A "911" Emergency Call

Preface

 

The Lord put in my mind “911.” For most of my life those 3 numbers meant numbers that you call on your telephone in case of an emergency. But on September 11, 2001, “911” took on a whole new meaning. It was still about an emergency situation, but it was the day on which 3 buildings in New York (USA) came crashing down, all three of which looked kind of like planned demolitions. But not only were these 3 buildings (the Twin Towers and building 7) utterly demolished (destroyed entirely), but nearly 3,000 people were reported as having died in/near the Twin Towers buildings on that day.

 

Now we are nearing the 25^th anniversary of that tragic day coming up this Friday, and so I took some time today to look at some people’s videos taken on that day which were posted on YouTube. And what was standing out to me is how so many people inside those buildings were not being instructed or encouraged to leave the buildings, and how some or many of them chose for themselves to remain inside the buildings assuming this was a minor situation, believing that someone would put out the fire and that they would then all be safe. But they were not safe, and nearly 3,000 of them died.

 

1 Corinthians 10:14-22 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

“14Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 15I speak to reasonable people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16Is not the cup of blessing that we bless a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 17Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one loaf.

 

“18Consider the people of Israel: Are not those who eat the sacrifices fellow partakers in the altar? 19Am I suggesting, then, that food sacrificed to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to be participants with demons. 21You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot partake in the table of the Lord and the table of demons too. 22Are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?”

 

A Spiritual Parallel

 

Now the Lord is giving me a spiritual parallel of what happened on 9/11/01 in the USA to this passage of Scripture and its warnings to flee. This is not about fleeing a burning building, but this is about fleeing idolatry, adultery, sexual immorality, lying, cheating, stealing, drunkenness, revelry, and the like, i.e. addiction to sin. For Jesus Christ became sin for us on that cross, and He put our sins to death with Him in order that, by faith in Him, we will deny self, die to sin, and obey God in life practice. And all throughout the Scriptures we are warned to flee sin or to face eternal death spiritually.

 

Taking Communion Illustration

 

And on the subject of idolatry the apostle Paul used the taking of communion to illustrate his point. For, when we participate in the taking of communion, we are remembering the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but also the reason for why He died, and what that accomplished. And this is to be a time of reflection and prayer and repentance, if needed, and of renewal and rededication of our lives to Christ to be the people of God He intends for us to be, living holy lives, pleasing to Him, no longer as slaves to sin, but now as servants of righteousness in obedience to God’s commands.

 

And the bottom line in what he was saying is that God does not want those who profess the name of Jesus to be idolaters and those living in addiction to sin, for He died to free us from our slavery to sin so we will now walk in obedience to His commands. For if we remain living in idolatry and in bondage to sin, we are being participants with demons, and we cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons, too. We cannot hold on to living in sin, and not live to obey God, and still confess Christ as Lord of our lives. Therefore, if sin remains our practice, we do not have eternal life with God.

 

The Purpose of the Parallel

 

So, the purpose of “911” in this scenario, in relation to what happened on 9/11/01 in New York, and to the number of human lives which were lost that day, is in relation to the number of people in those buildings who were either encouraged to not leave, and so they did what they were told, and they stayed where they were, or regarding those who chose on their own to remain, thinking that the fire was a minor issue that someone would put out and so they would be safe. So many people today are being led in the same direction, only on a spiritual level, and so they are remaining in their sins.

 

So many people are being taught today that God’s grace to them is forgiveness of all sins (past, present, and future), and the promise of heaven as their eternal destiny, but based on a profession of faith in Jesus Christ only. And they are believing the lies of the people who are telling them that they are now safe in the arms of Jesus and that nothing bad is going to happen to them, so they do not have to “flee” their sins. And/or they are choosing on their own to make that judgment call and to determine that they themselves are safe and that they will not face eternal death.

 

But they are believing a lie which will send them straight to hell.

 

[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]

 

A “911” Emergency Call

An Original Work / September 8, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

For Our Nation 

 

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Recording Via Gerry Peters, music producer and arranger

 

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

 

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

 

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

 

Men deceiving: We’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

 

https://vimeo.com/379406352

God Will Provide an Escape

1 Corinthians 10:1-5 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

“1I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud, and that they all passed through the sea. 2They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3They all ate the same spiritual food 4and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the wilderness.”

 

In the book of Exodus we read about how God called Moses to be the one to lead His people out of slavery in Egypt. The Pharaoh of that time refused to let the Israelites go, for he used them as slaves. So God sent some plagues to the Egyptians, the last one being the death of all firstborn in the land, including both humans and animals. But God spared His people, and then He led them out of Egypt. He rescued them from Pharaoh, but then they wandered in the wilderness for the next 40 years because of their rebellion against God and their lack of faith with regard to the Promised Land.

