An X-Ray of Our Hearts

“If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.” (1 Peter 1:17-21 NASB1995)

So, this morning I looked at the next passage of Scripture in 1 Peter 1, and this one (above) was next (I began in 1 Peter 1 four days ago). So, I copied the passage of Scripture, and I posted it here. And then the Lord stopped me, and he led me to post an update on my physical condition on Facebook for friends and family members who have been praying for me during this time of nerve pain and chest pain and pressure and difficulty breathing, which all began in severity on September 17, 2025. So, that is what I did:

Prayer Answers and Updates

Saturday, January 10, 2026

My friends: 3 days ago I asked all of you to pray for me with regard to having to make a decision about whether or not to have surgery or radiation treatment for a lung nodule I have had in my body now for 11 years, and which has nearly doubled in size since it was first discovered, and which is not cancerous, but which is precancerous. And I believe the Lord has led me to put this on pause for now while we focus on finding the cause of my chest pain and pressure, nerve pain, and breathing difficulties which all began in severity on 9/17/2025. And my doctors have agreed with my decision to put the lung nodule on hold for now.

So, I saw my primary physician 3 days ago, and I let him know what I was thinking, and he agreed with me that we should put the nodule on hold for now. And I asked him to look into what is causing all my pain. So he ordered some blood tests and some x-rays. The blood tests all came back in normal range. And the x-rays did show up some areas of concern which I believe answers what is causing my pain. So, to me, that alone is an answer to prayer. So, I am thanking and praising the Lord that he led me (via one of my nieces) to request a look-see as to what is going on inside my body.

Very simply put, I have some facet arthritis and some shifting of bones out of their normal position, but not detached, and they are possibly impacting nerve function, pressing on nerves, and causing pain in my spine. I also have some mild disc space narrowing, i.e. some mild thoracic spondylosis which is age-related wear-and-tear degeneration of the spine involving the breakdown of spinal discs and joints, leading to pain and nerve issues in my spine in the lumbar, thoracic, and cervical regions. And the solution appears to be physical therapy, so I assume that will be the next step. Waiting to hear back from my doctor, but this is the weekend. Sue Love [END]

Okay, so I am now sitting here inquiring of the Lord as to why he had me post my health update here, along with this passage of Scripture, and here I believe he is paralleling the physical with the spiritual, which should become clear in a few minutes, hopefully. And this is what is standing out to me: “knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”

So, there is a part of my health report I did not mention (above), and that is that I have a sacralization of my L5 vertebrae. I have had this from birth, and I inherited it from my mother, and it was first discovered when I had serious back pain in 1984 which resulted in back surgery, and a repeated surgery in 1985, for the first surgery did not take. I will try to explain this in terms that everyone can understand. But in our bodies we have a spinal column which has moving parts and non-moving parts. And one of my moving parts is fused (blended with another part) and not free moving.

So, we are all born into sin, which we inherited from Adam, and so we all have defective parts. We are fused with sin and not free moving in the sense that we are spiritually alive and free from our entrapment to sin. And so we are in pain spiritually in that we are trapped in sin and not free in Christ to live holy and godly lives. The world has their solutions to our sin problems, but they are not of God and his plans and purpose for our lives. For Jesus died to free us from that bondage (fusion) to sin and to free us from the pain of sin, to get to the root of it so that we can be free from that sin sickness. 

So, if we don’t ever look inside our bodies (our hearts), and do an examination to find out what is causing our sin suffering, then we will continue to be fused to sin and not free from that sin so that we can now serve our Lord in obedience to his commands in holy living. We have to have those spiritual X-rays (exams) to determine the cause of our fusion to sin, and then we have to be willing to follow our Lord’s solution to freeing us from bondage to sin so we will be free to serve him with our lives, no longer suffering in sin, but rejoicing in victory over sin. And his solution is we must die to sin and now obey him in practice – all in the power of God, by faith.

[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 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22] 

And for me, to be free of my physical pain, we had to first of all identify the source, and then we can begin working on what to do to relieve me of that nerve and chest pain and breathing difficulties. But the process won’t be painless, and it will take work, and I will have to be persistent in doing what needs to be done to free me of this suffering. And the same applies spiritually. We have to examine what is in our hearts and then we need to repent of our sins, putting them behind us, and then we need to be doing the work that God has for us to do to live holy lives which are pleasing to him, but all in his power and wisdom at work within our lives, by his grace.

By Your Grace  

An Original Work / June 27, 2011

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Speak Your words to my heart,

Let Your grace and love impart.

Be to me all I need

To love and serve Christ my King;

To love and serve Christ my King.

Change my heart; be like You;

Let me love and serve in truth.

Guide my steps ev’ry day, 

As I bow my knees and pray;

As I bow my knees and pray.

Love You, Lord. You love me. 

You died so that I’d go free

From my sin; pure within;

By Your grace I’m saved from sin;

By Your grace I’m saved from sin.

Invite You in my heart;

Now I have a brand new start.

Repented of my sin,

So that I’d be cleansed within;

So that I’d be cleansed within.

Live for You ev’ry day,

List’ning to the words you say.

Make You Lord of my heart;

Be Your witness, grace impart;

Be Your witness, grace impart.

Obey Your ev’ry word;

Do the things I’ve seen and heard.

Your word, Lord, in me burns,

While I wait for Your return;

While I wait for Your return.

https://vimeo.com/125738774

An X-Ray of Our Hearts

An Original Work / January 10, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love