Sue J Love
Loyal
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2015
- Messages
- 3,049
“Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. And a scribe came up and said to him, ‘Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ Another of the disciples said to him, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.’” (Matthew 8:18-22 ESV)
If we are going to be disciples of Jesus Christ, which we must be to believe in him, in truth, it means death to our old lives and us now walking in the Spirit in the new lives God has given us to live for his purposes and for his glory, in his wisdom and power. It means we give up ownership rights over our own lives, and over our own bodies, and we follow Jesus Christ wherever he leads us in doing whatever he has planned for our individual lives.
For belief in Jesus Christ is not just an escape from hell and a free ticket into heaven when we die. We cannot just give lip service to the Lord and then go on about our lives as usual, doing whatever it is that we want to do. Jesus made it clear to us that if we want to come after him that we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow him in obedience to his commands and to his will and purpose for our lives.
We don’t get to chart our own course. We don’t get to decide how we are going to live and where, and the things that we are going to do in this life. When we believe in Jesus with genuine God-persuaded faith in him it means death to our old lives, and now we live our lives in obedience to the Lord for the glory and praise of God, and not for our own glory. And this may cost us friends and family members who will not like who we have become.
And this may mean leaving behind everything to follow Jesus wherever he sends us so that we can do his will for our lives. For if we are his true disciples, it is not a life of comfort and ease. Now some of us may have it better than others of us, but when our lives are sold out to Jesus Christ, to do his will, it is going to cost us something, and maybe a lot, and we will be hated by some, and rejected, and cast aside as unnecessary and unwanted.
Especially if we are teaching the Scriptures the way that Jesus taught them, and the way that the New Testament apostles taught them, then we are going to have enemies just like they did. And it can be a very lonely life. For we will not fit in with most groups, not even with many who profess faith in Jesus Christ, because our lives are surrendered to the Lord to doing his will and to saying whatever it is he commands us to say, rejection included.
So, please understand that faith in Jesus Christ is not just forgiveness of sins and heaven as our eternal destiny. Faith in Jesus, which comes from God, and is persuaded of God, and is gifted to us by God, and is not of our own doing – not of the will nor of the flesh of humans – must result in us dying with Christ to sin and us now walking in obedience to his commands, in practice, in holy living, for it to be genuine believing faith in Jesus.
[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]
Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah
Hymn lyrics by William Williams, pub.1745
tr. by Peter Williams, pub.1771
Music by John Hughes, 1907
Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through this barren land.
I am weak, but Thou art mighty;
Hold me with Thy powerful hand.
Bread of Heaven, Bread of Heaven,
Feed me till I want no more (2X).
Open now the crystal fountain,
Whence the healing stream doth flow;
Let the fire and cloudy pillar
Lead me all my journey through.
Strong Deliverer, strong Deliverer,
Be Thou still my Strength and Shield (2X).
Lord, I trust Thy mighty power,
Wondrous are Thy works of old;
Thou deliver’st thine from thralldom,
Who for naught themselves had sold.
Thou didst conquer, Thou didst conquer
Sin and Satan and the grave (2X).
When I tread the verge of Jordan,
Bid my anxious fears subside;
Death of deaths, and hell’s destruction,
Land me safe on Canaan’s side.
Songs of praises, songs of praises,
I will ever give to Thee. Amen (2X).
Caution: This link may contain ads
An Original Work / January 23, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
If we are going to be disciples of Jesus Christ, which we must be to believe in him, in truth, it means death to our old lives and us now walking in the Spirit in the new lives God has given us to live for his purposes and for his glory, in his wisdom and power. It means we give up ownership rights over our own lives, and over our own bodies, and we follow Jesus Christ wherever he leads us in doing whatever he has planned for our individual lives.
For belief in Jesus Christ is not just an escape from hell and a free ticket into heaven when we die. We cannot just give lip service to the Lord and then go on about our lives as usual, doing whatever it is that we want to do. Jesus made it clear to us that if we want to come after him that we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow him in obedience to his commands and to his will and purpose for our lives.
We don’t get to chart our own course. We don’t get to decide how we are going to live and where, and the things that we are going to do in this life. When we believe in Jesus with genuine God-persuaded faith in him it means death to our old lives, and now we live our lives in obedience to the Lord for the glory and praise of God, and not for our own glory. And this may cost us friends and family members who will not like who we have become.
And this may mean leaving behind everything to follow Jesus wherever he sends us so that we can do his will for our lives. For if we are his true disciples, it is not a life of comfort and ease. Now some of us may have it better than others of us, but when our lives are sold out to Jesus Christ, to do his will, it is going to cost us something, and maybe a lot, and we will be hated by some, and rejected, and cast aside as unnecessary and unwanted.
Especially if we are teaching the Scriptures the way that Jesus taught them, and the way that the New Testament apostles taught them, then we are going to have enemies just like they did. And it can be a very lonely life. For we will not fit in with most groups, not even with many who profess faith in Jesus Christ, because our lives are surrendered to the Lord to doing his will and to saying whatever it is he commands us to say, rejection included.
So, please understand that faith in Jesus Christ is not just forgiveness of sins and heaven as our eternal destiny. Faith in Jesus, which comes from God, and is persuaded of God, and is gifted to us by God, and is not of our own doing – not of the will nor of the flesh of humans – must result in us dying with Christ to sin and us now walking in obedience to his commands, in practice, in holy living, for it to be genuine believing faith in Jesus.
[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]
Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah
Hymn lyrics by William Williams, pub.1745
tr. by Peter Williams, pub.1771
Music by John Hughes, 1907
Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through this barren land.
I am weak, but Thou art mighty;
Hold me with Thy powerful hand.
Bread of Heaven, Bread of Heaven,
Feed me till I want no more (2X).
Open now the crystal fountain,
Whence the healing stream doth flow;
Let the fire and cloudy pillar
Lead me all my journey through.
Strong Deliverer, strong Deliverer,
Be Thou still my Strength and Shield (2X).
Lord, I trust Thy mighty power,
Wondrous are Thy works of old;
Thou deliver’st thine from thralldom,
Who for naught themselves had sold.
Thou didst conquer, Thou didst conquer
Sin and Satan and the grave (2X).
When I tread the verge of Jordan,
Bid my anxious fears subside;
Death of deaths, and hell’s destruction,
Land me safe on Canaan’s side.
Songs of praises, songs of praises,
I will ever give to Thee. Amen (2X).
Caution: This link may contain ads
An Original Work / January 23, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