 

Now, please note with me what this passage of Scripture says about that time. And this was Old Testament times, not New Testament times. It says that they all “drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.” Now Jesus Christ was not yet born. This was probably hundreds of years before His birth, or perhaps over a thousand years. But He was and is God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – so He always existed with God. So, although He was not with them in the flesh, He was with God’s people in the spirit in the wilderness.

 

1 Corinthians 10:6-10 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

“6These things took place as examples to keep us from craving evil things as they did. 7Do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written: ‘The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.’ 8We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. 9We should not test Christ, as some of them did, and were killed by snakes. 10And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel.”

 

Now, in verse 5 it states that God was not pleased with most of the Israelites, therefore they were struck down in the wilderness. Why? Because so many of them were idolaters, revelers, drunkards, the sexually immoral, those who put Christ to the test, and those who grumbled and complained against God, and against His servant Moses. And they refused to repent of their sins and to obey God in life practice. So, these things were written down for us, as examples to us, to keep us from craving evil things as they did. For if sin is our practice, we will not have eternal life with God, either.

 

[See also: Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Matthew 7:21-23]

 

1 Corinthians 10:1-13 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

“11Now these things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. 12So the one who thinks he is standing firm should be careful not to fall. 13No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide an escape, so that you can stand up under it.”

 

Again, these things took place as examples to us to keep us from craving evil things as they did, and they were written down as warnings for us to let us know what can and will happen to us if we rebel as they did, and if we choose sin over God. We will die without Christ, and heaven will not be our eternal destiny. That is taught to us all throughout the New Testament Scriptures, although it appears the majority of “Christians” in my nation are ignoring those warnings, for so many of them are being taught that they will not be judged by God if they make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ.

 

But faith in Jesus Christ is not in words only, but in action and in truth. For the faith to believe in Jesus is not of our own doing, of our own flesh, but it comes from God, it is authored and perfected by Jesus Christ, it is gifted to us by God, and it is persuaded of God as to His righteousness and holiness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need (and God’s requirement) that, by faith in HIM, we must deny self, die to sin, and obey our Lord in practice, in the power of God at work within us. For Jesus died to deliver us out of addiction to sin so that we will now serve the Lord with our lives from now on.

 

So, do not take God’s grace for granted. For His 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 await our Lord’s soon return. And our Lord will give us all we need to resist the devil and to flee temptation to sin, if we are willing, and if we will obey Him. A “My-Do-It” approach to resisting the devil will not work. Our lives must be surrendered to the Lord to doing His will. So don’t get prideful and think, “I can do this,” especially if the “My-Do-It” approach keeps you held in bondage to sin.

 

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

 

God Will Provide an Escape

An Original Work / September 8, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

Give Ear to Jesus 

 

Based off Isaiah 55

An Original Work / February 16, 2016

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

Call on your Savior. Seek the Lord while He is near.

Let the wicked forsake his way; Turn to the Lord.

God will have mercy. He’ll forgive you of your sin.

He will freely pardon you and give peace within.

Turn from your sin, follow Jesus, be cleansed from sin.

 

Give ear to Jesus. Come to Him. Your soul will live.

Listen to Him speaking to you: “Eat what is good.”

If you are thirsty, come to Jesus, drink from Him.

Drink His Spirit given to you. Be born again.

Listen to Him. Do what He says. Rejoice in Him.

 

God’s Word, eternal, will achieve what He desires.

He is willing none should perish, saved by His blood.

Share now the gospel. Jesus died so we’d go free.

Walk in vict’ry, free from your sin, eternally.

Die to sin, and live to Jesus. In Him believe.

 

https://vimeo.com/155612854

By God's Grace

By God’s grace we’ve been set free

So that we can bend the knee,

Humbly turning from our sin,

Letting His love come within.

Walking with Him day by day,

Read His Words, and kneel and pray,

Listening to Him as He speaks,

Growing in Him by the weeks.

Comfort He brings to our hearts,

When our loved ones do depart,

When we are misunderstood,

And evil rages over good.

Joy to us, His love imparts,

When He rules within our hearts,

Making him Lord of our lives,

In our hearts His Word now thrives.

Peace to us He’ll truly bring,

When we make him Lord and King,

Giving up our all to Him,

By His grace, forsaking sin.

Daily with Him now we meet,

Sitting with Him at His feet,

Drinking in His every Word,

Doing the Words that we heard.

Love our Savior, He’s our friend,

He’ll be with us to the end,

Helping us throughout each day,

To be faithful in all ways.

He’s our Healer, Priest and King,

Who rules over everything.

He gives strength for every need,

As on His Word we daily feed.

