Out With the Old, In With The New

“Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:25-32 NASB1995)

So many people today are being taught that all they have to do is give a verbal confession of faith in Jesus Christ, in one form or another, and now all their sins are forgiven, and heaven is guaranteed them when they die, but regardless of what they do with Jesus from that moment forward, and regardless of how they live in conduct and in practice. For they are being taught that not being saved by our own works means that nothing else is required of them, and that no works at all are required of them. But…

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” “For Jesus “gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.” (Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 2:14 NASB1995)

So, there are works, which are of the flesh, and there are works which are of God which he had prepared beforehand that we should walk in them as part of our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord and to his commands. Yes, we are not saved by our own works, of our own doing, thinking that we can earn our own way into heaven. But our salvation is deliverance from the power of sin over our lives so we will now walk free from addiction to sin. And it is empowerment of God to walk in obedience to his commands, too.

So, all throughout the New Testament writings the church was taught that they must die to sin and obey God as part of the God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ which saves. And if they were straying from that, they were exhorted over again that they must put their old lives of sin to death, by the Spirit, and that they must now walk in obedience to the Lord and to his commands in holy living, in the power of God. And we are warned that if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to God, we have not life with God.

Therefore, as those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, we must put sin away from our bodies, by the Spirit, and we must walk in obedience to our Lord’s commands. This doesn’t mean we will be perfect in every way from that moment forward or that we will never sin again (1 John 2:1-2). But God does “draw a line in the sand,” so to speak, when he lets us know that if sin is our deliberate and habitual practice, and obedience to God is not what we practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God, no matter what we profess.

And so that is why we have many repetitions of what this is teaching us here in Ephesians 4:17-32, where we are being taught the kinds of things which must be put out of our lives, and the kinds of things which then must be put on in our lives in place of the things that we got rid of. For many people will try to stop sinning, in practice, in their own strength, but then they will go right back to living how they lived before. Why? Because nothing changed in  their hearts, for one, and because they were not becoming someone new.

So, by faith in Jesus Christ, we put out of our lives all that is of the flesh and of sin, and we replace those sinful practices with practices which are godly, honest, faithful, morally pure, upright, and committed to the Lord and to doing his will in what pleases him. But we do this in the power of God living within us and not in our own human strength. And we must keep on putting sin to death, by the Spirit, and walking in obedience to the Lord in doing what is good and upright and faithful in service to God and loving and kind.

For it is possible for us to grieve the Holy Spirit of God if we go on living in sin and for self and by the flesh, and if obedience to our Lord is not what we practice. And if we choose to ignore our Lord’s exhortations to put sin to death in our lives and to now obey him and his commands, we are warned that if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to God, that we will not have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls Jesus “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God the Father.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 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 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

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

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Out With the Old, In With the New

An Original Work / April 30, 2025 

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Lay Aside the Old Self

“So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” (Ephesians 4:17-24 NASB1995)

If our faith in Jesus Christ is God-persuaded, God-honoring, and God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, of the Spirit, and not of human flesh, we should have been 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 now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. Sin should no longer have mastery over our lives. For if sin is what we obey, it leads to death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification, which ends in eternal life with God.

So this is an exhortation to all who are professing faith in Jesus Christ. We are no longer to walk (in conduct, in practice) as we did before we believed in Jesus, as those who are of no faith in Jesus Christ. We are not to be hardhearted and callous, giving ourselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. Why greediness? Because it is selfish greed that wants to continue in our sinful practices and which refuses to bow the knee to the Lord in humble submission to his commands.

For, if we were taught the message of the gospel, in truth, which not many are teaching anymore, we would have been taught the necessity of us denying self, putting sin to death by the Spirit, and following our Lord in walks of obedience to his commands, as necessary components of faith in Jesus Christ. For such faith is not of our own doing, but is persuaded of God, and is gifted to us by God, and thus it will align with God’s will and purpose for our lives, which is expressed for us all throughout the New Testament.

No longer should any of us be still walking in sin, making sin our practice. Willful, deliberate, and habitual sin is to have no part of the Christian life. Might we sin again? Yes, we might (1 John 2:1-2). And God’s grace will cover that. But if we deliberately and habitually, in direct opposition to our Lord and in defiance of his commands, commit sin against God and against other humans, with no genuine repentance, no turning from our sin to walks of obedience to his commands, then we will not have eternal life in God.

For the way we should have learned Christ, if we were taught the truth that is in Christ, is that, by God-gifted faith in him we lay aside (cast off) our old self, our former way of living in sin and for the lusts of the flesh and for self, and now we are reborn of the Spirit of God with renewed minds and hearts. And by the grace of God, and in the power of God, we now put on the new self, created in the likeness of God, which has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. And this is how we are to live day in/day out.

For Jesus Christ didn’t die on that cross just to forgive us our sins so that when we die we get to go to heaven, and not to hell. He died to put our sins to death with him to deliver us out of our slavery (bondage, addiction) to sin, so that we will now serve him with our lives in walks of obedience to his commands in holy living. And by faith in him we must continue in these walks of faith in obedience to our Lord and no longer in sin until the very end, and then when Jesus returns we will get to be with him for eternity.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 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 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

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

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Lay Aside the Old Self

An Original Work / April 30, 2025 

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Walking Worthy of The Calling

 

For The Work of Service

“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.” (Ephesians 4:11-16 NASB1995)

 

In Ephesians 1:22-23 we read “to the church, which is his body.” And we read in Colossians 1:24 “on behalf of his body, which is the church.” And the church is the ekklésia, the whole body of believers in Jesus Christ who have died with Christ to sin, and who have been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to God and to his righteousness (see Romans 6:1-23). We are the people of God, called out from the world and to God, who are now belonging to the Lord.

