• Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.

Are You Addicted to Sin?

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.’” (Matthew 16:24-27 NASB1995)

[Cf. Luke 9:23-26; Mark 8:34-38; John 12:25-26; Romans 8:17: Philippians 3:10; Galatians 2:20; 1 Peter 2:21; 2 Timothy 2:11-12; Romans 6:6; Matthew 10:38; 1 Corinthians 9:24-27; 2 Corinthians 4:10-11; Luke 14:27; John 15:18-20; Colossians 3:3-4]

There are many people professing faith in Jesus Christ, convinced that their sins are all forgiven and that heaven is now guaranteed them when they die, but they have not died with Christ to sin. They have not been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. Sin has not been put to death in their lives, but they are continuing to live in their sins, doing what their evil hearts desire, deliberately and habitually, for they believe the lie.

Some of them may make a pretense of having put sin to death in their lives, while secretly they continue in their habitual sinful practices. Among them are many who are habitual liars, deceivers, manipulators, fakes, malicious, morally unclean, opportunists, and untrustworthy egomaniacs whose pride and selfishness keep them locked into their sins while outwardly they profess to be followers of Jesus Christ. But they are not followers of the God above, but of the gods below who convince them that God will not judge them.

Some of them may go through the motions of religious practice while their hearts are far from God. They regularly attend religious gatherings, and they may even be involved in what are called Christian ministries. Some of them are even pastors, elders, and deacons of “church” congregations. But secretly they are still living to please the flesh, and not God, for they are serving the gods of this world, and not the God from above who created us and who made us to be a people who would worship him with our lives.

And the Lord may be speaking to some of them, warning them that if they continue on their sinful course that they will die in their sins and that they will not have eternal life with God. He may be calling out to them to repent of their sins, to die to sin daily, and to follow him in walks of obedience to his commands in daily practice. And they may even give a show (performance) that they have done that. But then it comes out that they did not do that, but they kept on in their sinful course and just covered it up with lies.

Honestly, this is where many are who profess faith in Jesus Christ, convinced that God is going to let them into his heaven when they die, but while they continue to live for self, and not for God, while they live on this earth. And this doesn’t have to include really offensive and outrageous sinful practices. This can be people who just live to please their flesh, and who do whatever they want to do with their lives without regard for what God wants for their lives. For they are still the lord and master over their own lives, not God!

So please take this passage of Scripture in Matthew 16 to heart, for this is the will of God for our lives. If we want to come after Christ, and to be his people by faith in the Lord Jesus, then we must deny self, die daily to sin, and follow our Lord in walks of surrender to him as Lord, in obedience to his commands. And this is not saying we will never sin again (1 John 2:1-2) but that sin must no longer be what we practice, deliberately and habitually. But now surrender to God in obedience to his commands must be our practice.

For if we choose to hold on to our sinful lifestyles, we will lose our lives for eternity. Heaven will not be our eternal destiny. Hell will be where we are headed, instead. But if we die with Christ to sin and to self, and we now submit to him as Lord (Owner-Master) of our lives, and we now walk in his ways, doing what he commands, by his grace, and if we continue in these walks of faith to the end, then we have the hope of eternal life with God. For we are all going to be judged by God in the end, according to our deeds.

[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; 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 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

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.

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Are You Addicted to Sin?
An Original Work / June 27, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
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The 558 Million Year Old Fat Molecules

Stumbled across this today:

"This fossil is one of the world's earliest animals, according to fat molecules preserved for half a billion years."

See: https://www.science.org/content/art...ccording-fat-molecules-preserved-half-billion

The article is from 2018, so it's, ah, old info. But notice the reference to 93% of the organic molecules had 27 carbon atoms, making them members of the same group that cholesterol is in. This, from the article, indicates there were animal cells.

Okay, so any molecule with carbon atoms falls within the domain of organic chemistry. We're still talking about molecules surviving for 558 million years. That's almost incredible. Would have thought it would have broken down long before now.
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Braidwood Mgt. vs. Kennedy

Three liberal and three conservative justices got together to make the correct decision in this case.

