Is this how you lay down your life for Jesus? One from column A and two from column B?
Peter said to Jesus, “I will lay down my life for You.” Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” John 13:37-38
Is this the way you abide in the Spirit?
We know and believe the love God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. John 15:1-11
Is this the way you’ve become a living sacrifice?
Brothers and sisters, in view of all we have shared about God’s compassion, I encourage you to offer your bodies as living sacrifices dedicated to God; this is your acceptable worship to Him. Romans 12:1
We are the temple of the living God within us. Just as God said, “I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God and they will be my people.” 2 Corinthians 6:16 (Leviticus 26:12)
The commands of God handed down first through Moses then through Jesus are not written on an á la carte menu from which are to we pick and choose our favorite and discard the items we don’t like. They are all vital in our mission to exemplify God’s character and show Him to the world.
People can no longer see Jesus as He appeared in the first century. They can only see Him in us. The only way we embody Him is to follow His commands.
If you love me, you will obey my commands. (John 14:15)
Church Set Free 
Amen and amen, Susan. Really good stuff.
We especially á la carte Jesus’ teachings…love your enemies, forgive, don’t judge, turn the other cheek….do unto others as you have them do unto you. The really strange things is, we’ve accepted Jesus as our Savior but not His teachings. We’ve adopted a cultural á la carte of faith rather than Jesus’ menu. Again, you make very good and important points here.
And Jesus interpreted all obedience down to one thing…love…Love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love others we love ourselves (the way God loves us). Doing these covers everything. You can’t get any meatier than that!
Blessings.
LikeLike
We do, Mel (We’ve adopted a cultural á la carte of faith rather than Jesus’ menu.). And it’s especially noticeable after the kinds of tragedies that have occurred lately: mass shootings, individual children killed in weird accidents. Victim blaming is rampant, particularly from the Christian community, and I’m appalled.
Those of us who follow Jesus and are wrapped in the Father’s arms have to be more vocal. We have to stand up and say, “This isn’t the Gospel. We must stand together in strength and publicly disavow the hate.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So true. It isn’t the gospel. In a way, it’s anti-Christ because it violates everything Jesus taught us. We’ve been ignoring Jesus’ teachings for too long. Not to make them a new form of legalism but to drive us to love, so that we can be healed from all our fear and anger, and start actually following Jesus and loving people unconditionally.
Keep banging the drum, Susan. We’re going to get this eventually!
LikeLike
Thanks for your encouragement, Mel.
LikeLiked by 1 person