Are You Bearing Fruit?

Luke 13:6-9 NKJV

6He also spoke this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ 8But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. 9And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’ ”

Jesus Christ is the speaker here. If I were to translate this to today, this is what I believe this looks like:

The “certain man” is God, and the fig tree is the church, and the vineyard is the kingdom of God. And the fruit is the result or the outgrowth of our faith in Jesus Christ. This is revealed via true repentance, which is a change of heart and mind away from sin, to God, in obedience to his commands, resulting in a change of behavior. And this is shown by our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord in doing what he has called us to do in living holy lives, pleasing to him, and in putting sin to death in our lives, by the Spirit.

And for God to not find any fruit on this tree got me to thinking more about who this tree represents. For it is a singular tree in his vineyard, so it doesn’t represent the entire vineyard, which is the kingdom of God. It isn’t that God’s entire kingdom is not bearing fruit in keeping with repentance, but that one specific part of it is. So this would represent those who have professed faith in Jesus Christ, at least with their lips, but who have not yet born fruit (results) in keeping with repentance (death to sin; living to God).

And who is the keeper of the vineyard? Well, when we believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, the Holy Spirit is given to us to live within us and to guide and direct us in the ways of the Lord, and to teach us all things pertaining to our Lord and to his teachings. He is our counselor, our guide, our encourager, the one who leads us in the ways of righteousness and who counsels us in the ways that we should go. And he convicts of sin. So perhaps he is the keeper of the vineyard, but still he is God the Spirit.

And he is the only one I can imagine would be pleading with God the Father for more time for the tree to bear fruit, which has not yet produced the fruit that God intends for his true church to produce. And he is God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – living within us, helping us to bear that fruit if we are truly in Christ by faith in him, and if we will cooperate with God in his work of grace in our lives in training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives (Titus 2:11-14).

So this tree would represent all who have made professions of faith in Jesus Christ but who have not yet born the fruit (the results) which must be evident in our lives if we are to have salvation from sin and eternal life with God. So this would be kind of like how the church in Laodicea is described for us in Revelation 3:14-22, neither on fire for the Lord nor totally opposed to Jesus Christ, but lukewarm. And so Jesus is knocking at the door of their hearts, and he is calling to them to let him inside and to be in fellowship with him, which means we must die to sin and obey God and his commands.

And when I look at what is going on in the world all around me, and when I see the spiritual decline which has taken place within most of the church here in the USA, where I live, I find myself pleading with the Lord for more time for many of my loved ones to turn their hearts over to Christ in true repentance, in surrender to his will, in walks of obedience to his commands, before God judges my nation and many people are taken quickly from this earth and are given no more opportunities to surrender to the Lord.

For time is not on our side. The fulfillments of the prophesies of the Scriptures with regard to the last days are being fulfilled before our eyes on a daily basis, and it keeps getting worse and worse. And we can’t miss the signs all around us if truly we are spiritually alert to what is happening. But if you are part of that tree which is not yet bearing fruit, which is in danger of being cut down and thrown away, I pray your eyes will be opened to the truth and that you will repent and obey God before it is too late.

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.

https://vimeo.com/379406352

[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] 

Are You Bearing Fruit?

An Original Work / May 14, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Inside and Outside

Luke 11:39-40,52 NKJV

39Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness. 40Foolish ones! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?… 52“Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered.”

Are you a Pharisee? Do you profess one thing with your lips while you live another? Are you good at instructing others in what is right while you do the opposite? Are you good at telling others how they ought to live but while you keep living in sin and in direct defiance of our Lord’s commands? Are you good at appearing good on the outside while inside you are full of filth and wickedness? Are you good at reciting the teachings of the Scriptures but while you deny them for your own life and practice? Do you perform well for an audience while you hide your sins in secret, hoping no one will know?

Are you like a robot who can go through the motions of what is required but without any heart and soul behind them? Are you just repeating what you know you should say but the words are soulless? It’s words, and it may even be the right words, but the words are empty because the heart and soul are empty of God and of his Spirit. Certainly you have heard people read to others but who put no inflection in what they say, no passion behind the words, and so it is dull to those who listen. That is what it is like when someone speaks words but their hearts are not behind them. They are dull.

But not just dull to the listener, but dull (empty, lifeless, and stale) in the sight of God. The mouth is moving, or perhaps the fingers are typing or writing, but there is no heart and soul behind them because the heart and the soul are given over to what is evil, instead. The heart and soul are under the control of the devil and are not under God’s control. But they want to make an impression that their lives belong to the Lord and/or that they are in the process of being given over to God, but while the opposite is true. For what is outward is not a true reflection of what is going on in the inside.

