Religion vs Relationship

Religion is based in the teachings of man,

In forms and traditions in which they now stand.

Their customs, their idols, are what they now serve,

And from their procedures they barely will swerve.

The writings of man are the bibles they read,

While God’s word, the Scriptures, they rarely will heed.

For men tell nice stories that make them feel good.

They don’t tell the people the things that they should.

Religion leads one to feel good about self,

While sacrifice to the Lord – put on the shelf.

Commitment to Christ as Lord, not in the plan:

“Go through the motions, forget the ‘I AM’.”

Relationship diff’rent, now based in The Word,

In sacrifice of one’s life now to the Lord.

All because Jesus, His life up for us gave,

Our sins are forgiven; from sin we’re now saved.

Believing in Jesus, die with Him to sin,

Our new lives in Jesus now surely begin.

His Spirit now comes to live inside our hearts,

Now from our Lord Jesus, we do not depart.

We want to walk daily in fellowship with Him,

We want to obey Him and turn from our sin.

We want to walk with Him wherever He leads.

We want that now, on His Word, we’d surely feed.

We want that now, Christ our Lord, is all we need.

An Original Work / April 24, 2022

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Don't Be Like Cain

Genesis 4:1-12 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

1And Adam had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man,” she said. 2Later she gave birth to Cain’s brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, while Cain was a tiller of the soil. 3So in the course of time, Cain brought some of the fruit of the soil as an offering to the LORD, 4while Abel brought the best portions of the firstborn of his flock. And the LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5but He had no regard for Cain and his offering. So Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell.

 

6“Why are you angry,” said the LORD to Cain, “and why has your countenance fallen? 7If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you refuse to do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires you, but you must master it.” 8Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. 9And the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I do not know!” he answered. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

 

10“What have you done?” replied the LORD. “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. 11Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12When you till the ground, it will no longer yield its produce to you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”

 

Cain and Abel

 

In reading this we might wonder why God accepted Abel’s offering and not Cain’s. The Scriptures do not tell us why, although we could speculate by Cain’s response to God accepting Abel’s offering and not his offering. For Cain did not have the heart of God, but the heart of the flesh. For Cain responded to God’s decision in anger, jealousy, resentment, and bitterness which then drove him to murder his brother who had done him no wrong. And when confronted by God, he gave a very glib (superficial) response.

 

And we read in 1 John 3:12 that we are to “not be like Cain who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did Cain slay him? Because his own deeds were evil, while those of his brother were righteous.” And we read in Jude 1:11: “Woe to them! They have traveled the path of Cain; they have rushed for profit into the error of Balaam; they have perished in Korah’s rebellion.” And what was the path of Cain? Out of bitterness, anger, jealousy, and resentment, he murdered his brother. Sin was at his door!

 

Pride and Jealously

 

In our world and in the gatherings of the “church” today we have some people like Cain and others like Abel. We have those whose hearts are filled with pride, envy, jealously, bitterness, and resentment against those approved of God and those living for the Lord in purity of devotion to Him who are serving Him with their lives, and who have forsaken their sins, and who are sharing the truth of the gospel of Christ with the people of the world. For they are an offense to many who are still walking in sin.

 

And “murder” doesn’t have to be the literal putting to death of someone. Someone can “murder” others in their hearts and in the way that they treat people by sinning against them and mistreating them and speaking evil against them and telling people lies about them in order to get other people to turn against them. They can destroy another person’s reputation by speaking lies against them which will then lead others to think evil of them. And you can “kill” someone by killing their hearts by how you treat them.

 

Persecution Promised

 

But God promised us that if we follow Him with our lives in faithful obedience to His commands that we will be hated and mistreated and spoken evil against by those who oppose the teachings of Christ and of His New Testament apostles and who refuse to give up their sins to follow our Lord in obedience to His commands. If we are standing on the truth, and if we are speaking that truth to the people, those who are lying to the people will not like us and they will want to shut us up and to keep people from hearing us.

