Crossroads at Comfort Corner - Six Crossroads for the Journey Ahead

We were at a uh I was speaking for a conference in New York State. Karen had gone through a six-month uh bedridden recovery from a serious case of hepatitis was coming out of the woods and so it was great that we could go to this conference together. She was resting a lot. And um and Tom was our had the had the neighbor cabin where we were. And uh he came over and right away was this, he was 74 years old, he told us, uh just a uh a dear loving guy. And he kept finding ways to love on us. And he came over and he brought fresh flowers over every morning for Karen He told us he was committed to witnessing to somebody every day to try to every day tell somebody about Jesus for the rest of his life And he was uh he would he found out that Doug loved football, and so uh he went and found biographies or books by or about Christian uh NFL players. and brought a a book every day. They didn't have pictures, so we had to read them to Doug. Um no, I'm just kidding. Guys don't read books without pictures. Um so no it was really I mean he just It was wonderful. Brought joy every morning. And I said, Tom, tell me about you. He said, it's pretty simple, Ron. He said, I wasted a lot of years. He said, I was in the business world and that you listen, if you're positioned there by God to be the light and and the voice and face of Jesus, to people there nothing wrong with that at all that's your assignment but he said I feel like I wasted my years in business and he said I want to make every day count for the I don't know how many I have but I want to make all the rest of them count I thought, man, when this guy is not slowing down. If you're supposed to slow down when you get older, this guy is going to charge into Jesus' arms at the finish line. I mean he is he is running full speed ahead. at the end of his life. And I thought, here's a guy who understands what I think maybe Eric Little understood. Uh Eric Little is one of my heroes. I'm not an Olympic runner, but but many of you know Cariots of Fire won the Academy Award for Best Movie back in the 80s. And um it was a story of a dedicated Christian guy who, uh, and I'm not going to tell you a story because that's not the point here, but um he did not run his event because it was on the Sabbath. And uh he and he instead ran the 400 meters instead of the 200 and won the gold in the Paris Olympics. This was the hundred-year anniversary, hundred years later, after we just had Paris Olympics again and Eric Little became a missionary to China, died in a Japanese concentration camp taking care of everybody there. Well, all of that is to say that Eric Little was asked one time, they called him the Flying Scotsman And they asked him, how do you run the 400 meters? And how are you a gold medal champion? He said, I run the first 200 meters. And I give it everything I've got. He said, then I ask for God's help. And I run the second 200 harder. Well most of us here are probably in the second 200 meters. And you know what? You can either slow down, hit the brakes, or you can hit the accelerator. Oh you can put it on cruise control, like I said last night. We're talking here about running Farther and faster than you've ever gone before in the time that you have left, however much that is. The journey ahead And as we look at the crossroads last night that that that crossroads about the default and and whether I'm I'm I'm I'm going to settle for status quo and settle down there or whether I am going to go for a love that grows. Today we're going to get to another crossroads. At what I call the boundary of our obedience. You see it in your notes. Here's where the boundary of obedience is. I call it the comfort line. If I could, let me do a little invisible diagram here. We will obey Jesus in many, many things. Many of you are here today because of a lifetime of obedience. But something happens when we get to what I call the comfort line And all of a sudden we are being asked by Jesus to go beyond what we can control, what we know, what is safe, what is comfortable, and there is risk. And there's unknown. And there's some fear. And many of us stop our obedience at the comfort line. That is a crossroads that will help determine whether you will have the more you were made for in the rest of your journey. Our hearts are restless. We talked about land. Several of you came up to me and said, man, when you said the word restless, I'm like, I came to the right place. That's how I feel. Well what you're restless for, I don't know if this is good news or bad news, is beyond the comfort line right now. It's beyond the comfort line Isaiah 43, 18 and 19. Remember we looked at it last night. Let's look at it again. Forget the former things. Do not dwell on the past. Have had a good life in Christ up until now. But right now, that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about where to from here. Let's go. See, I am doing, say then those three words out loud with me. A new thing. Now it springs up. Do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. God's new thing is going to take you into unexplored territory. That's the very nature of a new thing It's unexplored territory, but that's where you find the supernatural. Springs that have been created miraculously, roads, ways to get there that you never would have dreamed. Philippians chapter 3. Let's look at the great spiritual veteran. Paul is 30 years into the perhaps most powerful Christian experience in the history of the church. He has started churches and led probably introduced