Run With It

Friday, July 17, 2026

Believe The Truth, Reject The Lies

1 John 1:1-10 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

“1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have gazed upon and touched with our own hands—this is the Word of life. 2And this is the life that was revealed; we have seen it and testified to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us.

“3We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. 4We write these things so that our joy may be complete.

“5And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you: God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. 6If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

“8If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.”

The Truth Being Ignored

We live in a day and time when the words written here are largely being ignored, dismissed entirely, or they are being taken out of context and taught erroneously in order to not teach what this is teaching, in truth. Why? Because men (humans) love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil (see John 3:16-21 for the correct context). And because there are evil people, some of them disguising themselves as servants of God, who are liars, manipulators, and morally impure who reject the truth for the lies.

Therefore, they are those who are creeping and sneaking deceitfully onto the teachings of the truth of the gospel in order to lead the people astray to follow after the lies, instead. And they are multiplying rapidly! They are the selfish and the self-indulgent who are morally unclean who speak lies to the people, and who fake their Christianity in order to trick and to deceive the vulnerable and the naïve and those addicted to sin into embracing their lies, because the lies do not require them to forsake sin and obey God.

So, we need to be those who read the truth spoken in 1 John 1 in its full context, who believe what it teaches us, and who are rejecting the lies being taught by these liars and manipulators disguising themselves as preachers and evangelists and as teachers of the Scriptures. And we need to be those who are putting to death their lies and their manipulative tactics used to try to deceive us. So 1 John 1:9 is not a stand-alone. And confession of sin is not lip service only. We must die to sin and obey God as our life practice.

In Him is No Darkness

So, when this says that God is light and in him there is no darkness, this is saying that God is pure, righteous, holy, and truthful, and in him there is no sin, deception, moral impurity, and sinful practices. So if we claim to be in fellowship with God, to be in a close and abiding relationship with him, but yet we walk (in conduct, in practice) in darkness (disobedience, wickedness, sin), then we are liars who do not live by and practice the truth. For if sin is our practice, and not obedience to God, we are not saved from our sins.

But if we walk (in conduct, in practice) in the light (in truth, righteousness, and obedience to our Lord), as our Lord is in the light, then we have fellowship with God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – and with all who are also living in fellowship with God. And the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. So please note here that it is not a verbal profession of faith in Jesus or a confession of sin which cleanses us from all sin, but it is a walk of faith in dying to sin and in obedience to our Lord, in the power of our Lord God.

So, when this says that if we confess our sins that he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, this has to be read in the whole context of 1 John 1. For this is not teaching that we can sin, confess, sin, confess as a matter of life practice. For just admitting that you sinned while you continue to go back and keep repeating the same sins is not biblical repentance. We have to walk (in conduct, in practice) in truth, righteousness, and obedience to our Lord, then we are cleansed from sin.

If Sin is What We Obey

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

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 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]

Believe The Truth, Reject The Lies

An Original Work / July 17, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Jesus, Lead Me

An Original Work / July 22, 2011

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Jesus, lead me all the way.

Be my hope and be my stay.

Gently lead me where I should go,

So Your Spirit, I want to know.

Open up my heart to You.

Fill me with Your love and truth.

Make my heart want to obey.

Be my Lord today. Gently lead always.

Jesus, lover of my soul,

Cleanse my heart, and make me whole;

Be transformed in my heart today,

As I turn from my sin and pray.

Make Your will known to my heart.

May I not from You depart.

How I long to hear You now,

As I humbly bow. Jesus, hear me now.

https://vimeo.com/113559147

Distorting The Scriptures

2 Peter 3:15-18 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

“15Consider also that our Lord’s patience brings salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom God gave him. 16He writes this way in all his letters, speaking in them about such matters. Some parts of his letters are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.

“17Therefore, beloved, since you already know these things, be on your guard so that you will not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure standing. 18But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.”

Safety on The Internet

I am obviously on the internet or else you would not be reading what I am writing here today. The internet is a means for the people of the world to communicate with one another on all sorts of topics and in many different ways, some of them bad, and some of them good, meaning that there is both good and evil on the internet. So we must be wise and discerning about where we go on the internet, and what we view, that we are not taking into our eyes and minds and hearts what might lead us astray to sin against God.

