it cost mary her comfort...

when mary decided to do GOD’s plan there was a cost that she had to pay.

it cost her comfort. the bible said JESUS had to be born in bethlehem. she's in nazareth. how would you like to be nine months pregnant and take a long journey on the back of a donkey? do you think that was comfortable? no. how would you like to be a young teenage peasant girl having your first child in a foreign city in a cold barn with no family around but yourself? do you think that was easy? no. then once the baby's born, you hear that the king wants to kill him and so you have to flee with your husband to a foreign country and move to egypt. do you think that was easy? no.

GOD's purpose for my life includes some problems. GOD's plan for my life includes problems. they're not accidental. they're part of the plan. and that's part of the cost. there's always a cost.

JESUS is very up front about the cost. JESUS said, no one can be MY disciple who doesn't carry his own cross. but don't begin until you count the cost. luke 14.27-28 (lb)

JESUS said, don't commit your life until you really considered it.

paul says in philippians 3.7 (lb), all these things that i once thought very worthwhile now i've thrown them all away so that i can put my trust and hope in CHRIST alone.

paul understood that there were costs. he also understood that the benefits were worth it. he said, all those things i used to think were so cool, so important, so valuable to my life, they are cheap plastic thrills. they don't matter anymore. i've dumped it all just so i can be in the center of GOD's plan for my life and i can be what HE made me to be."

what am i willing to give up in order to be used by GOD? you will have to give up some stuff. GOD may ask you to give up some habits. HE may ask you to give up some relationships, some friendships that are pulling you down instead of building you up. HE may ask you to set aside your dreams, your ambitions, your goals, your plans, your finances for what HE made you to be. are you willing to do that?

just a thought from the front porch...