 

And today’s market-driven “churches” which are partnered with the world and with the government are mostly speaking lies to the people, it would appear. So many of them are teaching a “gospel of salvation” absent of repentance and obedience to God, and absent of living to please the Lord, while accusing those of us who are sharing the biblical gospel as those who are teaching “works salvation.” So they want to silence us, and some of them will invite us to leave their gatherings in order to shut us up, too.

 

And I am not inferring that anyone was speaking out of turn or causing a disturbance. That would be a different situation. But I am speaking of Christians given permission to speak but then rejected because what they spoke was the truth of what the Scriptures teach which so many people and so many “churches” are rejecting today. And I am speaking of “church people” rejecting followers of Christ who take God and His word to heart to obey it and to share its truths with others, because the truth offends people.

 

[Matthew 5:10-12; Matthew 10:16-25,34-39; Matthew 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 12:49-53; Luke 21:12-17; John 15:18-21; John 16:33; Acts 14:22; Romans 5:3-5; 2 Corinthians 1:3-11; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 3:7-11; 1 Thessalonians 3:1-5; Hebrews 12:3-12; James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:6-7; 1 Peter 4:12-17; Revelation 6:9-11; Revelation 7:9-17; Revelation 11:1-3; Revelation 12:17; Revelation 13:1-18; Revelation 14:1-13] 

 

So don’t be one of the ones persecuting and/or rejecting the righteous who are walking with the Lord in obedience to His commands just because their lifestyle and their walk with the Lord makes you uncomfortable or it offends you in some way because it doesn’t agree with your lifestyle. Abel didn’t do anything wrong. He didn’t do anything deserving of the treatment he received. He was killed because he obeyed God and did what was pleasing to God. Don’t be a Cain. Be an Abel who loves and who serves the Lord Jesus.

 

Don’t Be Like Cain

An Original Work / September 25, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

Why Are You Afraid? 

 

Based off Various Scriptures

An Original Work / December 5, 2013

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

Do not be afraid.

Your Lord is always by your side.

Serve the Lord in righteousness

Before Him all your days.

 

Those who hate the light

Will not come to the Lord.

They fear their deeds

Might be noticed.

So, they hate the light,

And they embrace the night.

 

Do not be afraid,

Although your enemy attacks.

Dare to share your testimony

Of God’s saving grace.

 

Do not fear their threats,

But honor Christ, your Lord.

Be prepared to give an answer

For the hope you have,

With gentleness; respect.

 

Why are you afraid?

For all that’s hidden will be shown.

What I tell you, speak in daylight.

Let the truth be known.

 

Do not be afraid

Of those who’ll take your life.

Fear the Lord with understanding.

Trust Him with your life,

And give not up to strife.

 

Do not be afraid.

Take courage, it is I, your Lord.

Bow before Me; now adore Me.

Oh, why do you doubt?

 

Listen to the Lord.

Get up and bear His name!

Run and tell the world He loves them.

Jesus came to save.

Give Him your all today.

 

https://vimeo.com/114668071

Passing The Blame

Adam and Eve were together and they were both tempted (Eve first, then Adam) by the serpent (the devil, Satan) to disobey God’s command which He had given to them, and they both did what God instructed them not to do. Eve gave in first. She took the forbidden fruit and ate it, and then she gave some to her husband Adam, and he ate it, too (see Genesis 3:1-6). They both knew what God had said they were not to do and yet they did it anyway. So they were both without excuse. They both sinned against God.

 

Genesis 3:7-13 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

7And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed together fig leaves and made coverings for themselves.

 

8Then the man and his wife heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the breeze of the day, and they hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9But the LORD God called out to the man, “Where are you?” 10“I heard Your voice in the garden,” he replied, “and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”

 

11“Who told you that you were naked?” asked the LORD God. “Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12And the man answered, “The woman whom You gave me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” 13Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied, “and I ate.”

