The call to discipleship in American has grown weak. There is a lot of talk about serving God and experiencing victory — all of which I hold to be true — but very little talk of sacrifice and effort. If there is little talk, then there is even less demonstration or example.
There is no escaping the fact that Jesus called twelve men to come and die.
In fact, victory or blessing or prosperity —whatever you want to call it — loses it’s meaning when divorced from the reality that there are consequences in life when we serve God. Jesus was quick to point out to Peter that persecutions accompany blessings — the same promise for one certainly promises the other. Some things you will never get without a fight, without a cost, or without paying the price.
The fact remains that the Kingdom of God comes with conflict.
Mark 10:29,30
29 And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, 30 But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions...