From AI:
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Kennedy v. Braidwood with a decision authored by Justice Kavanaugh and joined by Justices Roberts, Sotomayor, Kaga, Barrett and Jackson. Justice Thomas authored a dissent, joined by Alito and Gorsuch.
Kennedy v. Braidwood Management, Inc. is a case that challenges whether the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (Task Force) is authorized to issue binding recommendations that require private health insurance companies to cover certain preventive services with no copayments or coinsurance for covered individuals5. The case was argued before the Supreme Court of the United States in 20253. The issue at stake is whether the structure of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force violates the Constitution's appointments clause and whether the statutory provision that insulates the task force from the Health & Human Services secretary's supervision is undue1. Braidwood Management, Inc. challenges lawful provisions that have been critical to addressing barriers to preventive care2.

I am very glad that the HHS Secretary does not have authority over the committee that determines which preventive care services should be covered by insurance.

There are many preventive services that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has indicates he disapproves of, and the idea that he might undermine the health of our citizens by appointing people who think similarly to this committee would scare me to death.

This committee should make medical decisions based on their medical expertise, free from politics.

Congressman calls on Noem, Dr. Oz with plan to 'swiftly remove' 1.4 million illegal migrants on Medicaid


California in particular has a lot of illegals on Medicaid.

Catholic bishop condemns immigration enforcement on church property: 'Not of the Gospel'

A Roman Catholic bishop has criticized the Trump administration's immigration enforcement efforts, which he says have included federal agents entering a parish property to detain several people.

In a letter to parishioners who attend mass in the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Bernardino in San Bernardino, California, posted to Facebook Tuesday, the Mexican-born Bishop Alberto Rojas commented on the "change and increase in immigration enforcement in our region and specifically our diocese."

"Authorities are now seizing brothers and sisters indiscriminately, without respect for their right to due process and their dignity as children of God," he said.

Continued below.

Replace the "administration"!

"Administration".

Its five syllables and a complete mouthful. I for one have had enough of news people slurring their way through "Trump administration" over and over again. We could fix half of that by impeaching Trump. But thats for another thread. This is about replacing "administration".

Please offer your candidate words.
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New SCOTUS ruling on injunctions

Good day,


The ruling: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/24a884_8n59.pdf


Justice Amy Coney writing for the majority "A universal injunction can be justified only as an exercise of equitable authority, yet Congress has granted federal courts no such power," I would submit neither has the Constitution I understand that was not the question that the plaintiff asked. The birthright question will have to wait an I am sure the President is happy with this ruling. The progress on his executive orders have been and will be continuing.


JAC "We will not dwell on JUSTICE JACKSON’s argument, which
is at odds with more than two centuries’ worth of precedent,
not to mention the Constitution itself. We observe only this:
JUSTICE JACKSON decries an imperial Executive while embracing an imperial Judiciary."

In Him,
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Discerning the Signs of The Times

The Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. But He replied to them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times? An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away. (Matthew 16:1-4 NASB1995)

First off I want to mention that there are people who are using this passage of Scripture to teach that we should not want any signs of anything at all, and that it is wrong to ask for any kind of sign, and that there won’t be any signs at all of the events of the last days, so we shouldn’t even be looking for them. But is that true? Not according to the Scriptures. For in Matthew 24 Jesus’ disciples asked Jesus to tell them what would be the sign of his coming, and of the end of the age, and he answered them fully (vv. 4-51).

See also: [Revelation 12:1-3; Revelation 13:13-14; Revelation 15:1; Revelation 16:14; Revelation 19:20; and Matthew 24:4-51]

Okay, so then what is the meaning of Jesus’ words to the Pharisees and Sadducees? What was really happening in this encounter? Were the Pharisees and the Sadducees seekers of Christ, wanting to know him, wanting to put their trust in him? Generally speaking, no. Usually they were among his persecutors who loved trying to put Jesus to the test in an effort to trip him up with his words, hoping to have a cause to accuse him of some wrong. They were those who mocked him, not those who were seeking him.