 

Forward

 

The following will not be an exact parallel to this story but it will take from this story the key features and will talk about how this can be applied to today, to those who profess faith in the One True God, who know His commands, probably backwards and forward (thoroughly), and yet have chosen to disobey His commands and then to attempt to hide from God.

 

They Know

 

We have many people today who profess faith in the One True God, God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. They know right from wrong. They know God’s commands, what they teach. They are not ignorant. But they are not “first timers” like Adam and Eve. They have been living “in the toilet,” i.e. in moral filth and corruption for a very long time. But they do so secretly. And many of them are the malicious, deceivers, manipulators, the untrustworthy, the self-indulgent, and the perverted.

 

Believing Satan’s Lies

 

So they allow themselves to listen to Satan’s lies and then to question God, i.e. “Did God really say that?” And they start to make excuses for their sins, and to blame their sins on other people, and they might even have others who join in with them in “the blaming game” in making someone else the cause and the problem instead of themselves. So they don’t take personal responsibility for their own sins, just like Adam and Eve found someone else to blame, too. And others may lead us into sin but we are still at fault.

 

Anyway, the picture the Lord is giving me from this passage of Scripture today is of those who are listening to the lies of Satan, not just once, but habitually, who are believing Satan’s lies, and who are telling themselves those same lies, and who are convincing themselves that God did not really say what he said. And so they find a way to worm their way around the truth via cunning and craftiness and deceitful scheming in order to excuse themselves for the sins they commit and to blame someone else.

 

Leading Someone to Sin

 

Now, biblically speaking, if someone leads a follower of Christ into sin, that person is responsible for what they did, and God will hold them to account for their sin (see Luke 17:1-2; Matthew 18:6-7). But if we sinned against God because someone else was pressuring us to do so, or because they were leading us into sin, opening the door wide for us to walk inside, we are still responsible for our sin. And they are responsible for their sin against us and against God. We each have to take responsibility for what we did wrong.

 

Always Making Excuses

 

But sadly there are many people who are living in sin, who deliberately and habitually sin against God and against other humans, who continue to make excuses for their sins or to blame someone else for their sins rather than to take personal responsibility. It is always that this other person did not do this or that and so that is why they are still trapped in sin. But they know right from wrong. They know the way out. But they don’t want to let go of their sin and so they make excuses and they cast the blame on others.

 

And sadly some or many people will coddle them in their sins and will support their excuses. I even sat in a ladies’ Bible study one day where around the table they excused away a person’s sexual addiction claiming that the person could not help it. They called it an “illness,” instead of calling it what the Bible calls it. And this is so predominant in today’s culture to give so many people excuses for their deliberate and habitual sins so that they will not take personal responsibility. But God will hold them responsible.

 

[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]

 

Passing the Blame

An Original Work / September 25, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

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

Nonsense, Nonsense

Nonsense, nonsense coming from their mouths,

Raise their banners, raise them very loud,

Bold in witness, that but not of God,

Please the world and draw in their large crowds.

“Win the world to us, but not to God,

Please the crowds and make sure music’s loud,

Tell some jokes, and have a new cartoon,

Twist the Scriptures morning, night, and noon.

“All surrender, but to God do not,

Bow to humans and to all their gods,

Share their idols, give them all your praise,

Pledge allegiance, and your voices raise.

“Share the gospel? No! For we forbid.

Keep that gospel, keep it very hid.

Don’t judge others. Speak not then of sin.

People’s souls to Christ you’re not to win.

“Pleasure-seeking, that’s what it’s about,

Play your games and to our idols shout,

Don’t offend the people with the truth,

Better if you’d rather be uncouth.

“All about now blending with the world,

Unity with flesh now not absurd,

Keep on sinning now you’ve been forgiv’n,

Don’t let judgment keep you now from heav’n.”

They’re mistaken, though, in what they say.

Read your Bible. Read it now and pray.

God requires your obedience,

And He says from sin you must repent.

