Thought for April 12

 History:

  • 1557: Protestants converts are burned for their faith--Thomas Loseby, Henry Ramsey, Thomas Thirtel, Margaret Hyde, Agnes Stanley
  • 1857" "Madame Bovary" published
  • 1861: Fort Sumter attacked
  • 1862: James Andrews steals the General at Kennesaw GA beginning the great locomotive chase
  • 1877: Catcher's mask first used in baseball
  • 1919: Parliament limits work week to 48 hours
  • 1938: First law requiring medical test for marriage license
  • 1945: FDR dies at the Little White House in Warm Springs GA
  • 1954: Bill Haley and the Comets record "Rock Around the Clock"
  • 1961: Yuri Gargarin is first to orbit the earth
  • 1966: First B-52 bombings in Vietnam
  • 1976: Anne Rice's "Interview with a Vampire" released
  • 1987: Larry Mize chips in from 140 feet on #11 to win the Masters
  • 1987: Texaco files for bankruptcy
  • 2009: Navy rescues Captain Richard Phillips
  • 2020: 40 tornadoes kill 32 from Texas to SC
  • Born: Henry Clay, Beverly Cleary [Ramona series of children's books], Peter Safer [pioneered CPR], Tiny Tim, John Hagee, Ed O'Neille, David Letterman, Tom Clancy, Scott Turow ["Presumed Innocent"], Vince Gill, Claire Danes
  • Died: Adoniram Judson [Missionary to Burma], Boss Tweed, Clara Barton, Joe Louis, Abbie Hoffman, Sugar Ray Robinson, Danny Davis [Nashville Brass], Forrest Gregg [HOF tackle], Stirling Moss, Doug Sanders
Thought:
When you read the parable recorded in Luke 18::9-14, which of the characters do you identify with? That's the question the Spirit is asking me this morning. Recall the story. A Pharisee and a tax-collector went to the temple. The Pharisee prayed like this to himself [18:11]. I just got this. He prayed to himself. Now I'm not sure if that means he prayed silently or quietly rather than loudly, or whether it is meant to make a statement about the direction of his prayer. But it makes me wonder about my prayers. Am I simply praying to myself or am I really talking to God. 

Now look at the prayer of the Pharisee:
  • I am not like other people. I am different. Better. Holier. More righteous. 
  • I am just, fair, faithful to my spouse, honest. I deserve God's attention and blessing.
  • I fast and tithe. I have all the outward signs of righteousness and therefore God will listen to me because I have earned it by good behavior.
In the meantime, the tax collector say a very simple prayer--"God be merciful to me, the sinner." What an understanding! The tax collector was not a theologian, scholar, preacher, teacher. But he understood that God is holy and he is not. That recognition and humility sets the stage for the right relationship between him and God. The Pharisee was better, deserved it, earned it. The tax gatherer simply knew God was God and he was nothing but an unclean sinner. What a reminder for me--no matter how hard I try, no matter how much I learn, no matter all the "good" things I do--I'm still a sinner saved by grace. O how amazing is that grace that saved a wretch like me. 

Blessings
Larry



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