And many who live this way not only do not convince others to walk rightly with God, but many of them do the opposite. For, in order to justify their own sinful lifestyles and ungodly practices they alter the gospel of Christ to make it more appealing to the flesh and to the ungodly. So they give out what they believe is a “friendlier” version of the gospel so that people will like them but while they direct them straight to hell on the promise of heaven. So, not only are they not on their way to heaven but they hinder those who were pursuing the way of God from entering into eternal life.

And, sadly, this is where many people are these days, professing one thing with their lips, but while they live the opposite knowingly and deliberately in direct defiance of our Lord and his commands. They perform well for an audience, and people may even admire and respect them, and look up to them, but the outside is not what is reflected on the inside, and vice versa. What they speak may sound good, and they may perform well for an audience, but they are fakes. Or their speech may be dull because it does not reflect what is truly in their hearts because it is in performance only.

So the Lord is calling out to all who are pretending on the outside what or who they are not on the inside to repent and to be honest. And this isn’t just about those who are faking their Christianity, but this is about those who are faking their desire for God, or their desire to have a change of heart and of mind resulting in a change of behavior, i.e. genuine repentance. This is about all whose words do not match what is truly going on inside their hearts but who are just going through the motions of desire for the Lord in order to impress or to fool others. Repent and obey God from this day forward.

[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] 

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

Inside and Outside

An Original Work / May 13, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Keeping the Word of God

Luke 11:27-28 NKJV

27And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!” 28But He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

And I read this in Luke 11:17 and 23 and 32 and 34:

17But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls.” “23He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” “32The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.” “34The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness.”

When Jesus Christ gave himself up for us on that cross, it was to put our sins to death with him so that, by God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in our Lord Jesus, we will now deny self, die to sin daily, and follow our Lord in walks of obedience to his commands, in surrender of our lives to his will and to his purpose for our lives, all in the power of God. Therefore, obedience to our Lord’s commands is not optional, and it is not to be omitted from the gospel message. Dying with Christ to sin and obeying his commands are evidence of true faith and are required of God for salvation and eternal life.

For if we claim to be “in Christ,” and part of the family of God, and heirs of the Kingdom of God, but we don’t obey God, and we don’t serve him with our lives, but we continue living in sin, this is like someone who gets married on a vow of fidelity and of self-sacrifice only to continue to live like they are still single. They are not united in heart and mind with their spouse, but they are living in adultery against their spouse habitually and deliberately. Thus, this is a picture of a house divided against itself when one spouse chooses to live in adultery rather than in faithfulness and in love and in purity.

For if we are not really with Jesus, on his side, following his lead, and obeying his commands, then we are against him. We can’t just profess him as Lord and Savior with our lips and then go on about our lives as though nothing has changed, as though we are still free to live like we did before we made that profession of faith. For by faith in him we should have died to sin and been transformed of the Spirit of God away from sinful lifestyles to now serving Jesus with our lives. Now we should be his followers who follow him wherever he leads us in doing whatever he calls us to do, by his Spirit.

And what is the story of Jonah and Nineveh? Jonah was a prophet of God called of God to go to Nineveh and to let them know that judgment was coming upon them. But when the people got that message, they repented of their sins. And to repent is to have a change of heart and mind resulting in a change of behavior. It means to reject our lives of sin and to turn to our Lord to walk in obedience to his commands. And the one greater than Jonah is Jesus, and he is calling for all to change directions, to forsake their sins, and to now obey God and his commands as a matter of life practice, forever.

And with regard to the lamp of the body being the eye, the eye has to do with spiritual discernment, judgment, and discretion. So, if the discernment is bad, it is against the will of God, and it against his moral laws and his commands, and it is against all that is holy, morally pure, upright, godly, honest, and faithful to our Lord (and to one’s spouse, too). So one’s whole body is thus full of darkness (sin, wickedness, evil, immorality, etc.). But if the judgment is good, it is full of light (righteousness, honesty, godliness) because the judgment (discernment) comes from God and not the flesh.

So, as those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, we are to be those who hear (who listen to) the Word (teachings) of Christ/God and who then obey his teachings for us who profess faith in him, i.e. who put the Word into practice in our daily lives, by the grace of God, and in the power of God at work within us who are his. So we need to be students of the Scriptures who study them in their appropriate biblical context and who put the teachings for the church (for us who believe in Jesus) into practice. For if we refuse, and we continue in habitual sin, we will not inherit eternal life with 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] 

Better Is

Based in part off Proverbs 27

An Original Work / October 5, 2018

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Better is Love’s chastisement

From a friend,

Than to have your sins coddled

To no end.

