Running The Race

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

“24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize. 25Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline. They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable. 26Therefore I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight like I am beating the air. 27No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”

 

And that reminds me of this:

 

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:1-3 BSB)

 

A Spiritual Race

 

In both cases this is speaking of a spiritual race, not a physical race. For to be a Christian is to be a follower of Christ. And to be a follower of Christ is to walk (in conduct, in practice) in the ways of the Lord, in holiness and in righteousness, and no longer as slaves to sin. Our salvation from sin and eternal life with God are conditional upon us keeping the faith, running the race, and obeying our Lord and His commands in life practice, although not necessarily in absolute perfection. And this is NOT “works salvation.”

 

So, if we “run in such a way as to take the prize,” this is speaking of our daily walks of faith in obedience to the Lord. Are we living for the Lord? Are we obeying His commands as a matter of life practice? Or are we living for the flesh, for sinful desires, refusing His commands? Is Jesus truly Lord (Owner-Master) of our lives? Or are we the ones still in charge of our own lives, doing what we will, and not what God wills? Do we worship our Lord only one day a week for a few minutes? Or is our worship daily?

 

And by worship I do not mean singing worship songs only. We can sing worship songs to our hearts’ content and never truly worship God. For to worship God is to love God. And to love God is to obey His New Covenant commands, to go where He sends us and to do what He calls us to do. For Jesus Christ gave His life up for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of slavery to sin so we will now be servants of our Lord in doing what His will and purpose is for our lives on this earth.

 

In a Similar Manner

 

Therefore, in a similar manner in which runners get themselves ready to run the race, we, too, must discipline our hearts and minds and actions to be in line with God and with the counsel of His Word. We must learn to say “NO!” to what displeases God and to all that He commands that we must NOT do. Sin must no longer be our practice, but now obedience to our Lord and to His commands is to be our daily practice. And we must be those who say “YES!” to God daily in doing what all He directs us in how we must live.

 

But what if we miss a step sometime? What if we fail to be all who God requires us to be every minute of every day? The Scriptures do teach that we might sin (1 John 2:1-2), but that God’s grace covers our sin. BUT.. the Scriptures also teach that if sin is our habit, our practice, and not obedience to God and to His commands, that we do not know God, we do not love God, and that we will not have eternal life with God. And that is what Paul is making reference to here when he mentions possibly being disqualified.

 

Again, this is not “works salvation.” This is not about someone, in the flesh, of their own doing, and not of God, trying to earn their way into heaven via “good deeds.” This is speaking of those who, by God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in the Lord Jesus, in the power of God, are doing what God requires of us who call Him “Lord,” because we love Him and we want to do what pleases our Lord. And He teaches us that not everyone calling Him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the ones DOING God’s will.

 

[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]

 

Running The Race

An Original Work / September 8, 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]

 

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

 

Caution: This link may contain ads

When Things Get Crazy

Do you ever feel so deeply

That words cannot express it?

Like the feeling of a symphony,

But your fingers just don’t get it?

You know the passion deep in heart,

As the tears stream from your eyes,

But words cannot quite capture it,

For the pain, not realize.

You search within for words to say,

But they can’t get to your lips.

It’s so incomprehensible,

Like watching a Sci-Fi flick.

But, Jesus told us this would come,

This mystery foretold,

That one day life would not be like

It was in days of old.

He said that strange things would occur,

Right ‘fore our very eyes.

So, when these things began to click,

We should not be surprised.

But, all the same, it’s really hard

To fully comprehend

What’s really happ’ning in our world,

And how it’s going to end.

So, trust in God, we must so do,

‘Though things now don’t make sense.

For He has all things in control,

His grace, He’ll not relent. 

So, be assured He’s not forgot

His promises of old.

We must have courage, and His strength

In witness to be bold.

An Original Work / February 14, 2019

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

A Temple of The Holy Spirit

1 Corinthians 6:9-20 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

“9Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts, 10nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

[I am skipping over verses 12-13a. They are a little bit confusing and they would take a while to try to explain, so please read them for yourselves.]

