When Teardrops Fall

When the teardrops fall, I do call on my Lord.

He is my support as I walk through the storm.

In the womb of my mother, my life He did form,

All that was for me He had planned ‘fore I was born.

God never promised us a life without tears,

A life without misery, a life without fears.

Our Lord Jesus told us what it meant to follow Him,

It means we’ll be hated and be treated just like Him.

Yes, suffering is hard, not meant to be easy,

For life on this earth is not meant to be breezy.

We learn through what we suffer to grow in Christian faith.

We learn how to love and how our sins we’re to abate. 

Crying, it’s okay, it releases all the tension,

Then we give all to God, for He now has our attention.

Then faith, walk we in it, despite our circumstances,

For God, He is with us, this is not happenstances. 

An Original Work / October 5, 2022

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

If One of You Should Wander

James 5:19-20 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

“19My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, 20consider this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover over a multitude of sins.”

 

Christian, if one of you

 

In context, this is speaking to us here about a fellow Christian, not of someone who is not of faith in Jesus Christ. So when it says, “if one of you should wander from the truth,” the indication is first of all that they were one of them, that they were a fellow believer in Christ, and that they once were of the truth, for you cannot wander from something you were never first part of. And when it says, “and someone should bring him back,” they had to have been of the truth to have wandered from it, and therefore they cannot be brought back to something if they were never part of in the first place.

 

And this is about bringing that fellow believer in Christ back to walking with the Lord in obedience to His commands and away from walking in sin. Whoever does that, whoever turns the sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death, and his (or her) sins will be forgiven them. So this also means that a fellow Christian can, at some point, wander from the faith, and fall back into sin, and be in danger of losing their salvation if they do not repent of their sin and turn back to God and follow Him in obedience to His commands. And this is taught all throughout the New Testament writings.

 

The Need to Repent and Obey

 

Now there are people who profess faith in Jesus Christ who never once died to their sins, and who never walked in obedience to our Lord’s commands in surrender to His will. They call themselves “Christians” because they made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, but then they continued on in their sin, many of them believing that God would not judge them and that He did not require that they repent of their sin and obey our Lord’s commands as part of faith which saves. They do not fit here because they never had a change of heart and mind resulting in a change of behavior. They are the unsaved.

 

But whether we are speaking of the truly saved, who once died with Christ to sin and who were once walking in obedience to His commands, but who have since wandered from the faith and thus are in need to be brought back into genuine fellowship with God, or if we are speaking of those who professed faith in Christ with their lips but who never died to sin nor did they ever walk in obedience to our Lord’s commands, or if we are speaking of those who never made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, they all still need to repent of (turn from) their sins and obey God to have faith which saves.

 

Our Focus in Evangelism

 

Now our focus in evangelism is not to be just toward those who have never confessed Christ as Lord and Savior. It also needs to be geared towards all who have made professions of faith in the Lord, some of whom never did deny self, die to sin, and obey God, and toward others who were once walking the Christian walk but who have since wandered from the truth of God’s word and who have fallen back into sin. In all cases they need to turn from (repent of) their sin and now obey God in life practice, in the power of God, if they are to have salvation from sin and eternal life with God.

 

Do Not Take God’s Grace for Granted

 

So, do not take God’s grace for granted. Do not presume upon God that He is going to let you into His heaven if you do not submit to Him as Lord of your life.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

If One of You Should Wander

An Original Work / September 30, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

The Prayer

 

Written by David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager,

Alberto Testa and Tony Renis

 

I pray you'll be our eyes

And watch us where we go

And help us to be wise

In times when we don't know

 

I pray we'll find your light

And hold it in our hearts

When the stars go out each night

Remind us where you are.

 

Let this be our prayer

When shadows fill our day

Lead us to a place

Guide us with your grace

To a place where we'll be safe.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqFCbtRz1Z0

 

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The Prayer of Faith

James 5:13-18 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

“13Is any one of you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises. 14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.

 

“16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail. 17Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth yielded its crops.”

 

Does God Always Heal?

 

Does God heal everyone who prays for healing? The apostle Paul pleaded with the Lord to remove a “thorn in the flesh” (not sin) from his body, and the Lord’s response was, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). And Paul was a man of faith who believed God could heal him, which is why he pleaded with God. He also advised Timothy to “Stop drinking only water and use a little wine instead, because of your stomach and your frequent ailments” (1 Timothy 5:23). And Job did not find immediate healing from God for his sores (see Job 1-42).