Wisdom is seeing danger –

Flees from sin,

Trusting in your Redeemer,

Pure within.

Jesus is your salvation –

Freed from sin –

Giving you life eternal,

Without end.

Trusting in His provisions,

Peace within,

Simply by giving your life

All to Him.

Living your life for Jesus

Ev’ry day,

Tell of His mighty power,

Lives to save.

Listening to Him speaking

To your heart,

Tell of His grace which gave you

A new start.

https://vimeo.com/293958787

Keeping the Word of God

An Original Work / May 13, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Distracted and Ignoring Jesus?

Luke 10:38-42 NKJV

 

38Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”

 

41And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

 

Now, this is one of those passages of Scripture which can easily be twisted to make it say what it does not intend. For this is not condoning laziness and slothfulness, nor is it condemning servanthood and working for the Lord. For if we follow Jesus and his teachings all throughout the gospels we will learn that he taught the critical nature of servanthood, of obedience to God’s commands, and of doing the work that God has called us, as his servants, to do. And we are given all kinds of instructions on what we must do, too.

 

So, what is the message being conveyed here? We can be so busy serving the Lord and doing the good that we ought to do, that we neglect our times spent with him in his word, sitting as his feet, listening to his counsel, his wisdom, and his direction, and in order to know his purpose that he has for our lives. We can be so busy doing good deeds, and even serving others, engaged in many different ministries, perhaps, but miss out totally on our relationship with him and what he wants to lead us to do in ministry.

 

Yet, it is good to do good deeds. It is a good thing to serve others. For Jesus Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” For we are to always be abounding in the work of the Lord. And we are to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him. This is God’s will for us.

 

[John 15:1-11; Romans 2:1-11; Romans 6:1-23; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 15:58; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; 2 Corinthians 9:8; Galatians 5:6,16-24; Galatians 6:7-8; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 5:3-6; Philippians 2:12-13; Colossians 1:9-14; 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12; 2 Timothy 2:21; Titus 2:11-14; Titus 3:8; James 2:17; 1 Peter 1:17-21; 1 Peter 2:24]

 

So, Jesus is not against us doing works, provided they are works that are good and which are beneficial for others, and/or that they are the works God has called us to do, as his followers, and that they are not the works of the devil. But we need to be led by the Spirit. And we won’t be led by the Spirit if we are so busy doing the “good deeds” we believe we ought to do, but while we neglect our relationships with Jesus Christ and his teachings and his instructions to us in holy living and in obedience to his commands.

 

For we can be “good deed doers” and still be walking in the flesh. We can be people who are generous in our giving, who help the needy and who feed the poor and who do all kinds of helpful things in our communities, but still not be in genuine relationship with Christ. We can be “busy bees” doing all kinds of good things and still not know Jesus and his will and his purpose for our lives, and still not be serving him and doing what he has called us to do, as his followers. So we need to be listening to Jesus so we can be only his.

 

In Christ Alone

 

By Stuart Townend & Keith Getty

 

In Christ alone my hope is found,

He is my light, my strength, my song;

This Cornerstone, this solid Ground,

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace,

When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!

My Comforter, my All in All,

Here in the love of Christ I stand.

 

In Christ alone! - who took on flesh,

Fullness of God in helpless babe.

This gift of love and righteousness,

Scorned by the ones He came to save:

Till on that cross as Jesus died,

The wrath of God was satisfied -

For every sin on Him was laid;

Here in the death of Christ I live.

 

There in the ground His body lay,

Light of the world by darkness slain:

Then bursting forth in glorious day

Up from the grave He rose again!

And as He stands in victory

Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,

For I am His and He is mine -

Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

 

No guilt in life, no fear in death,

This is the power of Christ in me;

From life's first cry to final breath,

Jesus commands my destiny.

No power of hell, no scheme of man,

Can ever pluck me from His hand:

Till He returns or calls me home,

Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.

 

https://youtu.be/m_063OI38RQ?si=JbjKhHrSaKk8WwBT

 

Caution: This link may contain ads

 

Distracted and Ignoring Jesus?

An Original Work / May 13, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Go and Do Likewise

Luke 10:25-37 NKJV

And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?” 27So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’ ” 28And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.” 29But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

30Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. 

33But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. 34So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ 

36So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?” 37And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

We are proved to be true followers of Jesus Christ not just by the words that we speak, but by what we do, by how we live in practice, and by how we treat other people, especially those who are different from us. If we can speak it, but we don’t live it, our faith is worthless. And if we only show love and kindness and compassion to others who are like us, while we ignore the needs of others who are not like us, then that is not love. That is prejudice. And none of us are to be prejudice against others who are not like us.