So their desire for a sign came from a totally different motivation than Jesus’ disciples asking him for a sign. For they were just testing Jesus, and they were probably mocking him, and so they were demanding that he give them a sign to validate his authority, for they did not believe him. Today this would be like if you were sharing the truth of the gospel with some people and a group of mockers approached you and said snidely, “Yeah? Then prove it to me!” They are not looking for truth, which is obvious by their tone.

This might also be like someone today who is loosely professing faith in Jesus Christ, but who is still deliberately and habitually living in sin, making sin their practice, and not obedience to God. As their defense they might claim ignorance, or act as though they did not know when they did know. They aren’t ignorant of the truth. They just don’t want to be responsible to have to obey the truth that they know, and so they look for ways where they can excuse away the way that they are living, by claiming ignorance.

For they are like the man who looked intently in the mirror and who saw his reflection, but then who walked away and deliberately forgot what he looked like, which was about his character, not his outward appearance. It isn’t that he didn’t know, that he had not gotten a good look at what was inside his heart, but that his heart and his character were not in the right place. They were in the place below, and not in the place above. But they cover it up with a web of deceit which they use to try to mask the evil they are doing.

This describes this evil and adulterous generation. So many give the outward appearance that they are seeking after God, to know him, to obey him, but for some of them it is just a façade, and it could be a trap, and they may use faith in Jesus Christ and belief in the Bible to lure others into their webs of deceit. And sometimes they will stir up controversy, not because their hearts are in the right place, and not because they are seekers of righteousness, but because they are setting a trap to see who really believes what.

And so it is in our generation that we have people who give the appearance that they are seeking after the Lord, but they are not sincere. They are faking their faith in Jesus Christ in order to test us, to draw us out, to find out what we are made of and what we believe, in an attempt to catch us in our words or so that they know who is on which side. They will fake taking sides because they know that is a way to get people to admit which side they are on. So we need to be very discerning and pray much for wisdom.

And social media is one of the big places where this trickery is taking place. So many of the questions asked of us on social media do not come from people who have our best interest at heart, or who are just “having fun,” but they are very intentional questions to get as much information out of us as possible so that they know our likes and dislikes, and what interests or does not interest us, and where our weaknesses lie, so they might know what to put on the internet that they think will tempt us in a wrong direction.

So, be careful. Be guarded. Be wise. Don’t be vulnerable. Don’t accept everyone at face value, believing that they are who they say that they are and that their motives are sincere. Test everyone in prayer, seeking God’s wisdom and discernment. And please know that liars and deceivers are everywhere. So be careful that you don’t get caught in their hook. We do live in an evil and adulterous generation where deception and trickery are everywhere, even within the gatherings of what are called “churches.”

Testing the spirits: [Matthew 7:15-23; Matthew 24:11-14; John 10:1-15; Romans 16:17-19; 2 Corinthians 11:3,13-15; Ephesians 4:11-16; Philippians 3:2; 2 Peter 2:1-22; 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22; 1 Timothy 1:3-7; 1 Timothy 6:3-10; 2 Timothy 3:1-9; 1 John 4:1-6; Jude 1:1-25]

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

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Discerning the Signs of The Times
An Original Work / June 27, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

I fear I will lose God forever

My soul has become so wounded and so dark due to the sins I have committed and also due to the sins other people have done to me. I feel truly terrible. I don't want to go to Hell. I have offended God so many times. My soul is in darkness and my spirit is crushed. Please pray. I want a miraculous healing to take place but I am in despair because it does not come. My heart is infested with evil thoughts about God and others.

The rise of Democratic Socialism

Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortese once regarded as on the periphery, but their rise continues in NY.

Socialist Likely To Take Control Of Country’s Biggest City Thanks To Quirky Voting System, Poll Shows

Democratic New York Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, a socialist, has the edge over former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary due to the Big Apple’s atypical voting system, according to a poll released Monday.
In a piece published June 16, the New York Times editorial board blasted Mamdani, claiming that he “is a democratic socialist who too often ignores the unavoidable trade-offs of governance.” Meanwhile, the editorial board asserted that Cuomo “has the strongest policy record of the candidates,” adding that they think he has “won the most impressive collection of endorsements” in the New York City mayoral race. However, the board stopped short of giving any candidate its endorsement.