An Original Work / March 21, 2019

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Running The Race

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

“24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize. 25Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline. They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable. 26Therefore I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight like I am beating the air. 27No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”

 

And that reminds me of this:

 

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:1-3 BSB)

 

A Spiritual Race

 

In both cases this is speaking of a spiritual race, not a physical race. For to be a Christian is to be a follower of Christ. And to be a follower of Christ is to walk (in conduct, in practice) in the ways of the Lord, in holiness and in righteousness, and no longer as slaves to sin. Our salvation from sin and eternal life with God are conditional upon us keeping the faith, running the race, and obeying our Lord and His commands in life practice, although not necessarily in absolute perfection. And this is NOT “works salvation.”

 

So, if we “run in such a way as to take the prize,” this is speaking of our daily walks of faith in obedience to the Lord. Are we living for the Lord? Are we obeying His commands as a matter of life practice? Or are we living for the flesh, for sinful desires, refusing His commands? Is Jesus truly Lord (Owner-Master) of our lives? Or are we the ones still in charge of our own lives, doing what we will, and not what God wills? Do we worship our Lord only one day a week for a few minutes? Or is our worship daily?

 

And by worship I do not mean singing worship songs only. We can sing worship songs to our hearts’ content and never truly worship God. For to worship God is to love God. And to love God is to obey His New Covenant commands, to go where He sends us and to do what He calls us to do. For Jesus Christ gave His life up for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of slavery to sin so we will now be servants of our Lord in doing what His will and purpose is for our lives on this earth.

 

In a Similar Manner

 

Therefore, in a similar manner in which runners get themselves ready to run the race, we, too, must discipline our hearts and minds and actions to be in line with God and with the counsel of His Word. We must learn to say “NO!” to what displeases God and to all that He commands that we must NOT do. Sin must no longer be our practice, but now obedience to our Lord and to His commands is to be our daily practice. And we must be those who say “YES!” to God daily in doing what all He directs us in how we must live.

 

But what if we miss a step sometime? What if we fail to be all who God requires us to be every minute of every day? The Scriptures do teach that we might sin (1 John 2:1-2), but that God’s grace covers our sin. BUT.. the Scriptures also teach that if sin is our habit, our practice, and not obedience to God and to His commands, that we do not know God, we do not love God, and that we will not have eternal life with God. And that is what Paul is making reference to here when he mentions possibly being disqualified.

 

Again, this is not “works salvation.” This is not about someone, in the flesh, of their own doing, and not of God, trying to earn their way into heaven via “good deeds.” This is speaking of those who, by God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in the Lord Jesus, in the power of God, are doing what God requires of us who call Him “Lord,” because we love Him and we want to do what pleases our Lord. And He teaches us that not everyone calling Him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the ones DOING God’s will.

 

[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]

 

Running The Race

An Original Work / September 8, 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

 

[A Prayer of Devotion to God Alone]

 

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

 

Caution: This link may contain ads

When Things Get Crazy

Do you ever feel so deeply

That words cannot express it?

Like the feeling of a symphony,

But your fingers just don’t get it?

You know the passion deep in heart,

As the tears stream from your eyes,

But words cannot quite capture it,

For the pain, not realize.

You search within for words to say,

But they can’t get to your lips.

It’s so incomprehensible,

Like watching a Sci-Fi flick.

But, Jesus told us this would come,

This mystery foretold,

That one day life would not be like

It was in days of old.

He said that strange things would occur,

Right ‘fore our very eyes.

So, when these things began to click,

We should not be surprised.

But, all the same, it’s really hard

To fully comprehend

What’s really happ’ning in our world,

And how it’s going to end.

So, trust in God, we must so do,

‘Though things now don’t make sense.

For He has all things in control,

His grace, He’ll not relent. 

So, be assured He’s not forgot

His promises of old.

We must have courage, and His strength

In witness to be bold.

An Original Work / February 14, 2019

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

A Temple of The Holy Spirit

1 Corinthians 6:9-20 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

“9Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts, 10nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. 11And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

[I am skipping over verses 12-13a. They are a little bit confusing and they would take a while to try to explain, so please read them for yourselves.]

“13…The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14By His power God raised the Lord from the dead, and He will raise us also. 15Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! 16Or don’t you know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” 17But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with Him in spirit.

“18Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. 19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.”

Who are The Wicked?

The wicked are not just those who make no professions of faith in Jesus Christ. They are all who deliberately think and behave wickedly by habit, as a matter of life practice. And this passage of Scripture provides us with some examples of what it means to be wicked and to behave wickedly. So, if you are someone who professes faith in Jesus Christ but sin is what you practice, and not obedience to our Lord, then according to the Scriptures, you will not inherit eternal life in the kingdom of God unless you repent and obey God. 