thousands to Christ, had revelations of God that nobody else had had. They became our Bible, basically. Listen to what he says 30 years in. I want to know Christ. Yes, I want to know the power of his resurrection. Does this sound like a man who's content to stop at the comfort line? No. He said, I want to know the power of his resurrection. I even want the participation in his sufferings. I will become like him in his death. And so somehow attaining to the resurrection of the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this. Wait a minute. If he hasn't. Really? The Apostle Paul? No, he said, I'm not there. It's not that I've already arrived at my goal. I press on. That word in the Greek is hot pursuit. It's what it took for me to get Karen. When I see the word update, that was the first time she agreed to go out with me. That wasn't that was my ultimate update. Not sure it was for her Yeah, so it took a lot. And that was pursuit. This is a word used of hunters going after their their wild game. So it is aggressively chasing. It is to aggressively chase. He said, I am aggressively chasing. To take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. I want to get it all. I want to get everything He got a hold of me for. And brothers and sisters, I don't consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. One thing I do. Wait, didn't we just see a verse that said, forget the former things, do not dwell on the past? Forgetting what is behind No champion runner looks back. Forgetting what is behind. Streaming toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal. I'm going to win the prize. For which God called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. This is the restless heart of an accomplished spiritual veteran. Model for us. He said, I want to go in, I want to go into places with Jesus I've never gone before with him. Romans 15, 20. Listen to the great missionary again. It's always been my ambition to preach the gospel Where Christ was not known. I want to do hard things. I want to do hard things for him. I want to go where the gospel where Christ is not known. I don't want to just be building on someone else's foundation. I want to take new ground, not already plowed ground. This is a man with his foot on the gas. Never taking his foot off the gas. How about you? This this is a man who's gone way past the comfort line. So for all his unparalleled experiences with Jesus and for Jesus He wants to go deeper with him and farther for him. Let's talk about those two ideas. Deeper and farther. I tell you, there's an Old Testament picture of modern Christian faith. It's not a well-known story, but it's fascinating. Let's look at it, because there's a lesson here for all of us. The Reubenites, they were uh they actually were the people that invented corned beef. Never mind. The Reubenites and the Gadites, who had very large herds and flocks Saw that the lands of Jazer and Gilead were suitable for livestock. Let me tell you where we are. We are on the edge of the promised land. We're at the Jordan River. And two and a half tribes received land on the east side of the Jordan. Everybody else, they've got to cross in and there. Now there have already been battles. They've fought Og and Sihon and Midianites, and so there have been some major battles. Now here's what the here's what these guys say they've got land on the east side the near side we have found favor in your eyes they said if we have Um, Moses, would you let this land be given to your servants as our possession? And don't make us cross the Jordan. Huh. Moses said to the Gadites and Reubenites. Should your fellow Israelites go to war? Will you sit here? They've said We brought our wives, we've got our wives, our herds. How about we just set we're here. Can we can we settle? We need time to get established here. We've already got our land. Can we just settle? Moses answers so gently, you're gonna sit here while all your brothers are going to war, right? You've heard the verse and you've quoted it. Be sure your sin Right, we'll find you out. You know what the context of that is? You know what the particular now that applies to all sin, but you know what it was what it was originally? Look at this. If you fail to do this, if you fail to go to war with us. You'll be sinning against the Lord and you may be sure your sin will find you out. You want to know what the sin was? Settling The sin of settling. Did you ever hear that sin? Settling instead of going to war and getting in the battle. Just settling for a comfortable status quo, following as far as the comfort line. We've got now we're gonna go into more battles. Can we just stay here and be comfy? So we have reached the crossroads at Comfort Corner, I call it. And the decision is this, will I settle or will I soar? You can't do both. Deuteronomy chapter 1. Again on the edge of the promised land, the Lord our God said to us at Horeb, that's Mount Sinai. Mount Sinai, a place where God showed up with lightning and thunder and the Ten Commandments and and uh this was a this was their God place. You've stayed long enough at this mountain. I wonder who he's saying that to here. You've stayed long enough at this point. It's been good. You've heard from God. You've stayed long enough. It's time to break camp and advance. I've given you this land. And he said, I want you to go in and take possession of it. God has new ground for you. And he doesn't you'll never get there staying where you are. Can I summarize the decision to make? For the journey ahead, this will decide a lot. I will not make my