Christian Pastor Crucified in His Home!

A religious fanatic preyed upon Christians, and murdered this pastor, with two priests also on his radar as being the next targets of his murderous plans:


Be Aware of Deception

“And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread. And Jesus said to them, ‘Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’ They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, ‘He said that because we did not bring any bread.’ But Jesus, aware of this, said, ‘You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread? Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up? Or the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets full you picked up? How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.’ Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” (Matthew 16:5-12 NASB1995)

Do you ever find yourself thinking more on a surface level and ending up missing what is really going on entirely? You think materially, rather than spiritually, and you judge by outward appearances rather than looking deeper into what is really happening? You assume that what you are seeing or hearing is the truth, when it may not be the truth at all? Because you assume that the people speaking are actually who they say that they are, and that they really believe what they are saying that they believe?

We have to be very careful that we don’t judge by outward appearances only, either against or in favor of someone or something. For not everything or everyone is what or who they appear to be outwardly. Many liars and deceivers and charlatans and wolves in sheep’s clothing are among us pretending to be who they are not, pretending to believe what they do not believe and to do what they do not put into practice in their lives. They are showmen and women whose whole purpose it is to deceive with their lies.

Now we must be careful that we don’t see a snake everywhere we look, and that we don’t go around suspecting everyone of telling us lies to the point of paranoia. But we must also not be fully trusting of everyone, assuming that everyone is who they say that they are, doing what they are saying that they are doing, with the motives that they are claiming for their actions. For we live in an age of massive deception. And many fake their Christianity in order to get Christians to fall into their webs of deceit, to believe the lies.

And what is the leaven being spoken of here? It is a spreading influence of evil. It is the spreading influence of sin and of false teachings and lies which are now permeating so much of what are called “churches” and the lives of those who profess faith in Jesus Christ. This is happening big time here in the USA. And this isn’t coming just through the gatherings of what are called “the church,” but through television, radio, the internet, social media, music lyrics, and the news media, et al. And this is happening around the clock.

When I was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s we did have a television most of the time, I think, although it didn’t always work. And I am certain that we were influenced by it unknowingly. But what could be viewed on television was then very controlled. And we did have radios where we could listen to music and to some people speaking, and so we were influenced by those forms of media, I am certain, although most of us were probably not aware of how much we were being influenced by these media sources.

Now it is bizarre and unfathomable what you can watch on TV or on the internet or listen to on the radio or on other media sources today. I am certain that I have very limited knowledge as to what all can be accessed via these forms of media in our world today, but I do know that they provide a whole world of evil at people’s fingertips in the privacy of their own homes or in the corner of a room where no one else can see what they are viewing. And lies, lies, lies, abound just about everywhere you look these days.

So we can’t just evaluate people or situations or what we think we are seeing or hearing or reading on a surface level only. Too many liars exist, and they are all over these media sources laying traps for us to fall into. And everyone is not like this, but we should not assume that everyone is on the “up and up,” either. They may sound very sincere. But it could be a trap. It may sound like truth, but it could be loaded with lies and deception. It may sound good to our ears but be filled with poison as coming from a viper.

So we need to be people of discernment who do not take everything and everyone at face value, for deceivers and wolves in sheep’s clothing abound! And traps are being laid for us on the internet, for certain, hoping that we will fall into them. And not everything is going to be obvious on a surface level. But this isn’t just happening on the internet, or via other media sources, but this is happening in the gatherings of some “churches” where people are being lied to via false teachings on a weekly basis.

Testing the spirits: [Matthew 7:15-23; Matthew 24:11-14; John 10:1-15; Romans 16:17-19; 2 Corinthians 11:3,13-15; Ephesians 4:11-16; Philippians 3:2; 2 Peter 2:1-22; 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22; 1 Timothy 1:3-7; 1 Timothy 6:3-10; 2 Timothy 3:1-9; 1 John 4:1-6; Jude 1:1-25]

Pray, Pray, Pray

Based off Various Scriptures
An Original Work / September 6, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love


Pray that eyes may enlightened be,
So they may know Christ.
Pray that they may Him better know,
Strengthened by His pow’r.
Pray that they may grasp
How wide and long
And high and deep
Is Christ’s love.
Pray that they may be filled
To the fullness of God’s love.
Pray with thanksgiving.