 

So, the church is not a building, not a church denomination, not an incorporation (merger, union) under the state, not a social club, not a civic center, and not a place (location) you go to once or twice a week to worship God. The church is the body of believers in Jesus Christ whose purpose it is to gather together any days of the week at any location, at any time of day or night, for the purpose of mutual encouragement and edification, and for the building up of the body of Christ to spiritual maturity in Christ.

 

Now, if we are of genuine biblical faith in the Lord Jesus, then we are Christ’s body, and individually members of it. And the Holy Spirit has gifted us individually with spiritual gifts. And God has placed the members of the body, each one of them, in the body, just as he desired. And, as individual body members, we are to be encouraging one another in our walks of faith in obedience to our Lord so that we are not led astray by the deceitfulness of sin nor by wolves in sheep’s clothing trying to send us the wrong way.

 

And there are certain people within the body of Christ who God has appointed to equip us, the saints of God, his holy people, for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ. And this equipping is to be done on a biblical and spiritual level, and not via marketing schemes and business models which so many are using today to “grow their churches.” And we are all to have a part as ministers of Christ within the body of Christ in helping one another to spiritual maturity in Christ, as each part works.

 

Now, this is not to say that we are all to be pastors, elders, and deacons, i.e. people within the body of Christ who are to serve as overseers. The Bible gives us many strict requirements for those who would take such positions as this. And women are not to serve in those positions of authority over men unless there is a shortage of spiritually qualified men to fill the positions. For we should take seriously the spiritual qualifications for those who are to serve in positions of leadership within the body of Christ, his church.

 

For how can we be equipped for the work of the ministry if the people in positions of leadership are not equipped themselves for biblical ministry within the body of Christ, for they fail to meet the biblical requirements? And so many of them are just showmen and marketeers who are following business models and marketing schemes. And how will all this work if “the church” is not the biblical body of Christ working together to help one another to maturity in Christ, but they are businesses under the state?

 

But as members of the body of Christ, each one of us is to minister to the others as we are led by the Holy Spirit. And so we are to speak the truth of God and of the Scriptures (taught in context) to one another for our mutual encouragement and spiritual growth so that we don’t end up being taken captive by the trickery and deceitfulness and cunning and craftiness of certain people who are not following the Lord. And we are to exhort one another every day so none of us will be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

 

So, the purpose of our gatherings, which can be every day or many days per week in any appropriate locations, even on the internet, is for the mutual edification of the body of Christ, as each part does its work, as we have been equipped to do so by those who are spiritually qualified to prepare us for the work of the ministry, and/or by the Holy Spirit himself. These gatherings are not to be market-driven shows put on for the world to attract the world. We, the body of Christ, are to meet together for our mutual encouragement.

 

[Acts 2:42-47; Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 1 Corinthians 14:1-5; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:15-21; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:12-16; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20]

 

Fit for Service

 

An Original Work / October 5, 2011

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

Holy Spirit, come within us.

Cleanse our hearts,

and from sin free us.

Make us holy vessels fit

for service to the King.

Fill us with Your love and power.

Anoint us within this hour

To be living witnesses

For Jesus Christ, our King.

Our praise to Him bring.

 

Father God, our heart’s desire,

Come and speak to us in power.

Revive our hearts to obey You;

Live for You always.

May we love and serve You only,

Walking with You;

Not a phony.

May we always tell the truth,

And show integrity.

Your true servants be.

 

Jesus, Savior, sanctify us.

Purify our hearts within us;

Be transformed into Your likeness,

Holy unto You.

May we always listen to You

Speaking Your words

Now within us.

May we heed Your counsel to us;

Follow You today.

Do all that You say.

 

https://vimeo.com/113979906

 

For The Work of Service

An Original Work / April 30, 2025

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Those Who Rebel Against The Light

“Others have been with those who rebel against the light;

They do not want to know its ways

Nor abide in its paths.

The murderer arises at dawn;

He kills the poor and the needy,

And at night he is as a thief.

The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight,

Saying, ‘No eye will see me.’

And he disguises his face.

In the dark they dig into houses,

They shut themselves up by day;

They do not know the light.

For the morning is the same to him as thick darkness,

For he is familiar with the terrors of thick darkness.” (Job 24:13-17 NASB1995)

This was Job speaking. He was concerned over the wicked who practice evil deeds. They are those who rebel against the light. And what is the light? Biblically it is Jesus Christ, and it is truth, righteousness, and the gospel of our salvation. And this light teaches us that, by God-honoring and God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, we must die with Christ to sin and live to him and to his righteousness in walks of obedience to his commands, by his grace.

And what does it mean to rebel? It means to protest, to defy, to resist, and to fight against. So if someone rebels against the light, he defies and he fights against the Lord Jesus and his gospel message and the idea of having to die to (forsake, repent of) his sins and of having to obey our Lord’s commands. For he wants the blessings of God without the conditions, for he wants to live for self and for his own good pleasure, and not for God.

So, what do these rebels then do? Some of them become murderers who kill at will whomever they wish, or just those who rub them the wrong way, or just those who they believe don’t have a right to exist, who they regard as worthless and of no value to them. And murder doesn’t have to be just killing someone physically, but you can kill (defeat, shoot down, destroy) people with your words, and with how you treat them, too.

