Who May Abide in God's Temple?

Psalm 15:1-5 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

O LORD, who may abide in Your tent?

Who may dwell on Your holy mountain?

2He who walks with integrity

and practices righteousness,

who speaks the truth from his heart,

3who has no slander on his tongue,

who does no harm to his neighbor,

who casts no scorn on his friend,

4who despises the vile

but honors those who fear the LORD,

who does not revise a costly oath,

5who lends his money without interest

and refuses a bribe against the innocent.

He who does these things

will never be shaken.

 

The Tent of The Lord

 

What is the “tent” of the Lord being spoken of here? Not every translation uses the word “tent,” but it means tent, dwelling place, home, tabernacle, and/or covering. So, where is the Lord’s dwelling place? Well, God lives in heaven, but he also dwells in human hearts via the Holy Spirit. The Biblical body of Christ, of those who by faith in Jesus Christ have died to sin and who are obeying his commands, in practice, are the church in whom God dwells by his Spirit. We are the tabernacle of God. We are the temple of God.

 

So, what are God’s requirements for us to abide (to live, to dwell) in his temple? Under the New Covenant they are that we must believe in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, conceived of the Spirit, born of a virgin, who was fully God and fully man (God incarnate) when he lived on the earth. He who was not born into sin, and who never sinned, shed his blood for us on a cross in order to put our sins to death with him, that by faith in him we will die to sin and obey our Lord’s commands in practice.

 

So, where does this faith come from? It comes from God. It is authored and perfected by Jesus Christ. It is gifted to us by God, and it is persuaded of God as to his holiness and righteousness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to deny self, die to sin, and obey our Lord and his commands as a matter of life practice. This faith does not originate with our human flesh, and therefore we do not get to define it or determine what it looks like. But it is not lip service only. It is what the Scriptures teach that it is, in context.

 

[Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; Acts 26:18; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Hebrews 12:1-2; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Peter 2:24]

 

The Fruit of Faith

 

When we believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, it is not just an acknowledgment of who he was and is, and of what he did for us in his death and resurrection. But it is surrender of our lives to God, to obey him, and to follow our Lord wherever he leads us. It is to repent of (die to) our sins so we can now walk in purity of devotion to our Lord in holy living. And this should be evidenced in our lives by how we live out our lives day by day, one day at a time, in the power of God, in fellowship with our Lord.

 

And if our faith in our Lord Jesus is genuine biblical faith, it should be shown by the things that we do and speak (or write) in life practice. We should be people of integrity (honesty, honor, uprightness) who practice righteousness (what God deems right in his eyes) and holiness and godly living. We should be those who make it our practice to speak truth to the people, and not lies. We should be those who love all people and so we do them no harm. And we should hate sin and lies and all that is vile (wicked, corrupt, and immoral).

 

We should also be those who honor those who fear the Lord. And who are they? They are all who have died to sin and who are walking in obedience to our Lord as a matter of life practice. They are all whose lives are surrendered to the Lord to do his will, who are serving him with their lives in doing what our Lord commands. They are those whose lives are also committed to sharing the message of the gospel with the people of the world wherever and whenever possible, in the power of God, by his grace.

 

[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]

 

Who May Abide in God’s Temple?

An Original Work / July 27, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

Now Abiding 

 

An Original Work / January 31, 2012

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

Walking with Him; have Him near me,

Brings me comfort, joy and healing.

Now abiding in His presence;

His words speaking, oh, how gently:

Speak conviction, inspiration,

And instruction in right living.

 

Hope and comfort Jesus brings you,

When you’re walking with Him daily.

Be His servant; share the gospel;

Be His witness of salvation.

Love your brothers and your sisters.

Share with them that Jesus loves them.

 

Talking daily with my Savior;

List’ning to Him while He teaches,

Draws me closer; get to know Him,

So that I can now obey Him.

Follow Him where’er He leads me.

Worship only Jesus, Savior.