 

And is healing always something done physically? Can God heal in other ways? And does he allow suffering in our lives? The Bible teaches us that suffering is for our good. Sometimes we need to suffer in order for it to humble us, and in order that we might feel what others feel when they suffer so that we can show them compassion. Sufferings of all kinds work in us patience, endurance, godly character, steadfastness, hope, and reliance on God alone. And they are used to test our faith and to give us opportunity to witness for Christ to share the hope that is found in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

 

[Luke 21:13; Romans 5:3-5; 2 Corinthians 1:3-11; 2 Corinthians 4:17; Hebrews 12:3-12; James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:6-7; Revelation 3:19]

 

Different Types of Healings

 

Take for example Joni Eareckson Tada. As a teenager she was paralyzed from the shoulders down in a diving accident. I know she prayed for healing, but God did not heal her physically. Why? I believe it was because God had greater things for her to do that would involve her remaining paralyzed the remainder of her life. Eventually God used Joni in many miraculous ways to minister, not only to others who lived in wheelchairs, but to all of us.

 

And she ended up starting a ministry for people with disabilities. And she has helped and encouraged so many people throughout the world, as she shares her own testimony of how God worked and is still working in her heart and life and in her walk of faith in him. And it is not easy. It is hard. But she perseveres in the strength of the Lord, I believe, to make a difference in other people’s lives and in sharing Jesus with the world.

 

These are some quotes from Joni: “For the last 50 years in my wheelchair, I’ve been daily dying to self and rising with Jesus, dying to self and rising with Jesus, dying to self and rising with Jesus.” “God’s goal is not to make us comfortable. He wants to teach us to hate our transgressions as he grows our love for him.” “I really would rather be in this wheelchair knowing Jesus as I do than be on my feet without him." (Source: Google search)

 

And I have to say a hearty “Amen” to that last quote, in particular. The Lord has allowed me to suffer much throughout my life, yet He has healed me in so many different ways, too. For life can be hard at times, but I would rather be where I am, even with the sufferings I face daily, than to have life easy and to not be walking in obedience to my Lord in daily fellowship with him. God uses suffering for our good to mold us into His likeness for His glory.

 

I have learned to pray with Jesus, “Nevertheless, not my will but Thine be done,” hundreds of times in my life. Do I believe God heals? Oh, I absolutely do! He has healed me so many times physically and emotionally and spiritually, and yet he has allowed me to suffer, too. And He uses those sufferings in my life to make me who He wants me to be, so I can feel what other people feel, so I have compassion on the hurting, but so that I can also write with passion and compassion as someone who has experienced the kinds of things that others also experience, so that I can relate to them.

 

Judge Not!

 

Many people who believe in divine healing will judge others whom God has not healed physically as though it is a sign of sin in their lives, kind of like Job’s friends did with him. But God heals in so many different ways, and He uses us and our sufferings in our lives for our good, and for the good of others whose lives we touch if we accept what God has for us, and if we do not become bitter because He didn’t heal us in the ways we had hoped. But this is never to be used as an excuse for living in deliberate and habitual sin against God. God will not refuse to heal the repentant of sin in their lives.

 

[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 Prayer of Faith

An Original Work / September 30, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

My Prayer 

 

An Original Work / May 30, 2011

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

“Fill me with Your Spirit; help me to love others;

Let me know Your power; be an overcomer.

Show me how to follow Jesus Christ, my Savior;

Be His faithful servant to obey Him always.

 

“Lead me with Your presence; help me know the right way;

Teach me love and kindness, generous compassion.

Give me grace and courage to be Jesus’ witness,

Teaching His salvation to a world who needs Him.”

 

Won’t you come and follow Jesus Christ, your Savior?

He died so you’d be free of control of your sin;

Free to follow His ways in complete surrender;

Living sacrifices – let His grace transform you.

 

https://vimeo.com/122052093

Rest in The Lord

James 5:7-11 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

“7Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the soil—how patient he is for the fall and spring rains. 8You, too, be patient and strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near. 9Do not complain about one another, brothers, so that you will not be judged. Look, the Judge is standing at the door!

 

“10Brothers, as an example of patience in affliction, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11See how blessed we consider those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen the outcome from the Lord. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”

 

Impatient or Patient?

