Good morning all!

Father, Your love has called us and saved us from the foundations of the world. We know we can’t outrun Your grace; it will reach down from heaven and find us in our darkest hour and comfort us. Thank You, Lord, for Your love, Your word and Your son, fill the empty spaces in our life so that we would bring You glory, Amen.

Luke 18

10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
Two guys go into a church to pray; one guy APPEARED to religious and the other a sinner.

11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men [are], extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
The religious guy stood ALONE and prayed, and this is what he told God, I thank You that I am BETTER than other men who steal, unrighteous, unfaithful or like THIS guy.

12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
Look at me, I fast twice as much and I give of everything I have.

13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as [his] eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
The sinner on the other hand stood in the back and could NOT even lift his head being overwhelmed in the moment asking God to have mercy on his soul.

14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified [rather] than the other: for everyone that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Let me tell you something, the one that cried mercy was justified before God NOT the other, if you think you’re better than others God will take you down but the humble, He will exalt.

Bottom line

What makes us justified in the eyes of God? Which is to say declared innocent, in right standing finding His favor upon our life. This is revealed through a parable Jesus shared to a crowd of people. We should always seek to understand who He’s talking to and why?

[Luk 18:9 NLT] Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and rejected everyone else: Do you think you can ACHIEVE your own righteousness? Have you THOUGHT less of others? Do you feel CONFIDENT this morning? You should feel confident, but it’s NOT based on anything you’ve done or haven’t done, it is only based on the grace of God.

[Isa 61:10 KJV] I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh [himself] with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth [herself] with her jewels. God provides His bride with everything needed for the marriage; He covers her with a robe of righteousness worthy of His throne. I mean a loving husband will always see his bride beautiful and perfect, right? He provides and protects her from all harm and danger. He wants others to see her beauty also. Doesn’t that sound like our God? There are a few things I would like us to notice in the parable spoken by Jesus. First, NOT one word was spoken by either man, everything took place in their mind…what they we’re THINKING. Second, we do not know the sin of the man who cried mercy? The religious man, thought he was BETTER based on own his actions, of which the sinner did none of it? Last, the religious man was LOOKING down at others to JUSTIFY himself and the sinner didn’t look at anyone, not even God. So, nothing spoken and nothing done except PRAYER so safe to say prayer does matter. However, not both prayers were accepted by God, the one who cried mercy went home JUSTIFIED and the religious man did NOT. So, what must we do to be justified in the eyes of God? First, pray…second, ask for mercy…third, quit looking down at others. Jesus shares the parable to teach us NOT hurt us, what He shows us is how to avoid the trap we often find ourselves in.

[Rom 12:3 NLT] Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. The trap is we use the world’s measuring stick to determine who’s good and who’s evil. Hmm…I seem to remember a tree that was called good and evil and a snake that whispered in our ear for us to partake of it…now that sounds like a trap to me. The only true measure that God has given us is FAITH, not works. Faith is NOT subject to the world’s standards; it’s a gift from God given to us all and it is ETERNAL…it produces life NOT death, don’t fall for the trap. [Rom 2:1 NLT] You may think you can condemn people, but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you who judge others, do these very same things. The justified don’t make excuses…they live by faith.

Point to Ponder

You want to be justified? [Gal 5:4, 6 NIV] You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. The justified know the only thing that counts…LOVE!

Let’s all be justified through love, In Him Phil

Faith – Family – Friends