Some of You Were

When this says this is what “some of you” were, it is also saying that is what “some of you” still are, which is the whole point of this conversation Paul was having with the church in Corinth. They were not all living godly and holy lives pleasing to God. Some of them were still living wickedly in sinful rebellion against the Lord. Some of them, thus, were not of genuine faith in the Lord Jesus, but they were still among the wicked, in the eyes of God. And He was letting them know they would not inherit the kingdom of God.

Sexual Immorality

Sexual immorality appears at the front of most sin lists in the Bible, and it appears to be the most severe of all the sins listed in the Scriptures because it has to do with our marriage to Christ and to our spouses, which the Scriptures parallel to each other. For we read in the Scriptures:

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24 ESV)

“Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.” Heb. 13:4

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” (Ephesians 5:3,15-33 ESV)

But this is not just for men, but for men and women. When we marry our spouses, and we are joined together sexually, we become one flesh with one another. But this isn’t just about sex. We are to be joined together as though we are one, one with Christ, and one with each other, each doing our part, each ministering to the other, and each being faithful and loving and kind and honest and morally pure, with the marriage bed kept pure. And this parallels over to our marriage to Christ, too, in how we should treat Him.

And, according to the words of Jesus, adultery is not just having sex with someone with whom you are not married, but it is to intentionally look at another with lust in one’s heart (see Matthew 5:27-28). So this definitely includes all who make a habit of looking at pornography or any picture or video or movie which displays nudity and sexual immorality. And it includes self-gratification which is having sex with oneself. So the marriage bed is not being kept pure, and neither are the marriage vows being put into practice.

Our Bodies

If we are genuine followers of Jesus Christ, then our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. And we are not our own to do whatever we want whenever we want. Jesus bought us back for God out of our bondage to sin via His blood shed for us on that cross. So we are to be faithful to our Lord in the same way in which we are faithful to our spouses. Although our relationship with our Lord is not physical, but spiritual, it is still regarded as adultery against Him when we choose sin over God and obedience to His commands.

So, we are not only to flee from sexual immorality, but we are to flee from all deliberate and habitual sin which has many people still in its grasp. For those who sin sexually sin against their own bodies. And since our bodies now belong to our spouses and to God, if we then sin with our bodies sexually, it is a sin against the Temple of God, for we are that temple if our faith in Jesus Christ is genuine. It is like if you sin, that is one thing, but if you sin sexually against your spouse, that is more personal. Don’t do it!

And the bottom line in all of this is that Jesus took our sins upon Himself on that cross, and He put our sins to death with Him, not just to forgive us our sins, and not just to give us the hope of eternal life with God, but so we will now die with Him to sin, and so we will now walk in obedience to His commands, and so we will now be faithful to our Lord in every respect with regard to Him now being our husband and us being His bride. But if we choose sin and disobedience over God, heaven is not our destiny.

[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] 

Video Talk on The Same Subject

https://youtu.be/l7akvzr4scQ 

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg 

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The Pot Calling the Kettle Black

1 Corinthians 6:1-8 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

“1If any of you has a grievance against another, how dare he go to law before the unrighteous instead of before the saints! 2Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? 3Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!

“4So if you need to settle everyday matters, do you appoint as judges those of no standing in the church? 5I say this to your shame. Is there really no one among you wise enough to arbitrate between his brothers? 6Instead, one brother goes to law against another, and this in front of unbelievers!

“7The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means that you are thoroughly defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? 8Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, even against your own brothers!”

Hypocritical Judging

“The pot calling the kettle black” is an idiomatic phrase which has to do with someone criticizing another person for a fault or a mistake that the accuser is also engaged in, but it doesn’t have to be the same exact mistake. And it can be about someone calling out another person’s sins or mistakes (past or present) when the accuser themselves is habitually and deliberately engaged in sin, which is hypocritical judging. And this does not mean that we do not call out the sins of others, but that we are not to do so with wrong motives, or hypocritically, or selfishly. But we are to do so justly, with godly love. 

So, this brings me to the story of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11). The scribes and the Pharisees brought before Jesus a woman caught in adultery. (Do you ever wonder where the man also caught in adultery with her went?) But this was to test Jesus in order to have a basis for accusing Him. But Jesus wrote something in the dirt with His finger. And then He said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her.” And then He wrote more on the ground. Do you ever wonder what Jesus wrote on the ground that led her accusers to go away one by one?

Jesus is God. And when He lived on the earth He was fully man and fully God (God incarnate). So He knew what was in the hearts of these men. He knew the reason they brought this woman before Him, and it wasn’t because they were concerned about obeying the commands of God. And He knew the evil that they were doing, too. He addressed them on this subject multiple times, I believe (see Matthew 23:1-36). So I believe what He wrote on the ground exposed their sins to them, letting them know that Jesus knew their sins, and that He could expose their sins, too, and so they then departed.