 

Do you ever get impatient? Is there anyone here who never gets impatient? I believe we live in one of those societies, at least here in the USA we do, where everything is getting shorter and shorter and faster and faster, and if it is not short (concise) enough or fast enough, for perhaps a lot of people, people may get impatient, or they may give up and move on to something else. Do you connect? Is this happening where you live? I think the younger generation is especially impacted by this, for so many things now being presented to them move so fast. And so anything slow puts them to sleep.

 

Well I am old (close to age 77), and I have never been fast at anything. And the older I get, the slower I move, and the slower my brain moves, too. Sometimes while I am sitting and writing, my mind goes absolutely blank, and I can sit here and stare at the screen, and then all of a sudden realize that I lost my place, and so I have to go back and find it. But if things move too fast for me, like people talking fast, I cannot understand what they are saying. I have to ask them to slow down so that I can take it in one word at a time. So some people may get impatient with me, for I am too slow.

 

When my children were young we used to listen to a song sung by “Herbert the Snail”, written by Frank Hernandez and Sherry Sanders Powell, titled “Have Patience.” I loved singing the song, too. The lyrics go something like this:

 

Have patience, have patience,

Don’t be in such a hurry.

When you get impatient

You only start to worry.

Remember, remember

That God is patient, too,

So think of all the times

When others have to wait for you.

 

Now, although I am slow, I tend to be prompt. Usually I am early. I am hardly ever late for anything. So I always allow extra time so that I will be on time. For I do not do well under time pressure. Never have. So I used to get impatient with those who were not prompt, like I was. And I had to learn to be patient. And I can’t say that I excel in that area, but I work at it, and I do a whole lot better than I used to. I am way more relaxed than I was in my younger days. So patience is something we must work at if it doesn’t come to us naturally. But God will help us if we are willing to change.

 

Patience in Suffering

 

But here the subject is patience in suffering. And suffering can come from multiple sources, too, depending upon where we live, the culture of the place where we live, and the people who we are around. And the suffering can be physical, or emotional, or mental, or spiritual in nature. It can be the result of our physical environment, our financial circumstances, the government we live under, and/or the “church” environment with which we are connected. Or it can be associated with our physical relatives or our neighbors or those who call themselves our friends or the place where we work for pay, etc.

 

And as we watch our world crashing down all around us, and as we see the gospel of Christ being altered and diluted in order to appease human flesh, and as we watch so much evil taking place which is not being dealt with, and which is not being stopped, but which is being allowed and even encouraged to exist, it should break our hearts! If it doesn’t, that is a very sad situation, indeed. So when we see the signs of the times in front of our faces on a daily basis, we might grow weary and be impatient because we want to see people turn from their sins and obey God who are still living in sin.

 

And if we are those who are standing on the truth of what the Scriptures teach, in a time and culture when the gospel is being so diluted to appease human flesh, we will most likely face much rejection and persecution and false accusations against our character. We won’t be voted “most popular,” and we may have many people (even other Christians) turn against us and want nothing to do with us. And that can be a very lonely life and a painful life emotionally watching the world go to hell, many on the basis of being taught lies which they are believing as truth. So we rest in the Lord!

 

[Matthew 5:10-12; Matthew 10:16-25,34-39; Matthew 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 12:49-53; Luke 21:12-17; John 15:18-21; John 16:33; Acts 14:22; Romans 5:3-5; 2 Corinthians 1:3-11; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 3:7-11; 1 Thessalonians 3:1-5; Hebrews 12:3-12; James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:6-7; 1 Peter 4:12-17; Revelation 6:9-11; Revelation 7:9-17; Revelation 11:1-3; Revelation 12:17; Revelation 13:1-18; Revelation 14:1-13] 

 

Rest in The Lord

An Original Work / September 29, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

The Prayer

 

Written by David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager,

Alberto Testa and Tony Renis

 

I pray you'll be our eyes

And watch us where we go

And help us to be wise

In times when we don't know

 

I pray we'll find your light

And hold it in our hearts

When the stars go out each night

Remind us where you are.

 

Let this be our prayer

When shadows fill our day

Lead us to a place

Guide us with your grace

To a place where we'll be safe.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqFCbtRz1Z0

 

Caution: This link may contain ads

What's Important?

Christian brother, where are you?

Christian sister, and you, too.

What’s important? Do you know?

