Original Works 5

[Sue J Love]

Listen! Listen!

God takes sin very seriously. He hates sin because of what sin does to his children, and how it has the potential for ruining lives, homes, marriages, friendships, and/or church congregations, etc. So much sin in today’s church goes unchecked. So many messages in today’s church leave out the word “sin”, they do not call the sinner to repentance, and they do not demand obedience to Jesus Christ. They often placate sin so as not to offend the sinner, and they water down the gospel message so the sinner does not feel guilty about his sin, but feels that God’s grace gives him a free license to continue in his sin and yet still attain heaven. May it never be!

Christ Jesus came to set us free from sin, and not just free from the ultimate penalty of sin – eternal damnation. He set us free so sin no longer has to have dominion over our lives, but so we can be free to not allow sin to control us, but rather for us to be slaves to righteousness, as obedient (but not perfect) servants of Christ.

Listen! Listen! / An Original Work / December 20, 2011

Weep and wail o’er your sins, children.
God is calling out to you:
Be ye honest; tell the truth,
And it will set you free.
Harken to Him calling you to
Bow on bended knee today.
Don’t delay to let Him in,
And He’ll cleanse your hearts;
Pure within.

Sinners, won’t you listen to Him
Calling out to you today?
He died so that you would be free
Of your sins always.
Turn from your sin. Turn to Jesus.
Obey Him in ev’ry way.
He wants to set you free of
All your guilt,
For which He did pay.

Listen! Listen!
Don’t close your hearts
To His voice speaking to you.
He will give you all of His peace,
If your hearts be true.
He longs for you to come to Him
Humbly now and repentant.
Obey all of His commandments.
Live with Him eternally.

 

[Sue J Love]

The Heart of Man

“Some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, ‘Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat?’” Jesus knew their hearts, so he replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?” Ouch! He called them hypocrites, and then told them that Isaiah was right when he prophesied about them: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.”

Then, Jesus called the crowd over to him and said, “Listen and understand. What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him unclean, but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him unclean.” The disciples were concerned that Jesus had offended the Pharisees, but Jesus was not the least bit concerned about whether or not his words offended the self-righteous, prideful and hypocritical religious leaders who were leading people astray by their strict adherence to things that did not affect the heart of man, while they neglected the true matters of the heart. Jesus is concerned about our hearts, and he wants us to have our hearts purified and to be made clean by the power of his Holy Spirit within us. So he is calling out to us to turn from our sins and to turn to follow him in obedience to his commands. This is the way of love, and it is the way of salvation.

The Heart of Man / An Original Work / April 4, 2012

Based off Matt. 15:1-20; Mk. 7:1-23

Listen to me ev’ryone and
Understand this teaching of Christ:
Why do you break the commands
Of God for the sake of tradition?
When you follow the ways of man,
And don’t obey the words of Christ,
You nullify the words of God,
And you hold to the ways of man.

What comes out of a man’s mouth is
What makes him unclean and dirty.
The things that come out of the mouth
Come from the heart, from within him.
The heart of man is so sinful;
From his nature, out comes evil:
Lying, cursing, greed and malice,
Lust and lewdness, deceit, slander.

Jesus calls us to obey him;
Turn from our sins; follow His ways.
Yet, his people honor him with their lips,
but their hearts not with Him.
Their worship of God is in vain.
Their teachings are rules taught by man.
Jesus calls us; gently leads us
To return and follow His truth.

 

[Sue J Love]

The Lord's Anointed

This song is based off Isaiah 61. Luke’s gospel recorded that Jesus was in the synagogue on the Sabbath day in the town of Nazareth. He stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him, and he read the first part of this passage from Isaiah concerning himself, the anointing he had received from God the Father, his ministry on the earth, and concerning the plan of salvation which he preached, and which ultimately he brought to the world via his shed blood on the cross for our sins. So, this passage he read was fulfilled in Christ himself and in his ministry.

Yet, when Jesus Christ left the earth and he sent his Holy Spirit to indwell the lives of his followers, we, as well, received an anointing: “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” Jesus told his disciples that they would continue on his ministry after he left the earth. As followers of Christ, and as those who have Christ within us, we are also anointed of God to do all these things mentioned in this passage of scripture. We, as his followers, are to be Jesus to the world around us in doing what he did.

As a result of what Jesus Christ did for us in dying on the cross for our sins and being resurrected back to life in conquering death, hell, Satan and sin, we can now come to Jesus Christ in faith and receive his eternal salvation. He will renew us and restore us to a right relationship with God the Father, and God can use us in the lives of others to help them, as well, to be renewed, restored and to rebuild their broken lives. Thus, we serve as priests of the Lord in ministering to the lives of others in the same manner in which Jesus Christ did and now does through us, and in the same manner spoken of in this passage of scripture. And, all the glory, praise and honor belong to Christ Jesus – great things He has done!

The Lord’s Anointed / An Original Work / December 16, 2011

Based off Isaiah 61

The Spirit of the Sov’reign Lord on me;
Anointed to preach the Good News;
Sent me to bind up the brokenhearted;
Proclaim freedom for the captives.
He sent me to preach release for pris’ners
Who are walking in sin’s darkness;
Proclaim God’s grace to all men who’ll listen;
And tell them about God’s judgments;
Comfort all who mourn;
Give crowns of beauty;
Oil of gladness and thanksgiving.

They will be called oaks of God’s righteousness,
A planting of our Savior, God,
For the display of our Lord’s splendor, and
They will rebuild God’s holy church.
God will renew them, and will restore them,
And you’ll be called priests of the Lord.
You will be ministers of our God, and
You will rejoice in salvation.
The Lord loves justice;
He is faithful to
Reward those who are seeking Him.