 

https://vimeo.com/125737543

The Faithful Have Nearly Vanished

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

 

Help, O LORD, for the godly are no more;

the faithful have vanished from among men.

2They lie to one another;

they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.

3May the LORD cut off all flattering lips

and every boastful tongue.

4They say, “With our tongues we will prevail.

We own our lips—who can be our master?”

 

Too Many Lies

 

We live in a day and time, at least we do here in the USA, when so many people speak lies routinely. Our government heads lie to us, as does the media. Lawyers lie, as do pastors of “churches.” Lying seems so common place. Truth telling seems to be more in the rare category. For speaking what people want to hear tends to rule over speaking what they need to hear. Few, it seems, can be trusted to tell us the truth. And if you speak the truth, and not the lies, you might be treated like an outcast; as the unwanted.

 

So many pastors of “churches” are being trained to lie and to deceive and to trick and to scheme in order to get the results that they want. For so many of these modern-day “churches” are not the biblical body of Christ gathering together to encourage one another in our walks of faith, in obedience to our Lord. But they are businesses incorporated under (merged, partnered with) the state and with the world in unholy unions, which God forbids. And so many are, thus, diluting the gospel to appease and to pacify human flesh.

 

[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]

 

Do Not Partake

 

So, we are not to join in with them in their folly. We are not to partake of their delicacies. We are not to believe the lies which teach we can believe in Jesus and have all our sins forgiven and be on our way to heaven by lip service only. Far too many are teaching that God does not require that we deny self, die to sin (repent), and obey our Lord and his commands as necessary components of faith which saves. For they call that “works salvation,” which they say must be ignored in favor of sinful practices.

 

And they call that love. They call that kindness. They call that mercy. And they call that compassion. But it is not love to lie to people. It is not love to tell them that God does not require repentance and obedience to his commands. It is as clear as can be what all God requires of us if we read the Scriptures, and if we read them in the appropriate biblical context. Jesus Christ and his New Testament apostles made it very clear that we must deny self, die to sin (repent) and obey God in practice to have salvation from sin.

 

Psalm 12:6-8 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

6The words of the LORD are flawless,

like silver refined in a furnace,

like gold purified sevenfold.

7You, O LORD, will keep us;

You will forever guard us from this generation.

8The wicked wander freely,

and vileness is exalted among men.

 

Words of God

 

Jesus Christ gave his life up for us on that cross to put our sins to death with him so that, by biblical faith in him, which is gifted to us from God, and which is not of our own flesh, we will now die with Christ to sin and walk with him in obedience to his commands as matter of life practice. We are now to follow our Lord in doing what he commands, in going where he sends us, and in being who he has called us to be, by his grace. He is now to be Lord (Owner-Master) of our lives and we are to obey his commands.

 

But, if we should believe the lies, instead, and if we should go our own way, doing what we want, without regard for what our Lord requires of us who profess his name, we will not have salvation from sin nor eternal life with God. For if we follow the world and the ways of the flesh and the philosophies of humans which give us excuses to justify habitual and deliberate sin against our Lord, that will lead us to hell, not to heaven. So, give your lives to Christ, obey his commands, and follow where he leads.

 

[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 Faithful Have Nearly Vanished

An Original Work / July 27, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

The Ransom

 

An Original Work / September 8, 2011

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

Jesus paid the ransom so we’d be forgiven;

Purified from our sin so we’d be set free.

Crucified on a tree; took on him our sin.

Buried our sin with Him; rose in victory.

Jesus calls us to Him; asks that we flee from sin;

Obey His commandments; live eternally.

 

God our Father loves us, which is why He gave us

His Son to die for us on a cruel tree.

God created us to walk in fellowship

With Him daily trusting in His righteousness.

He has a plan for us to abide in His grace;

Be transformed in our hearts; live for him always.

 

Won’t you trust in Jesus? Be your Lord and Master?

He wants to forgive you, give you victory.

Over sin and yourself, Jesus set you free.