Righteous Judging

Now, not all judging is wrong. We definitely have an example of this in the previous chapter where Paul was chiding the church because there was a man among them in an incestual relationship with his father’s wife and no one was doing anything about it. And so what that was doing was that it gave approval to the man’s sin and it gave the church, as a whole, the idea that the sin was acceptable. And it provided the opportunity for that sin to spread throughout the congregation. Evidently the man was not repentant and so they had to remove him for a time until he repented of his sin.

Therefore, the story of the woman caught in adultery is not teaching us that all judging is wrong. The Scriptures do not teach that we are never to judge another person’s actions or attitudes or words or habits. But what multiple passages of Scripture are teaching is that we are not to judge other people hypocritically, unjustly, by human standards, by our own traditions, by comparing others to ourselves, or in hate, with the wrong motives, prejudicially, by appearances, and/or without first giving the person a hearing or a chance to defend himself. So always judge justly with love.

[Matthew 7:1-5; John 7:24,51; John 8:15-16; Romans 2:3; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; 1 Corinthians 6:1-6; 2 Corinthians 10:12; 2 Corinthians 11:1-4; Galatians 6:1-5; Ephesians 5:11; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; James 5:19-20; 2 Peter 2:1-22; 1 John 2:18-25; 1 John 4:1; Jude 1:22-23; Revelation 2:2]

The Pot Calling the Kettle Black

An Original Work / September 7, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

In Harmony  

Based off Romans 12:9-21; 1 Peter 3:8-17

An Original Work / September 2, 2012

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Love each other truly. Cling to what is good.

Hate all that is evil. Never lack in zeal.

Serve the Lord with fervor. Joyful in hope be;

Patient in affliction; Praying faithfully.

Honor one another. Live in harmony.

Share with all God’s people who are found in need.

Do not be conceited. Sympathetic be.

Love, and show compassion in humility.

Keep your tongue from evil. Peaceful you must be.

Honor one another. Live in harmony.

God sees who are righteous; listens to their prayers.

But He’s against evil – is His to avenge.

Do not fear what they fear. Suffer patiently.

In your hearts, make Christ Lord. Serve Him faithfully.

Honor one another. Live in harmony.

https://vimeo.com/112832903

The Bread of Sincerity and Truth

1 Corinthians 5:1-8 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

“1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is intolerable even among pagans: A man has his father’s wife. 2And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have been stricken with grief and have removed from your fellowship the man who did this?

“3Although I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, and I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did this, just as if I were present. 4When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, along with the power of the Lord Jesus, 5hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the Day of the Lord.

“6Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven works through the whole batch of dough? 7Get rid of the old leaven, that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8Therefore let us keep the feast, not with the old bread, leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and of truth.”

Then and Now

That was then. This is now. So what does this look like today in probably the majority of institutional “churches” which are partnered with the world and with the government? What usually takes place when a woman, for example, reports to the pastor and/or to the elders that her husband is cheating on her, and that he is committing adultery against her as a matter of habit, and that he appears to not be willing to give up his sexual addiction? And addiction to pornography and to self-gratification is still biblical adultery.

From what I have read and heard and understand and have seen take place myself, few if any are dealing with sexual addiction in a biblical manner. Some church congregations are hosting small groups for addicts where they get to share with each other about their addictions and where they are supposed to be encouraging one another toward freedom from addiction. But so many of these are not being done biblically, via the Scriptures, but so many are following worldly measures which end up pampering the addicts.

Modern Psychology

So many are also utilizing modern psychology where often the take on it is that the “addicts” cannot help themselves, and so they are not responsible for their sins. Or they will tell the addict who is obviously stating that he is vegging out on porn that he should just “claim who you are in Christ,” which follows a list of qualities of those “in Christ,” some of which are biblical if taught in the correct biblical context, and some of which are not biblical. For to be “in Christ,” we die with Christ to sin and we obey our Lord in practice.

But this does not mean that a genuine follower of Christ is not ever capable of such sins. All of us are still susceptible to being tempted to sin, and we might sin, and we may have even had a time of “fall-out” at some point in our lives where we needed to be brought back to repentance and to walks of obedience to our Lord. But as followers of Christ, sin is no longer to be our habit, our practice, but now obedience to our Lord is to be our practice. And habitual sexual immorality should be dealt with biblically, and not ignored.

Worldly Measures

I believe that the church gatherings, overall, but not including all of the gatherings, are more like this church congregation in Corinth where the people are proud of their church gatherings and who appear unconcerned about the man in an adulterous and incestual relationship with his father’s wife. With so many of them now following the ways of the world, diluting the gospel message, and trying to attract the ungodly to their gatherings, they are choosing to not “rock the boat” and to not confront people in their sin.