“13…The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14By His power God raised the Lord from the dead, and He will raise us also. 15Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! 16Or don’t you know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” 17But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with Him in spirit.

“18Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. 19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.”

Who are The Wicked?

The wicked are not just those who make no professions of faith in Jesus Christ. They are all who deliberately think and behave wickedly by habit, as a matter of life practice. And this passage of Scripture provides us with some examples of what it means to be wicked and to behave wickedly. So, if you are someone who professes faith in Jesus Christ but sin is what you practice, and not obedience to our Lord, then according to the Scriptures, you will not inherit eternal life in the kingdom of God unless you repent and obey God. 

Some of You Were

When this says this is what “some of you” were, it is also saying that is what “some of you” still are, which is the whole point of this conversation Paul was having with the church in Corinth. They were not all living godly and holy lives pleasing to God. Some of them were still living wickedly in sinful rebellion against the Lord. Some of them, thus, were not of genuine faith in the Lord Jesus, but they were still among the wicked, in the eyes of God. And He was letting them know they would not inherit the kingdom of God.

Sexual Immorality

Sexual immorality appears at the front of most sin lists in the Bible, and it appears to be the most severe of all the sins listed in the Scriptures because it has to do with our marriage to Christ and to our spouses, which the Scriptures parallel to each other. For we read in the Scriptures:

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24 ESV)

“Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.” Heb. 13:4

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” (Ephesians 5:3,15-33 ESV)

But this is not just for men, but for men and women. When we marry our spouses, and we are joined together sexually, we become one flesh with one another. But this isn’t just about sex. We are to be joined together as though we are one, one with Christ, and one with each other, each doing our part, each ministering to the other, and each being faithful and loving and kind and honest and morally pure, with the marriage bed kept pure. And this parallels over to our marriage to Christ, too, in how we should treat Him.

And, according to the words of Jesus, adultery is not just having sex with someone with whom you are not married, but it is to intentionally look at another with lust in one’s heart (see Matthew 5:27-28). So this definitely includes all who make a habit of looking at pornography or any picture or video or movie which displays nudity and sexual immorality. And it includes self-gratification which is having sex with oneself. So the marriage bed is not being kept pure, and neither are the marriage vows being put into practice.

Our Bodies

If we are genuine followers of Jesus Christ, then our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. And we are not our own to do whatever we want whenever we want. Jesus bought us back for God out of our bondage to sin via His blood shed for us on that cross. So we are to be faithful to our Lord in the same way in which we are faithful to our spouses. Although our relationship with our Lord is not physical, but spiritual, it is still regarded as adultery against Him when we choose sin over God and obedience to His commands.

So, we are not only to flee from sexual immorality, but we are to flee from all deliberate and habitual sin which has many people still in its grasp. For those who sin sexually sin against their own bodies. And since our bodies now belong to our spouses and to God, if we then sin with our bodies sexually, it is a sin against the Temple of God, for we are that temple if our faith in Jesus Christ is genuine. It is like if you sin, that is one thing, but if you sin sexually against your spouse, that is more personal. Don’t do it!

And the bottom line in all of this is that Jesus took our sins upon Himself on that cross, and He put our sins to death with Him, not just to forgive us our sins, and not just to give us the hope of eternal life with God, but so we will now die with Him to sin, and so we will now walk in obedience to His commands, and so we will now be faithful to our Lord in every respect with regard to Him now being our husband and us being His bride. But if we choose sin and disobedience over God, heaven is not our destiny.

[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] 

Video Talk on The Same Subject

https://youtu.be/l7akvzr4scQ 

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

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

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

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

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

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

Caution: This link may contain ads

The Pot Calling the Kettle Black

1 Corinthians 6:1-8 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

“1If any of you has a grievance against another, how dare he go to law before the unrighteous instead of before the saints! 2Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? 3Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!

“4So if you need to settle everyday matters, do you appoint as judges those of no standing in the church? 5I say this to your shame. Is there really no one among you wise enough to arbitrate between his brothers? 6Instead, one brother goes to law against another, and this in front of unbelievers!

“7The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means that you are thoroughly defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? 8Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, even against your own brothers!”

