Luke 9:23

Today at study we looked at Jesus' teaching in Luke 9:23: " If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him first deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me." I thought that I would take a look at the four instructions in this verse over the next week, to try to drive home just exactly what it is Jesus has put before us.

The first instruction is to "deny yourself." Jesus is not recommending a monastic lifestyle here. He's not saying that owning new things is wrong, and He's not telling you to pass on dessert. The concept of self denial starts with the word "self."

What makes up humans? Beyond flesh and bones, we have a sin nature that tends to rule the roost, unless we place our faith in Jesus Christ. We must understand and even accept that our flesh desires life without God. God represents rules and regulations and we naturally believe we know more than God, we don't need God and we definitely don't want to submit to God.

You all know people who live like that. So why do you submit yourself to God and His word? Because of the grace of God in your life. He has breathed life into your dead body and soul, given you understanding by taking the blinders off your eyes and called you into a new and perfect relationship with Him through the blood of His Son.

But the flesh still battles the new nature, and that's when self denial takes place. When you know what God says but don't want to do it His way, that's the place when you are called to deny yourself. This life is no longer all about you, but when you give the lordship of your life to Jesus, it becomes all about Him.

Few questions for you:

*Why is it so hard to love your neighbor as you love yourself? (They're not overly lovable people...)

*Why is it so difficult to submit to your husband? (He's wrong most of the time and has he really earned your respect?)

*Why do you have to go to church? (It's full of hypocrites anyway...)

*Does the Bible really make a difference in my life? (Most of it seems like gibberish to me...)

*Why is it so hard to be patient with your wife? (Heaven knows she's not the most logical person who ever walked the earth...)

*Do I really have to give money to the church? (There's barely enough to pay my own bills and others can foot the bill for a while...)

And the list goes on and on. There are basic life instructions in God's Word that we excuse-away out of our lives because we are not willing to deny ourselves and do it God's way. We think that our way is sometimes better than His way which pushes Him off the throne of our life and puts us right exactly where our sin nature wants us - ruling and reigning through our sin-encrusted sense of right and wrong.

So Jesus starts with saying that the Christian life is first a call to self denial. This goes against everything the world holds dear and so, friends, be prepared to find this particular task a struggle. Our flesh hates it and the world rejects it so we have an uphill battle putting this instruction into practice.

Today, work on self-denial. But it doesn't stop there...there's more...

Norah and Ashley Update

Okay...for you who think they "don't look at all alike!", here are two pictures that I think would give a good argument against that claim...what do you think?



Norah is the top picture and Ashley is the bottom. They are doing very well...Ashley is figuring out the whole bottle thing a bit faster than Norah, but since she is 50% Wisen, I keep whispering in her ear what is going on with Ashley and I think her competitive genes might just kick in. When she was born, she was 7 ounces less than Ashley, but with Grandma's whispers, she's now only an ounce behind! I'm rooting for you, Norah! After all, the girls are not in the same room...it's hard to compete when you don't know what you are competing against...




It was a joy to watch Ashley down her bottle - this is Calvin doing a feeding. The nurse actually had to teach him how to slow Ashley down, because she was overpowering her bottle! She still needs to learn to pace herself...that will come. The nurses did say that possibly Ashley will get to go home first. Another nurse said to Mary, "Do you want to have the girls home for Valentine's Day?" Of course we would like them home TODAY, but we understand it may be a few weeks still. They are now 35 weeks (developmentally) and 17 days old!



Here Mary is holding Norah during her feeding. She was not interested in taking the bottle, though she will suck on the pacifier quite well. Ashley did that as well, so I think Norah is just a half step behind...



All right, here's a test for you. This is Ashley. Is she crying or yawning?

Remember, her nickname is "Crashley"...

Yes! She is yawning! So cute...she is very expressive with her face...so is Norah!



Here's she's mocking her Grandma Wisen, talking with her hands...




And finally, it's time to go...this is Norah, sound asleep...





...and again, Norah, all tucked in...well, arms free, tucked in...I thought I had put a picture of Ashley here, but it's Norah...unfortunately, with blogging, I don't know how to add a picture late in the game...