But this is not just one man with one woman. Statistics have it at 75% or greater of Christian men are presently engaged in the use of porn on a somewhat regular basis, including about 50% of them being pastors of church congregations, and which includes about that many women, and then children, too. This has become epidemic, not only in our culture, but within the gatherings of the church. And so many pastors will not touch this subject, and so many of them are giving them permission to keep sinning.

God’s Solution

Now the solution that the people were being encouraged to do in that time was to expel the sinful man from their congregation in order to bring him to his senses. But this was in the whole city of Corinth. This was the church in Corinth which probably met in multiple locations. So they all had to agree together and to cooperate with one another in not allowing this man back into their gatherings until he had demonstrated genuine repentance, which did eventually take place. But what about today? In the USA where I live?

In today’s world, if you actually expelled from your congregations those living in sexual immorality habitually, it probably would take out many of the pastors, elders, deacons, and Bible study teachers, along with a good portion of the total congregation. Or if it was a fewer number, they would just leave and go someplace else where they teach a watered down gospel and where no one will say anything to anyone else about getting rid of the sin in their lives. But doing nothing, and letting it grow, is not the answer, either.

A True Biblical Revival

What the modern-day institutional church congregations need today is an old-fashioned biblical revival where the people honestly repent of their sins and where they now walk in obedience to the Lord’s commands in life practice. And where the church, as a whole, is now reaching out to the rest of the world with the gospel truth taught by Jesus and by His New Testament apostles in the correct biblical context. For we are not saved from our sin so we can keep sinning. We are saved out of our addiction to sin so we will now serve our Lord faithfully in obedience to His commands, in His power.

[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 Bread of Sincerity and Truth

An Original Work / September 6, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Zeal for Your House

Based off John 2:17; Psalms 69:9

An Original Work / August 1, 2016

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Zeal for Your house, it consumes me.

Lord, I love my times with You.

I love to worship You and sing Your praises.

Time in Your Word brings me closer to You,

List’ning to You speaking to me,

Gently guiding me in truth.

Lord, You are my life’s example,

Showing me how I should live.

I love to walk with You where’er You lead me.

No greater joy have I when serving You. 

Loving, giving, resting in Your strength, 

I’m yielding to Your will. 

Zeal for Your house, it consumes me.

See the church turned upside down:

Marketing ventures taking place of worship,

Men of the gospel turning into clowns.

Gospel message made appealing,

So the world will feel at home.

Lord, we need a great revival.

Turn their hearts, Lord, back to You.

Open the blind eyes, turn them all from darkness,

Lord, to the light. May they return to You, 

Turn from their sin, forsake idols,

Be restored to God again.

https://vimeo.com/177433676

A Mother's Love for Her Son

To My Son Whom I Love

From your mom

I bore you in my womb. I nurtured you,

Protected you. I held on to you tightly 

So that nothing bad would happen to you.

I was glad the day you were born. 

I held you closely, loved you dearly.

We spent much time together, you and I,

Talking, singing, praying.

I read you stories, snuggled with you,

Laughed and cried with you. 

I hurt when you hurt,

And I rejoiced when you rejoiced,

For I cared deeply about you.

When you wandered off

From the way you should go,

It hurt me. I hurt for you.

When you sang songs about God

And about who he was and is,

It gladdened my heart, too.

I struggled with you 

When you struggled through life,

And I cried many tears over you.

I was also proud of you 

Every time you conquered your obstacles

And you stood strong against giants.

I cheered you on and worked with you

To help you become the man

That you should become one day.

But I failed you, too, when I did not stand strong

Against my giants, and when I let them

Defeat me in battle.

But you forgave me,  

And that means so much to me.

So, thank you!

Now I want to see you

Conquer all the giants in your life,

And be the man God 

Created you to become.

But, no matter what,

I love you because you are my son,

And because you are part of me,

And I am part of you.

And, I am proud of all that

You have done to overcome

So many obstacles in your life

And for all the progress you 

Have made towards

Maturity and manhood.

You will always be my son,

And forever you will be

In my heart, no matter what.

I love you! Mom

An Original Work, November 24, 2018

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Video Recording of the Poem

https://youtu.be/_jpOq6YZS-g 

By Smooth Talk They Deceive

Romans 16:17-18 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

“17Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create divisions and obstacles that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Turn away from them. 18For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.”

 

Many Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing

 

In my nation (the USA), in our culture today within the gatherings of the church (or the false church) at large, we have many of these people who create divisions and obstacles that are contrary to the teachings of the gospel taught by Jesus and by His New Testament apostles, taught in the correct biblical context. Many pastors and elders and church leaders are teaching an altered and diluted gospel message intended to appease human flesh which does not call the people to repentance and to obey God.

