Following God, reading His Word and hearing His voice, will keep your life on a razors edge. He will keep you trusting Him. He will keep you leaning on Him. He is going to give you assignments that require you to give up your security blanket and come out of your comfort zone.  The faith lifestyle requires a full commitment. It requires a giving of everything to Jesus.

ILLUSTRATION: Linus security blanket.
Do you remember the comic ‘Peanuts’ by Charles Schultz?
Do you remember Linus tenaciously clinging to his security blanket?
All the world is right for Linus as long as he has his blanket.

• We are going to talk today about giving Jesus your security blanket.

Luke 14:26 (TNIV)
26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even life itself—such a person cannot be my disciple.

• Following Jesus is an all or nothing deal

A Startling Fact about Security and Following Jesus

• Here is a startling fact about security and following Jesus.
• If your life is really secure and really comfortable and you like the place you are in, you are probably missing God.
• Following God, reading His Word and hearing His voice, will keep your life on a razors edge.
• He will keep you trusting Him.
• He will keep you leaning on Him.
• He is going to give you assignments that require you to give up your security blanket and come out of your comfort zone.
• He will not give you assignments that you can do with the comfort of your own abilities.
• Why does He do this? 1Corinthians 1:26-29 tells us why.

1 Corinthians 1:26–29 (TNIV)
26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him.

• There is something about the human make-up because of the fall of man that requires a leaning on God so that no one may boast before Him.
• It’s just the way it is.
• So, saying it again…
• If you are comfortable, you are probably missing Him.
• If you are not challenged by His will, you don’t know it yet.
• Remember that God chooses people who are weak and can’t get stuff done to get stuff done.
• It’s amazing how we draw back in some areas when that is the exact area that God wants to use you in.
• Think about this…
• Someone asks you to get up and give a testimony in front of people and you shrink back because you say I can’t do that; I am no good at that.
• Congratulations, you are exactly in the place you should be; you are exactly in 1Cor. 1:26-29 territory and that’s why you should get up and give it, trusting God on the inside as you step out.
• Someone asks you to go on a mission’s trip and you say, that’s not my calling.
• Congratulations, you are exactly in the place you should be; you are exactly in 1Cor. 1:26-29 territory and that’s why you should probably go.
• Did you hear Moses when the Lord approached him and told him that He was going to send him to Pharaoh (Ex. 3:10)?
• How did that conversation go?

Exodus 4:10–12 (TNIV)
10 Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” 11 The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

• If God had to teach Moses what to say, if God had to help him speak, that means that means emphatically that Moses did not have the ability to do what God assigned for his life.
• Moses did not have what it took though he was educated at the highest levels in Egypt.
• Moses didn’t have what it takes and you don’t either.
• Let us repeat this again; if you are not challenged by His will, you don’t know it yet.
• If your Christian life is a nice neat package, you are missing it somewhere.
• If your idea of Christian life is being nice to a few people, going to church, praying a little bit, giving a little bit (not too much just a little bit) and staying in your comfort zone, you have a distorted view of what following Jesus means.
• Jesus will keep you trusting God.
• He will keep you praying to Him.
• He will keep you asking questions and seeking for His wisdom.
• The Spirit of God will lead you to do things way beyond where you are.

 John Maxwell on Accomplishments
Most of the accomplishments I’ve achieved in life I began to attempt before I was really ready. When I was teaching pastors leadership in 1984 and they asked for ongoing teaching, I wasn’t ready to give it to them. But during a conference with thirty-four people in Jackson, Mississippi, I decided to pass around a legal pad and get the contact information for anyone who wanted to receive a monthly leadership tape. All thirty-four signed up. Was I ready to start a monthly leadership subscription series? No. Did I start it anyway? Yes. When I needed to raise money to relocate my church, did I know how to do it? No. Did I start to do it anyway? Yes. When I founded EQUIP to teach leadership to people in countries around the world, did I have a proven strategy to get it done? No. Did we get started anyway? Yes. Nobody ever got ready by waiting. You only get ready by starting. ¹

My Personal Testimony

• When I look back at 39 years of walking with Jesus, I can tell you from firsthand experience, it can be difficult, risky and adventurous.