For not everyone is wise and discerning, sadly so, even among many who profess faith in Jesus Christ. Many are still living selfish lives, given over to self-indulgence, without regard for God or for others who might be hurt by their actions. They are easily led astray to what entices them on the internet and to giving into their fleshly desires. Even though many of them know what the Scriptures teach, and perhaps have even taught those lessons themselves, they are easy targets to be led astray to sin against God.

Distorting the Scriptures

And some of them are those who are distorting what the Scriptures teach in order to appease their own consciences and to excuse away their sins as “no big deal.” They know right from wrong and good from evil, and yet they distort those words and their meanings to their own destruction. So many people today are teaching that you can make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ and it guarantees you salvation from sin and eternal life with God, but regardless of whether or not you die to sin and obey the Lord in practice.

So all of us who profess to believe in Jesus Christ need to be on our guard so that we will not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from our secure standing. Especially if we are on the internet, we need to guard our hearts and minds and eyes from all that is evil and that which could possibly lead us in the wrong direction. We need to set our faces “like flint,” fully determined and resolved that we will not give way to temptation to go where we should not go and to do what we should not do (see Isaiah 50:7).

The Danger of Falling

And to “fall from your secure standing” is not just to stray from your obedience to the Lord and to be out of fellowship with him as you ought to be, but this is a warning against falling away from your faith and therefore ultimately losing your salvation because you chose your sins over God. For if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to our Lord, and if we do not repent (turn from our sin) and return to obeying our Lord, but that is where we remain, we will not have salvation from sin and eternal life with God.

So, don’t be someone who plays with temptation to sin and who regularly yields to the control of sin over your life. Instead, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Learn from him. Let him teach you from his word. And then follow him in obedience. Resist the devil. And draw near to God in full assurance of faith. Put on the full armor of God with which to fight off the schemes of the devil. And follow Jesus wherever he leads you in doing all that he requires of all of us as his followers.

Jesus Christ Taught

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

Distorting The Scriptures

An Original Work / July 17, 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

Thursday, July 16, 2026

But The Day of The Lord

2 Peter 3:10-14 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

“10But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare.

“11Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to conduct yourselves in holiness and godliness 12as you anticipate and hasten the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt in the heat. 13But in keeping with God’s promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. 14Therefore, beloved, as you anticipate these things, make every effort to be found at peace—spotless and blameless in His sight.”

The Day of The Lord

Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. He is the one who gave his life up for us on a cross to put our sins to death with him so that, by biblical faith in him, we will deny self, die to sin, and obey God in practice, in the power of God, by His grace. And then he rose from the grave victorious over death, sin, hell, and Satan so that we will now live for the Lord in walks of holiness, in submission to his will and purpose for our lives, all in his power, strength, and wisdom. And then he went back to heaven, but one day he will return.

When Jesus returns it will be to come as judge. And all of us will have to stand before him and to give an account as to what we did with him and with his salvation which he provided for us via his death and resurrection. And there will be many who will call him “Lord,” who will claim that they did this or that in his name. But he will tell them plainly, “I never knew you; depart from me you workers of lawlessness.” For “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father in heaven.” (see Matthew 7:21-23; Romans 2:5-8)

What Kind of People?

Knowing that our Lord is going to return one day, a day which we do not know, and God will judge this earth and the people on the earth, and the world as we have known it will pass away, what kind of people ought we to be? And why is that an important question to ask? Well, contrary to the opinion of a lot of people who profess faith in Jesus Christ, we are not saved and on our way to heaven based off a profession of faith in Jesus only. We must, by faith in him, deny self, die to sin, and obey our Lord in practice.

God has standards for what qualifies as biblical faith and what does not. And the main standard is that we must, by faith in Jesus, leave our lives of sin behind us (repent of our sins) and now follow our Lord in obedience to his commands. For, regardless of what our lips profess, if we continue living in deliberate and habitual sin, and if obedience to God and to his commands (New Covenant) is not our practice, then we do not have the promise of salvation from sin and eternal life with God unless we repent and obey God.