The rebels also willfully, deliberately, and habitually commit adultery against their spouses who they professed to love and to cherish and to be faithful to when they took their marriage vows. And adultery is not just having physical sexual relations with another person, but it can be to willfully look lustfully at another person, or to be addicted to pornography and to self-gratification, or to be in an extramarital romantic relationship, cheating on one’s spouse.

And those who do such things as these usually do them in secret when they think no one else can see what they are doing. And then they lie to cover up for their sins, either before or after the sinful act. And they will put on a performance to try to appear the opposite of what they are doing in secret, hoping to fool their spouses into not being suspicious about their actions. But a wise spouse should know the spouse’s addictive behaviors.

And this brings to mind John 3:19-21 NASB1995:

“This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

So, we can’t love God and love sin, too. This is not saying we will be perfect people in every respect, or that we will never sin again (1 John 2:1-2), but the Scriptures continually make a distinction between those who make sin their practice, and those who make righteousness their practice, and between those who make disobedience to God their practice, and those who obey the Lord and his commands willfully, in practice, by God’s grace.

And Jesus Christ and his New Testament apostles taught that if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to our Lord’s commandments, that we will not have salvation from sin, and we will not inherit eternal life with God. For those who love their sin, which is evident by what they practice, cannot love God. For love for God is obedience to his commands, and it is putting sin to death in our lives, by the Spirit. So we need to take this to heart!

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 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 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

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

Those Who Rebel Against The Light

An Original Work / April 29, 2025 

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

What Jesus Thinks

Don’t worry ‘bout what others say

Or what they think of you.

But be concerned what Jesus thinks

About you, and be true.

For we were put upon the earth

To please God with our lives,

To do His will, to sin forsake,

So in Him we survive.

For Jesus died upon that cross

To put our sins to death,

So we will die with Him to sin,

Live in His righteousness.

And Jesus called us to obey,

To walk with Him in truth,

To sacrifice our lives to Him,

No longer be uncouth.

He calls us into fellowship

With Him, give up ourselves,

So we will follow where He leads,

And in His mercy dwell.

He has a plan for each our lives

To live for Him each day,

To read the Scriptures, take them in,

And follow in His ways.

The Spirit gives us gifts to share

With those of faith in Christ,

So we can help each other grow

In faith, in love, in life.

So listen for the call of God

And answer, “Here am I,”

And be ye willing to obey

Our Lord until you die.

An Original Work / April 29, 2025 

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Is He Not There?

“Behold, I go forward but He is not there,

And backward, but I cannot perceive Him;

When He acts on the left, I cannot behold Him;

He turns on the right, I cannot see Him.

But He knows the way I take;

When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

My foot has held fast to His path;

I have kept His way and not turned aside.

I have not departed from the command of His lips;

I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.” (Job 23:8-12 NASB1995)

 

Do you ever get so overwhelmed by your trials and your tribulations that it seems to you as though God is silent, as though he is not listening, or as though you cannot perceive his presence? You pray, but it as though there is a wall now standing between you and God, and you can no longer hear his voice. And you want to hear him. You need to hear him. Even though you know he has not left you, still you want that reassurance that he is there.

 

That is where Job was. And he had definitely been “put through the ringer,” i.e. he had been subjected to very difficult and trying and unpleasant and painful experiences. First his livestock, then his servants, then his children were put to death at the hands of Satan. Then Satan attacked his physical body with sore boils, from head to foot. And then his friends began accusing him falsely of sin, as the reason for why he was facing all these difficulties.

 

And sometimes it will be like that for us, too, for “when it rains it pours,” i.e. sometimes our trials and tribulations tend to follow each other in rapid succession or to arrive all at the same time. So just as we are dealing with one difficult situation, another occurs, and then another and another, to where we might feel, at times, as though we cannot possibly have one more difficult situation or we will absolutely fall to pieces and burst into tears.

 

I have been there many times, so I know what that feels like. And I don’t like it at all when I feel as though I can’t hear from God, not that I can’t read his word and get something from it, I can. But sometimes I pray about a situation and I don’t sense his leading one way or another. And I think that sometimes God is silent as a way of testing our faith, to see if we will remain faithful even at times when we feel that he is not present with us.

 

And this doesn’t mean at all that God is not present, or that he is not working on our behalf, or that he cannot hear our prayers, or that he is not answering our prayers in one way or another. But when he is silent, this just encourages us to trust him more and to believe him and his word even when we cannot hear him, and even when we don’t see him working on our behalf. For he will test our faith in order to grow us in our faith to maturity in him.

 

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-39; Matt 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 12:49-53; Luke 21:12-19; John 15:1-21; John 16:33; John 17:14; Acts 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Eph 6:10-20; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]

 

But let me say here that if you are someone who professes faith in Jesus Christ, but you are not living for the Lord, and you are not walking in obedience to his commands, but you are still living in sin to please the flesh, then God is not going to be listening to your prayers. For, according to the Scriptures, you do not know God, you are not in fellowship with him, and so you don’t have life in him. You are not in genuine relationship with God.

 

So, this passage of Scripture is intended for those who do love the Lord, who are walking in his ways, whose walks of faith have held fast to His path, and who have kept His way, and who have not turned aside from the Lord to follow after the desires of the flesh and the ways of this sinful world. This is for those who have not departed from the commands of God, but who have treasured the words of God more than physical and necessary food.

