The Shaking of Nations - A Harvest Tsunami Is On Its Way....

The Christian Life is About Surrender, Not Comfort

Through 40-plus years of pastoring I’ve often seen churches

fail to establish a correct mindset when training a new believer.

In their zeal to highlight the joys and benefits of the Christian

life, they neglect to mention the discipline and surrender that

also will be required.

I am not trying to detract from the joy and victories we have in

Jesus Christ. New believers will find countless blessings as

they begin their walk with the Lord. But Paul was clear in his

teaching that every believer has sinful characteristics from their

old life; and those must be put off and replaced, through God’s

grace, with Christ-likeness.

God has a deep fatherly involvement in this formative process,

and will not let us cut corners. It is critical that we pay the price

to build spiritual endurance in doing what is right, and in

learning obedience to God’s word , even in the face of great

challenges. Only then can we expect to achieve a “harvest of

righteousness, peace, and joy, ” no matter the circumstances

(Heb. 12:11; Rom.1 4:17). And only then can we live out an

unshakable life.

The writer of Hebrews ends Chapter 12 with the startling

declaration that our God is a consuming fire. This is not a