Hypocritical Judging

“The pot calling the kettle black” is an idiomatic phrase which has to do with someone criticizing another person for a fault or a mistake that the accuser is also engaged in, but it doesn’t have to be the same exact mistake. And it can be about someone calling out another person’s sins or mistakes (past or present) when the accuser themselves is habitually and deliberately engaged in sin, which is hypocritical judging. And this does not mean that we do not call out the sins of others, but that we are not to do so with wrong motives, or hypocritically, or selfishly. But we are to do so justly, with godly love. 

So, this brings me to the story of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11). The scribes and the Pharisees brought before Jesus a woman caught in adultery. (Do you ever wonder where the man also caught in adultery with her went?) But this was to test Jesus in order to have a basis for accusing Him. But Jesus wrote something in the dirt with His finger. And then He said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her.” And then He wrote more on the ground. Do you ever wonder what Jesus wrote on the ground that led her accusers to go away one by one?

Jesus is God. And when He lived on the earth He was fully man and fully God (God incarnate). So He knew what was in the hearts of these men. He knew the reason they brought this woman before Him, and it wasn’t because they were concerned about obeying the commands of God. And He knew the evil that they were doing, too. He addressed them on this subject multiple times, I believe (see Matthew 23:1-36). So I believe what He wrote on the ground exposed their sins to them, letting them know that Jesus knew their sins, and that He could expose their sins, too, and so they then departed.

Righteous Judging

Now, not all judging is wrong. We definitely have an example of this in the previous chapter where Paul was chiding the church because there was a man among them in an incestual relationship with his father’s wife and no one was doing anything about it. And so what that was doing was that it gave approval to the man’s sin and it gave the church, as a whole, the idea that the sin was acceptable. And it provided the opportunity for that sin to spread throughout the congregation. Evidently the man was not repentant and so they had to remove him for a time until he repented of his sin.

Therefore, the story of the woman caught in adultery is not teaching us that all judging is wrong. The Scriptures do not teach that we are never to judge another person’s actions or attitudes or words or habits. But what multiple passages of Scripture are teaching is that we are not to judge other people hypocritically, unjustly, by human standards, by our own traditions, by comparing others to ourselves, or in hate, with the wrong motives, prejudicially, by appearances, and/or without first giving the person a hearing or a chance to defend himself. So always judge justly with love.

[Matthew 7:1-5; John 7:24,51; John 8:15-16; Romans 2:3; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; 1 Corinthians 6:1-6; 2 Corinthians 10:12; 2 Corinthians 11:1-4; Galatians 6:1-5; Ephesians 5:11; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; James 5:19-20; 2 Peter 2:1-22; 1 John 2:18-25; 1 John 4:1; Jude 1:22-23; Revelation 2:2]

The Pot Calling the Kettle Black

An Original Work / September 7, 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

The Bread of Sincerity and Truth

1 Corinthians 5:1-8 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

“1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is intolerable even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife. 2And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been stricken with grief and have removed from your fellowship the man who did this?

“3Although I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, and I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present. 4When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, along with the power of the Lord Jesus, 5hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the Day of the Lord.

“6Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven works through the whole batch of dough? 7Get rid of the old leaven, that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old bread, leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and of truth.”

Then and Now

That was then. This is now. So what does this look like today in probably the majority of institutional “churches” which are partnered with the world and with the government? What usually takes place when a woman, for example, reports to the pastor and/or to the elders that her husband is cheating on her, and that he is committing adultery against her as a matter of habit, and that he appears to not be willing to give up his sexual addiction? And addiction to pornography and to self-gratification is still biblical adultery.

From what I have read and heard and understand and have seen take place myself, few if any are dealing with sexual addiction in a biblical manner. Some church congregations are hosting small groups for addicts where they get to share with each other about their addictions and where they are supposed to be encouraging one another toward freedom from addiction. But so many of these are not being done biblically, via the Scriptures, but so many are following worldly measures which end up pampering the addicts.

