- Lord, I just recently read Your parable about the Pharisee and the Publican... the one - so pleased with himself and all he did for God...  the other - so powerfully aware of his sinfulness. Like many of Your words, Lord, this parable leaves me feeling unsettled. As there is a mixture of Martha and Mary in me, I feel like there's a mixture of the Publican and the Pharisee in me too. In a convoluted way, it almost seems pharisaical to try to be that lowly worm... cast down... covered in mea culpas (as You well know, I grew up inside a cocoon of mea culpas!)  I feel like You've been setting me free from both these factions warring within my identity. Since I've been learning about being a new creation, this teaching puzzles me. What am I supposed to do with it? I do want to be humble before You, Lord - to be repentant - but it seems like You came to set me free from focusing on myself either way. Please enlighten me. 

+ Yes, My love, You're already heading in the right direction.. seeking to hear the Spirit's voice telling you, "This is the way, walk in it".The Pharisee and the Publican are pictures of the heart. The Pharisee was focused on the law and how well he was doing with it. So was the Publican, only all he could see was his failure to uphold the law. The Father responds to the one who was humble because He is humble. His love proves it! No matter how many times His people turn their backs on Him... choose other gods... He continues to ignore being spurned and to unabashedly seek the love of His children. The publican sought the Father from a place of lowliness... a deep sense of what He was not.  I came to break the weight of the law off of BOTH the Pharisee and the Publican! One was consumed by trying to be perfect - impossible to achieve; the other was crushed by his sinfulness - impossible to get out from under. And so the Father planned to fulfill the law once and for all through the cross and by so doing - set BOTH completely free! This is a good illustration of the new covenant. Man could never fulfill the Law... and could never be free from sin.. until the cross. 

I know you were disturbed by this parable because you are seeking to live as a new creation and neither of these examples works. You understand that the Father didn't create you to be a worm, so crushed by your sin you can't function. No! All that sin-consciousness does is keep you in the tomb! I died to set all people free. You have been incorporated... enfolded into all that pleases the Father, so you can fly above the self-conscious ways of the old covenant. He has created you to be transformed - caterpillar to butterfly. When you accept your status as a child of the Father, you've recognized the blood that was shed to set you free. Your eyes are not on yourself anymore. You are not measuring your worth. Your spirit is one with Me, and like Me, your eyes are ever only on Your Father. You trust Him to make you into Who He created you to be. See My love, the old is gone. This is the mystery man has sought to solve since Adam fell. Everything about you has been made new. Your job is to simply believe it - like a child! You can't take any credit for it and you don't negate it. By the way: be aware of the ways the enemy tries to use scripture to confuse or tempt you. (He tried with Me) Anytime you are reading the Word and have thoughts that try to negatively color your understanding of Who the Father is or Who I am, do what you did here and run to the Spirit, Who will help you discern the Truth. 

Now here's a little fun vision to imagine: Go back in your mind to that temple where the Pharisee and Publican are praying as best as they can. Now, imagine a beautiful butterfly flying around the temple... free... light... displaying the beauty and glory of the Good News. She's prophetically signaling the New Covenant. Her presence is declaring: "Look! Your Savior comes with healing in His Wings."