decisions based on comfort or cost. I will not make my decisions based on comfort or cost. That is what takes you past the comfort line, across the Jordan, and into the Promised Land. Paul talked about going deeper and going farther. Let's look at both of them. Let's talk first of all about moving beyond the comfort line. To go deeper into your relationship with Jesus. Enhancing your relationship with him. George Barnum. uh made this interesting observation after all his research. He said a large share of the people who figure out what's coming if they pursue holiness, choose to retreat to previously mastered stops on the trail. I think we'll just call it right here. This is a good place, preferring the comfort and security of mediocrity. To the challenges of godliness. So going deeper Five words, Paul summarized it. I want to know Christ. Now, he did, obviously. This is not about getting a relationship with Jesus. There are different words for knowing. The Greek canosko is the one to know by experience. I want to know by experience. Now there's a disturbing question that one of the disciples asked Jesus, look at this. Philip has been with Jesus for three years, heard every sermon, seen every miracle. Don't you know me, Philip? After I've been with you such a long time, do you know why he said that? Philip had been asking questions that indicated Jesus is saying, you still don't really know me, do you? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, show us the Father? But that question How come you don't know me already? And there is a level of knowing him that many of us haven't touched yet. I think maybe one of the first times I really deeply experientially touched that was after May 16th, 2016. The day that my Karen suddenly went to heaven. The love of my life since I was 19, I knew how to do life with Karen I had no idea what life without Karen was. I have no map for this. I can't imagine it. And there was no time to get ready for it. Suddenly. And I felt like a lost little boy. Leader. Leader guy. Lost little boy. And I just said, Jesus, I don't know what to do five minutes from now. And he, because a broken heart is a ripped open heart. And it's more open than it's ever open any other time. When you're grieving like that, your heart is open at a place that's never been open before. You are very vulnerable Something will come in and go deep into your heart. I cried out to Jesus thankfully. And all I know is that since then, and even beginning at that those moments, He has been so present, so real, so loud, it seems like. He literally at that point took me by the hand and led the lost little boy what to do five minutes from now and 15 minutes from now and what to do tomorrow and And my need isn't intense like that. What do I do in five minutes? But I experienced a more personal, personal savior than I had ever experienced. Now I don't think you have to have that happen. You can choose to go more deeply into that relationship and say with the 30-year superstar Christian, the Apostle Paul, I want to know him. Because there's a deeper I can go take me there. So what will that take? Three issues. I think there's three issues. In really knowing Christ as you've never known him before They're not necessarily easy or safe or comfortable. Number one, we've got to look at what holds us back. Number two, we got to look at how we uh at at uh what limits God's blessing. And number three, we've got to deal with unexplored intimacy. Let's take what holds us back. If you ever uh we were, what here's what holds us back. Unsurrendered strongholds I'll explain that in just a minute. When Brad was out on Hopi, uh he was taking uh a board member of their ministry out there and me to the airport in Phoenix and we have we just had just enough time to get there and We started driving and doggone it we couldn't get over like forty, forty-five miles an hour. We have to get there faster. This is There's not going to make it. And like we it just started lurching and we we're just like, we can't. What was the and so we're going a few miles. Then somebody said, check the emergency brake. Oh, that so you're not supposed to drive with that on? So um yeah, as soon as you release the emergency brake, you could go full speed. In a sense, until we attack and deal with and confront our lifetime strongholds, we're driving with emergency break on. And we can drive. We just can't drive full speed ahead. I was in uh big sky country, staying at a friend's house. Beautiful, majestic log cabin. It was picture something. It's probably better than that. It was awesome. They said, Ron, this was not like this when we got this place. It was an old I mean it was I don't know 100 years old maybe and so there were layers on the wall you didn't see those logs they had to strip away plaster and then they had to strip away sheetrock Then they had to strip away manure. I mean there were five layers that they had to keep they're like, oh my goodness, there's more. Wait, there's more. Wait, there's more. Finally they got down to these beautiful logs and we finally saw the original beauty. By stripping away all those layers. This is the process the theologians call sanctification. It is a stripping process Now, this is I want you this is this picture helps me. It's fairly primitive, but I want you to picture uh you have purchased Uh an old house, big old house that has a lot of potential, but it's pretty bad shape. And it's got rotting garbage in it and It there's you know the the holes in the wall and everything. And so right away you take care of that superficial stuff. The garbage is out, you patch the holes, you paint You do all of that stuff, all this this damage, this superficial stuff. You can live in the house now. It's a pretty decent place. But then there's the wiring. And then there's the pipes that uh frozen and burst. Now you're down to the structural part of the house. You didn't see that when you bought it. The obvious garbage you got rid of. But now there's structural stuff. That's kind of how our lives are. When you come to Jesus, you've gotten rid of a lot of garbage. You took out the garbage, you patched the holes, you painted. But guess what? Now we're down to the wiring, we're down to the plumbing, we're down to the structural damage that sin has done. And that's a bigger battle. 