 

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are going to go through trials and tribulations to test our faith. And part of those trials may include feelings of the loss of the presence of God, and feelings that we cannot hear him answering our request, as though he is far away from us, when actually he is still there, and he is working, even when we cannot see him working. For Satan loves to attack us in our emotions, so we can’t rely on our feelings.

 

For our faith in Jesus Christ is not based in what we feel but in what we do in love response to what he did for us. For when Jesus died on that cross it was to put our sins to death with him so that we will die with Christ 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 slaves to God and to his righteousness, in walks of obedience to his commands in holy living, in the power of God, by the grace of God.

 

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 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 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

 

Just a Closer Walk with Thee  

 

Hymn lyrics by Anonymous/Unknown

Music by American Melody

 

“For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you” (2 Co. 13:4 NASB).

 

I am weak, but Thou art strong;

Jesus, keep me from all wrong;

I’ll be satisfied as long

As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.

 

Through this world of toil and snares,

If I falter, Lord, who cares?

Who with me my burden shares?

None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.

 

When my feeble life is o’er,

Time for me will be no more;

Guide me gently, safely o’er

To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore.

 

Just a closer walk with Thee,

Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,

Daily walking close to Thee,

Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6Ks49apflE

 

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Is He Not There?

An Original Work / April 29, 2025

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Shall We Accept Only Good From God?

 

A Righteous Man Who Suffered

Job was a righteous man, a man of God who worshipped the Lord in truth and in righteousness. But God permitted Satan to attack him. First Satan had all his livestock and most all his servants and all his children put to death. But in all that Job did not sin nor did he blame God, but he said,

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,

And naked I shall return there.

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21 NASB1995)

But then God permitted Satan to attack Job’s body with sore boils, from head to foot. And when Job’s wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!” he replied, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips. (see Job 2:1-10)

But then Job’s friends came to console him. And Job’s suffering was so great that he wished that he had never been born. And then Job’s friends began to accuse him falsely of sinning against God as the reason for his suffering. Job countered their words with the truth of his integrity, but his friends would not listen, and they continued to accuse him wrongfully of sin as the reason for his suffering, which then only added more suffering on to him.

But then Job did begin to complain to God about his suffering and to question the sovereignty of God over his life. For, not only had he gone through what he had already endured, by the grace of God, but now he was being faced with even more suffering at the hands of his friends and his relatives, and his servants, too. And he felt abandoned by all, including he felt abandoned by God. But in all of that, this is what he said:

“Oh that my words were written!

Oh that they were inscribed in a book!

That with an iron stylus and lead

They were engraved in the rock forever!

As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,

And at the last He will take His stand on the earth.

Even after my skin is destroyed,

Yet from my flesh I shall see God;

Whom I myself shall behold,

And whom my eyes will see and not another.

My heart faints within me!” (Job 19:23-27 NASB1995)

I admit that I was a bit amused by Job’s statement here wishing that his words were written down and inscribed in a book and that they were engraved in the rock forever. For his words were written down, and they are inscribed in a book which is called “The Bible”. And they have been preserved for us for thousands of years, down through many generations of people, to teach us about suffering and how we must endure unjust suffering in this life for the sake of righteousness, and for our spiritual maturity.

For in all that Job suffered, and even through some of his complaints, too, which in human terms were justifiable, he did not curse God and die. Yes, he sometimes questioned God’s justice and his sovereignty during this time of suffering, not only in his body, but at the hands of his friends and relatives. But he remained faithful to the Lord, and his faith in God did not fail. For he knew that even after his skin was destroyed that he would see God. He knew his relationship with God was on solid ground and that he would see God.

But then Job had some words of counsel to his friends who were judging him unfairly, unjustly, and falsely:

“If you say, ‘How shall we persecute him?’ 

And ‘What pretext for a case against him can we find?’

Then be afraid of the sword for yourselves,

For wrath brings the punishment of the sword,

So that you may know there is judgment.” (Job 19:28-29 NASB1995)

Have you ever had this done to you? Have you had others, even other “Christians,” persecute you without cause, and accuse you falsely of what you did not do? I have, more than once. The Lord even had me write a short book about those persecutions, too, and of how he helped me to overcome them in his strength. The book is titled, “The Church Under Fire” (1).

So, what was Job’s counsel to his friends who were persecuting him unjustly? They should fear the judgments of God on their lives. For in the end we will all stand before the Lord on a day of judgment when we will be judged of God and we will receive our rewards for the deeds done in the body. And for those who are living for the Lord, in walks of obedience to his commands, and not in sin, eternal life with God is our reward.

But for those who are living in opposition to God and to his word, and for whom obedience to the Lord is not their practice, but sinning against God is their practice, they will not inherit eternal life with God, but they will face the wrath of God because they did not submit to the Lord and to his commands, but they continued in their sins and in living for the flesh, and not for God. So, we need to take this seriously, because God certainly does!

[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

P.S. But this is not to say that we are all going to be perfect in this life in every way, or that we will never sin again, or that we are going to hell even if we sin at all. And I don’t really know what Job had in mind exactly when he warned his friends of the judgment of God. But I do know that if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to God, we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what our lips profess. So do take this seriously!

Songs in the Night  

An Original Work / December 18, 2013

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 NIV ‘84

Lord, I praise You forevermore.

You, my Savior, I now adore.

Hope in heaven awaiting me,

Because You died at Calvary.

I have been forgiven,

And I’m bound for heaven.

Jesus set me free from

All my sin, I say.