But should we be sensible people who use caution and discernment? Absolutely! For there are many con artists out there who prey upon the kind and the loving people of our generation who are vulnerable to being taken advantage of. And sadly, con artists are just about everywhere we look these days, for there is so much deception. And many kind and loving people are being taken for a ride. So we need to couple love and compassion with wisdom and discernment. We need to pray to our Lord for his direction.

But utilizing wisdom and discernment is never to be used as an excuse for ignoring legitimate needs in other humans when we are quite capable of helping them. We should always pray for wisdom to know the right steps to take and for counsel in knowing the best way to help. And sometimes the best way to help is not to give them money, which we suspect they are going to immediately spend on drugs and/or alcohol or for any kind of illegal activity. But the best way to help may be to offer them a meal, instead.

The man on the side of the road beaten, stripped of his clothing, and half dead is pretty obvious that he is in need. But sadly so, there are people who fake such things as this to call out to the vulnerable and to the kind and to the caring people of this world as a way to trap them, and perhaps to take advantage of them in more than one way. For we live in a day and time when we cannot trust that everyone is who they say they are, doing what they say they are doing, and in need in the way that they proclaim.

In other words, scam artists are all over the place, on the street corners, in the marketplaces, in malls, in parking lots, in grocery stores, on the internet, on television, on the radio, in advertisements, in text messages, in phone calls, in emails, and in the gatherings of the church. Some of them are pastors of church congregations who take advantage of the people for their own advantage. And some of them are our government heads who fake loyalty to their devoted followers but who are robbing them blind, instead.

And I am not a cynical person or an untrusting person, generally speaking. I have a heart for the hurting. But I am of great compassion for the hurting and the vulnerable and for those who are being taken advantage of by scam artists. My heart goes out to the hurting. And I am a generous and giving person who has been taken advantage of many times by the crooks of this world. And because I love, and because I care, and because I don’t want people to be hurt and to be taken advantage of I speak the truth to people.

So, yes, don’t be selfish. Don’t be snobby. Do not ignore legitimate needs in others who you know are hurting and who are truly in need of help. But be wise and discerning, for you might not only do damage to your own life, but you may, by helping some people, help them to their own demise or to the demise of others who they intend to hurt, to abuse, and to take advantage of via your generosity. So always pray for discernment to do the right thing. Get your wisdom from God, but never stop caring for and helping others. 

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

Go and Do Likewise

An Original Work / May 12, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

The Cost of Discipleship

Luke 9:57-62 NKJV

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” 58And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

59Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”

61And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” 62But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, discipleship is not optional. It is required. 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 (Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

So, when someone says that they want to follow the Lord wherever he goes, he makes it clear that this is not a party, not a game, and not something we just claim with our lips, but there is a cost to following Jesus with our lives. And it involves self-denial and death to sin and walks of obedience to our Lord in surrender to his will. And it engages hardships and sufferings and persecutions with no guarantees of comfort or physical or financial security. This is high risk, but it is all worth the risk of what might happen to us if we go with Jesus where he takes us and if we make a difference in other’s lives.

Thus, when we believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, it is not just so we can get our sins forgiven so we can escape hell and go to heaven when we die. It means leaving our former lives behind us to follow Jesus wherever he leads us in doing whatever he calls us to do. And we do not get to set the conditions. This is not an “if you, then I will follow.” It is not a, “let me do this first, and then I will follow,” either. And it is not something we just try out for a while to see if we like it before we decide if we want to stay. This is death to our old lives and total commitment to God.

And the thing of it is, God knows our hearts. He knows what’s in our minds. He knows what we are thinking. So he knows what our commitment level is, too, and if we are in it just for what we can get out of it, or if we are in it because we love God and we want to leave our former lives behind us to follow him wherever he leads us. So, if all we do is “pray the prayer” or make a verbal confession of Jesus as Lord, but we don’t go beyond that to surrender our all to him, and to follow him wherever he leads us, then we are not with him, and we are not fit for his kingdom because self is our god.

And this is not claiming that we will be absolutely perfect from this moment forward, but it is also not a pledge based on a false premise that we can continue living in sin, in deliberate and habitual disobedience to our Lord’s commands, and still have the hope of salvation from sin and eternal life with God. For if that is the case, we have gotten on the wrong ship, and we are sailing in the wrong direction, and heaven is not our eternal destiny. So please know that lip service only will not land us in heaven. We must be willing to go the distance because we love God and we desire him as LORD.