Does it matter? Does it show?

Your intentions, what are they?

Read your Bible, kneel and pray?

Have devotions here and there?

Share the gospel anywhere?

Some of you are quite sincere, 

Follow Jesus, have Him near.

Hearts are given o’er to Christ.

Now to sin NOT are enticed.

Follow Jesus where He leads,

On His word you daily feed.

Share the gospel, Christ to know,

Hearts sincere, and not for show.

But while others fall in sin,

Not the souls of folks to win.

Self-absorbed and self-defiled,

Self-indulgent all the while.

Make professions, not in fact,

Their confessions not intact.

Love their idols, play their games,

And they remain just the same.

So, the calling here is this,

Don’t let your faith be amiss.

Turn from your sins, follow God,

Righteousness now you applaud.

Faithful you in service be,

Walking with Christ tenderly,

Follow Him in what He says,

Your faith in Him now express.

An Original Work / October 1, 2022

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

The Right Thing to Do

James 4:13-17 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

13Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.” 14You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

 

15Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.” 16As it is, you boast in your proud intentions. All such boasting is evil. 17Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.

 

Belief in Jesus Christ

 

When we believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, we are giving up our lives of living in sin and for self in order to now live for Him and to do His will. Our lives are no longer our own to be lived however we want to live them, for Jesus bought us back for God (He redeemed us) out of our lives of slavery to sin so that we might now serve our Lord in walks of obedience to His commands in holy living. Therefore, He should be the one we go to in making our plans, for He might have other plans for us to do.

 

Belonging to Christ

 

But it isn’t just that we should inquire of Him before making huge plans, the kinds of plans suggested in this passage of Scripture which would take up an enormous amount of our time, as in years, but that our lives should now belong to God, and He should now be master of our lives. And we should be those who are seeking to know His will and His purpose for our lives and who are doing the will of God in being the people He has called us to be in doing what He has called us to do and in going wherever He sends us.

 

Inquire of The Lord

 

Therefore, we must inquire of the Lord as to who He wants us to be, and as to what He wants us to do with our lives, and with regard to where He wants us to go and to live and to work. For what He wants for our lives may not be what we had in mind. Or it may be something we would never have thought of or dreamed of or even considered before. And we need to be ready and available whenever He says that it is time to uproot and to move somewhere else, or to take a different job, or to begin a new ministry, etc.

 

Wives Submitting to Husbands

 

And if the Lord has been prompting us to move in a different direction, but we do the opposite of what He is calling us to do, that is sin. But if we are married, and if we are female, we are to submit to our husbands unless what they are requiring of us is sinful and definitely out of the will of God, or if they are requiring that we disobey God. We never have to submit to sin. But God gave women to men to be their helpers, and we are to be one flesh, so we can share our beliefs with our husbands and then trust them to God.

 

In other words, when we are married, and the two become one flesh, then it is no longer one person answering to God and following His leading, but it is two, and the two are to become one. I, as the wife to my husband, cannot just say that I believe God is sending us to a different state and so we should now pack up our bags and move. I can present to my husband what I believe is the leading of the Lord, but if he does not have the same belief, then I must wait on the Lord. I must surrender that to the Lord.

 

So, the point here is that, if we are married, and if we are female, we are not one person deciding where we will live. And the right thing for us to do is to submit to our husbands as long as we are not submitting to sin, as long as they are not requiring that we act out of the will of God. We can share our thoughts and beliefs, for we are to be their helpers, but we are to go with our husbands unless they are leading us into sin. For that is the right thing for us to do. And then we just need to give it all over to the Lord.

 

The Right Thing to Do

An Original Work / September 29, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

Only Hope

 

By Jonathan Foreman

 

There's a song that's inside

Of my soul..

Sing to me of the plans

That you have for me over again

 

I give you my destiny

I'm giving you all of me

I want your symphony

Singing in all that I am

At the top of my lungs

I'm giving it my all

 

So, I lay my head back down

And I lift my hands and pray

To be only yours I pray

To be only yours

I know now you're my only hope

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gnS7ZEbEqU

 

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Draw Near to God

James 4:7-10 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

“7Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.”

 

Temptations to Sin

 

In this world of ours we will face temptation to sin against God, temptations to give into the flesh and to resist being led by the Spirit. We will face temptations to be proud, to envy other people, to take credit for what came from God and not from ourselves, to quarrel and to fight, to take matters into our own hands, to be selfish, to operate from the wrong motives, to be pleasure seeking, and to become worldly in order that the world will like us, and the like. And Satan will try to get us to go that way and not God’s way.

