Do Not Prefer the World

1 John 2:15-17 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

“15Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world. 17The world is passing away, along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God remains forever.”

 

Love Means to Prefer

 

The word “love” in the Greek is “agapaó,” and it means “to prefer.” It is most often used in the Scriptures with regard to preferring what God prefers, to choosing his choices, and to obeying them in his power. It has to do with preferring all that is holy, righteous, godly, morally pure, upright, faithful, honest, and obedient to God and to his commands. But in this current context here it is speaking of loving (preferring) the world, which would be to prefer what is sinful, wicked, immoral, dishonest, and unfaithful.

 

Sadly, it appears as though the majority of those professing faith in Jesus Christ here in the USA are in the category of preferring the world over and above God. For so many are believing a cheapened form of the gospel of Christ which states that we don’t have to repent of (die to) sin or obey God, and we can still be saved and on our way to heaven. Or they may teach that we should obey God and put sin to death, but they don’t require that for salvation from sin and for eternal life with God, although God indeed does!

 

Preferring The World

 

So, if we prefer the desires (lusts) of the flesh, the desires (lusts) of the eyes, and the pride (empty boasting, arrogance, wandering, roaming) of life in this sinful world, this is in place of preferring what God prefers. This is not of God but of human sinful flesh. So this has to do with preferring to sin deliberately and habitually rather than to obey God and to live holy lives. It is preferring sexual immorality to moral purity, and lies to honesty, and adultery to faithfulness to both God/Jesus and to marriage partners, etc.

 

What does this say about if we prefer what is of the world over and in place of what is of God? It says that the love of the Father is not in us. And this is taught all throughout the New Testament, not in these same exact words, but with the same message. For we are taught that if our faith in Christ is genuine biblical faith that it will result in us repenting of (dying to) sin and obeying our Lord. But if disobedience to God and sinful practices are what remain, and what we do in practice, we don’t have eternal life with God.

 

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

 

The World is Passing Away

 

So we must pay close attention to what this teaches us because our salvation is dependent on us knowing and believing the truth and not the lies. A true believer in Jesus Christ should be dedicated to the Lord and to his service with a hunger for God and his truth, and with a sincere desire to do his will. So, if you profess faith in Jesus Christ, convinced that heaven is now your eternal destiny and that all your sins are forgiven, but then you continue in deliberate and habitual sin, and not in walks of obedience to our Lord’s commands, you do not have salvation from sin and eternity with God.

 

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).

 

Do Not Prefer the World

An Original Work / July 18, 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

If We Obey His Commands

1 John 2:1-2 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

1My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

 

If Anyone Does Sin

 

The whole purpose of why Jesus Christ died on that cross was to put our sins to death with him. And he put our sins to death with him and he rose from the dead in victory over sin, death, hell, and Satan so that, by biblical faith in him, we will now deny self, die to sin, and walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commandments (New Covenant) as a matter of life practice, by the Spirit, in the power of God. Therefore, we are to be dead to sin and alive to God and to obeying his commands in life practice, by God’s grace.

 

But this is not a guarantee that we will never sin again. We are still human. So we are still susceptible to sin. So, if we do sin, Jesus Christ is our advocate to God the Father. We do not lose our salvation if we should happen to sin. But please don’t stop reading there. For the Scriptures make it abundantly clear that if we continue in sin and in disobedience to our Lord and his commandments, and if righteousness, holiness, and obedience to our Lord are not what we practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God.

 

1 John 2:3-6 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

3By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments. 4If anyone says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5But if anyone keeps His word, the love of God has been truly perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him: 6Whoever claims to abide in Him must walk as Jesus walked.

 

If We Keep His Commandments

 

So, it all comes down to what we practice. What is our lifestyle? Are our lives committed to obedience to our Lord and to his commands and to no longer living as slaves to sin? Or do we take God’s grace for granted thinking that now that we have been forgiven our sins that we can go on living in sin and God is still going to let us into his heaven? And this is where we need to know what the Scriptures teach us on that subject, for faith in Jesus Christ is not permission to keep living in sin and in disobeying God’s commands.

 

So, the way in which we can be sure that we have come to know Christ, and that our faith is genuine biblical faith which saves and which promises eternal life with God, is if we keep (obey) our Lord’s commands (New Covenant). We do NOT have to keep the Old Covenant liturgical, ceremonial, sacrificial, purification, circumcision, dietary, and Sabbath laws. But we still need to keep God’s moral laws. Sin must no longer be our practice, but obedience to our Lord must now be what we practice, in the power of God.

 

Therefore, if we claim that we know God – Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit – by a profession of faith in him, but sin and disobedience to our Lord’s commands are still what we practice, by habit, by lifestyle, then we are liars who do not live by the truth. Might we still sin sometimes? It is possible. But we should no longer be engaged in deliberate and habitual sin. So we need to be people of God who obey our Lord’s commands in life practice. And Jesus Christ is our model for how we are to live in righteous and holy living.

 

[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]

 

If We Obey His Commands

An Original Work / July 18, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

Trust and Obey 

 

Words by John H. Sammis, 1887

Music by Daniel B. Towner, 1887

 

When we walk with the Lord

in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will,

He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.

 

Not a shadow can rise,

not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear,

not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.

 

Not a burden we bear,

not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief or a loss,

not a frown or a cross,
But is blessed if we trust and obey.