Daily walking with Him, live victoriously.

Invite Him in your heart. He’ll give you a new start.

Your old life behind you, a new creature be.

 

https://vimeo.com/125864288

In The Lord I Take Refuge

Psalm 11:1-7 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

In the LORD I take refuge.

How then can you say to me:

“Flee like a bird to your mountain!

2For behold, the wicked bend their bows.

They set their arrow on the string

to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.

3If the foundations are destroyed,

what can the righteous do?”

4The LORD is in His holy temple;

the LORD is on His heavenly throne.

His eyes are watching closely;

they examine the sons of men.

5The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked;

His soul hates the lover of violence.

6On the wicked He will rain down fiery coals and sulfur;

a scorching wind will be their portion.

7For the LORD is righteous; He loves justice.

The upright will see His face.

 

Good Days and Bad Days

 

Life has its miseries. It has its complications. Some days are better than other days, and some days can be a little rough. And some people have it really bad while others have it seemingly much better, at least from all outward appearances. But Jesus never promised us that life on this earth would be easy, especially for those of us whose lives are surrendered to the Lord to doing his will, to going where he sends us, and to saying what he gives us to say to the people. He promised we would be treated like he was.

 

But when things get rough, or when we feel like the bottom is about to fall out, and Satan tries to instill fear in our hearts, we must turn to the Lord for our strength. And when others try to convince us to not take life so seriously, and to back off from teaching the hard truths of the Scriptures, and to lighten up, and to soften the message of the gospel so it will be less offensive, we are not to listen to them. For Satan wants us to ease off or to give up or to run away in defeat. And he will try to trip us up. Be ready!

 

Get Yourselves Ready!

 

So, we need to be prepared for when the wicked bend their bows to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart. We need to be ready for people to attack us, to falsely accuse us of wrong we did not do, and to reject us, forsake us, ignore us, and not want us in their lives. We have to know that if our lives are committed to the Lord and to his service, to speaking his truths to the people, which many do not want to hear, that we are not going to be voted most popular. And true friends may be few and far between.

 

But whatever we go through in this life, God has allowed it for a purpose. He allows us to go through trials which test our faith, for he disciplines those he loves so that we will grow to maturity in our walks of obedience to his commands, and so we will bear much fruit (spiritual results) for the kingdom of God. And our trials do test our faith, and they do help us to grow stronger in our faith when we respond to them in the right way. We have to just take it all to the Lord in prayer and pray that he will help us to keep going.

 

Tested By God

 

Now the Lord also tests the wicked, i.e. those for whom surrender and obedience to our Lord and the ceasing of sinful practices is not where they are or what they are doing. And this includes many people who claim faith in Jesus Christ, but who are still living in sin, making sin their practice, and for whom obedience to our Lord’s commands is not what they practice. He will come against them in judgment one day unless they repent (turn from sin) and now obey God and his commands, as a matter of life practice.

 

For the Lord is righteous. And He loves justice. And those who are upright, who have died with him to sin and who are living to obey his commands, we will see His face. One day he will return for his faithful bride, the church, the body of Christ whose lives are surrendered to the Lord to doing his will and to speaking his truths. And we will be taken up to be with him. One day there will be no more crying, no more hurting, no more persecutions and lies and liars. And there will be perfect peace, the peace which comes from God.

 

[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]

 

In The Lord I Take Refuge

An Original Work / July 26, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

I Take Refuge

 

Based off Psalm 71

An Original Work / September 1, 2018

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

O, Lord, I take refuge in You,

For You are my God.

Turn Your ear now to me.

 

Be my Rock and Fortress

To which I do go.

Deliver me, God. You’re my hope.

 

My lips now give praise to You, God.

I always have hope,

Since You saved me from sin.

 

My enemies speak evil

‘gainst me, O God.

Oh, help me, O Lord, rescue me.

 

The path of my life has been hard.

For, I have had troubles

Too many to bear.

 

But You will increase honor,

Restore again.

