Do you believe in God? Do you believe in the God of the Bible? Do you trust God? We, as Americans, tend to rely on ourselves for just about everything in life. We trust in ourselves before we trust in God. We trust in our abilities to the exclusion of trusting in God. It may not be a conscious act of willful disobedience, but it is at its heart, arrogance.

Jesus, in the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, points out the arrogance of the Pharisee who proudly proclaimed how wonderful he was in God’s eyes and contrasted that arrogance with the contrition of the tax collector who fell on his face before a Holy God in true humility and repentance.

We must come to the Holy God as unrighteous, undeserving sinners. We must come in humility on our knees. And when we humble ourselves before God Almighty, He will lift us up. This promise is made in Luke 18:14 as well as in James 4:10 and 1 Peter 5:6. However, God cannot lift us up unless we first humble ourselves and pray and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, April 7, 2024. It is part of a series in a Bible study curriculum called Connect 360, published by the GC2 Press of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The overall title of the current set of lessons is Jesus Storyteller: Timeless Truths from His Parables. You can find printed and digital versions of this series online at: https://gc2press.org/jesus-storyteller-luke-study-guide/ .Handouts with slide content can be requested at: fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com . Handouts are also available at: fromthebackporch.org .


Website – FromTheBackPorch.org
Facebook – From the Back Porch in Texas

YouTube – youtube.com/@fromthebackporch

X – FromtheBackPorch@nationalfast
Email – fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com