 

But we never can prove

the delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows,

for the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.

 

Then in fellowship sweet

We will sit at His feet.
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way.
What He says we will do,

Where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.

 

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB4KcleYiWM

 

Caution: This link may contain ads

To Fulfill All Righteousness

Matthew 3:11-12 Summary

 

John the Baptist, in preparation for Jesus Christ and his ministry, baptized many people with water for repentance. And repentance means a change of mind and heart, resulting in a change of behavior. Throughout Scripture, to repent means to turn away from sin, thus resulting in a heart transformation of the Spirit of God, and then turning to follow Christ in obedience - putting off our old flesh and putting on our new lives in Christ Jesus, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (see Ephesians 4:17-24).

 

Then John the Baptist talked about Jesus Christ, the Messiah, as the one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. When we trust in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, via repentance, turning from sin and turning to walk by faith in Christ Jesus, to obey him, by the power and working of the Spirit in our lives in new birth (spiritual birth), we die with Christ to sin and we are resurrected with Christ to walk in newness of life in him. Jesus, thus, baptizes us with his Spirit in the regeneration of our lives.

 

Jesus will also baptize us with fire. Fire has to do with judgment, and the New Testament teaches that God judges (disciplines; corrects; punishes; rebukes; chastises) his own for the purpose of purifying them and making them holy, and/or to get his wandering ones to return to their “first love.” He does this because he loves us, and because he wants us to be in a right relationship with him. And so he allows us to go through difficulties to test our faith and to make us into the people he wants us to be for his service.

 

So when Jesus baptizes with fire, he will do what is necessary to get all those who profess his name to submit to him as Lord, to obey his commands, and to walk in his ways and in his righteousness. And he will separate those who give him lip service only from those who are walking in obedience to him in holy living, empowered by God. And all who called him, “Lord,” but did not obey his commands, will hear him say, “I never knew you. Depart from me you workers of lawlessness” (see Matthew 7:21-23).

 

Matthew 3:13-17 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

13At that time Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14But John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by  You, and do You come to me?”

 

15“Let it be so now,” Jesus replied. “It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness in this way.” Then John permitted Him.

 

16As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. Suddenly the heavens were opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and resting on Him. 17And a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!”

 

So, John baptized people with water for repentance. Did Jesus need to repent? No! He did not! Jesus (God incarnate) was not born with a sin nature as we are, and he never sinned against God while he lived on the earth. In that way he could be our perfect “lamb” sacrifice for our sins on that cross in putting our sins to death with him, and in being raised from the dead victorious over sin, death, hell, and Satan, so that by biblical faith in him we might die with him to sin and be raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but as servants of righteousness.

 

Why did Jesus ask to be baptized of John? What did he mean by, “It is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness in this way.” How so? Did Jesus’ baptism change who he was? No! Did it alter his character? No! So, he didn’t come up out of the water a different man from who he was before he went under the water? Correct! So what purpose did it serve? Well, the word “fulfill” can mean to verify or coincide with a prediction. And what happened as a result? Jesus Christ was validated to be the beloved Son of God, the Messiah the people had long awaited and the one John had told the people about.

 

But what did Jesus’ baptism represent? I believe it represented what was soon to take place, which was his death on that cross, in putting our sins to death with him, and his burial, and his resurrection from the dead in victory over sin, hell, Satan and death. And when we are baptized in water, it represents what happened when we believed in Jesus. For by faith in him we are buried with him in death to sin and we are raised with him to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but as servants of righteousness. And it serves as a testimony of our faith in Jesus Christ.

 

So, please know that the Scriptures do not teach that if we go through the waters of baptism that that is what saves us from our sins. And they do not teach that if we are not baptized in water that we will not have salvation from sin. Jesus’ baptism was a testimony of who he was before he was baptized, and who he remained. And when we go through the waters of baptism it symbolizes and testifies to our faith in Jesus Christ in dying to sin and in being raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as servants of God and of his righteousness.

 

[Matthew 3:13-17; Matthew 10:11-12; Mark 10:37-39; John 1:29-34; Acts 9:15-18; Acts 10:44-48; Acts 18:7-8; Acts 22:12-16; Romans 6:1-7]

 

To Fulfill All Righteousness

An Original Work / July 17, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

Your Love Offering 

 

An Original Work / September 13, 2011

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

Thank You, Lord, for Your love, dying on a tree,

So we’d be forgiven, live eternally.

Thank You for Your kindness, Your love offering,

When You shed Your blood so we could be set free.

Thank You, Lord, for Your cross, dying for our sins,

So we’d live in vict’ry, purified within.

 

Thank You, Lord, for Your life You gave for our sin,

Giving us a new life, we’re made whole within.

Thank You for Your mercy. You paid what we owe.

When we turn from our sin, Your grace freely flows.

Thank You, Lord, for conq’ring death and sin and hell,

So we’d walk in freedom, with You now to dwell.

 

Thank You, Lord, that You will soon come for Your bride.

Perfectly You made her to with You abide.

Thank You for Your Spirit; Our God, three in One,

Giveth us salvation, through God’s only Son.

Thank You, Lord, for Jesus! He’s our King of kings!

He will reign forever! Our praise to Him bring!!

 

https://vimeo.com/126318258

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).

 

[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]

 

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

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.

 

[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]

 

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 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]

 

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