 

So, as followers of Christ, we are to submit ourselves to God, and we are to resist the devil. Eventually he will flee from us, but not permanently. He and his servants will try again other times to get us to live for self and not for God. So we must resist the devil every time he tries to get us to go the way of the flesh and not the ways of God (see Ephesians 6:10-20). But this is not something we do once and then we go right back to living however we want to live. Every day we must submit ourselves to God and follow in His ways.

 

Seeking God’s Guidance

 

We must be those who are listening for the Lord every day to give us guidance in what he would have us to do that day. Now I know many people have paid jobs, so, to some degree, their day has already been planned out for them. But that doesn’t mean they should not be seeking the guidance of the Lord and that they should not be listening for His voice throughout the day in directing their paths, in correcting them when they are thinking of giving into temptation to sin, and in guiding them in righteous living.

 

But if we are going to draw near to God, so that He will draw near to us, we cannot be living in deliberate and habitual sin against Him. And this is not saying that we must be absolutely perfect in every way, either. But our lives must be surrendered to doing the will of the Lord, and we must be those who are seeking after the Lord to know His will, who are seeking His guidance and direction so that we might be doing His will. So we must be those who study the Scriptures and who listen for the Holy Spirit’s voice.

 

Repent of Sin

 

But if we are actively sinning against God, resisting the Lord, and not Satan, while we profess faith in Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives, then we need to stop! We must repent of (turn from) all sins and turn and follow Jesus with our lives wherever He leads us. And this should involve grieving over all sins to the point of genuine long-lasting permanent change of heart and mind resulting in a change of behavior. Sin must no longer be what we practice. But we must let God change us to be more like Jesus in surrender to His 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]

 

Draw Near to God

An Original Work / September 29, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

The Prayer

 

Written by David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager,

Alberto Testa and Tony Renis

 

I pray you'll be our eyes

And watch us where we go

And help us to be wise

In times when we don't know

 

I pray we'll find your light

And hold it in our hearts

When the stars go out each night

Remind us where you are.

 

Let this be our prayer

When shadows fill our day

Lead us to a place

Guide us with your grace

To a place where we'll be safe.

 

https://youtu.be/iKZn9fzDfr4?si=5bEEhjePwLKROrVU

 

Caution: This link may contain ads

The Pain So Deep

The pain inside you

Are you hurting deep inside,

The pain so deep, and so you hide

From others what is hurting you, 

Perhaps, because their love not true?

You’ve been down this road before

Of trusting others with your sore,

And then to have them turn their backs,

Since love for you they surely lack.

Trusting others, it is hard,

When from “the church” you have been barred,

When others have rejected you,

Because to God you have been true.

Say they love you, do not show,

It is not you they want to know,

For you don’t fit in with their schemes,

For you don’t follow all their dreams.

Say they want you in their pews

As long as you withhold your views,

As long as you conform to them

And to their whims say an “Amen.”

They say that they accept all folk

To that remark, it is a joke.

For they accept you only if

Into their mold you surely fit.

If you are uniquely made

By God to whom your life you gave,

And He has a plan for your life

Then do what He says, do not fright.

Go where He sends, say to them

What God’s word teaches – must repent

And follow Him where’er He leads,

And on His truth your heart to feed.

An Original Work / August 11, 2022

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

The Wisdom From Above

James 3:13-18 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

“13Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good conduct, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14But if you harbor bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast in it or deny the truth. 15Such wisdom does not come from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every evil practice.

 

“17But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere. 18Peacemakers who sow in peace reap the fruit of righteousness.”

 

Double-Dealing

 

This title might not be an exact match for what I am about to share, but it is close enough. Back in the 1981/1982 time period, when I was in my early 30’s, not long after I had given birth to my fourth child (my third son), then the pastor of our church taught the congregation on the subject of spiritual gifts. He sent around a questionnaire for everyone to fill out, asking what gifts they have and what areas of ministry they would like to be involved in. So I filled mine out and I turned it in, but I didn’t ever hear anything back.

