No Comfort In Comfort
No Comfort In Comfort, by Mike Hogue, Senior Pastor
Today as I was looking at current events, this headline caught my eye: “Floods in Central Texas Turn Deadly, with at Least One Person Killed.” I found it ironic that the location it was near was Comfort, Texas. I doubt the residents of Comfort are feeling comfortable right now. They probably feel like they’re drowning – because, in some real sense, they are.
This image – Comfort, underwater – reminded me of something I read in my quiet time this morning. In Joshua 23, Joshua was giving a farewell address to the nation of Israel. He recounted how God had delivered them into the promised land, giving them rest on every side (23:1). He had driven out “great and mighty nations from before” them (23:9) and given them great victory. Joshua warns the people what will happen if they get too comfortable with what remains:
11So take great care for yourselves that you love the Lord your God. 12For if you ever go back and cling to the rest of these nations, these which remain with you, and intermarry with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, 13know with certainty that the Lord your God will not continue to drive these nations out from before you; but they will be a snare and a trap to you, and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the Lord your God has given you. Joshua 23:11–13 (NASB 2020)
Israel had been delivered, but there was a temptation for them to go back and “cling to” and “associate with” the things God had driven out on their behalf. The result of giving in wouldn’t be neutral. God would stop delivering them from those nations. Those nations would become a snare. They would be a whip on their sides and thorns in their eyes until they perished.
That’s a sobering warning.
It’s not so different from our relationship with sin. God has decisively delivered us from sin at the cross. He has shown us the way into the promised land. He has warned us not to be too cozy with our old life. Yet, we do it anyway. We want to cling to the very things that God wants to deliver us from. We like our familiar patterns. We like to be comfortable – even when we’re comfortable with things that aren’t good for us. Sometimes God will allow those very things to put us under water so that we will turn from them and love Him as above all else.
As I write this for publication on July 31st, I’m aware that we have a powerful Sunday morning coming this Sunday. August 2nd. Several people will share how their Re:Generation journey helped them get unstuck from faulty patterns of thinking and acting…how God used the structured application of devotion, introspection, discipleship, and community to transform their lives.
Maybe you are “stuck” in your Christian walk. Maybe you are feeling a false set of “comfort.” Starting the Re:Gen journey might be for you!
God wants you to have rest on every side. He wants you to enjoy abundant life, full of the fruit the Holy Spirit produces. But He loves you enough to let the water rise on your comfort, so you can find the true joy of operating according to your created design – loving Him first.
by Mike Hogue, Senior Pastor
Today as I was looking at current events, this headline caught my eye: “Floods in Central Texas Turn Deadly, with at Least One Person Killed.” I found it ironic that the location it was near was Comfort, Texas. I doubt the residents of Comfort are feeling comfortable right now. They probably feel like they’re drowning – because, in some real sense, they are.
This image – Comfort, underwater – reminded me of something I read in my quiet time this morning. In Joshua 23, Joshua was giving a farewell address to the nation of Israel. He recounted how God had delivered them into the promised land, giving them rest on every side (23:1). He had driven out “great and mighty nations from before” them (23:9) and given them great victory. Joshua warns the people what will happen if they get too comfortable with what remains:
11So take great care for yourselves that you love the Lord your God. 12For if you ever go back and cling to the rest of these nations, these which remain with you, and intermarry with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, 13know with certainty that the Lord your God will not continue to drive these nations out from before you; but they will be a snare and a trap to you, and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the Lord your God has given you. Joshua 23:11–13 (NASB 2020)
Israel had been delivered, but there was a temptation for them to go back and “cling to” and “associate with” the things God had driven out on their behalf. The result of giving in wouldn’t be neutral. God would stop delivering them from those nations. Those nations would become a snare. They would be a whip on their sides and thorns in their eyes until they perished.
That’s a sobering warning.
It’s not so different from our relationship with sin. God has decisively delivered us from sin at the cross. He has shown us the way into the promised land. He has warned us not to be too cozy with our old life. Yet, we do it anyway. We want to cling to the very things that God wants to deliver us from. We like our familiar patterns. We like to be comfortable – even when we’re comfortable with things that aren’t good for us. Sometimes God will allow those very things to put us under water so that we will turn from them and love Him as above all else.
As I write this for publication on July 31st, I’m aware that we have a powerful Sunday morning coming this Sunday. August 2nd. Several people will share how their Re:Generation journey helped them get unstuck from faulty patterns of thinking and acting…how God used the structured application of devotion, introspection, discipleship, and community to transform their lives.
Maybe you are “stuck” in your Christian walk. Maybe you are feeling a false set of “comfort.” Starting the Re:Gen journey might be for you!
God wants you to have rest on every side. He wants you to enjoy abundant life, full of the fruit the Holy Spirit produces. But He loves you enough to let the water rise on your comfort, so you can find the true joy of operating according to your created design – loving Him first.
by Mike Hogue, Senior Pastor
Recent
Archive
2026
February
May
June
2025
February
March
June
July
August
October
2024
January
A FRESH STARTPOSTURE OF FAITHHEAVENLY BODIESTHE BLESSINGS OF THE RIGHTEOUSI AM WILLINGGOD'S SOVEREIGNTY OVERRULES MAN'S DYSFUNCTIONJESUS IS LORD OF THE SABBATHLIVE OUT WELL THE TEACHINGS OF JESUSHOLD IT CLOSEOPEN MY EYESWHO DO PEOPLE SAY WE ARE?NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR GODWHAT IS YOUR IDOL?GOD'S CHOOSING
February
March
May
No Comments