Sue J Love
Loyal
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2015
- Messages
- 3,201
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” (1 John 3:1-3 ESV)
So, who are those who God calls his children? We are all who have surrendered our lives to him, who have made him Lord of our lives, who have died with him to sin, who are dying daily to sin, and who are walking in obedience to his commands, by his grace, in his power, and not in our own power and wisdom and strength. We are those for whom sin is no longer our practice, and obedience to our Lord’s commands is our practice. This doesn’t make us perfect, but lack of perfection is no excuse for practicing sin.
We are not those who give lip service only to the Lord while we continue to walk in sin and not in obedience to our Lord. We are not those relying on some profession of faith in Jesus we made with our lips but while sin is still what we practice, and while obedience to God is not what we practice. For Jesus died on that cross to deliver us out of our slavery to sin so that we would now serve him with our lives in walks of obedience to him in going where he sends us and in doing all that he commands of us.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-21; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
And the reason that the people of this world do not know us is because they do not know him. And this doesn’t mean that they are not acquainted with us at all, but they don’t really know or understand us and who we are and what makes us tick and why we do the things that we do, and why we don’t do certain other things. And the world includes the worldly church which has adopted the ways of the world in order to attract the world to their gatherings. They will not understand us, either. And they may reject us.
Now, the goal of our Christian walks is that we should be holy as God is holy. And to be holy is to be set apart by God and from the world because God is in the process of conforming us to the likeness of character of Jesus Christ. We are clay in the hands of the Potter and he is molding us to his likeness the more that we yield our lives over to his control and we submit to his work of grace in our lives in changing us to be more like Jesus. But that work will not be finished until Jesus returns and he takes us to be with him.
In the meanwhile, while we are waiting for our Lord to return to take his faithful ones to be with him for eternity, which is when our salvation will be complete, we purify ourselves as he is pure. And what this means is that we are submitting to the Lordship of Christ over our lives, and we are following him where he leads us and in doing what he commands us to do. We are not dabbling in sinful practices, and in immorality, but we are keeping our bodies and our minds pure, free from the evil influences of this sinful world.
For this is what the life of a Christian should look like, i.e. someone whose life is committed to the Lord to doing his will and to walking in his ways and to no longer living to please the sinful flesh. And, again, this does not make us perfect, for we are still works of God in the process of being made pure, and we have not yet arrived. But, again, this lack of perfection excludes deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord and defiance of his commands. We are to be followers of Christ whose goal it is to please our Lord.
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.
Caution: This link may contain ads
And So We Are
An Original Work / February 16, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
So, who are those who God calls his children? We are all who have surrendered our lives to him, who have made him Lord of our lives, who have died with him to sin, who are dying daily to sin, and who are walking in obedience to his commands, by his grace, in his power, and not in our own power and wisdom and strength. We are those for whom sin is no longer our practice, and obedience to our Lord’s commands is our practice. This doesn’t make us perfect, but lack of perfection is no excuse for practicing sin.
We are not those who give lip service only to the Lord while we continue to walk in sin and not in obedience to our Lord. We are not those relying on some profession of faith in Jesus we made with our lips but while sin is still what we practice, and while obedience to God is not what we practice. For Jesus died on that cross to deliver us out of our slavery to sin so that we would now serve him with our lives in walks of obedience to him in going where he sends us and in doing all that he commands of us.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-21; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
And the reason that the people of this world do not know us is because they do not know him. And this doesn’t mean that they are not acquainted with us at all, but they don’t really know or understand us and who we are and what makes us tick and why we do the things that we do, and why we don’t do certain other things. And the world includes the worldly church which has adopted the ways of the world in order to attract the world to their gatherings. They will not understand us, either. And they may reject us.
Now, the goal of our Christian walks is that we should be holy as God is holy. And to be holy is to be set apart by God and from the world because God is in the process of conforming us to the likeness of character of Jesus Christ. We are clay in the hands of the Potter and he is molding us to his likeness the more that we yield our lives over to his control and we submit to his work of grace in our lives in changing us to be more like Jesus. But that work will not be finished until Jesus returns and he takes us to be with him.
In the meanwhile, while we are waiting for our Lord to return to take his faithful ones to be with him for eternity, which is when our salvation will be complete, we purify ourselves as he is pure. And what this means is that we are submitting to the Lordship of Christ over our lives, and we are following him where he leads us and in doing what he commands us to do. We are not dabbling in sinful practices, and in immorality, but we are keeping our bodies and our minds pure, free from the evil influences of this sinful world.
For this is what the life of a Christian should look like, i.e. someone whose life is committed to the Lord to doing his will and to walking in his ways and to no longer living to please the sinful flesh. And, again, this does not make us perfect, for we are still works of God in the process of being made pure, and we have not yet arrived. But, again, this lack of perfection excludes deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord and defiance of his commands. We are to be followers of Christ whose goal it is to please our Lord.
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.
Caution: This link may contain ads
And So We Are
An Original Work / February 16, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