Modern Psychology

So many are also utilizing modern psychology where often the take on it is that the “addicts” cannot help themselves, and so they are not responsible for their sins. Or they will tell the addict who is obviously stating that he is vegging out on porn that he should just “claim who you are in Christ,” which follows a list of qualities of those “in Christ,” some of which are biblical if taught in the correct biblical context, and some of which are not biblical. For to be “in Christ,” we die with Christ to sin and we obey our Lord in practice.

But this does not mean that a genuine follower of Christ is not ever capable of such sins. All of us are still susceptible to being tempted to sin, and we might sin, and we may have even had a time of “fall-out” at some point in our lives where we needed to be brought back to repentance and to walks of obedience to our Lord. But as followers of Christ, sin is no longer to be our habit, our practice, but now obedience to our Lord is to be our practice. And habitual sexual immorality should be dealt with biblically, and not ignored.

Worldly Measures

I believe that the church gatherings, overall, but not including all of the gatherings, are more like this church congregation in Corinth where the people are proud of their church gatherings and who appear unconcerned about the man in an adulterous and incestual relationship with his father’s wife. With so many of them now following the ways of the world, diluting the gospel message, and trying to attract the ungodly to their gatherings, they are choosing to not “rock the boat” and to not confront people in their sin.

But this is not just one man with one woman. Statistics have it at 75% or greater of Christian men are presently engaged in the use of porn on a somewhat regular basis, including about 50% of them being pastors of church congregations, and which includes about that many women, and then children, too. This has become epidemic, not only in our culture, but within the gatherings of the church. And so many pastors will not touch this subject, and so many of them are giving them permission to keep sinning.

God’s Solution

Now the solution that the people were being encouraged to do in that time was to expel the sinful man from their congregation in order to bring him to his senses. But this was in the whole city of Corinth. This was the church in Corinth which probably met in multiple locations. So they all had to agree together and to cooperate with one another in not allowing this man back into their gatherings until he had demonstrated genuine repentance, which did eventually take place. But what about today? In the USA where I live?

In today’s world, if you actually expelled from your congregations those living in sexual immorality habitually, it probably would take out many of the pastors, elders, deacons, and Bible study teachers, along with a good portion of the total congregation. Or if it was a fewer number, they would just leave and go someplace else where they teach a watered down gospel and where no one will say anything to anyone else about getting rid of the sin in their lives. But doing nothing, and letting it grow, is not the answer, either.

A True Biblical Revival

What the modern-day institutional church congregations need today is an old-fashioned biblical revival where the people honestly repent of their sins and where they now walk in obedience to the Lord’s commands in life practice. And where the church, as a whole, is now reaching out to the rest of the world with the gospel truth taught by Jesus and by His New Testament apostles in the correct biblical context. For we are not saved from our sin so we can keep sinning. We are saved out of our addiction to sin so we will now serve our Lord faithfully in obedience to His commands, in His power.

[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] 

The Bread of Sincerity and Truth

An Original Work / September 6, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Zeal for Your House

Based off John 2:17; Psalms 69:9

An Original Work / August 1, 2016

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Zeal for Your house, it consumes me.

Lord, I love my times with You.

I love to worship You and sing Your praises.

Time in Your Word brings me closer to You,

List’ning to You speaking to me,

Gently guiding me in truth.

Lord, You are my life’s example,

Showing me how I should live.

I love to walk with You where’er You lead me.

No greater joy have I when serving You. 

Loving, giving, resting in Your strength, 

I’m yielding to Your will. 

Zeal for Your house, it consumes me.

See the church turned upside down:

Marketing ventures taking place of worship,

Men of the gospel turning into clowns.

Gospel message made appealing,

So the world will feel at home.

Lord, we need a great revival.

Turn their hearts, Lord, back to You.

Open the blind eyes, turn them all from darkness,

Lord, to the light. May they return to You, 

Turn from their sin, forsake idols,

Be restored to God again.

https://vimeo.com/177433676

A Mother's Love for Her Son

To My Son Whom I Love

From your mom

I bore you in my womb. I nurtured you,

Protected you. I held on to you tightly 

So that nothing bad would happen to you.

I was glad the day you were born. 

I held you closely, loved you dearly.

We spent much time together, you and I,

Talking, singing, praying.