If you choose to God to not obey,

Not give homage to Him, or bow, or pray,

Not forsake your lives of liv’n in sin,

Heav’n’s not yours, your sins He’s not forgiv’n.

An Original Work / February 4, 2022

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

[Rom 2:6-8; Gal 6:7-8; 2 Co 5:10; 1 Co 6:9-10; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Rom 6:16; Rom 8:1-17; Jn 15:1-11; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Rev. 2-3; Rev 18:1-6; Rev 21:8, 27; Rev 22:14-15; Matt 7:21-23; Heb 10:26-27]

The Crafty Serpent

Genesis 3:1-7 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

1Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field that the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’” 2The woman answered the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, 3but about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You must not eat of it or touch it, or you will die.’”

 

4“You will not surely die,” the serpent told the woman. 5“For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

 

6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. 7And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed together fig leaves and made coverings for themselves.

 

The Serpent Satan

 

The serpent being spoken of here is Satan, the devil, the evil one who opposes God and His Word and who tempts people to sin against God. He is a liar and a deceiver and a manipulator who twists God’s words to try to make them say what they do not say in order to convince people to believe the lies and to reject the truth. He takes on many different forms. And he works through all sorts of people, even many people who are pastors, evangelists, missionaries and others who purportedly preach “The Word.”

 

What began with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden never stopped. And in today’s world “the serpent” appears to be gaining much ground as so many people are now being convinced to believe and to follow after the lies rather than to believe the Words of God and to follow after the truth. Why? Because they make the lies more appealing and attractive to the people than the truth of God’s Word. They convince the people that the truth is the lie and the lies are the truth because they are more appealing to human flesh.

 

Twisting of Truth

 

And so we have multitudes of people in positions of influence over the people who are being like the serpent suggesting that God didn’t really say what the Bible says that He said. And so they pull Scriptures out of context and they twist them to say what they do not say if taught in the correct biblical context, which is exactly what the serpent did in his conversation with Eve. And she knew what God said. She knew right from wrong. But she got caught up in the lie and she chose the lie over what God said.

 

And that is where so many professing “Christians” are today, believing the lies which tell them that they do not have to repent of (die to) sin, and they do not have to obey God’s commands, for they call that “works salvation.” So this is like the serpent saying, “Did God really say?” They twist the Scriptures to make them look like God didn’t really say we have to put sin to death and that we have to obey His commands, and so they give the people freedom to keep on in their sins while promising them forgiveness of all sins.

 

The Consequences

 

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).

 

[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]

 

In Conclusion

 

So everyone who has been listening to the serpent, via the liars and the deceivers, needs to stop listening to “the serpent” and believe God. Search the Scriptures yourselves, know what they teach (in the correct biblical context), and then obey God. But we are not under the Old Covenant liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification, circumcision, dietary and Sabbath laws. We are under the New Covenant. But God’s moral laws never went away. We still have to obey God’s commands and repent of all sin.

 

The Crafty Serpent

An Original Work / September 24, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

Praise The Lord

 

written by Michael Hudson and Elliott Bannister

 

When you're up against a struggle

That shatters all your dreams

And your hopes have been cruelly crushed

By Satan's manifested schemes

And you feel the urge within you

To submit to earthly fears

Don't let the faith you're standing in

Seem to disappear

 

Now Satan is a liar

And he wants to make us think

That we are paupers

When he knows himself

We're children of the King

So lift up the mighty shield of faith

For the battle must be won

We know that Jesus Christ has risen

So the work's already done

 

Praise the Lord

He can work through those

Who praise Him

Praise the Lord

For our God inhabits praise

Praise the Lord

For the chains that seems to bind you

Serve only to remind you

That they drop powerless behind you

When you praise Him

 

https://youtu.be/t4rHyj1tY00?si=RT6l7ZdDXs8K0m-n

 

Caution: This link may contain ads

One Flesh Divided in Two

Adam and Eve

 

Genesis 1:26-27 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

26Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over all the earth itself and every creature that crawls upon it.”