Pray for an open door for me,
So I may share Christ.
Pray when the gospel is proclaimed –
Shared with clarity.
Pray words are given me so
I declare the gospel fearlessly.
I pray for you to be active
Sharing your faith, too.
Pray continually.

We oft not know for what to pray,
So we ask for help.
The Spirit intercedes for us –
Words cannot express.
Just keep on praying for the saints
With all kinds of requests to God.
Pray they may have faith to
Please their God in ev’ry way.
Pray with joyfulness.

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Be Aware of Deception
An Original Work / June 27, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Hegseth tears into reporters, alleging they 'cheer against Trump' and Iran strikes

"You, the press, specifically you, the press corps, because you cheer against Trump so hard," he said. "It's like in your DNA and in your blood to cheer against Trump because you want him not to be successful so bad. You have to cheer against the efficacy of these strikes. You have to hope maybe they weren't effective."

Hegseth nailed it.

Secretary Noem Terminates Wasteful DHS Program that Encouraged DEI in K-12 Schools

Under the guise of counter terrorism, this program used tax money on initiatives to foster “inclusive environments in schools,” promote DEI, and expose grade school children to sexualized topics like LGBTQ issues.

That's something, lying to the public, claiming the money was for counter-terrorism. Sneaky.

James Finley's "The Healing Path"

Anyone else read this? It's a small book, but pretty dang incredible. Tough to read in places, but very moving and helpful. Basically documents the author's experiences with trauma, faith, contemplative prayer, and healing. I liked it. Keep reading parts of it over and over.
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The "watch rapture view"

Matthew 24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

Matthew 24:42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.


So since we are currently in a pre-70th week time status, the rapture could happen pre-70th week.

Should the rapture not take place as the 70th week begins, then we should continue to watch - as the resurrection/rapture is even closer.

My point is - don't be so dogmatic (as to insisting pre-trib, mid-trib, pre-wrath, post trib timing). The key is to watch, be prepared, Matthew 24:44

Matthew 24:44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.

We all should be able to adopt the "watch rapture view".

God Works Focused on The Plan

Acts 2:36 KJV
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

"Therefore let all" My Interpetation- Jesus Christ seated on the right hand of God-throne. My faith have giving me power endued from on high.

"House of Israel " My interpetation: Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation through Jesus Christ.

" Know Assuredly " My Interpetation: God's word is not void. Jesus Christ is only God Performes signs, healings, wonders.

" God hath made" My Interpetation: John 14: 6 KJV Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father.

"Whom ye crucified" My Interpetation: Jesus Christ resurrection on third day.

"And Christ " My interpetation: Jesus Christ allows us to receive his inheritance myself becoming heir of God.Gkd responding giving me my faith , hope and to ne done today, past, future years.

Word Spoken and Written by Reginald Taylor Jr

Pray Unselfishly

What is prayer? As a child I learned prayer as ACTS = adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication. So it should not all be just asking God for something. And it is not a one-way conversation with God to where we do all the talking, and he does all the listening, and to where it is all about what we want, but not about what he wants. Prayer should not be self-centered, but it should be God-centered. For this is a two-way relationship, and it should be a two-way conversation where we listen to what God says, too.

Prayer should not be about just getting what we want, but it should be about seeking the will and the purpose of God in what we are praying for. And, to the best of our understanding, we should be praying according to the will of God. But if we don’t know what the will of God is in any given situation, we can express our requests, but they should not contradict God’s divine will and purpose expressed to us in the Scriptures. But then I would add, nevertheless, not my will but Thine be done. We should want God’s will.

Now, when we pray, we will receive from God anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him (1 John 3:22), and because we ask according to his will (1 John 5:14), and we do not ask with the wrong motives (James 4:2-3), and because we remain in him and his words remain in us (John 15:7), and because we believe and we don’t doubt (James 1:5-8). And that is just a few Scriptures describing for us what our prayers should look like and what God requires of us for him to answer our prayers.