I read you stories, snuggled with you,

Laughed and cried with you. 

I hurt when you hurt,

And I rejoiced when you rejoiced,

For I cared deeply about you.

When you wandered off

From the way you should go,

It hurt me. I hurt for you.

When you sang songs about God

And about who he was and is,

It gladdened my heart, too.

I struggled with you 

When you struggled through life,

And I cried many tears over you.

I was also proud of you 

Every time you conquered your obstacles

And you stood strong against giants.

I cheered you on and worked with you

To help you become the man

That you should become one day.

But I failed you, too, when I did not stand strong

Against my giants, and when I let them

Defeat me in battle.

But you forgave me,  

And that means so much to me.

So, thank you!

Now I want to see you

Conquer all the giants in your life,

And be the man God 

Created you to become.

But, no matter what,

I love you because you are my son,

And because you are part of me,

And I am part of you.

And, I am proud of all that

You have done to overcome

So many obstacles in your life

And for all the progress you 

Have made towards

Maturity and manhood.

You will always be my son,

And forever you will be

In my heart, no matter what.

I love you! Mom

An Original Work, November 24, 2018

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Video Recording of the Poem

https://youtu.be/_jpOq6YZS-g 

By Smooth Talk They Deceive

Romans 16:17-18 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

“17Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create divisions and obstacles that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Turn away from them. 18For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.”

 

Many Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing

 

In my nation (the USA), in our culture today within the gatherings of the church (or the false church) at large, we have many of these people who create divisions and obstacles that are contrary to the teachings of the gospel taught by Jesus and by His New Testament apostles, taught in the correct biblical context. Many pastors and elders and church leaders are teaching an altered and diluted gospel message intended to appease human flesh which does not call the people to repentance and to obey God.

 

Many of these leaders are malicious wolves in sheep’s clothing who fake their Christianity and who are out to deceive, to trick, to trap, to manipulate, and to lead the people astray while convincing them that they are leading them to the truth. They promise them forgiveness of all sins and heaven guaranteed them as their eternal destiny based in a lie which teaches them they do not have to repent of (die to) sin and that they do not have to obey God’s commands, for they call that “works salvation.” It is not.

 

And they tell them that all that God requires is that they pray a prayer to receive Christ or that they make a verbal confession of Christ as Lord, believing that God raised Him from the dead, and now they are saved for eternity, and that nothing can take that away from them. Taken out of context the Bible does appear to teach some of this in the book of Romans. But the whole of Romans and Jesus’ teachings teach we must, by faith in Christ, deny self, die to sin, and walk in obedience to God’s commands.

 

What Jesus and the apostle Paul taught

 

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, if you have been believing the lies of the “wolves in sheep’s clothing,” and you are professing Christ as your Lord and Savior, and heaven as your eternal destiny, but while you continue in deliberate and habitual sin and not in walks of obedience to God and to His commands, then I encourage you to repent of (turn from, die to) your sins today and surrender your lives to God to now follow Him in living holy lives, pleasing to God, in the power of God. For Jesus died on that cross to free us from sin, not to coddle us in our sin.

 

[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]

 

By Smooth Talk They Deceive

An Original Work / September 6, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

Seven Woes 

 

Based off Matthew 23

An Original Work / May 31, 2012

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

Woe to you, teachers of the law;

Hypocrites, you keep men from God.

You refuse to obey the truth,

Nor will you permit others to.

You travel o’er land and sea

To win a single convert to you.

When he becomes one

You make him twice as much

A “son of hell” as you are.

 

Woe to you, blind guides of mankind.

You distort the words of your God.

By your practices you declare

Your oaths mean nothing, though you swear.

You give a tenth of your spices,

But you neglect justice, mercy.

When you focus your

Time and talents on

What is external, you miss out.

 

Woe to you, who appear so clean,

When inside you are crass and mean.

You work hard to look so upright,

While you hide all your sins inside.

You deceive yourselves when you think

You would not have done what others

Did to God’s messengers

And prophets of old,

For you will do much the same.

You’re to blame.

 

https://vimeo.com/125489388