Your faithfulness, Lord, comforts me.

 

https://vimeo.com/287942028

You Can't Have it Both Ways

Matthew 6:22-24 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

“22The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 24No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

 

The Eye is Discernment

 

The human eye is not just representative of our body part which helps us to see or which might hinder us from seeing physically. The “eye” is also a word having to do with wisdom, judgment, discernment, and common sense, either excelling in it or failing in it. So this has to do also with spiritual insight with regard to good and to evil. Either we make right, just, and godly choices and decisions, or we make unrighteous, wicked, sinful, and ungodly choices with regard to how we live, and what we say, and who we obey.

 

If Your Eyes are Good

 

So, if our eyes (insight, judgment, discernment, wisdom) are good, of God, and not of our flesh, then our whole being will be full of light. And our whole being has to do with mind, body, heart, words, behaviors, attitudes, and values, i.e. the things we crave, and watch, and listen to, that they would not be against God; that they would not be sinful and evil. And light is Jesus/God, and light is truth and righteousness, and it is the gospel of our salvation and holy living and obedience to our Lord’s commands, in practice.

 

If Your Eyes are Bad

 

But if our eyes (wisdom, judgments) are bad (evil, wicked, sinful, immoral), then our whole being will be full of darkness (the opposite of light, i.e. what is evil and sinful). The evil will permeate our whole being, what we think, what we speak, how we respond to people and to situations, the choices that we make, and what we take into our minds and hearts and ears and eyes. For this all comes down to what we obey – God? Or sin? God? Or self? Righteousness and obedience to God? Or selfish and fleshly desires?

 

You Can’t Serve Two Masters

 

No one can serve two masters (rulers, leaders, bosses). We can’t serve (bow to, obey, follow) both God and mammon (the treasure a person trusts in). So this isn’t limited to just God and money, but God and anything we treasure and obey and serve above God or in place of God in our lives. So Jesus is not our Lord if what we obey is sin, immorality, selfish desires, etc., and if we do not obey his commands (New Covenant and moral). And addiction (slavery) to sin will lead to hell and not to life eternal with God.

 

Choose, But Choose Wisely

 

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).

 

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]

 

You Can’t Have it Both Ways

An Original Work / July 26, 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

 

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

 

Caution: This link may contain ads

God Hates Lies

Psalm 5:4-6 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

4For You are not a God who delights in wickedness;

no evil can dwell with You.

5The boastful cannot stand in Your presence;

You hate all workers of iniquity.

6You destroy those who tell lies;

the LORD abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.

 

God Delights NOT in Wickedness

 

In so many of today’s modern market-driven institutional “churches,” partnered with the world and with the state (the government), they are teaching a diluted and altered gospel message which is giving sinners the freedom to keep on in their habitual and deliberate sins against God and against other humans. Many of them are welcoming into their gatherings those that outwardly display sinful acts, and they are embracing them, and they are not confronting them in their sin nor calling them to repentance.

 

Although Jesus had compassion on sinners, and he loved them, he never approved of their sin, but he called them to repentance and to obedience to God. Some who were repentant he told them, “Go and sin no more.” And with regard to the religious leaders in the temple who were hypocritical liars, who did not obey God, he had some strong words for them. And Jesus’ message to all is that to come to him we must deny self, die to sin, and obey his commands, as a matter of life practice, if we want eternal life with him.

 

If Jesus was still living in a human body, and if he was still on this earth, he would be overturning tables and chairs in these market-driven institutional “churches,” and he would be using a whip to drive out all who were teaching lies to the people, and who were embracing sin, and who were welcoming sinful acts into the gatherings of “the church.” And he would be telling the people to come out from among them who teach lies and who embrace sin lest they take part in their sin and become partners with them in sin. See:

 

[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]

 

God Hates Lies

 

We who believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, who have denied self, died with him to sin, and who are presently walking (in conduct, in practice) in obedience to his commands, and no longer as slaves to sin, should hate what God hates and love what God loves. Now we are not to hate other humans. We are to love all people. But love is preferring what God prefers, choosing his choices, and obeying them in practice. So if we love people, we will tell them the truth about what God will not approve.