I will praise Him always!

Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:

Overcame death, my vict’ry won!

Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!

I rejoice in His love for me.

I will walk in vict’ry!

My sin is but hist’ry!

I am free to please Him

With my life today.

I will love Him always!

Lord, I thank You for giving me

A new life bought at Calvary.

Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.

Tender mercies now flow within.

Lord, I am so thankful;

Through my Lord, I’m able

To sit at His table;

Fellowship with Him.

I will thank Him always!

https://vimeo.com/379484387

A Righteous Man Who Suffered

An Original Work / April 29, 2025 

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

(1) The Church Under Fire (edited)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LWcasDfyC8mMbKpydGAph29-gcJfopmC/view?usp=sharing 

Fellowship of The Spirit

“Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:1-4 NASB1995)

What should “encouragement in Christ” look like to us? Well, first of all we must know that biblical encouragement is not just the feel good stuff, and it is definitely not telling people lies just to make them feel good, either. For this word is not just about our comfort, but it also is an appeal, a holy urging, an entreaty, and an exhortation which must align with God and with his word, for the purpose to motivate believers in Christ to follow his plan.

And this word “consolation” has the same meaning as “encouragement.” And this “love” is agape love which centers in moral preference and which means to prefer, in this case to prefer what God prefers, choosing his choices, and obeying them in his power. It means to prefer, too, all that is holy, godly, morally pure, upright, honest, faithful, and obedient to our Lord and to his commands. And our behaviors are proof of what we really prefer, too.

And if we are in fellowship with Christ, by God-honoring and God-gifted faith in him, then we are in a covenant relationship with him, which is a spiritual marriage to Christ whereby we are in partnership with him in contributory participation and help much like a bride would be toward her husband. For if we claim to be in fellowship with Christ, but we walk in sin, then we are liars who do not live by the truth. We must work with Christ in obedience to him.

And all affection we have for one another, unless we are married to the person, must be conducted with the most proper stipulations for ways in which we can express this affection for one another. For many people in the gatherings of churches end up in immoral relationships with one another because they had no specific guidelines and stipulations set in motion for how to conduct themselves with other Christians in church gatherings.

And for us to be of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose with one another, we must first of all be of the same mind with Christ, maintaining this agape love, united in spirit with the Lord, and intent on one purpose, which is the purpose that God has for our lives. And then we can be united in this way with other believers in Christ who are also united with the Lord in the same respect, going his way.

And what is that one purpose? Well it is the purpose for which Jesus gave his life up for us on that cross, that we might now die with him to sin and be raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness in walks of obedience to his commands in holy living, in his power, by his grace. So the purpose is that we all might live holy lives, pleasing to our Lord.

Therefore, we should not be selfish people, wanting our own way. But our desire should be for the Lord to obey him, and to do his will. And we should desire his will for all people, that they would all come to surrender their lives to Jesus Christ, to make him Lord and Master of their lives, to submit to his Lordship over their lives, and to deny self and to put sin to death daily, by the Spirit, so that they can now live holy lives, pleasing to God.

For if sin is what we practice, and not righteousness, and not walks of obedience to our Lord, in practice, the Scriptures teach us that we will not have salvation from sin, and we will not inherit eternal life with God. So we should be those who are speaking the truth of the gospel to all people so that many will deny self, die to sin daily, by the Spirit, and walk with the Lord in obedience to his commands, doing his will that he has for us all.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 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 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

For Our Nation  

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

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

Fellowship of The Spirit

An Original Work / April 28, 2025 

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Be Kind

We do not have to agree,

Nor must we see eye to eye,

But polite, that we can be

If we want to, if we try.

Nastiness is immature.

Slandering, it has no place.

Insults, they are like manure

Being slapped onto one’s face.

Why must you dig in the dirt

Just to try to make a point?

Can’t you find a kinder way,

Or must you be out of joint?

Speak the truth, but speak in love.

Don’t put on your boxing gloves.

We can speak without a fight

If we learn to speak it right.

This not saying compromise.

This not saying to back down.

This just saying, be mature,

Learn to differ, not put-down.

Being nasty goes nowhere.

Being spiteful makes no sense.

Being hateful only hurts

Others who you may resent.

Truth is kind, though, tell it well.

Speak the truth and not the lies.

Tell how we must now repent,

And on Christ we must rely.

Love does not mean alter truth,

Pacify the caught in sin.

Tell how we must obey God,

And our sins we must relent.

An Original Work / April 28, 2025 

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

For His Good Pleasure

 

Holding Fast The Word of Life

“Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain. But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all. You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.” (Philippians 2:14-18 NASB1995)

As followers of Jesus Christ, we should not be people who fight and quarrel with one another, who get mean and nasty, and who revert to name calling and all sorts of other despicable practices. This does not mean that we cannot or that we should not refute the lies and proclaim the truth of God’s word, and call out sin for what it is, and call people to forsake their lives of sin and to now follow Jesus in walks of obedience to the Lord. We should! We must be those who speak the truth in love to one another for their welfare.

For speaking the truth in love to one another is love, for it speaks the truth that the people need to hear in order for them to follow the truth of God’s word in righteous living and in obedience to the Lord, and to no longer live in sin. For so many people today who are professing faith in Jesus Christ are being taught that they do not have to die to their sins and that they do not have to obey God. They are being told that is “works salvation.” But it is God’s salvation that Jesus and his New Testament apostles taught.

