+Criticize important people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
+Get specific calling out sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
+Preach the Bible—and practice what you preach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
+”Love the sinner, hate the sin”—tell the sinner what his sin is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
+Read about John the Baptist—and follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
+Read about Joseph—and follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
+Quote many things Jesus said—quote them over and over—without disclaimers, additions, or adaptations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
+Follow Daddy—he did the above, faithfully, consistently—paid the price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, what do we want to do—get along with everybody, or cause trouble ?
What are we supposed to do ?
Can I decide what I’m going to be like—can I decide if I’m going to be liked.
Can I decide if I’m going to confront trouble (get blamed for causing trouble)—can I decide if I’m going to avoid trouble ?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Answer is yes and no.
We cannot decide every situation we will face, or how it will turn out, or if we can steer clear of stuff we don’t want to deal with.
But we can decide what principles we will build our life on for facing everything—specifically, who we will build our life on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The decision comes down to this—can I figure out my life myself, and count on me for all that comes—or do I need Jesus in charge of all of it ? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Life is not always neat and clean and the way we want it, even for a Christian—not a buffet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “There is something wrong with a person who gets along with everybody.” “We are not called to be nice; sometimes we are called to be confrontational.” “I have not come to bring peace, but a sword, . . . and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.”—-Jesus<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Lots of people in history, and lots of people in the world today, find that following Jesus is not easy—not simple like going to church in America where life is good. In many places today, when a person decides to become a Christian, other believers immediately explain what it may cost—in family rejection, in economic hardship, in alienation from friends, in physical attacks and beatings and injuries and brutal murder. We select Bible verses that fit with living in our comfortable culture, and we totally miss or avoid the unpleasant things Jesus promised and His followers experienced throughout the Bible and through history. I could add my commentary on Jesus’ words about a sword and division, along with thousands of others who may or may not be smarter than me. I’m going to stick to the foundational principle for Bible Study—for Bible Answers. +Do not start with a statement of doctrine or theology, and then give Bible verses to back it up. It’s not about knowing the words of the Word, but knowing<\/strong><\/span> more closely the Word of the words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jesus is most delighted when we spend time directly with Him in the words of His Word.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" +Criticize important people. +Get specific calling out sin. +Preach the Bible—and practice what you preach. +”Love the sinner, hate the sin”—tell the sinner what his sin is. +Read about John the Baptist—and follow. +Read about Joseph—and follow. +Quote many things Jesus said—quote them over and over—without disclaimers, additions, or adaptations. +Follow Daddy—he did the above, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,2,3,7,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-educational","category-faith_based","category-family","category-inspire_lifter","category-political-cultural"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5657"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5657"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5657\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5676,"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5657\/revisions\/5676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.awordforthought.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
If I accept Jesus in charge of all my life, I can count on two things:
ONE—He will lead me where He wants me to go, and I don’t have to figure it all out.
TWO—He promised to be with me through it all<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
—–Adrian Rogers<\/p>\n\n\n\n
—–Sandy Rios<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, it may be easy to accept what Jesus did for us and ask Him to take us to heaven.
But there’s a whole lot more that He has to say about the cost of living for Him then.
Followers of Jesus in other parts of the world are not shielded from the hard parts of the Christian life, and the hard words, the straight talk in the Bible—like we are in America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s amazing that we never tell new believers in America about the price they may have to pay for following Jesus.
So, millions of Christians know absolutely nothing about ‘the rest of the story’, that there is more, and it’s tough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are left to conclude by default that there is something wrong with verses like the one quoted above.
It’s too much trouble to study deeper and understand why those words are there—especially to avoid how they could come true in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But that’s not where the answers, the real secrets, are found in the Christian life.
And that’s where theologians stay on their merry-go-rounds century after century, for millennia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Get your own Bible out, and dig (alone or in a group, with a leader or without).
I will continue to campaign and repeat this basic guide:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
+Do start with a Bible verse, and then “search the Scriptures” to find other Bible verses that may explain or clarify or confront or challenge, to a deeper relationship with the Author.<\/p>\n\n\n\n