Sue J Love
Loyal
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2015
- Messages
- 4,324
“Turn to me and be gracious to me,
For I am lonely and afflicted.
The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
Bring me out of my distresses.
Look upon my affliction and my trouble,
And forgive all my sins.
Look upon my enemies, for they are many,
And they hate me with violent hatred.
Guard my soul and deliver me;
Do not let me be ashamed, for I take refuge in You.
Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,
For I wait for You.” (Psalm 25:16-21 NASB1995)
As followers of Jesus Christ in today’s world, who are our enemies? Well, Satan (the devil) is our greatest enemy, and he is the one who persuades other humans to also be our enemies. How so? He convinces them that the gospel taught by Jesus Christ and by his New Testament apostles, if taught in the correct biblical context, is the lie, and that an altered and diluted “gospel” message is the truth. And he convinces them that faith in Christ requires nothing of us other than a profession of faith, in lip service only.
But Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).
For by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).
But they call that “works salvation” or “lordship salvation” and so they call it the lie, while they spread legitimate lies to the people in telling them that they don’t have to put sin to death in their lives and that they don’t have to obey our Lord’s commands, but that heaven is still secured them for when they die because they “prayed the prayer to receive Christ” or because they made some public acknowledgement of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Or they make death to sin and obedience to God as optional; not required.
And the people who are behind all of this are of the devil, and not of God, for they are deliberately teaching lies which are contradictory to the teachings of Christ and of his New Testament apostles, taught in the correct biblical context. Those who decided to alter the gospel message to make it more acceptable and less offensive to human flesh are malicious, morally unclean, deceivers, manipulators, and opportunists who know how to twist the truth in order to turn it into a lie, for the absolute purpose to reject the truth.
And then many who follow the lies and who then reject the truth of the gospel, even if they have heard the truth taught, in some cases, become the morally unclean, and liars, the dishonorable, the wicked and corrupt who lie to cover up the evil they are doing, either prior to the evil acts or afterwards. Even though many of them have heard the truth, yet because they want to hold on to their sin and to their selfish and self-indulgent ways, they reject the truth in favor of the lies which permit them to continue in deliberate sin.
And they become enemies of the righteous because they have rejected the truth of God’s word in favor of the “feel good” lies, and so they are not receptive to the truth. And they may end up rejecting and persecuting and doing evil against those who are living righteously, because the righteous are an offense to them and a reminder to them (no words necessary) of their own depraved and immoral conditions, or just because they want to do their evil which then automatically results in them hurting other people.
So the affliction of the righteous can be a result of the rejection, abuse, and/or mistreatment they receive from those who reject the truth of the gospel which the righteous are sharing. And that can be a lonely existence for those who are true followers of Christ who are spreading the truth of the gospel at a time when the majority appear to be accepting a cheapened and lowered “gospel” which appeases human flesh. So we need to cry out to God to guard our souls from discouragement or from caving to the oppression.
Regardless of what the ungodly are doing or saying, or how we are being treated by some of those who oppose the true gospel message, we are to remain steadfast in our faith. We are to keep spreading the truth of the gospel, despite all opposition, and we are to continue to live holy lives, pleasing to God, in the power and wisdom of God. And we need to give our reputations over to the Lord and trust him to work it all out for our good and for the salvation of human lives from sin so they have eternal life with God.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 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]
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
Caution: This link may contain ads
Multitudes of Enemies
An Original Work / October 17, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
For I am lonely and afflicted.
The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
Bring me out of my distresses.
Look upon my affliction and my trouble,
And forgive all my sins.
Look upon my enemies, for they are many,
And they hate me with violent hatred.
Guard my soul and deliver me;
Do not let me be ashamed, for I take refuge in You.
Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,
For I wait for You.” (Psalm 25:16-21 NASB1995)
As followers of Jesus Christ in today’s world, who are our enemies? Well, Satan (the devil) is our greatest enemy, and he is the one who persuades other humans to also be our enemies. How so? He convinces them that the gospel taught by Jesus Christ and by his New Testament apostles, if taught in the correct biblical context, is the lie, and that an altered and diluted “gospel” message is the truth. And he convinces them that faith in Christ requires nothing of us other than a profession of faith, in lip service only.
But Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).
For by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).
But they call that “works salvation” or “lordship salvation” and so they call it the lie, while they spread legitimate lies to the people in telling them that they don’t have to put sin to death in their lives and that they don’t have to obey our Lord’s commands, but that heaven is still secured them for when they die because they “prayed the prayer to receive Christ” or because they made some public acknowledgement of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Or they make death to sin and obedience to God as optional; not required.
And the people who are behind all of this are of the devil, and not of God, for they are deliberately teaching lies which are contradictory to the teachings of Christ and of his New Testament apostles, taught in the correct biblical context. Those who decided to alter the gospel message to make it more acceptable and less offensive to human flesh are malicious, morally unclean, deceivers, manipulators, and opportunists who know how to twist the truth in order to turn it into a lie, for the absolute purpose to reject the truth.
And then many who follow the lies and who then reject the truth of the gospel, even if they have heard the truth taught, in some cases, become the morally unclean, and liars, the dishonorable, the wicked and corrupt who lie to cover up the evil they are doing, either prior to the evil acts or afterwards. Even though many of them have heard the truth, yet because they want to hold on to their sin and to their selfish and self-indulgent ways, they reject the truth in favor of the lies which permit them to continue in deliberate sin.
And they become enemies of the righteous because they have rejected the truth of God’s word in favor of the “feel good” lies, and so they are not receptive to the truth. And they may end up rejecting and persecuting and doing evil against those who are living righteously, because the righteous are an offense to them and a reminder to them (no words necessary) of their own depraved and immoral conditions, or just because they want to do their evil which then automatically results in them hurting other people.
So the affliction of the righteous can be a result of the rejection, abuse, and/or mistreatment they receive from those who reject the truth of the gospel which the righteous are sharing. And that can be a lonely existence for those who are true followers of Christ who are spreading the truth of the gospel at a time when the majority appear to be accepting a cheapened and lowered “gospel” which appeases human flesh. So we need to cry out to God to guard our souls from discouragement or from caving to the oppression.
Regardless of what the ungodly are doing or saying, or how we are being treated by some of those who oppose the true gospel message, we are to remain steadfast in our faith. We are to keep spreading the truth of the gospel, despite all opposition, and we are to continue to live holy lives, pleasing to God, in the power and wisdom of God. And we need to give our reputations over to the Lord and trust him to work it all out for our good and for the salvation of human lives from sin so they have eternal life with God.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 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]
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
Caution: This link may contain ads
Multitudes of Enemies
An Original Work / October 17, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
