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Be Merciful to Me

Photo by Jeremy Yap on Unsplash

How do you approach God?

Do you approach Him through your good works, the things you do, the way you treat the people around you?

Or do you approach Him through Jesus Christ, Who died for your sins and took your place so you could be made holy?

What is the right way to approach God?

Today, we're going to look at a passage in Luke 18 that shows us how two different people responded in these two different ways, and we're going to see which one was the right way.

In Luke 18 verses 9-14 Jesus tells a parable about two men who went to the temple to pray.
"Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican." v.10 KJV
So, the first was a Pharisee. And he came to God through his own works. Watch what he says here:
"The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are,... " v. 11a KJV
The Pharisee came to God based on his works and that he was better than the people around him. But how does God judge us? Is it based on the people around us? No. God looks at all of us individually and measures us up to His Son who was perfect. And we know that none of us can be perfect.

So, we see that we shouldn't be coming to God based on our works.

What about the publican? How did he come to God? Well, let's read.
"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. " v. 13 KJV
The publican realized he was a sinner. And that's the first step to getting saved. Realizing that you need a Savior to save you from your sin.

Many of us are Pharisees. We think that the good works we do will get us into Heaven. But, as we can see from this parable, our works have nothing to do with our salvation.

But when we come to God realizing our sin and need for salvation, we come to God saying "Be merciful to me a sinner".

If you have any questions about getting saved, I, or any of the other girls who are a part of this blog would love to talk with you. Just leave a comment or shoot us an email!
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