Good Afternoon all, here is today's devotion.
Tuesday, 24 March
Luke 18:9-14 (15-17)
The Pharisee and The Tax Collector
Can you identify with what Jesus is saying, about being like the Pharisee and the tax collector? About a sense of self righteousness and about brokenness before God?
Most of us start with being like the tax collector in humility and brokenness. Yet self-righteousness is always knocking at the door of our hearts. It's never far away. It will keep on knocking. We can fall for it easily.
There is huge amount of temptation to become proud and self righteous. The attention we get through success; and Facebook and Instagram is ever so tempting that we want to look good. It is easy to pretend and hide. And this sipped into church. In fact the danger of comparison is Jesus' warning here. 'I pray longer. I know the bible better. I serve more. I am more gifted. My marriage is great. My children is in Sunday school. I give more. I am not like so and so ... Thus I am more spiritual and righteous compare to so and so.'
Let's guard our heart. 2 disciplines Jesus gives here in this passage:
(a) Confession and worship. In confession before God we remember who we really are, sinners. In worship we remember who God is, the God Almighty who look into our hearts and the God of grace and forgiveness. We have been forgiven.
(b) Being with people who are considered lower or lesser in the eyes of human ( but never to God)- children, poor and needy, forgotten and the many others you know that is considered lower by others or the system within our culture. Do this because in God's eyes we are all equal and valued.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me against self-righteous. Guard my heart. Help me always remember not just who I was but also who I am, a sinner forgiven. Let me see and value people as you do. Shape my heart day by day as I keep laying my pretentiousness, craving for attention and pride at the foot of the cross. Amen.
Have you met people who refuse to grow up? There are some adults who prefer to remain as children because they do not want to take on adult responsibilities. Not only is immature behaviour unpleasant to observe or deal with, the consequences are often destructive. In Hebrews 5:11-14, the writer expresses his frustration that some members of the church were refusing to grow into spiritual maturity. They were no longer trying to understand God’s word (v 11). Instead of taking on the responsibility of teaching others as they themselves had been taught, they needed to be taught the basics all over again (v12). Therefore, they were unable to take on “solid food” which is for mature Christians, and they were not able to distinguish good from evil (v14) or to understand teaching about righteousness (v13). Spiritual maturity is a necessary part of our walk with God. Remaining as a spiritual infant means that you are not good at discerning right from wrong and you will have a hard time maintain