 

After a long while I finally became convinced that I needed to ask the pastor what his response was to what I wrote on the questionnaire. So he came to our house, at my request, and I asked him why I had not heard from anyone. And then he blurted out several false accusations against my character. And then he said, “Would you say that you have been crucified with Christ?” I said, “Yes!” Then he said, “I would say you haven’t!” Wow! My heart was broken! The man didn’t even know me. That was cruel!

 

I did not attempt to pursue that subject after that. But God didn’t let it go. He encouraged me to get back in there and to “fight this thing through” (i.e. to speak in my own defense). The pastor then told me that he was not the one with the issue, but it was the elders. So I scheduled a meeting with the elders, and they quoted this passage of Scripture from James 3:13-18 to me, and they told me I needed to read that. And they accused me falsely of having “selfish ambition,” which is why I was not being asked to serve.

 

But, to make a long story much shorter, what it turned out to be is that these elders said when they volunteered for ministry it was to be seen of others, and since I volunteered to serve the Lord in ministry, they presumed that must be my motivation, too. But it wasn’t! I loved (and still love) my Lord, and my desire was (and still is) for Him to serve Him in doing whatever He has gifted me and called me to do. So they (the pastor included) were judging me by their own selves when they didn’t know my heart at all.

 

Eventually the pastor admitted that they had judged me falsely by their own selves for they were threatened by me and my knowledge of the Scriptures and by the words I shared when I was called upon to share during Bible study time. The pastor said that I spoke with “too much authority” for someone my age and that I should wait until I had grey hairs on my head, and then the people would listen to me. But it was the authority of God, not my own wisdom, and when the grey hairs sprouted his prediction came true.

 

False Judging

 

Did that pastor and did those elders do right by me in what they falsely accused me of, not even knowing me? Obviously what they did was wrong. It was an injustice. But does that mean that all judging is wrong? No! But 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. But not all judging is wrong.

 

[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]

 

Who Is Wise?

 

So why did I share all that with you? Because that pastor and those elders were unwise in how they treated me. They were not understanding at all. And their conduct toward me was not good. Their wisdom in how they treated me was not the wisdom of God, but it came from their own flesh, for they were judging me by their own selves, by their own standards, and not justly. They presumed that I must be like them, but I was not like them. And at the end of it all the pastor admitted that they were threatened by my wisdom. He admitted that he did not give much thought to what he taught.

 

So, while they were throwing this passage of Scripture in my face, trying to convince me that the wisdom I had was earthly and of the flesh, and not of God, they were acting in a manner which was earthly, for it was based off their own human wisdom and not the wisdom of God. It was based off their own feelings, and their own emotions, and not off the teachings of the Scriptures. So what they were accusing me of came back on them. And this serves as an example to all of us to be careful that we do not judge others by ourselves or without knowledge or prejudicially, and without love. But we are to judge justly, according to the Scriptures, and out of love for others.

 

The Wisdom From Above

An Original Work / September 28, 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]

It Was to Save Lives

Genesis 37,39-45 Summary

 

Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac was the father of Jacob, and Jacob was the father of Joseph. And Joseph had 11 brothers. But Jacob favored Joseph, and Joseph told his dreams to his brothers, and his brothers hated him on both accounts. For he was the favored son of their father, and the dreams he shared with them appeared to be saying that one day they would bow down to Joseph. And they did indeed, for those dreams did come true. But before then, Joseph’s brothers plotted to kill him, for they hated him.

 

His brother Reuben prevented the other brothers from killing him, but he was okay with the “throw him into a pit” plot. But then the other brothers decided to sell him to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt. Then the brothers faked Joseph’s death, stating that a vicious animal had devoured him, and Jacob, who believed the lie, then mourned his son Joseph’s death. But Joseph was alive and was now serving Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh. And Potiphar put Joseph in charge of his household, for he trusted him.

 

But then Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce Joseph to sleep with her, but he refused, for he was a man of honor. This angered her and so she lied about him and she accused him of trying to have relations with her, and so Joseph was thrown into prison for a crime he did not commit. Then Pharaoh was angry with two of his servants, so he threw them in prison. They had dreams which they could not interpret and so Joseph interpreted their dreams for them. Then Pharaoh restored one servant while he hung the other one.

 

Two years later Pharaoh had two dreams. He summoned all the magicians and wise men of Egypt, but none could interpret his dreams for him. But then the servant (the cupbearer) who had been in prison with Joseph recalled how Joseph had correctly interpreted his dream and the dream of the other servant. So Pharaoh sent for Joseph and he asked him to interpret his dreams. Joseph replied, “I myself cannot do it, but God will give Pharaoh a sound answer.” And God, through Joseph, interpreted the dreams.