 

We should be those who call out the lies, who expose the lies for what they are, and who are proclaiming the truth of God’s word to the people. We should be telling the people that God requires of all who believe in him that we deny self, that we turn from our sin, and that we now obey our Lord and his commands in practice. But this will not make us popular. This will not make us well liked among the people who are following after the lies and the liars. We may, in fact, lose many friends when we speak truth and not lies.

 

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).

 

See: [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]

 

God Hates Lies

An Original Work / July 26, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

For Our Nation 

 

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Recording Via Gerry Peters, music producer and arranger

 

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

 

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

 

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

 

Men deceiving: We’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

 

https://vimeo.com/379406352

Lead Me, O Lord, in Your Righteousness

Psalm 5:8-9 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

“8Lead me, O LORD, in Your righteousness

because of my enemies;

make straight Your way before me.

9For not a word they speak can be trusted;

destruction lies within them.

Their throats are open graves;

their tongues practice deceit.”

 

Make Straight Your Way

 

Who are the enemies of those of us whose trust is in the Lord, who follow the Lord wherever he leads us in doing whatever he has called us to do? They are all who are enemies of God, who choose to ignore God’s commands and to go their own way, instead. Now, they might not all be actively against us, attacking us, lying about us, and persecuting us, though some of them most likely will. But they are enemies of us because they are enemies of God, because they are opposed to God in order to please their own flesh.

 

For example, we have many men (mostly men) who serve as pastors of “church” congregations who are still living in sin, still living to please the flesh, and not God, who are teaching lies to the people. They have diluted the gospel message to make it less offensive and more attractive to the ungodly, so they are also teaching against the biblical gospel of Christ, calling it “works salvation.” And they are leading many people to reject the biblical gospel message that we who are following Christ are teaching.

 

So, although we may not know these people, and they might not know us, many of them are leading many people to reject the gospel taught by Jesus and by his New Testament apostles, taught in the correct biblical context. And they are leading many to believe that God makes no requirements of them other than to make a profession of faith in Jesus. They are leading the majority, it appears, to believe they don’t have to repent of their sins and they don’t have to obey God. And so we who teach the truth get rejected.

 

So, we who are holding to the truths of the Scriptures, and who are teaching the biblical gospel of our salvation, have many opponents who are teaching the opposite of what we are proclaiming. And so we get opposed by those who are believing the lies. And so we need the Lord to lead us in his righteousness and to give us the strength and courage to keep speaking the truth in the face of all opposition. We need the Lord to lead us on a straight path that teaches repentance and obedience to God for salvation from sin.

 

The Biblical Gospel of Salvation

 

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

 

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

 

For God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for Jesus’ return. For 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.

 

[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]

 

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

Our Delight in The Law of God

Psalms 1:1-6 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

“Blessed is the man

who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,

or set foot on the path of sinners,

or sit in the seat of mockers.

2But his delight is in the Law of the LORD,

and on His law he meditates day and night.

3He is like a tree planted by streams of water,

yielding its fruit in season,

whose leaf does not wither,

and who prospers in all he does.

4Not so the wicked!

For they are like chaff driven off by the wind.

5Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6For the LORD guards the path of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish.”

 

Counsel of The Wicked

 

Now, when this says “man,” it is not excluding women. It is speaking of all of mankind, of all humans, both male and female. We are the blessed of God who are of faith in Jesus Christ, who do not walk (in conduct, in practice) in the counsel (advice, instructions) of the wicked, i.e. of those who make sin their practice, who do evil as a matter of habit, and who may be those who are leading others to sin, whether or not they profess faith in Jesus Christ.

