“Our Daily Bread”   

http://odb.org/2012/07/14/two-lessons-learned/

The Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie                                http://www.harvest.org/devotional/daily-devotions/home.ht  

Luke 19:10… “for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”  (NKJV)

I am reading a book written by John MacArthur (the author of my study Bible), called “The Gospel According to Jesus”…  It is truly amazing how Jesus teaches us in the Bible, what we need to do in order to become a Christian (to be graced with the free gift of salvation by God)…is so different from what is being taught today in churches that preach a different gospel of Christ, called…“Easy-Believism”… This is a watered down version of the gospel of Christ; which for those who have never heard of these words before, is what has to be understood and obeyed, in order to become a Christian… Here is a link written about “Easy-Believism”, that is pretty good…  http://www.gotquestions.org/easy-believism.html

This erroneous concept of seeking Christ to be forgiven of one’s sins…leaves out the need for one to repent and turn from their sins… This, in turn…will leave a person rejected by God at the gates of heaven when they die…when it’s too late for proper repentance…

Jesus tells us in the opening scripture, exactly why God sent His Son to earth, to be born as a baby; and to live a sinless life as a natural man, and yet be fully God… And when Jesus first started His public ministry in Galilee, these were the very first words out of His mouth…Matthew 4:17… From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  (NKJV)  In the next verse 18, Jesus hand picked His first 2 disciples…the 2 fisherman; Simon, who Jesus called Peter, and his brother Andrew…

Jesus came to seek and to save the “lost”…  Someone who is lost (a sinner who has not yet become a Christian in God’s eyes), is someone who realizes that they are a sinner; and that they can in no way save themselves from eternal damnation… 

The parable that Jesus teaches, about the “Pharisee and the Tax Collector”, in…Luke 18:9-14…is one of the best examples I know of in the Bible, to show the difference between a lost person, from someone who believes they are a Christian when their not…because of their self-righteous works they have done for the Lord, that they believe has allowed God to forgive their sins… Here is the link for this entire short, but important teaching parable… http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=lu18:9-14&version=NKJV

This parable is about two men going up to the temple to pray… The Pharisee prayed to God, that he was glad he wasn’t like other people; like adulterers, or this horrible tax collector… The Pharisee told God, that he was proud that he fasted twice a week; and that he gave tithes of all that he had…(These are the self-righteous works leading to hell, because they will not forgive a person’s sins… Jesus warns us about this vital mistake, in… Matthew 7:21-23)… Here is the link for this…  http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mat7:21-23&version=NKJV

The second man in Jesus’ parable was the tax collector… He stood back and couldn’t even look up to heaven when he prayed, because he realized that he was a sinner who needed help… Here is what he prayed to God, as spoken by Jesus, in His parable, in…

Luke 18:13… “And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ ” (NKJV)

Here is Jesus’ important conclusion to His parable, after the tax collector’s humble prayer to God; recorded in…Luke 18:14… “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”  (NKJV)

Heavenly Father, I pray Your Word will cut right to the heart (Hebrews 4:12), of those that believe they are a Christian like the Pharisee, when they are not Christian’s in Your eyes… I pray Lord, that those who do self-righteous works for You, like going to church every week; and believe like the Pharisee, that all is well…will read what Your Son Jesus teaches to warn them about their false works beliefs, in…Matthew 7:21-23… I pray Lord, that You will open the eyes of those in need…that You will draw these un-repentant sinners to Yourself (John 6:44)…and that sinning hearts would be regenerated by You (Titus 3:5)… I pray for lives to be changed by You for an eternity…in Jesus’ most precious name and for His sake…Amen…

written by bruce r mills