 

Joseph told him that his dreams spoke of seven years of great abundance followed by seven years of famine. And so Joseph counseled him to look for a discerning and wise man and to set him over the land of Egypt for the purpose to make preparations and to store up provisions for the seven years of famine for when they should come. So Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of his house. “Only with regard to the throne will I be greater than you,” Pharaoh told Joseph. And Joseph took charge of all the land of Egypt.

 

The seven years of famine were now upon them. And Jacob, Joseph’s father, learned that there was grain in Egypt, so he sent his sons to Egypt to buy grain for them. Ten of Jacob’s sons were sent to Egypt. But Jacob kept the youngest, Benjamin, with him. Now the brothers did not know that Joseph was still alive, and they did not know that he was ruler of the land, and that he was the one who sold grain to all the people. And many years had passed since they had sold him as a slave. So they did not recognize him.

 

Joseph, on the other hand, recognized his brothers but he did not immediately reveal himself to them. Joseph had no compassion on his brothers, and he decided to test them, instead (see Genesis 42-44). And Joseph’s brothers felt like maybe they were now being punished for what they did to their brother Joseph. Joseph ordered that they must bring their brother Benjamin to him if they wanted to buy grain. At first Jacob resisted the idea, but eventually he yielded and let Benjamin go with his brothers.

 

After many back and forths between Joseph and his brothers, when he was testing them, he finally revealed himself to them (Genesis 45). And he wept loudly!

 

4Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near me.” And they did so. “I am Joseph, your brother,” he said, “the one you sold into Egypt! 5And now, do not be distressed or angry with yourselves that you sold me into this place, because it was to save lives that God sent me before you. 6For the famine has covered the land these two years, and there will be five more years without plowing or harvesting. 7God sent me before you to preserve you as a remnant on the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. 8Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God, who has made me a father to Pharaoh—lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt. (Genesis 45:4-8 BSB – Berean Standard Bible)

 

Lesson Learned

 

God allows hardships, pain, sorrows, trials, tribulations, mistreatments, false accusations, rejections, betrayals, and persecutions in our lives for a reason. What we might regard as something horrible, which it certainly can be, no question about it, God allows for good in our lives. But not just so that we can grow closer to our Lord in fellowship with Him, and so that we will serve Him with our lives in obedience to His commands, in doing the will of God for our lives, but sometimes it is for the salvation of other human lives. So, in a sense, it really is not about us, but it is about how God intends to use us.

 

And, as I think about my own life, and the trials and tribulations God has taken me through, and the sufferings and persecutions and mistreatments I have had to endure throughout my life, I realize that God took me through all of that to make me who I am today so that I would be doing what God has called me to do these past 22 years, which is all for the glory of God, and which is also for the salvation of human lives from the pit of hell so that they can know God, and so they can be saved from their sins and now walk with God in fellowship with Him in obedience to His commands from here on.

 

It Was to Save Lives

An Original Work / September 27, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

It All Depends

 

Jerry Nelson / Don Marsh

 

Would I leave the place

Where I have lived and settled down?

It all depends.

Break with my attachments,

Sentimental though they be?

It all depends.

Would I find myself uprooting

All the stakes I’ve driven down,

Leaving friends and loved ones far behind,

Captive to the call of some far off distant land?

I can only answer, that depends.

 

It all depends on where He needs me,

For where He leads me my feet must go.

It may be down an unfamiliar pathway

Or cross the mountains so bleak with snow.

His faithful hand will always guide me.

He’ll walk beside me, let come what may.

Why should I dread the night?

My faith has found its sight.

I’ll do His will through the rest of my life.

 

[I cannot find a recording for this song anywhere.]

Your Desire is My Desire

Your desire is my desire.

You have set my heart on fire.

Your love leads me, follow You,

Faithful be, my witness true.

Give all of I have to You,

Loyalty to You is due.

Walk with You throughout the day

As I bow my heart and pray.

Need Your grace to give me power

To walk with You in this hour.

Troubles wait me round the corner 

From those who defy Your borders.

Witness truly, truth to tell

To those who head straight to hell.

Teach them to repent, obey,

Follow Jesus every day.