So we are to conduct ourselves in holiness and godliness. And to be holy is to be different, unlike the world, set apart by God and for God to do his will. And godliness involves us living upright, godly, morally pure, honest, and faithful lives in submission to the will of God, in his power. Sin must no longer be our practice, but obedience to our Lord’s commands is now to be what we practice. This doesn’t mean we will be absolutely perfect, or that we will never sin, but that disobedience to God should no longer be our practice.

Make Every Effort

Basically what this is teaching us is that we cannot just make a profession of faith in Jesus and think we now have salvation from sin and heaven as our eternal destiny. We need to know and be aware of what the Scriptures actually teach about what constitutes genuine biblical faith resulting in salvation from sin and eternal life with God. And they require that we must deny self, die to sin, and obey our Lord and his commands as a matter of life practice, by the grace of God, in his power, strength, and wisdom.

So, if we make every effort to be found at peace – spotless and blameless in his sight – then our lives must be surrendered to the Lord, committed to his service, to doing his will. Sin must be put out of our lives. It must no longer be what we practice. And obedience to our Lord must now be our practice. And this is not just about following a set of rules, but this has to do with total surrender of our lives to God to do his will, to go where he sends us, to do what he commands, and to say what he gives us to say to the people.

But The Day of The Lord

An Original Work / July 16, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Search Me, O God

By James E. Orr, 1936

Search me, O God, and know my heart today,

Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray;

See if there be some wicked way in me;

Cleanse me from every sin, and set me free.

I praise Thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin;

Fulfill Thy word and make me pure within;

Fill me with fire, where once I burned with shame;

Grant my desire to magnify Thy name.

Lord, take my life, and make it wholly Thine;

Fill my poor heart with Thy great love divine;

Take all my will, my passion, self and pride;

I now surrender, Lord, in me abide.

O Holy Ghost, revival comes from Thee;

Send a revival, start the work in me;

Thy Word declares Thou wilt supply our need;

For blessings now, O Lord, I humbly plead.

https://youtu.be/Tl_sd1gH6hU?si=8NmhYN5YxtDQndbZ

False Teachers Among You

2 Peter 2:1-3 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

“Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2Many will follow in their depravity, and because of them the way of truth will be defamed. 3In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction does not sleep.”

Many Will Follow in Their Depravity

We live in a day and age where there are multitudes of these false prophets (preachers, teachers) teaching lies to the people, and when it appears that the majority of those professing faith in Jesus Christ are following after the lies, and are rejecting the gospel taught by Jesus and by his New Testament apostles, taught in the correct biblical context. And this is not to say that they are believing all the lies or that they are rejecting all of the gospel message, but many are believing a diluted gospel which pacifies the flesh.

And those who are teaching the diluted and altered “gospel” message, which is intended to appeal to and to appease human flesh, are either doing so out of ignorance, because it is what they were taught by their teachers, or else they are doing so deliberately to lead people to a false gospel so that the people will reject the correct biblical gospel message, and so they will feel safe in continuing in deliberate and habitual sin and in not having to obey God’s commands. But they are giving them a false hope of salvation.

Those who are the latter are people of sinful minds and hearts who are following the devil, and not Jesus Christ. Many of them are malicious, morally unclean, deceivers, manipulators, opportunists, liars, fakes who fake their Christianity, not trustworthy, egocentric, and are rapidly multiplying. They are among the immature, the childish, the self-indulgent, the selfish, the morally impure, the irresponsible, foolish, and self-centered who are thinking only of themselves without any regard for the will of God.

So, they not only reject the biblical gospel of Christ, but they lead many others to also reject the biblical gospel of our salvation and to follow after the lies of the enemy, Satan (the devil). For so many of them are teaching that we do not have to deny self, die to sin, and obey God. For they call that “works salvation.” And they lead many into believing that they can continue in their sinful addictions, and not in walks of faith in obedience to the Lord, and still be saved from their sins, and still be on their way to heaven.