 

27So God created man in His own image;

in the image of God He created him;

male and female He created them.

 

Genesis 2:7,18,21-24 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

7Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.

 

18The LORD God also said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make for him a suitable helper.”

 

21So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he slept, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the area with flesh. 22And from the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man, He made a woman and brought her to him. 23And the man said:

 

“This is now bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;

she shall be called ‘woman,’

for out of man she was taken.”

24For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

 

In God’s Image

 

God created man and woman in His image, after His likeness. God created the first man and the first woman to be sinless, to share in His character, and to represent Him in thought, word, and deed. They were created after His likeness, to be holy, undefiled, and unlike the world. They were to be godly people who followed after the Lord and His ways, who did what He said to do, who were in daily fellowship with Him seeking to know His ways that they might walk in them in truth and in righteousness.

 

Two in One

 

God created the man, Adam, first, and then He created a wife for him, Eve. And the man declared that this woman God gave to him was now bone of his bones, and flesh of his flesh. And then we read that the man was to leave his father and mother and to be united to his wife, and they would become one flesh. And this is repeated for us in the New Testament multiple times in Matthew 19:5; Mark 10:7-8; 1 Corinthians 6:16; and Ephesians 5:31. So, what is “one flesh” supposed to look like? What’s its purpose?

 

Well, this isn’t just about a sexual union, although it is that, too. But this has to do with unity of heart and mind and purpose and vision and consideration and respect and honor and value, etc. And more Scriptures teach that a man is to love his wife as he loves his own body, and he is to love her as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, and she is to show respect (value, appreciation, and regard for) to him. This should be a partnership, each adding to the other, each being faithful to the other, helping each other.

 

Sin Entered

 

When we get into Genesis 3 we learn that Adam and Eve (Eve first, then Adam) disobeyed God. They sinned against God for the first time. So God banished them from the Garden of Eden. And ever since then we humans have been born in the likeness of Adam with sin natures, separate from God and unable within ourselves to be acceptable to God. And so God sent His Son Jesus to the cross to put our sins to death with Him so that by faith in Him we will now die to sin and obey God in practice, by the grace of God, and in the power of God so that we can now be united with our God.

 

Well, sadly, sometimes sin enters into marriage relationships and that sin breaks that union, that oneness the couple should have with one another. And this may be because one or both of them united themselves with someone else and became one with someone other than their spouse. And according to Jesus, it is an act of adultery just to lust after someone to whom you are not married, so this doesn’t have to include physical sex with another person, but it can include sexual immorality of many forms such as addiction to porn and to self-gratification. These still divide a marriage.

 

Broken Relationships

 

So, what is the solution for a situation such as this? Well, anyone who is committing adultery against their spouse needs to repent and to change course and to choose to be faithful, if the marriage is to be restored. For if one spouse or the other is continuing in sexual immorality, the unity of the marriage is broken, and the marriage bed is defiled. And the couple are no longer one but two separate people going two separate ways. Many people end up in divorce because of this while others choose to remain with the sinful spouse even though the marriage is a broken relationship.

 

Well, when we sin against the Lord deliberately by being adulterous in our relationship with Him, by choosing the people or the things or the trappings of this world over our marriage to Him, it breaks that oneness and that unity of heart and mind we had with Him, too. But it can be restored. We just have to repent of our sin, turn from that sin, and now walk in obedience to our Lord and no longer in sin. For we are to be one with Christ much like we are to be one with our spouses, and so we are to remain faithful in service to our Lord. And that is where we are to remain until Jesus takes us home.

 

[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]

 

One Flesh Divided in Two

An Original Work / September 24, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

Love Must Be Genuine

 

Based off Romans 12:9-21

An Original Work / October 22, 2013

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

Love must be genuine.

Hate what’s evil; cling to good.

Love each other with affection.

Show respect for ev’ryone.

Never lack in your zeal.

Serve the Lord with diligence.

