Monday, October 26, 2015
I’ll always be rooting for the “tax collector” among us – you know who you are. Maybe you’ve fallen in the ditch of sin again – maybe it’s one more failed treatment centre stint – maybe those who are supposed to be helping you are instead kicking you when you’re down…while puffing themselves up. Maybe the voices tearing you down are too loud. Maybe you’re just too tired to get back up on your feet and try again. My advice to you is this: Get up anyway. Shake the dust off your feet. Pick up your sword and keep moving. Let God carry your burden. He’s on your side. He is not the one counting your mistakes against you. Challenge the lies you keep accepting as truth. Ask God what lies you are believing. He will show you!
Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and who scorned everyone else with contempt:
“Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else. For I don’t cheat, I don’t sin, and I don’t commit adultery. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’
But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’
I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” – Jesus (Luke 18:9-14)
Recovered In Christ 