 

Many of these leaders are malicious wolves in sheep’s clothing who fake their Christianity and who are out to deceive, to trick, to trap, to manipulate, and to lead the people astray while convincing them that they are leading them to the truth. They promise them forgiveness of all sins and heaven guaranteed them as their eternal destiny based in a lie which teaches them they do not have to repent of (die to) sin and that they do not have to obey God’s commands, for they call that “works salvation.” It is not.

 

And they tell them that all that God requires is that they pray a prayer to receive Christ or that they make a verbal confession of Christ as Lord, believing that God raised Him from the dead, and now they are saved for eternity, and that nothing can take that away from them. Taken out of context the Bible does appear to teach some of this in the book of Romans. But the whole of Romans and Jesus’ teachings teach we must, by faith in Christ, deny self, die to sin, and walk in obedience to God’s commands.

 

What Jesus and the apostle Paul taught

 

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).

 

So, if you have been believing the lies of the “wolves in sheep’s clothing,” and you are professing Christ as your Lord and Savior, and heaven as your eternal destiny, but while you continue in deliberate and habitual sin and not in walks of obedience to God and to His commands, then I encourage you to repent of (turn from, die to) your sins today and surrender your lives to God to now follow Him in living holy lives, pleasing to God, in the power of God. For Jesus died on that cross to free us from sin, not to coddle us in our sin.

 

[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]

 

By Smooth Talk They Deceive

An Original Work / September 6, 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

Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

Romans 13:8-10 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

8Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love. For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 9The commandments “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and any other commandments, are summed up in this one decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10Love does no wrong to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

 

Loving Our Neighbors

 

When this speaks here of us loving our neighbors, i.e. all people, this is not speaking of romantic love, or the emotional feeling of love, but it is speaking of giving preference to God’s will, for He is love! It means to prefer what God prefers which is all that is holy, righteous, godly, upright, morally pure, honest, faithful, and obedient to our Lord and to His commands in daily practice. And it means to not make a practice of doing what is evil, to not lie, cheat, steal, be sexually immoral, commit adultery, and the like, by habit.

 

And we are to love even those who hate us, and who do evil against us, and who despitefully use us (see Matthew 5:44). We are to love those who lie about us to others, and who give others a false impression of who we really are because they want others to hate us. We are to love those who choose to believe the lies about us and not the truth, too, no matter how badly they might treat us in return. For we are to love as Jesus loves us, and He loved us enough to die on a cross so that we could be free from slavery to sin.

 

So, if others treat us with contempt, we treat them with kindness. If they sin against us, we do good to them. If they speak evil of us, we speak kindly of them, not in the sense of making up lies about them ever to make them sound good, but we are not to be mean to others just because they were mean to us. If they steal from us, we give to them. We do not trade “tit for tat,” i.e. we do not do to others as they did to us, if what they did to us was evil. It is not ours to repay evil with evil. But we are to repay evil with good.

 

Romans 13:11-14 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

“11And do this, understanding the occasion. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12The night is nearly over; the day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.”

 

Wake Up From Your Slumber

 

When we believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, it does not end there. For the faith to believe in Christ is not of our own doing, not something we can drum up from our own flesh. The faith necessary for salvation from sin and eternal life with God comes from God. It is gifted to us by God, and it is persuaded of God as to Christ’s righteousness and holiness, and of our sinfulness, and of God’s requirement that we deny self, die to sin, and follow our Lord in walks of obedience to His commands.

 

So, when this says that our salvation is nearer than when we first believed, it is speaking of our salvation not as a one-time event which takes place in our lives, and then we live, and then we die, and then we go to heaven. It is speaking of our salvation as something that is ongoing and continuous and that which will not be consummated (completed) until Jesus returns and He takes His faithful bride to be with Him for eternity. So we must continue in obedience to our Lord and no longer as slaves to sin until He returns.

 

The encouragement here for all who profess faith in Jesus Christ is that we are to be those who are continuing to surrender our lives to Christ, and to obey His commands, and to forsake our sins in life practice. As followers of Christ we must put sin to death and we must put on (in sincerity and in truth) all that is of God and is holy and righteous in His sight. And we are to behave decently, not in drunkenness or in sexual immorality or in any other sinful practices. We are to make no provision for the desires of the flesh.

 

[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]

 

Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

An Original Work / September 6, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

Love Must Be Genuine

 

Based off Romans 12:9-21

An Original Work / October 22, 2013

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

Love must be genuine.

Hate what’s evil; cling to good.

Love each other with affection.

Show respect for ev’ryone.

Never lack in your zeal.

Serve the Lord with diligence.

 

Rejoice in steadfast hope.

In affliction, patient be.