 

Rejoice in steadfast hope.

In affliction, patient be.

Keep on praying; share with others.

Practice hospitality.

Bless those who persecute.

Feel with others sympathy.

 

Be not filled with conceit.

Daily sit at Jesus’ feet.

Live in harmony with others.

Live at peace with ev’ryone.

Repay not to someone

With the evil he begot.

 

Do not take your revenge;

Leave it to the wrath of God.

If your enemy is thirsty,

Give to him something to drink.

Do what’s right for mankind.

Evil: overcome with good.

 

https://vimeo.com/114695549

Cease and Desist!

Hebrews 12:1-7 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

1Therefore, 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.

 

4In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons:

“My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord,

and do not lose heart when He rebukes you.

6For the Lord disciplines the one He loves,

and He chastises every son He receives.”

7Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons..

 

To Redeem Us

 

The whole purpose of Jesus giving His life up for us on that cross was to put our sins to death with Him so that, by faith in Him, we will now die with Him to sin. And He rose victorious out of the grave in victory over sin, Satan, death, and hell so that we, by faith in Him, might live for Him in walks of obedience to His commands. For He shed His blood for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our bondage (addiction) to sin so that we will now walk in victory over sin as servants of righteousness.

 

Therefore, as those who profess faith in Jesus Christ we are to throw off (get rid of) everything which might lead us into sin as well as all sinful patterns of behavior. Many professing Christians keep returning to the same sins over again mainly because of what is stored up in their hearts which they have failed to let go of and to get rid of and because they will not let go of the things that they love in this world which keep leading them into sin. So this is an encouragement to get rid of those things which lead people into sin.

 

Put Off and Put On

 

But the Scriptures do not teach merely to get rid of the sin, but to now put on Christ and His righteousness in walks of obedience to His commands. We put off lying. We put on telling the truth. We put off laziness and we put on perseverance and dedication. We put off lust and we put on love for God and for other humans. We put off faithlessness and we put on faithfulness. For if we do the “put offs” but we don’t replace them with the “put ons,” it will be very easy to go right back to the sin and to not have victory over sin.

 

But we don’t do this in the flesh by our own design and purpose. We do not get to choose what faith looks like. God does! Trying to let go of sin in the flesh will not work. For Jesus Christ is the author and the perfecter of our faith, not us. So we must stay focused on Him and on His plan and purpose for our lives. And we must do things God’s way in His power and strength and wisdom. The “My Do It” approach to conquering sinful practices is bound to fail. If we do not follow God’s instructions we are bound to fail every time.

 

Not Freedom to Keep Sinning

 

Just please know that God does not give those who profess His name the freedom to keep on in their habitual sin. Yes, it is possible for a true follower of Christ to sin. It might happen. But the Scriptures teach clearly that if sin is our habit, what we practice, and not obedience to our Lord, that we do not know God. We are not born of God. We are not in fellowship with God. And we do not have salvation from sin and eternal life with God. So do not play with sin. Don’t do life your way! Do life God’s way in His power and strength.

 

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

 

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

 

Cease and Desist!

An Original Work / September 23, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

Near the Cross 

 

Hymn lyrics by Fanny J. Crosby, 1869

Music by William H. Doane, 1869

 

Jesus, keep me near the cross;

There a precious fountain,

Free to all, a healing stream,

Flows from Calvary's mountain.

 

Near the cross, a trembling soul,

Love and mercy found me;

There the bright and morning star

Sheds its beams around me.

          

Near the cross! O Lamb of God,

Bring its scenes before me;

Help me walk from day to day

With its shadow o'er me.

 

Near the cross I'll watch and wait,

Hoping, trusting ever,

Till I reach the golden strand

Just beyond the river.

        

In the cross, in the cross,

Be my glory ever,

Till my raptured soul shall find

Rest beyond the river.

 

https://youtu.be/Xrmlv806bGM?si=2UEIyPZ01xCiV2W1

 

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