For we who believe in Jesus with God-gifted and God-persuaded and God-honoring faith in the Lord, we will die with Christ to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, in walks of obedience to our Lord in holy living. This doesn’t make us perfect people, or indicate that we will never sin again (1 John 2:1-2), but that we should be children of God who take him and his word seriously, and whose lives are surrendered to the Lord to doing his will and purpose for our lives. We want to live for Jesus to do what pleases him.

But we live in a world today where Christianity, at least here in the USA, has been compromised with the world in order to appease human flesh and to not offend the ungodly of the world. And so the character of God/Christ, and of his church, and of his gospel, have all been altered to make them more acceptable to the flesh of humans, and in order to attract the world to their gatherings. For so much of what is called “church” today are really human businesses being marketed to the world to draw the world to their meetings.

So, the gospel message that Jesus taught, and that his New Testament apostles taught, is taking a big hit. And phrases like “die to sin” and “obey God” are often being removed entirely in favor of a more friendly and all inclusive “gospel” message. So many have reduced belief in Jesus Christ to a mere verbal profession of him as Lord and Savior, but with no commitment to have a transformed life of the Spirit, departing from the practice of sin to now follow Jesus in walks of obedience to his commands, in practice.

But Jesus and his New Testament apostles taught that true faith, which comes from God, and which is persuaded of God, and which is not of our own doing, will result in us dying with Christ to sin and us being raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to God and to his righteousness. But if sin is still what we practice, and not obedience to our Lord, we do not have salvation from sin, and we do not have eternal life with God, but we will face the wrath of God, instead.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 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 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

So we need to take this to heart! We who profess faith in the Lord Jesus are to be living morally pure, upright, godly, self-controlled, honest, faithful, and obedient (to God) lives for the glory and praise of God, by his Spirit, in his power, and all because of what Jesus did for us on that cross. For in his death he put our sins to death with him so that we will now die to sin and walk in obedience to his commands. We are not to be partakers in this “crooked and perverse generation.” But we are to shine as lights of truth.

Nonetheless, many who are calling themselves “Christians,” and who are professing faith in Jesus Christ, convinced that all their sins are forgiven, and that heaven is now their eternal destiny, are still living for the flesh. They are still living by their emotions and by their sinful lusts, and they are walking in darkness (sin) and not in the light of the truth of God’s word. For they live in a world that is by their own design, and not by God’s design. And they do what pleases their flesh, and not what pleases Almighty God.

So, following Jesus Christ in walks of obedience to his commands is not what they do, in practice. They live to do what pleases their flesh, instead. Many of them, too, escape into a fantasy world of entertainment by their own design. And many of them get trapped into multiple addictive practices. And one of the biggest ones today is in the area of sexual immorality. For all people, children included, who have a smartphone connected to the internet, have at their fingertips an entire world of evil at their daily disposal.

So, if that is where you are; if that represents your life and your practices, and not righteous living, and not walks of obedience to the Lord’s commands, and not the putting of sin to death by the Spirit daily, in practice, please know that the Scriptures teach that you do not have salvation from sin, and you will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what your lips profess. Please read what the Scriptures teach in context, and do not depend on other humans to tell you the truth. Liars abound!

And for those of us who are speaking this truth to the people of this world, in particularly to all who profess faith in Jesus Christ, especially if we are doing so on a daily or a consistent basis, we are being faced with much opposition and rejection and people distancing themselves from us and criticizing us for our stand on the truths of God’s Word. For the majority have bought into an altered gospel which makes no requirements for death to sin and walks of obedience. So please read the Scriptures IN CONTEXT.

For Our Nation  

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

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

Holding Fast The Word of Life

An Original Work / April 28, 2025 

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Have This Attitude

“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:5-8 NASB1995)

Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, who is God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – left his throne in heaven, came to earth, humbled himself, and took on human form. He was born into this world as a human baby, but was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin Mary. So he was not born with a sin nature as we are. And while he lived on the earth, he was fully human and fully God (God incarnate). And he never sinned, although he was tempted as we are.

Now Jesus grew up to be a man, and at the age of 30 he began his time of ministry on the earth when he chose 12 men to be his disciples to work alongside him in ministry and to learn from him to be followers of Christ. Many of them went on to be the Lord’s apostles after he died and was raised from the dead and ascended back to the Father in heaven. But for 3 years Jesus ministered to the needs of the people, both to their physical and their spiritual needs, even healing, raising the dead, and casting out demons.

But many of the religious rulers and teachers of the law and the Scribes and Pharisees were opposed to Jesus and to his ministry and to his teaching. And they didn’t like it that he confronted them in their sins and called some of them out on their hypocrisy. They were jealous of his temporary popularity among the people, too, and they feared that their own positions of power might be in jeopardy. And they did not like it when he claimed to be God, who he was and is. And so they had him put to death on a cross.

[Isaiah 53:1-12; Matthew 26:26-29; Luke 17:25; John 1:1-36; John 6:35-58; John 8:24,58; John 10:27-33; John 20:28-29; Romans 5:8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 9:5; 1 Corinthians 11:23-32; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8; Ephesians 2:8-10; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 2:9; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:8-9; Hebrews 2:14-15; Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Peter 1:1]  

Now, they had no power over Jesus but what he allowed them to have. And his death was always part of God’s plan for us to save us from our sins and to give us new lives in him, surrendered to his will. For in Jesus’ death he put our sins to death with him so that, by God-honoring and God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in him, which is not of our own doing, we would die with him to sin and now live to him and to his righteousness in walks of obedience to his commands, by God’s grace, in his power, for his glory.