The Gospel According To Christ and His Apostles

Scripture Summaries

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 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 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.” (See Titus 2:11-14; Ephesians 2:8-10)

And we learn in 1 John 1-3 that if we claim that we have fellowship with God, but yet we walk in darkness (sin), we are liars. If we claim that we know God, but we do not obey his commandments, in practice, we are liars. 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.

False Teachers Among You

An Original Work / July 16, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

My Sheep

Based off John 10:1-30 NIV

An Original Work / June 24, 2012

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

My sheep hear me. They know me.

They listen to my voice and obey.

I call them and lead them.

They know my voice, so they follow me.

They will never follow strangers.

They will run away from them.

The voice of a stranger they know not;

They do not follow him.

So, I tell you the truth that

I am the gate, so you enter in.

Whoever does enter

Will find forgiveness and will be saved.

Nonetheless whoever enters

Not by the gate; other way,

He is the thief and a robber.

Listen not, the sheep to him.

Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,

Who laid his own life down for the sheep.

I know them. They know me.

They will live with me eternally.

The thief only comes to steal and

Kill and to destroy the church.

I have come to give you life that

You may have it to the full…

They know my voice, so they follow me.

https://vimeo.com/114938263

God Gives Grace to The Humble

1 Peter 5:5-9 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

“5.. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ 6Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, so that in due time He may exalt you. 7Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

“8Be sober-minded and alert. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9Resist him, standing firm in your faith and in the knowledge that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.”

Humbling Ourselves

What does it look like to be humble? It means to be meek, unpretentious, and modest, i.e. the opposite of proud and boastful. Biblical humility involves a total surrender to God, submission to his will and purpose for our lives, and obedience to his commands, giving all the glory to God. It is willingness to do the will of God, and to speak his truths, regardless of how we are treated in return. And it is being honest with ourselves about who we are with regard to our motives and why we do and say the things we do and say.

So, if we humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand, what should that look like? It definitely involves us submitting ourselves to the will of God for our lives, going where he sends us and saying all that he commands. It involves us sticking our necks out on the line, willing to have them chopped down, i.e. to be the Lord’s servants and messengers even knowing in advance that it will mean being hated, rejected, falsely accused, forsaken, and forgotten by some (or many) for speaking the truth, which many do not want to hear.

And it is putting our lives in the hands of God, trusting him to work it all out for good, trusting that God knows best, and he has a plan and a purpose for all that he allows us to go through, for his glory. It is a willingness to walk away from some situations, even if it means that they are left unresolved, or that others are left with a wrong impression of our motives, or knowing that they are thinking ill of us. We can defend our own honor, to a point, as did Jesus and his apostles, but sometimes we just have to walk away.

The Devil Seeks to Devour

If you are someone who writes on the internet, and who shares with the world what the Lord is teaching you from his word each day, you may get some responses from other humans which are encouraging, and/or you may get some responses from others which are challenging you, or which are criticizing you, or which are falsely accusing you of what you did not do or say. And some of them may be AI, and not real humans, and some may be people who just like baiting others into an argument. You get all kinds.

So we need to pray for wisdom and discernment to know what discussions we can engage in, and which ones to avoid. We need discernment to know when someone is baiting us into an argument so that we don’t get trapped in it. And we need wisdom to know how to respond, what to say, what not to say, and when to walk away. But we also need wisdom to discern when a conversation is of the devil, i.e. when he is using someone else to try to “devour” us in order to trip us up with our words. So we must resist him.

We must resist him, standing firm in our faith. So we must respond to the lies with the truth. We must respond to false teachings with the truth of what the Scriptures teach. But we must rely on the leading of the Holy Spirit in what to say and in what to write, and not let our emotions get the best of us. And this is not saying that we will get this perfect every time, but that we must make it our practice to pray, and to inquire of the Lord, before we respond unwisely and the devil ends up “getting the best of us.”

But we can be encouraged that we are not alone in this battle, not that we wish any of this on anyone else, but sometimes knowing that you are not alone, and that others are facing the same difficulties, it helps you in standing strong (firm) in your faith and not backing down because you are being intimidated by someone else. So we need to pray for wisdom before we just open up our mouths and blurt out what is coming from our emotions. And we must stand firm in our faith at all times, by God’s grace.