 

And we are not to set foot on the path of sinners. And who are “sinners”? They are all for whom sin is what they practice. And the Scriptures make that distinction clear. So, as followers of Christ we are not “sinners saved by grace,” but we are believers in Jesus Christ who have been delivered out of slavery to sin to serve Jesus Christ with our lives, by the grace of God. We are not to be those who are continuing in deliberate and habitual sin.

 

So, the “sinners” are not just those who have never made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, but they include many who profess faith in Jesus but who have not denied self, died to sin, and followed our Lord in obedience as a matter of life practice. Will we all be perfect? Probably not. But lack of perfection is never to be used as an excuse for deliberate and habitual sin. So we are not to walk in the ways of the unrighteous, of the ungodly.

 

The Law of The Lord

 

If our delight is truly in the Law (commands) of The Lord (God), which are now his commands under the New Covenant, we should be those whose desire it is and whose joy it is to obey the Lord, to do what his word teaches us as to how we ought to live, because we want to do what pleases the Lord. We want to follow his leading in our life. And so we meditate on the Word of God day and night to learn what it teaches so we do what it teaches us.

 

This isn’t just the “don’t do this” but “do this” commands such as don’t steal, but give to others, and don’t lie, but tell the truth, and don’t be adulterous, but be pure in heart and mind and behavior and be faithful. This has to do with totally surrendering our lives to the Lord, to his service, to go where he sends us, to do what he says to do, and to speak the words to the people which he gives us to speak, even knowing many will hate us in return.

 

But when we follow the Lord, and we obey him, and we go where he sends us, and we say to the people what he gives us to say, and we don’t let our opponents get the best of us, we bear fruit for the kingdom of God. Our lives begin to touch other people’s lives for the good. We make a difference in their lives in encouraging them in their walks of obedience to the Lord. Then they touch other people’s lives for the sake of the gospel of Christ, too.

 

Not So The Wicked

 

Again, please understand that the “wicked” are not just the “unsaved,” by human standards. They are all who live wickedly, for whom sin is still their practice and not obedience to our Lord’s commands. And this includes many people who profess Jesus as their Lord and Savior and who claim to be Christians, but whose life practices speak the opposite. For they are still living in slavery (addiction) to sin and not in holy living, pleasing to God.

 

And this includes many men (and some women) who serve as pastors of church congregations. So many men (and a number of women, too), even among those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, are living in spiritual and/or physical adultery against God, and against their spouses. And so many pastors and “church people” are giving them permission to live in sin while still claiming Jesus as Lord and Savior and heaven as their eternal destiny.

 

But on the day of judgment, those who have continued in addictive sin, even many of those who claim to believe in Jesus, but who have not surrendered their lives to God, to obey his commands in practice, they will hear God say, “Depart from me you workers of lawlessness. I never knew you.” But the righteous will hear God say, “Well done my good and faithful servants.” And they will have salvation from sin and eternal life with God guaranteed.

 

[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]

 

Our Delight in The Law of God

An Original Work / July 25, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah

 

Hymn lyrics by William Williams, pub.1745

tr. by Peter Williams, pub.1771

Music by John Hughes, 1907

 

Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,

Pilgrim through this barren land.

I am weak, but Thou art mighty;

Hold me with Thy powerful hand.

Bread of Heaven, Bread of Heaven,

Feed me till I want no more (2X).

 

Open now the crystal fountain,

Whence the healing stream doth flow;

Let the fire and cloudy pillar

Lead me all my journey through.

Strong Deliverer, strong Deliverer,

Be Thou still my Strength and Shield (2X).

 

Lord, I trust Thy mighty power,

Wondrous are Thy works of old;

Thou deliver’st thine from thralldom,

Who for naught themselves had sold.

Thou didst conquer, Thou didst conquer

Sin and Satan and the grave (2X).

 

When I tread the verge of Jordan,

Bid my anxious fears subside;

Death of deaths, and hell’s destruction,

Land me safe on Canaan’s side.

Songs of praises, songs of praises,

I will ever give to Thee. Amen (2X).

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7G59DKf-AI

 

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