QUOTE: John Maxwell on The Difficulty of Success.
“When you do what you want to do, it will be more difficult than you ever imagined. I had no idea how much time it would take to be effective. I never expected to have such great demands put on my life or to have to keep paying the price to be successful.” ²

• I wasn’t saved any more than a few months, when I found out what it meant to walk with Him.

ILLUSTRATION: A Life’s Journey
When I first gave my heart to Jesus, all I wanted to do was pray and read the Bible. This posed a problem for my dad who just didn’t understand. My dad did not like the fact that I was always in my room reading the Bible and praying. Eventually I was given an ultimatum and I had to make a choice, family or Jesus. It was no choice to me. I chose Jesus. I left behind the only security that I had. I let home at 19 with 1000.00 and an old car that gave out shortly after I left.

• Following Jesus can be difficult and risky. The call to ministry that occurred in the first church I attended after I was born again was the start of another adventure. I had no speaking ability at all; in fact it seemed as if I had negative ability in that area. My lack of ability did not alter the call.
• Following Jesus will pull you out of your comfort zone.
  Later on, there were other elements of risk. ‘Go to Rhema’ was the word of the Lord to me one day as I was praying in church before a service. How do I do that exactly? At the time I had a young wife and a new born child.We have to move half way across the country. We had jobs and careers and more family that we left behind.We went from high paying jobs to minimum wage jobs.How exactly am I supposed to feed my family and pay east coast bills on $3.25 per hour?
• Following Him can be risky business.

Then after we filled the Rhema portion, the word of the Lord came yet again saying.  “Go on the road, use Oklahoma as a base.” Go on the road, become a traveling minister? Me an introvert, a home body? Get out there and setup meetings with people, I don’t even know. How am I supposed to do that?

• Following Jesus will cause you to give up your security blanket.

Then after two hard years of traveling and ministering came this word, “Go to North Tulsa and open a family worship center where people can come and worship me.” Pioneer a church? I don’t know how to do that; never did that before. That was 10 years of my life fulfilling that assignment.

After that 10 year period came this word, “I want you to write a running commentary on the New Testament and publish it as your life’s written work.”
How do I do that exactly?
I don’t have the academic training to do that.

And then just recently.
“I want you to look up and look into pod casting. I want you to preach and teach on every available avenue.”
Guess what? I didn’t know how to do that either?
By the way, the podcast launched on Sept. 30th, 2014.  You can find Season 1 and 2 of the podcasts  here. You can find the weekly teaching here and the commentary on the Bible here.

• What’s the conclusion here?
• Either I am the dumbest guy on planet earth since everything that the Lord has asked me to do, I didn’t have a clue on how to do it or there must something following Jesus that will keep you off balance and leaning on Him.here
• Life with Him will keep you praying.
• Life with Him will keep you asking questions.

John 15:5 (ESV)
5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

• So, if you are looking for a life that has no challenges, you are in the wrong business trying to follow Jesus.
• Jesus will challenge and elevate your life.
• Understand that stepping out on faith to do something that He has asked you to do as a feeling of risk attached to it.

Call to Action:

What does this all mean to you? One gentleman penned these words. “Here’s what I’d love to hear God say when that day comes: ‘You abounded in my work. You took real risks, you dreamed honorable dreams, you rolled up your sleeves and sacrificed comfort and poured yourself out like a drink offering.  And … you abided in my love. You sought to be transformed by my Spirit, to live in intimacy with me and authentic community with the people I love. You abounded and you abided.’” ³ Is that your desire today? What dreams, what words from the Spirit of God have you not acted on? What areas have you not been willing to take a risk and step out on the naked Word of God? It is simple to go back and take up again those words from Him and bring them in front of Jesus in prayer and say ‘Lord, I can’t do this by myself, show me how to do it, help me get it done.’

Question: In this post, I have detailed some of my points of commitment at various times in my life. What about you? What were your personal points of dedication? Would you please share some of that with us in the comments section below?

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References