God Gives Grace to The Humble

An Original Work / July 16, 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

Wednesday, July 15, 2026

Shepherds of God's Flock

1 Peter 5:1-4 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

“1As a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings, and a partaker of the glory to be revealed, I appeal to the elders among you: 2Be shepherds of God’s flock that is among you, watching over them not out of compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not out of greed, but out of eagerness; 3not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.”

Modern Day “Churches”

We live in a day and time when so many “pastors” of “churches” are behaving more like cult leaders, or as though they are the heads of Christ’s church, in place of Christ being the head. Some (or many) of them will choose a select number of the faithful to themselves to serve as a “gestapo,” of sorts, in order to spy on the people and to report any who they believe are the “opposition,” who are not totally in sync with the political and worldly and unbiblical and ungodly methods of how to conduct “Christ’s church.”

Some of this they are learning in their training seminars on how to “grow their churches.” My husband and I were church planters for a while, and we attended some of those training seminars. And in one of them we were told that we were to use “needy people” to get the church up and running, but once we were up and running we were to get rid of the “needy people,” because they would drag us down. And this was being taught to pastors and church workers, to take advantage of needy people, but then to dump them.

Over all of my adult years (I am now 76) I have witnessed all kinds of crooked stuff being pulled off by pastors and elders of “churches,” which were of the flesh of man and not of God, and which were contrary to the teachings of the Scriptures. And in our present time so many of them are being trained in marketing schemes and in what they need to do in order to draw in large crowds of people from the world into their gatherings. And so many have turned “the church” into centers for entertainment and fun.

This is not a representation of all gatherings of the church but of many or most which are of this modern era which are catering to the ungodly and to the people of the world in order to grow their numbers. So many of them have been turned into businesses and are being marketed to the world, and so they are also diluting the gospel and the whole meaning of church in order to attract the world to their gatherings. And God says we are to come out of and to be separate from such gatherings as these worldly gatherings.

[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]

An Appeal to Pastors and Elders

Instead of acting as dictators and cult leaders and heads of businesses being marketed to the world where the pastor is being raised up to God-like status not to be questioned or tested to see if what he is doing and is teaching is of God and in agreement with the Scriptures, pastors and elders are to be shepherd’s of God’s flock, watching over them, caring about them, and ministering to their needs, teaching them the truth of the Scriptures and of the gospel, how we are all supposed to live as followers of Jesus Christ.

And they are those who are to be setting the example to the flock in how we ought to live as followers of Christ, in the things that they teach and speak and do and live. They should be teaching the body of Christ, the church, the people who profess faith in Jesus Christ, that we must all deny self, die to sin, and obey God, in practice. They should also be helping the people of God to discover their spiritual gifts and ministries, and then to make room for them to use their gifts in their ministry areas, for the rest of the church.

For one man is not to be running the whole thing. One small group of select people are not to be the ones doing all the ministering while the rest sit as spectators, and not as participants in the sense of them being able to share their spiritual gifts and ministries with the rest of the church. For all of us are ministers, if we are of faith in Jesus Christ. Pastors and elders are not to lord it over their people, but they are to serve as examples for the rest of us to follow, according to the teachings of the Scriptures, and not of the flesh.

And the people who do the preaching should be being tested to make certain that what they are teaching is of God, in agreement with the Scriptures taught in their correct biblical context. So many pastors and preachers today are diluting the gospel message and they are teaching lies to the people and they are distorting the Scriptures in order to appeal to human flesh, and few or none, it seems, are being tested to make certain that what they are teaching is of God, and in agreement with the Scriptures. This should not be.

Testing the spirits: [Matthew 7:15-23; Matthew 24:11-14; John 10:1-15; Romans 16:17-19; 2 Corinthians 11:3,13-15; Ephesians 4:11-16; Philippians 3:2; 2 Peter 2:1-22; 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22; 1 Timothy 1:3-7; 1 Timothy 6:3-10; 2 Timothy 3:1-9; 1 John 4:1-6; Jude 1:1-25]

Shepherds of God’s Flock

An Original Work / July 15, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Jesus Christ as our Shepherd

Gentle Shepherd

By Gloria Gaither / William J. Gaither

Gentle Shepherd come and lead us

For we need you to help us find our way

Gentle Shepherd come and feed us

For we need your strength from day to day

There's no other we can turn to

Who can help us face another day

Gentle Shepherd come and lead us

For we need to you to help us find our way

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gJwuh61eHA

Caution: This link may contain ads

Done With Sin!