I delight greatly in the Lord;
My soul rejoices in my Savior, God.
He has clothed me with His salvation,
And in a robe of His righteousness.
He has given me priestly garments to
Wear, as the bride of Jesus Christ.
As the garden of our Lord and Savior,
He causes us to grow in Him.
He makes righteousness,
Praise, and thanksgiving
Spring up before all the nations.

 

[Sue J Love]

Full Release

On the morning of 4/15/12, the pastor of the church fellowship we attended preached a sermon on the subject of moving from our initial commitment to Jesus Christ, in inviting him into our hearts and lives to be our Savior and Lord, to becoming fully committed followers of Jesus Christ, being willing to die for our testimony for Jesus Christ, and for the truth of the gospel. Although I did not see the connection between this song and the sermon when the Lord gave me the lyrics the day before, the more I read or sang through them, the more I saw the connection. Many people come to faith in Jesus Christ, but don’t understand what it means to be fully devoted to Christ, until someone explains to them the cost, the joy, and the blessings of walking daily in fellowship and obedience to Jesus Christ.

Full Release / An Original Work / April 15, 2012

Walking daily with my Savior
brings me joy.
Loving Father; precious Jesus;
He’s my Savior and my Lord.
Gently leads me; follow Him.
I’ve invited Him within.
Now abiding in His presence,
oh, what peace.
From my self-life
He has brought me,
By His mercy, full release.

Hope and comfort,
peace and safety Jesus brings
When I daily bow before Him;
Obey freely; do His will.
Follow Him where’er He leads.
Listen to Him; His words heed.
Now obeying his words fully,
oh, what love
That He gives me
through salvation,
By His Spirit, from above.

Loving Father; precious Jesus,
He’s my friend.
With my Savior, by His Spirit,
I will endure to the end.
Share the gospel, tell what’s true.
Witness daily; His will do.
Tell the world of how their Savior
bled and died.
On a cruel cross He suffered
So that we might be alive.

 

[Sue J Love]

Keep On!

This is a song about faith in Jesus Christ and about keeping that faith strong, vibrant and ongoing. It begins with repentance and obedience to Jesus Christ and to his commands for our lives. It moves from there to our daily walk of fellowship in his love. We cannot have fellowship with God if we are not obeying him or if we are still holding on to our past sins. Jesus said that if anyone is to follow him he must die daily to himself and to sin and must follow Christ in full obedience and surrender to his will for our lives. From this foundation of faith we then grow in our faith and our trust in our Lord to meet us in all of our needs.

As well, we will face spiritual battles with our enemy of our souls, Satan, and we must put on the armor of God daily so that we can fight off Satan’s attacks against us. We must determine and be resolute that we will, in the strength and power of the Holy Spirit within us, not deny Christ Jesus, not bow to the gods of men or to men as our god, not stop speaking in the name of Jesus Christ, and not stop sharing the gospel message. We must determine that by God’s grace of salvation at work within us in cleansing us of all sin that we will no longer allow sin to rule our hearts, but we will make Jesus our only Lord. Amen!

Keep On! / An Original Work / December 15, 2011

Praise the Lord! Praise Him now!
Before Him humbly bow.
Repent of your sins now.
Turn to Him; obey now.
Walk in fellowship with Him daily,
And abide in His truth.
He will forgive you,
And He’ll cleanse you,
And He’ll give you new life.

Trust in Him. He is truth.
He will not forsake you.
Rest in Him. Let Him lead.
He will meet all your needs.
Obey His ev’ry word to you,
And listen to all He says.
He will be faithful
In all His promises,
So rest in Him.

Do not bow – gods of men.
Let Christ rule in your hearts.
Do not stop – share your faith.
Keep on: speak Jesus’ name.
Share His truth with all He leads you to
Be a witness for Him.
Never yield to sin
Against your God.
Obey Him in ev’ry way.

 

[Sue J Love]

Our Eyes on Jesus

4/23/12: The other day I was praying through some present situations in my life. I was feeling weary and I was losing heart over the situation, so I prayed for renewed strength. Then, I pulled out the Bible study we are doing in our ladies’ Tuesday morning Bible study, and I read Hebrews 12:2-3: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

Wow! That immediately spoke to my heart, and the situation I was going through, and God began to fill me with his peace and joy. Then, today, as I prayed for words to a tune the Lord had given me, he led me back to this passage of scripture, and once again he encouraged my heart to rely on his strength.

Our Eyes on Jesus / An Original Work / April 23, 2012

Based off Hebrews 12:2-13

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus.
Our faith starts and grows in Him,
Who for the joy set before Him
Endured all our sin.
Scorning the shame of the cross,
He sat down beside God above.
He was willing to die for us,
To save us, in love.

Think about the opposition
He endured from sinful men,
So when you go through life’s trials,
You stay strong within.
Knowing all He went through for us
Helps us not grow weak of heart;
Not grow weary; don’t give up;
And not from Him depart.

In your struggle against sin’s ways,
Resist not to shed your blood.
Have you forgotten the words
God spoke to us in love?
“My child, don’t ignore it when
The Lord corrects you; do faint not,
Because the Lord disciplines those
That He loves, of God.”

God rebukes us all for our good;
Share with Him in holiness.
It produces a harvest of
God’s own righteousness.
Therefore, strengthen all within you
That is weak and might give way.
Stand firm in the faith God gives you;
Trust Him and obey.