It's so hard to leave but we know they are safe in the arms of the Lord, as well as the incredible care of the children's hospital...

True Faith

So which way should you go?

Many of us find ourselves at crossroads in life on a regular basis. I mean, life is all about choices, right? Who I should marry? What school I should go to? How many children to have? Am I a large or medium (for online ordering purposes)? Should I eat fries with my burger or supersize?

Choices.

Today we discussed the faith of the unnamed woman in Luke 8 who had been hemorrhaging for 12 years. She fought her way through the crowd to touch the hem of Jesus' garment, and He told her that her faith had healed her. Jesus was referring to her physical healing, but her faith was a spiritual act. She knew who Jesus was and she knew that simply touch something that was touching Him would change her for the better.

There were a lot of people pressing on Jesus that day, but only this woman was healed. Her faith was greater than theirs.

Sometimes I think that we give faith "a try." We choose the path that God would have us walk, but when things don't turn out like we think they should - when the path leads through a dark, scary forest (as in the picture above) or the path doesn't seem to have the changing effect on my family that I thought it should, then we cut through the field and join the other path to "give it a try." If I was drawing this picture, I would have a well-beaten path that connects the two choices.

Is this a picture of true faith? Do we follow Jesus with expectations that He needs to live up to or else we're done? Or do we follow because He is God and He knows best, even when we don't understand?

Let's put it this way: Did Jesus live up to the expectations of the disciples? Where were they when He was being tried and on the cross? Now, I know I'm being tough on the men who eventually gave their lives for Jesus and ignited a movement in the world that we call the church today, but here's my point. Somewhere along the way, these men who had abandoned Jesus at the cross, decided that His way was the only way, the best way and the way worth dying for. So by faith they plowed through life all the way to their death, extolling Jesus Christ through the spreading of the gospel to the world. In the end, they got it.

Where are you today? Are you willing to truly walk by faith - faith that says, "God's way is best, even if I never see the results I want?" Are we willing to be sexually pure inside and outside of marriage? Are we willing to raise our children God's way? Are we willing to let doctrine permeate our homes and set the standards for us? Are we willing to be a godly spouse to a wretched one? Even if they never change?

God's way is the best way. It's the only way and there is great blessing that comes from obedience. Remember, God's definition of blessing may be different than yours. Guess what? It's better. It is blessing that is beyond our imagination. We need to stop "trying" God's way, and just commit to doing it.

Babies Update

Yesterday Dave and I headed into Grand Rapids to visit our girls and we found them working on bottles. Basically, they are ready to go home except for the bottle issue. Once they develop the vim and vigor to drink 8 bottles a day, they will be released, but we're still a ways away from that. Here Calvin was working on Norah...she was dozing in and out. He burped her and handed her to me. I got the rest down, but it still wasn't overly impressive getting a dozing baby to drink a bottle. If you pray for my little granddaughters, pray that this sucking reflex will kick in!



Blurry picture, but more of a close up. Can you see the bruises on Norah's hands? That's a sure way to tell them apart for now...




And here she is in Grandpa's arms, sound asleep. The feedings wear her out. The good news is that both girls are now on the same feeding schedule (this is a big help for Mary) and they both, about 20 minutes before the three hour mark, started fussing and wiggling and acting hungry. This is needed - you don't want to have to wake them up to eat. You want them to feel the hunger and ask for food!



Here is little Ashley...Crashley...still sound asleep in her space ship. Such a precious face...




Before we left I snapped a quick picture of Norah - changed, clean, swaddled with her fashionable hat on...priceless!



And this is Ashley again being held by Christopher's girlfriend, Morgan. Tonight we are supposed to get the storm of the century, so Cal and Mary are heading into Grand Rapids this afternoon with clothes for a night or two. They didn't want to get stranded away from the girls, so they will sleep in GR.

Thank you for keeping this wonderful family in your prayers - sometimes our patience wanes because we want them home, but we know that time is coming soon, and when it does...life changes forever!!!