But Jesus didn’t stay dead. On the third day God resurrected him from the dead, and he appeared to many people over about 40 days before returning to God the Father in heaven. And then he sent his Holy Spirit, as he had promised, to indwell his followers and to teach them all things about Jesus, and to be their comforter, encourager, strength, helper, and guide. His presence within us who are followers of Jesus Christ is God within us. And the Holy Spirit speaks God’s truths to our hearts in our spirits.

Now we who believe in Jesus to be Lord and Savior of our lives are to take on that same attitude as what Jesus had. We are to humble ourselves and to be willing to die for the sake of Christ and for the sake of the gospel, in order to get the truth of the gospel of Christ out to the people of this world. But first we must 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 now as slaves to God and to his righteousness, in walks of obedience to his commands.

We must be willing to be despised and rejected of man, a people of sorrows and acquainted with grief. We must be willing to be thought crazy or odd or peculiar because we take God and his word seriously, and because we take the gospel message seriously, and because we believe its message, in its fulness, and so we share that message with the people of this world. For in today’s world, if you believe what the Bible teaches is the message of the gospel, you are likely to be disregarded and discarded by the majority.

But we must be willing to give it all up to follow Jesus with our lives. We must not hold on to this world or to the people of the world by putting them above God so that we will not be rejected and cast aside as unwanted and as unnecessary. Jesus Christ (God) has to be first in our lives. His will must be our will, and his choices our choices. And we must be obedient to our Lord and to his commands, even to the death. And we must be those who are spreading the gospel that Jesus and his apostles taught, in context.

And what they all taught mainly is that Jesus died on that cross, putting our sins to death with him, so we will now die to sin. And he was resurrected from the dead, in victory over sin and Satan, death and hell, so that we can now walk with him in obedience to his ways in victory over sin and Satan. And they taught that if obedience to God and the putting of sin to death is not our practice, but sin and disobedience to God are still our practice, that we will not have salvation from sin and eternal life with God in heaven.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 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 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

I Can Only Imagine

Song by Bart Millard

I can only imagine

What it will be like

When I walk by Your side

I can only imagine

What my eyes would see

When Your face is before me

Surrounded by Your glory

What will my heart feel?

Will I dance for you Jesus

Or in awe of You be still?

Will I stand in your presence

Or to my knees, will I fall?

Will I sing hallelujah?

Will I be able to speak at all?

I can only imagine, yeah

I can only imagine

When that day comes

And I find myself

Standing in the Son

I can only imagine

When all I will do

Is forever, forever worship You

I can only imagine, yeah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU0MwNpRq6M

Caution: This link may contain ads

Have This Attitude

An Original Work / April 28, 2025 

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

What He Purposed For Me

Now, once I was a sinner.

I lived to please myself.

My thoughts of what I wanted

I put not on a shelf.

I did what gave me pleasure.

I did just what I liked.

I did what brought enjoyment.

Myself took not a hike.

But Jesus called me to Him

To leave my sin behind,

To find my life now in Him,

No longer to be blind.

So I now follow Jesus

In doing what He says.

My life committed to Him

To go where I am led.

My heart surrendered to Him.

My will to do His will.

I want to always please Him.

His Spirit in me fills.

For now I am His servant.

I’m called of God to be

Just what He purposed for me

When Jesus set me free.

So I do witness for Him.

I share the gospel truth.

My heart, it so adores Him.

I knew Him from my youth.

I pray that others know Him

And die with Him to sin,

That they will follow Jesus,

Their hearts now cleansed within.

An Original Work / April 27, 2025 

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

A House of Prayer

 

The Stones Will Cry Out

I am reading in Luke 19:28-44.

Jesus Christ was on his way to Jerusalem. He sent two of his disciples to fetch him a colt. When they had acquired the colt they brought it to Jesus and they threw their coats on the colt and put Jesus on it (see vv. 28-36).

“As soon as He was approaching, near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles which they had seen, shouting:

’Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord;

Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’

“Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, ‘Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.’ But Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!’” (Luke 19:37-40 NASB1995)

I love this passage of Scripture! And we have a similar situation going on in our world today, at least here in America, but I know in other nations, too. For if we are boldly speaking the truth of the Scriptures, as taught in the appropriate context, and not out of context, there are many “Pharisees” today who will want to silence our voices, too. And many of them are in positions of authority within the gatherings of the church or what are falsely being called “churches” today here in North America, which is where I live.

For another gospel is what is being predominantly taught and received and believed in our culture today. It is an altered gospel message taught from Scriptures taken out of context, twisted, and made to say what they do not say if taught in the appropriate context. For they teach that we can make a profession of faith in Jesus once, and now all our sins are forgiven, and heaven is guaranteed us when we die, but regardless of how we live. For they are teaching what appeases human flesh and doesn’t offend the world.

And as to their rebukes, Jesus Christ is still answering with, “I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!” Amen! For God did not call us to be silent. He did not call us to compromise the truth of the Scriptures in order to not be an offense to the people of the world. He did not call us to back down from the truth just so we don’t make people feel bad about their sin. He called us to speak the whole truth, the truth that the people need to hear if they are going to have genuine salvation and eternal life with God.

“When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.’” (Luke 19:41-44 NASB1995)

If Jesus was still living on this earth today and he saw (which he does still see) what was going on in his name, and in the name of “Christianity” and “Church,” he would be weeping yet today. I know he grieves over what has largely become of “the church” here in America, and over what is now being largely taught and accepted as “the gospel.” For so many of “the churches” are now just businesses being marketed to the people of the world, teaching what makes people feel good, and entertaining them with stage productions.

