Luke 18:1-14 ~ The one who humbles himself will be exalted

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v1-8:

  • We are called to pray earnestly and consistently and to not lose heart
  • If God has rescued us from our suffering and injustice in this world, then will he be patient as he sees his children suffer? - of course not!
  • When Jesus returns, he will be looking for those who are persistent as well as those who are praying and watchful of Him
v9-14:
  • We shouldn't be like the Pharisees who beat their chest in their own righteousness and treated others with contempt
  • Rather than thanking God for what God has done for him, the Pharisee arrogantly brags to God about his own moral purity - why am I so often self-righteous in my own deeds, comparing myself to others?
  • There is great contrast between the tax collector and the Pharisee
  • The tax collector depended on God's mercy and not his own merits and efforts (because he had failed in that regard) and as a result received God's gift of righteousness and was pronounced justified
Application:
  1. Am I praying and depending on God like Jesus is saying? or am I just relying on my own merits?
  2. God doesn't care how much we do for him, as long as we love the person that is Christ and genuinely come to him like the tax collector - do I pray and come to God earnestly or am I just doing it to make myself feel better and to build my own self-righteousness?

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