2 Corinthians chapter 10 talks about strongholds. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish, look at, stronghold, because this sin has a strong hold on you. It may come from your family, stuff, the ways people did things in your family, you almost don't even see it as sin. That's just like, well that's what it means to be a Hutchbapt, I guess No, this is structural damage. We demolish arguments. Every pretension that self sets itself up against the knowledge of God And I love this. We take captive every thought to make an obedient to Christ. Let me suggest some of the areas of structural damage. How we get our way. Every one of us here learned years ago how to get our way. And maybe that's to go silent, manipulate Yell and scream. There's all kinds of ways we learn to fudge the truth, say what you have to say. There are ways we get our way. And that might not that might be a sinful way you get your way. Guilt tripping, shaming. Jesus says, I want to go there. Kidden pride, you do a lot of good stuff. Nobody knows how much of it you do. To be noticed. And to take glory for yourself. You cover that up well. Perhaps you have a pattern of dishonesty And you're loose with the truth. You always have been. And Jesus says, I want to go there. And you may be a spiritual champion in so many ways, but still the way you think about sex There is a lust issue, and it is part of the structure of your personality. Structural damage. Hurtful words. There are people walking around carrying scars from your words. And you've forgotten those words. You forget them almost after you say them But the people you scarred, they have the permanent marks from it. Boy, one of the most fundamental strongholds is the need to control Control a spouse, control a child, control relationships, and that control freak part of me must be surrendered. It stands in the way of going deeper with Jesus. Prejudice. Racially. Coveting. Your temper. If we were willing to say, Jesus, I'm gonna, I'm talking about letting you go places you've never gone in my life before. We're going at the stronghold. I am no longer going to tolerate this. I am no longer going to accept this. Together you've said we have weapons to defeat it. I can take captive every thought. And Jesus I want to get that stronghold so it loses its hold. You and me, we're going to work on it. That is an act of specific and expensive repentance Secondly, we've got to do something about what limits God's blessing. You know what that is? Unrighteous priorities. Let's go to that book of the Bible that we'll all quote our favorite memory verse from, Haggai. Let's just start around the room and those of you who want to share a verse from Haggai. Okay, thank you. Well, um here's the story. They're supposed to be uh rebuilding God's temple. They've taken about a 15-year time out God sends a messenger to go, uh guys, remember what you were supposed to be doing? There's a work for God he wants done. This is what the Almighty says The time, or the people say, the time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord's house. Really? Really? Yeah. Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai. Is this a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses while this house remains a ruin? This is my house. You're busy with yours. And you're you're forgetting mine? He says, give careful thought to your ways. I looked up the Hebrew. Give careful thought literally means put your heart on this. Put your heart on this Really think about this. By the way, that phrase is in this little short book five times. Give, will you stop and think about what you're doing? You have planted much. Have you noticed? You've planted a lot, but you're not harvesting much. You're working hard, you're not getting much. Oh, you never have enough. You drink, but you never have your fill. You put on clothes, but you're not warm. You earn wages. This could have been written in the headlines today. You earn wages only to put them in a purse with holes in it. I think that was called inflation. This is what the Lord Almighty says. Give careful thought to your ways. And again and again he says it in the book. It's time to go up in the mountains, bring down the timber, and build my house. Build my house. So that I may take pleasure in it and be honored, says the Lord. You expected much, but it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. See, they're losing God's blessing. Why? Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house. You're taking care of your kingdom and neglecting mine. And your priorities are messed up. Will you ask the question, where am I doing that? Because it limits God's blessing. Seeking first our kingdom. Look at what God says later in the book in chapter 2. I struck all the work of your hands with blight and mildew and hell, yet you did not return to me. I've been trying to get your attention from this day on The 24th day of the ninth month. Give careful thought to the day when the foundation you finally did it. You finally laid the foundation of the Lord's temple. Give careful thought And then he says, I'm now the vine, they're all going to start bearing fruit. From this day on, I will bless you. What is today? October 25th. 2024. God says the day you decide to obey me and get my priorities to be your priorities, that's the day I start blessing. Your blessing has not come. Because your priorities have been messed up. So where has your agenda become more important than his in your life? He said, you want my blessing, you better get rid of the thing that's holding it back. Which is disobey disobedient priorities. One last step here. What brings us close to him? Unexplored intimacy Man drove up when we were in New Jersey and dumped a cord of wood right in the driveway. I didn't mind, because that was going to give us a nice fireplace all winter long. He said, Ron, I've been delivering up to five cords of wood to one place. I said, why? He said they they have stoves. They heat by wood stove. And he said, this is what's going to keep them warm. He said, they run out of fuel. They run out of heat. They were not a heat, it gets really cold. Your relationship with Jesus needs daily fuel. You have to daily put logs on the fire. Because fires don't stay burning as high as they were. Fires go out. And for some of us, it was closer. It was warmer. It's colder now. One day two men went for a walk on the road to Emmaus after the resurrection of Jesus. Look at Luke 24. They're trying to figure things out. Two guys, it's always interesting. Two guys trying to figure things out. And as they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them. Here's some excerpts. He explained to them. All that was in the scriptures. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, because they didn't recognize him up until this point. broken and began to give it to them. Their eyes were opened, they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, our hearts burning within us? while he talked with us on the road and opened the scriptures to us. Let me just say this. Because of we are bombarded with darkness and lies and confusion all day long. You cannot afford a day without a walk with Jesus. That's where you figure things out. Is in a walk with Jesus. Um there's a um A quote here I'm gonna share with you. This is from Oswald Chambers, the great enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ today. is the idea of practical work that has no basis in the New Testament. It comes from the system of the world. This insists upon endless energy and activities. but no private life with God. An active Christian worker too often lives to be seen by others while it is the innermost personal area that reveals the power of a person's life. The central point of the kingdom of Jesus Christ is a personal relationship with him and not public usefulness to others. How's your time with him? Is it non-negotiable? Is it a heart thing where your heart is burning? It's not just a head trip. It's not informational. It's transformational. You're different after you spend your time with them It's not just a verse, but it's the voice of Jesus. It's not just a book. You're not just with a book. You're with a person. It's not just knowing, it's doing something after you read it. It's not just a head full of facts. It's a heart on fire. If you know somebody who is just radiant in Christ, a joyful presence wherever they go, You feel the presence of God when you're with them. I can tell you where that came from. A thousand invisible mornings. spent alone with him. That's the way to go deeper. I'm just going to touch very briefly on going farther. We um we live in a world where the darkness is very bold. I described it this way in something I wrote. Sin has been normalized. Goodness has been rebranded, faith has been marginalized, and the unthinkable has been elevated. You cannot defeat bold darkness with timid light. Brothers and sisters, it is the time. To be bolder in the things we attempt for Jesus than we have ever been before. Bolder plans. I believe that God has been trying to talk to somebody in this room about what may seem to you a late-in-life calling to attempt something for him. He's not done yet. You thought you were. And he is summoning you, and at this point his call has gone into voicemail. It's time to listen. For all the experiences of your life have prepared you for perhaps the boldest thing he's ever going to ask you to do. Listen for that voice. Listen to Winnie the Pooh. What? Winnie the Pooh said, I always get to where I'm going. By walking away from where I've been. Good advice. Boulder stewardship. Here's the question. Moses was asked it by God. What is that in your hand? I'm coming down to rescue people. What is that in your hand? A stick. I have a stick in my hand. Well, it's his staff. I mean, it's his that's his his career thing, man. It's his toolkit. You round up sheep, you beat off predators, he helped helps the old guy get up the mountain. What is that in your hand? Throw it down. What are you gonna do with it? Throw it down. Why? Throw it down. Um Jesus is coming down to rescue people, and God's asking each of us, what do you got in your hand? That's not for you, you know. That's for the cause. Well I got a car, I got a house, uh Got some money, I've got some. . . What have they got? He's a throw tower. And he turns it into something miraculo to carry out the rescue of a