[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

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZv3jzOTE70

Caution: This link may contain ads

The Cost of Discipleship

An Original Work / May 12, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

How Jesus Regarded Women

I am reading in Luke 7:36-50 NKJV (one of my favorite Bible stories) about a woman who had a reputation of being a sinner. Upon hearing that Jesus was eating at the home of a Pharisee, she went to his house, and she

 

37“brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, 38and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.”

 

She, thus, demonstrated her repentance of her sin and her heartfelt worship of our Lord Jesus and her desire to be forgiven and to change her life course.

 

But Simon, the Pharisee, did not see her through the eyes of Jesus, and he hypocritically judged her because of her reputation. He, thus, showed no compassion towards her whatsoever, but he saw her as a “throw away.” And so Jesus told him a parable to show him the love that the woman had for Jesus. And then he turned to the woman and he said to Simon:

 

44“Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. 45You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. 46You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. 47Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”

 

My whole life of 76 years I have seen many women being treated as though they are less than men, as though men are to rule over them in such an authoritative manner that they should be regarded as slaves to order around and to use and abuse. They were not given the same rights as men, nor were they paid equally as men for the same amount of work. And they were not given the same amount of respect and honor as many men received, either, even if they earned it and they deserved it. But some things have changed. Some things have gotten better. But not all; not by everyone.

 

But if you read the teachings of the Scriptures you can see that is not how Jesus treated women. There was one case where Jesus tested the faith of a woman who was not a Jew, and she passed the test, and Jesus honored her for her faith. Some might think he was unkind to the woman, but Jesus treated women with honor and with respect. He valued women enough, in fact, to lead one to share the gospel with the people of her city, to direct others to share the good news of his resurrection with his men disciples, and to forgive one who had been caught in adultery and to spare her from death.

 

See: [Matthew 26:6-13; Matthew 28:1-10; Mark 5:25-34; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 2:36-38; Luke 7:36-50; Luke 10:38-42; Luke 24:1-12; John 2:1-11; John 4:1-42; John 8:1-11; John 20:1-18; Acts 2:17-18; Acts 21:9; 1 Corinthians 11:5]

 

And then if you read the teachings on marriage in the Scriptures, women are not treated there as though they are slaves and less than men and people to be stomped on and used and abused, either. We read in the Scriptures:

 

“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24 KJV)

 

“For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.” “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her.. husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself” (see Ephesians 5:3,15-33 to get the whole context).

 

“Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.” (Colossians 3:18-19 ESV)

 

“Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.” (Hebrews 13:4 ESV)

 

“Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.” (1 Peter 3:1-7 ESV)

 

The husband being the head, thus, does not mean that he is to dominate his wife, mistreat her, treat her as though she is less, or as though she is his slave. He is supposed to be one flesh with her, united with her in love, giving her honor and respect, treating her with value, loving her as Christ loves the church, and as husbands love their own bodies. And they are not to be harsh with their wives, nor adulterous, but making certain the marriage bed remains undefiled by remaining faithful and pure always. And they are to live with their wives in an understanding way, showing honor to their wives.

 

See: [Genesis 2:24; Matthew 5:28; Matthew 15:19-20; Matthew 19:4-9; Mark 7:20-23; Mark 10:6-9; Romans 13:9; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; 1 Corinthians 6:9-20; Galatians 5:13-24; Ephesians 5:22-33; Colossians 3:18-19; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8; Titus 2:3-5; Hebrews 13:4; James 4:4; 1 Peter 3:1-7; 2 Peter 2:13-19]

 

So, in the church, we are to give women the same honor as Jesus gave them, and that he instructed their husbands to give to them. And we must realize that, although generally speaking men are to be the spiritual leaders in the church, that Jesus will use women in his service, instead of men, if women are willing and spiritually fit while men are spiritually AWOL (like the example given us in Luke 7:36-50). And he will send women out to the mission field (in person or on the internet) in place of men if the women are spiritually equipped while the men are “dropping the ball” because of sin.

 

And this is not to be taken as an attack on men or on women, but to share the critical importance of treating our women with honor, value, and respect, and to not treat them as though they are less just because they are women. And on the day of Pentecost, there were both men and women who were speaking to the people, and the people were hearing them in their own language. And it does not say that the men were in one room and the women in another. And Peter quoted Joel by stating that in the last days God’s daughters and sons will prophesy (preach, proclaim the gospel).

 

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

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZv3jzOTE70

 

Caution: This link may contain ads

 

How Jesus Regarded Women

An Original Work / May 12, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love