Bless those who will persecute.

Love them truly. Do not shoot!

Pray for them, to them be kind,

So that God’s grace they will find.

Do not shrink back, persevere.

Let the truth of Christ be heard.

Speak the truth, it’s needed much.

Don’t get caught in “such and such”.

Many teaching lies to people

So that they will be their sheeple.

Teaching them to not repent,

From their sins to not relent.

Spiritual warfare now aflame,

People now remaining same,

Need revival, change of hearts,

Who from Jesus not depart.

An Original Work / July 17, 2022

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Be An Effective Doer!

James 1:19-25 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

 

“19My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger, 20for man’s anger does not bring about the righteousness that God desires. 21Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and every expression of evil, and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save your souls.

 

22Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves. 23For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror, 24and after observing himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so—not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer—he will be blessed in what he does.”

 

Sin, a Heart Issue

 

Why do so many people who profess faith in Jesus Christ continue in moral filth and in so many expressions of evil and not in submission to Christ as Lord in holy living? What lies within their hearts that drives them to keep repeating the same sins over again with no genuine repentance in sight? Well the Scriptures teach that it is out of what is stored up in the heart that comes evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, and slander, etc. (see Matthew 15:17-20; Luke 6:45).

 

So sin is really a heart issue. And there are many people in this world, professing Christians and not, who are living in addiction to sin who are selfish, self-indulgent, malicious, morally unclean, egocentric, liars, angry, manipulators, and deceivers, many of whom fake their Christianity to try to appear righteous on the outside but while they continue living in addiction to sin in secret. For they are those who are wandering far from God, choosing their sin over and above God, who are unfaithful to what their lips profess.

 

False Teachers

 

And then we have so many false teachers of the gospel in so many of the gatherings of what are at least called “churches,” who are teaching the people that all they have to do is to make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ and now all their sins are forgiven and they are on their way to heaven guaranteed but regardless of how they live. So many are teaching that faith does not require death to sin and obedience to God’s commands, or else they make them optional, which is a lie of the devil and not of God.

 

For the Scriptures make it quite clear that faith in Jesus, if it is genuine, and if it is biblical, requires that we repent of (turn from) our sins and that we now walk in obedience to our Lord and to His commands. We must be doers of the Word and not hearers only. How is it that so many are not seeing that in the Scriptures? It is all throughout the New Testament teachings under the New Covenant. And yet I hear so many say, “I don’t have to obey God. I don’t have to repent of sin.” For they call that “works salvation.” It isn’t!!

 

Self-Deception

 

Many people today are being self-deceived, for they look to other humans to tell them the truth they want to hear while they ignore the multitude of Scriptures which teach us that we must, by faith in Jesus Christ, deny self, die to sin, and follow our Lord in walks of obedience to His commands. For if we refuse, we will not inherit eternal life with God. NOT MY WORDS! I nearly always include Scripture references here so you can look them up and read them for yourselves. There is no way around this. Please know the truth!

 

[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]

 

We must be doers of the Word and not hearers only or we will not be blessed of God. We must not be those who see ourselves for who we really are, and then if we see that something is wrong, that it is out of place, or that it is sinful or antibiblical, that we just walk away and we ignore what we were shown. Instead, we are to be those who look at our hearts with all honesty to see what God sees is in our hearts who then make the necessary changes in our lifestyles and attitudes in order to now please God with our lives.

 

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).

 

Be An Effective Doer

An Original Work / September 27, 2026

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

Your Life

 

Based off of Colossians 3:1-17

An Original Work / October 22, 2011

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

 

Set your hearts and minds on things up above

Where Christ sits with God; not on earthly things.

For you died and your life is now hidd’n with Christ.

When Christ, who is your life, is seen, you will be with Him.

 

Your sins, put to death. Don’t walk in these ways.

Don’t lie to yourselves or to others, too.

Since you have taken off your old sinful past,

Put on the new self in Jesus. Get rid of such things.

 

Therefore, holy ones, put on gentleness;

Kindness; patience, too. Be compassionate.

Bear with one another. Forgive others, too.

Forgive as the Lord forgave you. O’er all, put on love.

 

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts now.

You were called to peace. Be ye so thankful.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly now

As you teach and instruct others. Sing songs unto Christ.

 

Spoken: “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Col. 3:17 NIV 1984).

 

https://vimeo.com/125740353