“Then
Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny
themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Matthew 16:24
As
our Missionary Friend, Carl, challenged us Sunday, the love of comfort becomes
one the toughest barriers to overcome for those who would follow Jesus. It is
human nature to desire comfort about struggle and hardship. But Jesus calls you
out of your nature and into His.
Jesus
made it plain to those He called to follow Him would have to leave their
comfort zone. There is nothing comfortable about self-denial and there is certainly
no comfort in a cross.
When
Jesus called His first disciples He called them to lay down their nets, leave
their boats and walk away from everything familiar and comfortable to them.
Even
Jesus struggled to deny Himself and surrender to His Father’s will. His forty
days of being tempted in the wilderness called Him to choose the way of the
cross over the way of celebrity and popularity. Again, in Gethsemane, He had to
forgo His comfort to surrender to the suffering of the cross.
The
desire for comfort has such a strong grip on you because it involves feelings
of safety and feelings of security. Those are powerful felt needs!
I
made myself very vulnerable Sunday by sharing recent temptations choose safety
and security rather than taking leadership risks. I reject those notions!
So,
because God wants you to follow Him, because He wants to lead into spiritual
maturity, He will continually call you out of any comfort zone you have settled
into.
And
God will constantly call FredWes out of our comfort zones so He can lead us to
better places.
Faith
begins at the edge of your comfort zone!
God’s
power and presence begins just outside your comfort zone!
Signs
and wonders happen outside of your comfort zone!
The
thrill and joy of serving Jesus awaits just outside your comfort zone!
Passionate
living begins when Jesus becomes your Comfort Zone!
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