1 Peter 4:1-5 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

“1Therefore, since Christ suffered in His body, arm yourselves with the same resolve, because anyone who has suffered in his body is done with sin. 2Consequently, he does not live out his remaining time on earth for human passions, but for the will of God. 3For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the same desires as the Gentiles: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.

“4Because of this, they consider it strange of you not to plunge with them into the same flood of reckless indiscretion, and they heap abuse on you. 5But they will have to give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.”

Jesus’ Sacrifice for Our Sins

Jesus Christ, God in the flesh (God incarnate), the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – gave himself up for us on a cross to put our sins to death with him. He did this in order that we, by faith in him, will now deny self, die to sin, and walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, and no longer as slaves to sin, as a matter of life practice. But he didn’t stay dead. He rose from the dead in victory over sin, death, Satan, and hell, that we might walk in victory over sin and obey our Lord.

Our Confessions of Faith

So, if our confessions of faith in Jesus Christ are biblical, honest, and of God, and not of human flesh, then we should be those who do not, after having received Christ as Lord, then go on living in sin and in disobedience to God just like we did before we professed belief in Christ as Lord. That does not mean that we will be automatically perfect in every respect, but that we should not be those who continue living in sin in disobedience to our Lord as a matter of life practice. Our practice now is to die to sin and to obey God.

So, if you are someone who has made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, but then you immediately kept on in deliberate and habitual sin against God, without change of heart, mind, and behavior, and if that is where you still are, then this message is for you. This is to let you know that you must deny self, die to sin, and follow the Lord in surrender to his will, in obedience to his commands, and no longer live as a slave to sin, or else you will not be saved from your sins, and you will not inherit eternal life with God.

They Heap Abuse on You

But, if you do follow the Lord in obedience to his commands, as a matter of life practice, and you go where he sends you, and you start living a holy life, pleasing to God, and so you have put sin to death in your life, by the Spirit, then you should begin to face opposition and the loss of friends, and perhaps even family members, who will chide and ridicule you for your faith and for deserting the life you were living before. And they may no longer want to hang out with you because it makes them uncomfortable to be with you.

But everyone will have to give an account to God one day when all stand before God on the day of judgment and we are all judged by our works. Many who call Jesus “Lord” will claim all that they did in the name of Jesus, but Jesus/God will say to them that he never knew them. Why? Because they did not obey him and his commands. They did not deny self and die to sin, but they continued in disobedience to God all the while they professed Christ as their Lord. So he will say, “depart from me, I never knew you.”

Done With Sin!

An Original Work / July 15, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

To Be Like Him

Based off Scripture

An Original Work / March 16, 2014

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Crucified you are with Jesus.

To be like Him, oh, you’ll be,

Because He died at Calv’ry,

So from sin you’d be free.

Oh, what joy He brings into your life,

Giving life with Him endlessly.

Oh, what plans He has for your life.

Share the gospel faithfully.

Show the people He loves them.

Now His witness you’ll be.

Tell the world of sin about Jesus,

How He died for them on a tree.

Purifying hearts, He saves them,

Who believe on Christ, God’s Son.

Turning now from their idols,

New lives they have begun.

Jesus saves from sin; we’re forgiven.

Over sin, the vict’ry He won!

When He comes again to take us

To be with Him evermore,

There will be no more crying.

Gladness will be in store.

Heavens joys will now overtake us:

We’ll be with our Lord evermore.

https://vimeo.com/89237609

Run With It

Habakkuk 2

Friday, July 17, 2026

Believe The Truth, Reject The Lies

Distorting The Scriptures

Thursday, July 16, 2026

But The Day of The Lord

False Teachers Among You

God Gives Grace to The Humble

Wednesday, July 15, 2026

Shepherds of God's Flock

Done With Sin!

Original Works

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