LIFE! #240

Luke 9:23-24

New International Version (NIV)

23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.

Do you consider yourself a follower or disciple of Jesus Christ? Just what does that mean to you? What does it mean to Jesus? Early in Jesus’ ministry He chose followers. His call was described in several of the gospels like the one here in Luke’s gospel.  Did you notice that Jesus says that whoever wants to be my disciple or follower must…and then the requirements follow. You first of all must want to be a follower. Jesus never forced anyone to follow Him. On the other hand if you want to be His disciple then much is required. 

You must deny yourself. At first it would seem that a vow of poverty, a denial of happiness, a life of loneliness and suffering would be in order. The world in which we live is a selfish world. Whether it be the individual who wants their own way, or societal structures, governments or academia that seeks selfish ends it is truly a selfish world. It only takes a trip to the preschool to hear a two year old grab hold of  a toy and cry out, “mine” to realize something within every human is innately selfish. Jesus is saying that if you want to be His disciple you must surrender your selfish life, lived for and by yourself, for His will. To deny yourself is to deny your selfish will and yield yourself to the will of Jesus.

He then makes it clear that the cross is a daily experience for a follower of Jesus. Some say, “This is my cross to bear” meaning some burden or suffering. That is not what Jesus is talking about. He is emphasizing the need to die to our selfish life and again yield to Him. The cross was a place of death, not just a place to hurt. Yielding to Christ is necessary to be His disciple.

The result of losing your life for His sake is LIFE. His life lived in and through you is real life. The lie of Satan is to get your to believe you can somehow gain life by selfish ambition. Life is found in loosing your life to Christ. Save your life by loosing it. 

______________Today's personal note from Dennis

Greetings from Starbucks in beautiful Tempe, AZ

Enjoying our beautiful 80 degree weather. (that's for all you back East who are snowed in)

So many of you have sent emails and cards and letters and especially prayers for Sandy and me that it brings joy to my heart and tears to my eyes. It has been a tough few weeks. The latest results for Sandy will not be known until a few days. We are still praying the biopsy shows no malignancy. She is tired, sore and slow. She is not allowed to lift anything more than five pounds for a few more days. That is hard for her. Mandy told her once she puts on her clothes, that weigh about 5 lbs, that she can not lift any more. 

My trip to the hospital was fruitful. The EUS found the stricture in the bile duct. I will have to wait another 3 weeks for the ERCP that will allow them to put a stint in the duct. Until then nothing really will change. I am still very fatigued, and living with pain. I have no appetite and have lost 24 lbs since February 6th. I do not recommend this as a new fad diet. The liver transplant specialist says I am not a candidate for the transplant. He words were that I would die from the surgery. Both the liver specialist and the liver transplant specialist believe the right lobe of my liver is already dead and non functioning. That is why the blockage in the left lobe is so serious. So please pray for the stint to work. Pray for the doctors that perform the procedure. Thanks.

All three of our older grandsons have had concerts this week. All three have had the bad cold that is going around. It is hard to blow trombones, trumpets and sing when you are sick, but they made it. Saturday we are celebrating Johnny's 2nd birthday. It is so hard to believe that a premie could grow up so much and do so well in two years. He is a blessing to us all.   ~ DGW