion

An Original Work / May 14, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love