This past week has been an active week for me. I've been inspired to work even harder on poetry now that I've had work accepted again. I am also getting ready to start two book projects. I've been feeling pretty good, but I am not up to full speed yet. My doctor said that it might take me several weeks to recover fully.
In prayer this week, please remember to pray for those in London who were affected by the terrorist attack. Pray for those who are injured that they might recover, and pray for those who mourn the loss of a loved one. Pray for an end to terrorism around the world.
Let us continue to pray for peace in the troubled areas of the world. I especially would like us all to pray for peace in Syria and Iraq as these two nations are facing such terrible troubles.
For our prayer focus countries this week, let us pray for the nations of Laos and Saudi Arabia. Pray that people in these two lands will hear about the love of Jesus.
I would ask that you would pray that the storms forecast in my area won't be bad today. These stormy days make me nervous. Thank you for your prayers.
Since the beginning of the year, we have been in a study focusing upon the parables of Jesus. This week, we will turn our attention to the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. I find this to be one of the most interesting of Jesus' parables.
In Luke 18:9-14, Jesus tells a parable about two men who went to the temple to pray. The Pharisee prayed thanking God that he was not like other sinful people including the tax collector near him. The Pharisee then went on to tell God all of the good things that he did in order to gain God's approval.
The tax collector prayed in a different manner. He would not even lift his eyes up to Heaven when he prayed. He beat his chest and said, "God be merciful to me a sinner."
Jesus said that the tax collector went home justified and not the Pharisee. Jesus went on to say, "Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted."
I believe that there is much to learn from this important parable. Let's first look at why Jesus told this parable. It says in Luke 18:9, "He then addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else."
In Jesus' day, the Pharisees thought that they were accepted by God because of how rigorously they kept the law. Like the Pharisee in the parable, they thought they were superior to other people because they were good and did what was right. The Pharisees, and other religious leaders, often looked down on certain types and classes of people. Those who were sick were deemed to be excluded by God because the Pharisees thought that sickness was a sign of God's judgment. They also viewed poverty as a sign of God's displeasure.
The Pharisees also thought that others were sinners and unworthy. Tax collectors were at the top of the unrighteous list because they were viewed to be unrighteous collaborators with Rome.
There are a lot of religious people today who act just like the Pharisees did in Jesus' day. Many feel that they are better than others because they go to church or they have had a certain type of religious experience. They pride themselves on following all the commandments, and they often view other types of people as sinners who God does favor like He does them.
Of course this is the wrong type of attitude for a follower of Jesus to have. Jesus loved everyone and He said that whoever would come to Him, He would in no way cast them out. Jesus went to the homes of tax collectors and sinners, and the religious leaders despised Him for it. However, Jesus knew that everyone needed to know that God loved and cared about them. He knew that everyone need to experience hope and forgiveness.
So often, Christians come across as condemning others. We get a reputation for what we are against instead of what we are for. We condemn whole groups of people and then wonder why they don't want to come to church or why they have a negative opinion of Christianity.
As believers in Jesus, we need to follow Jesus' example and love and not condemn. We are not righteous in and of ourselves. All that we have comes to us by the grace of the Lord Jesus.
This leads me to another important thing that this parable is trying to teach. Before we become a Christian, our salvation is not obtained by our good deeds, and after we have trusted in Jesus we are not kept by good deeds.
The Bible is quite clear that we are saved by grace through faith, and works are not a part of it. So many people are trusting in their good works to make themselves acceptable to God. Several years ago, I was involved in evangelism ministry. We would talk to people about their relationship with Jesus. Usually, people would tell us that they thought they were right with God because they had done more good than bad.
The Bible is clear. No one is righteous in and of themselves. It is only through the imputed righteousness of Jesus that we are made right with God. We cannot earn salvation or God's favor.
Many Christians are under the impression that the Lord will love them more or care about them more because of the way they live and the for the good deeds they do. Jesus loves you for who you are not because of what you do. We should do good and we should follow the teachings of Jesus, but we should be doing these things because of the fact that we love Jesus. Our motivation should never be that we do good in order to gain favor with the Lord and get Him to do something for us.
All that we have is by God's grace. His unmerited favor is why we have salvation and all other things that pertain to life and Godliness.
This parable further speaks to us by demonstrating to us that we all need to be aware that we need to ask for forgiveness. God is merciful, and He will forgive us when we ask Him to. The Bible says in I John that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Another important aspect of this parable is the fact that we need to be people of humility and not people who are filled with pride. Those who lift themselves up will eventually fall. Those who trust in the Lord and have a humble heart will be exalted. Just as Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, "The meek shall inherit the earth."
What excites me the most about this teaching of Jesus is that anyone can come to Jesus. No one is excluded from God's love. God created you, and He loves you. He sent His Son the Lord Jesus to show us all how much that He loves us and wants us to come to Him.
Maybe people in the church have made you feel excluded or unwanted. I've been in your shoes, and the greatest thing that I can every tell you is that Jesus loves you. No matter who you are, Jesus loves you. When I truly realized this, it made a great difference in my life. When you realize how much Jesus cares about you, your life will be different too.
Next week, we will continue with our parables of Jesus series. On Monday, I will post the verses. This Tuesday, I will not be posting a chapter from the book. I need to make a revision on chapter 3, and then I will post it the following Tuesday. On Wednesday, I will have a review. May God bless you all. Amen.
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