nation. He's asking all of us that. And he's calling us, some of us, past the comfort line where it makes sense, the math adds up. He has bolder plans, perhaps bolder stewardship, and there's scripture there about that. It's a high-stakes question. What do you got in your hand? Just re-evaluate what you have in light of eternity. Boulder Praying. Some of our prayers are fairly wimpy. I'm sorry. Can you see? Wimpy and prayer together? I just did. Come how do the throne of grace come boldly Come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help in our time of need. You have a very big God who's made some very big promises. Don't settle for dear Lord, thank you for this day, thank you for your many blessings Help me with my problems and bless the missionaries, whoever they are. How about we come and pray like we've got the God we've got who created and runs, now they believe, two trillion galaxies. Dear God, thank you for this day. Thank you for your come on. It's time to be praying big. We have a big God. Praying on his big promises. William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, said this. We journey to the very throne of God. There is no higher seat of authority, power, and splendor in the whole of the universe. When we come to worship, we come to a throne and everything arranges itself. around that throne. John Newton said, Thou art coming to a king, great petitions with thee bring, For his love and power are such None can ever ask too much. It's time for bold praying. Remember, bold darkness cannot be defeated by timid light. And finally, bolder witness. Acts 4. 13 says the early Christians went out with great boldness, in spite of the fact that the powers of be had told them to shut up. In North Carolina, after the hurricane went through, man was going to his son's wedding. Walking by a flooded a roaring river, he saw a house going by. There was a woman in the house. And that man jumped into a roy raging river to save that life. That's how it is with rescue. That's how it is when there's a life at stake. You abandon safety. It's self-abandonment is what's involved in every rescue you've ever heard of. I care more about what happens to them than what happens to me. And for some of us we've been holding back. There are some people we haven't told about our Jesus yet. It's time to stop holding back. They need to hear about the Christ in your heart. We were playing Bible charades one time when my three-year-old and five-year-old grandson at the time And um I remember when they acted out David and Goliath. We had we had I think Rick and the and the younger one and me and the other one and and um it was ready you know the rock hit him in the head and he went down and David and Goliath, I get it, I get it. Unfortunately, the three-year-old didn't know as many Bible stories as his five-year-old brother did. So he was clueless half the time because we were just showing him The story, but he couldn't guess by our actions because he didn't even know the story. Maybe you've been saying, well, maybe I I live a Christian life. I'm living the life in front of them. That's good. But they're never going to look at you and say, you know, George is such a really nice guy. I'll bet Jesus died on the cross for my sins. They're not going to figure that out. Would you please tell them? They're not going to guess from your life, because they don't know the story. Man attended this president's retreat some years ago. You'll see him referenced in something later in the retreat. He started a major financial institution here in the area. Some people in the room know him, knew him well. He was a pilot. And he left here and he said to his wife, you know, I have lived for Christ in front of people. I have people in and out of my office, highly respected in the community. He said, but I haven't told them I'm going to start telling him about Jesus to tell him my whole story. 18 months later, he was in a fatal plane clash near his house. But by that time. He had told so many people. Dan and I were spoke at his funeral. All these bank employees. It was so easy. to present the gospel there because he had told so many of them. He had no idea he had 18 months left to make an eternity of difference. I don't know how long you have But it's a time for boldness. So let me just say that Jesus is standing at that crossroads of comfort. He wants to take you deeper into him and have to make a greater difference with the rest of your life than you ever dreamed you could make. You have not made the greatest difference yet, perhaps. He says, I've got more for you to do, a bigger mark to make. It'll be where you've never gone before. Isaiah 42, 16 says, I will lead the blind in ways they have not known. Along unfamiliar paths, I will guide them. I will turn the darkness into light before them. Uh I can't say it'll be cheap. There will be expensive obediences. But you know when you go to a concert The best seats in the house are the most expensive. And you pay the highest price. But you see and hear and experience things the rest of the audience. We'll never touch, but you paid the price for it. The best seats in the house are for those who blow past the comfort line And say I will not make my choices anymore based on what it costs or what is comfortable. In the words of Isaiah 54, do not hold back. Do not be afraid. Lord, show us where we've been driving with the emergency brake on And may we take the daring, expensive, rewarding steps of allowing you to go where you've not gone before And taking us to places we never dreamed. In Jesus' name. Amen.