And I believe he has the same message for the idolatrous and adulterous church in America today (Babylon). For I know he has been sending out his messengers with the truth of the gospel, who are also refuting the lies of the enemy, who are exposing the lies for what they are, and who are proclaiming the truth of the gospel as Jesus taught it, and as his New Testament apostles taught it, in context. And most of us, I would imagine, are being treated just like Jesus was treated when he lived on the earth.

I do believe that the idolatrous and adulterous church here in America, and perhaps in other nations, too, is under the judgment of God, and that is why we are seeing many of the things we are seeing being done today in our nations, among the people, and not for the good of the people. And with time I believe this is going to become even more obvious that “the church,” which is conformed to the world, and not to Christ and to his holiness, is under the judgment of God, for they are still living by the flesh.

So, please know the gospel message that Jesus and his New Testament apostles taught, in context, and do not believe the lies of the enemy. And here I will share with you a couple of summaries of what the Scriptures teach as the gospel, the first of which is a summary of Romans 6:1-23:

By God-persuaded 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 God and to his righteousness in walks of obedience to his commands. Thus, we are no longer to allow 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 is what we obey, it results in sanctification and its end is eternal life with God.

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).

[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

Then Will the Very Rocks Cry Out

Words and music by Bill George, Gary McSpadden, John W Thompson and Randy L Schruggs / Arranged by Mark Hayes

If we keep our voices silent, all creation will rise and shout.

If we fail to praise you, Father, then will the very rocks cry out!

If we keep our voices silent, all creation will rise and shout.

If we fail to praise you, Father, then will the very rocks cry out!

From the corners of creation come the people of the Living God.

Every tongue and every nation gather now to praise the Lord.

From a world of tribulation, come and let your voice be raised.

Join us now in congregation. Let the Living God be praised.

Alleluia! Alleluia! Give glory to the most high King!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akzhLk7OT5k

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The Stones Will Cry Out!

An Original Work / April 27, 2025 

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Because You Have Been Faithful

Jesus told a parable about a nobleman who went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return. He gave 10 minas to 10 slaves and told them to “Do business with this until I come back.” When he returned he ordered the slaves to come to him and to report back to him what they did with the minas he gave to them (see Luke 19:11-15).

“The first appeared, saying, ‘Master, your mina has made ten minas more.’ And he said to him, ‘Well done, good slave, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are to be in authority over ten cities.’ The second came, saying, ‘Your mina, master, has made five minas.’ And he said to him also, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ Another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I kept put away in a handkerchief; for I was afraid of you, because you are an exacting man; you take up what you did not lay down and reap what you did not sow.’ He *said to him, ‘By your own words I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know that I am an exacting man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow?  Then why did you not put my money in the bank, and having come, I would have collected it with interest?’ Then he said to the bystanders, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ And they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas already.’ I tell you that to everyone who has, more shall be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence.” (Luke 19:16-27 NASB1995)

When we believe in Jesus Christ with God-honoring faith in him, which comes from God, and which is not of our own doing, he grants us with salvation from sin and with eternal life with God. And he bestows on us spiritual gifts and ministries which he intends for us to participate in for his purposes and for his glory. And he instructs us in the ways of the Lord and with regard to his purpose for us, that we must die with him to sin and now follow him in walks of obedience to his commands, in holy living.

And one day he is going to return, and we are going to have to give an account for what we did with what he gave us. And if we followed him in obedience, and we did as he said for us to do, in practice, and if we put sin to death, by the Spirit, and no longer made sin our practice, we will be rewarded with salvation from sin and eternal life with God. But if sin is what we practiced, and not obedience to the Lord, and if we lived to please the flesh, and not God, we will not inherit eternal life with God.

But this parable isn’t just about when Jesus will return and we will be judged by him according to our works. For in the parable, the servants who were faithful to their master in putting what he gave them to good use, to where it increased, they were given more by their master. And they were given even greater responsibilities. So it is with us. If we put to good use what we are given by the Lord, by doing with what we are given what is the will of God, and what is pleasing to him, then he will give us more to do for him.

But if we are lazy and slothful, and selfish and prideful, and if we are only thinking of ourselves, and what we want to do with our lives, and so we neglect to submit to God’s will and purpose for our lives, and so we do not obey him, in practice, and so we continue living in sin, and so we neglect to put to good use the talents and the gifts he has provided for us, which we are to share with others, then what we have had provided for us will be taken away from us, and in the end we will not inherit eternal life with God.

So, we cannot just profess faith in Jesus and then keep on living in sin and not in walks of obedience to our Lord, and then expect to receive salvation from sin and eternal life with God. And we cannot expect to receive anything from the Lord if we take what he has provided already and we just bury it in the ground, and we do not make good use of what we have been given. For Jesus died to put our sins to death with him so we will now die to sin and live for him in walks of obedience to his commands, in holy living.

So, we need to take this to heart. Here is a summary of Romans 6:1-23:

By God-persuaded 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 God and to his righteousness in walks of obedience to his commands. Thus, we are no longer to allow 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 is what we obey, it results in sanctification and its end is eternal life with God.

And here is a summary of Luke 9:23-26 and Matthew 7:21-23:

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 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 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 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

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

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Because You Have Been Faithful

An Original Work / April 27, 2025 

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love