Keep on praying; share with others.

Practice hospitality.

Bless those who persecute.

Feel with others sympathy.

 

Be not filled with conceit.

Daily sit at Jesus’ feet.

Live in harmony with others.

Live at peace with ev’ryone.

Repay not to someone

With the evil he begot.

 

Do not take your revenge;

Leave it to the wrath of God.

If your enemy is thirsty,

Give to him something to drink.

Do what’s right for mankind.

Evil: overcome with good.

 

https://vimeo.com/114695549

Living Sacrifices to God

Romans 12:1-2 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

“1Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.”

 

The Mercy of God

 

What is the mercy of God? It is His compassion, His kindness, His forgiveness, and His grace to us who are born into this world with sin natures, in the image of Adam, unable within ourselves to be made right with God. And what does His grace look like? His 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 our Lord’s return (see Titus 2:11-14). For Christ died to free us from sin’s control.

 

Jesus Christ, in His death and resurrection, made the way for us to die with Him to sin and to now live with Him in walks of obedience to His commands. For in His death He put our sins to death with Him so that, by faith in Christ Jesus we will deny self, die to sin, and obey our Lord in life practice. And by faith in Him we are raised with Him to walk in newness of life in Him, no longer as slaves to sin but now as servants of righteousness, living godly and holy lives, pleasing to God – all in the power of God by His Spirit.

 

Living Sacrifices to God

 

Therefore, since Jesus made the way for us to be forgiven of our sins, we who have trusted in Him to be Lord and Savior of our lives are now to offer our bodies to God as living sacrifices to Him, holy and pleasing to God. And this includes our whole being, i.e. our minds, eyes, ears, hearts, thoughts, and behaviors. They are to be given over to God to be for His glory and for His purposes, and not to please our flesh. So we are not to be taking into our minds, eyes, ears, hearts, and thoughts the sinful desires and pleasures that this world has to offer, resulting in us then engaging in sinful behaviors.

 

For our spiritual service of worship to our Lord is not in words only, nor in the singing of “songs of worship” only. Our spiritual service of worship of our Lord is in our doing and not doing. It is first of all by faith in Him denying self, dying with Christ to sin, and now walking with Him in obedience to His commands in holy living. And then it is us walking (in conduct) with Him moment by moment and day by day in surrender to His will and in doing what He commands, going wherever He leads us in ministry to Him and to the people of this world. For He has a calling for each one of our lives.

 

Be Not Conformed

 

There are many ways in which we might become conformed to this world, and not all of them are related to obvious and deliberate and habitual sins. Some of them may be very subtle and we may not even realize that is what is happening. For we live in a day and age of the Internet and/or television when it is so easy to get distracted and caught up in what is just a waste of time. Especially for us who write on the internet, and so we are on the internet daily, there are all sorts of not wicked things to draw our attention and to distract us. And that is not all bad. But we need to be on the alert.

 

But conformity to the world, as is described here, is primarily anything which takes us in the opposite direction of obedience to God and living holy lives, pleasing to God. For it has to do with taking on the thinking and the values and the behaviors and the attitudes that this world has to offer, which are contrary to the teachings of the Scriptures and the call of God on our lives. And this usually ends up consuming people’s lives to the point where Jesus is barely thought of or considered in their daily activities. But as followers of Christ we are to be living to please God in every area of our lives 24/7.

 

[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]

 

Living Sacrifices to God

An Original Work / September 5, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

Living Sacrifices  (song)

 

Based off Romans 12:1-2; Romans 6:11-14 NIV

An Original Work / September 14, 2012

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

Oh, holy ones, I counsel you,

In view of God’s mercy,

To give yourselves to God in love

As living offerings,

Pleasing to God, holy in love.

This is your true worship.

Do not conform to worldly lives.

Let God transform you today.

Then you’ll be able to

Test and approve of what

God’s will is – His pleasing

And perfect will. Oh, holy ones,

I counsel you – Offer yourselves unto God.

 

Oh, holy ones, I counsel you –

Do not be conceited.

Humble yourselves before your God.

Do not be self-righteous.

The strength you have to live in love

Comes from your Lord God, so

Live your new lives in pow’r of God.

Be changed in heart, mind and will.

Do this because of what

Christ did for you when

He died on the cross to save

The world from sin. Oh, holy ones,

I counsel you – Humble yourselves before God.

 

Oh, holy ones, I counsel you –

Count yourselves dead to sin,

But be alive to God in Christ.

Do not let sin reign in

Your earthly lives so you

Obey its evil desires.

Offer yourselves unto your God

As those who’ve been born again.

For sin shall no longer be

Your lord and master.

Give of yourselves to God

For righteousness. Oh, holy ones,

I counsel you – Be alive to God in Christ.

 

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