But what about when you pray for something that you believe is within the will of God, biblically speaking, and it doesn’t turn out the way that you had hoped and believed that it would? Take this situation for example:

“Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10 NASB1995)

Now, there are many different opinions floating around as to what Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” actually entailed, but none of us knows for certain. What we do know, based upon Paul’s own personal testimony, and according to all that he taught about what it means to be a Christian and a follower of Christ, is that it was not a sinful addiction. God would never and will never refuse to deliver us from a sinful addiction, for Jesus died to free us from our slavery to sin so that we will now serve the Lord in obedience to his ways.

And it could have been a physical ailment of some kind, but whatever it was, it was torment, and the torment came from the enemy, and the purpose of the enemy was to get Paul to reject Christ, because of this ailment, and to stop preaching the truth of the gospel of our salvation, and to give up, and to deny Christ. The enemy’s purpose was to destroy Paul and his testimony for Christ so that God could no longer use him to take the gospel to many people who would, by faith in Jesus Christ, then die to sin and obey God.

But God had a different purpose in it. God’s purpose was to keep Paul from exalting himself and from becoming conceited. So it was God who gave Paul that thorn in the flesh, much like it was God who permitted Satan to do all the evil that he did to the Lord’s servant Job. God allowed Satan to inflict Job and to inflict Paul, or Satan could not have done what he did. And in both cases it was to humble or to keep humble the Lord’s servants. Suffering was to teach Paul to rely fully on God and not on himself (2 Corinthians 1:8-9).

So, the point here is that God is not always going to answer our prayers in the way that we had hoped that he would, which we believed to be according to his will. For he heals in many different ways, and he allows suffering in our lives to work his good in our lives. And sometimes suffering is healing for us because it keeps us humble, and it keeps us seeking after God, and it makes us ever aware of our need of God in all things, in all ways. And God can use our suffering in ways which will reach other people with the gospel.

[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-39; Matt 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 12:49-53; Luke 21:12-19; John 15:1-21; John 16:33; John 17:14; Acts 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Eph 6:10-20; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]

Pray, Pray, Pray

Based off Various Scriptures
An Original Work / September 6, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love


Pray that eyes may enlightened be,
So they may know Christ.
Pray that they may Him better know,
Strengthened by His pow’r.
Pray that they may grasp
How wide and long
And high and deep
Is Christ’s love.
Pray that they may be filled
To the fullness of God’s love.
Pray with thanksgiving.

Pray for an open door for me,
So I may share Christ.
Pray when the gospel is proclaimed –
Shared with clarity.
Pray words are given me so
I declare the gospel fearlessly.
I pray for you to be active
Sharing your faith, too.
Pray continually.

We oft not know for what to pray,
So we ask for help.
The Spirit intercedes for us –
Words cannot express.
Just keep on praying for the saints
With all kinds of requests to God.
Pray they may have faith to
Please their God in ev’ry way.
Pray with joyfulness.

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Pray Unselfishly
An Original Work / June 26, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

I need wise counsel and wisdom about a girl.

Hey all! It’s been awhile since I’ve posted but I’ve been around! And I wanted to reach out today for wise counsel and fellow believers advice

So for about a year ago I met a girl on upward, the Christian dating site and me and her have a lot in common, she also most certainly doesn’t live in worldly ways. Like me she doesn’t swear, Loves Christ, has never touched any sort of drug, has never had any sexual activity outside marriage, has never been drunk, and shares the same beliefs and political opinions as I do.we’ve met a handful of times and had a great time together.

I just however want to make sure she is a right one to Date. i keep praying for wisdom I guess a part of me is foolish for thinking God will answer in my emotions change, which I’m letting go of. But I confess I’m scared and a hint of hesitant to receive his answer, I’m so scared I’ll never find a woman who doesn’t have a history like me; and I guess I’m scared of the possibility of letting her go if he doesn’t approve. Could anyone help me out with this?

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