who is your valentine??? ~seven j Luke7:36 -50

first: you must understand who the pharisees were- very high&mightputy religious people. <span> </span>                       second: put yourself into one of two positions in the text: a)the woman or b)the pharisees. (the woman was very sinful; the pharisees looked down on her (judged). #1:she didnt let her sin or her situation hinder her from getting to know God. (she went into the house). Q: how many times do we allow our sins to keep us from going to God in prayer/ worship??- the devil puts up this wall like everytime you try to pray, he is there constantly reminding you of past sins to discourage you. 2: this woman brings what is most important to her to Gods feet. (she is crying, sacrificing, praying). Q: what are you willing to sacrifice in order to get into Gods presence?? -God can interpret our tears.  -sometimes its hard to come to God b/c of the reputation you have. you fear it will be tarnished/messed up if people were to find out about your sins. 2: dont let your worth cause you to forget God is worthy. -the pharisees are just sitting down with Jesus -> they are in his presence, yet they treat him & act like they arwn't!! *but the woman has been in a position of worship since she walked thru the door! (*what makes them so special that she has to kneel down and pray and worship, but they dont/ -nothing). *no one will come out and say that they feel they are just as worthy if not more worthy than God, but we say it through our actions! (ex: "im not about to mess up my makeup with all this crying" or "id lift my hands but im not tryna wrinkle this shirt!" are just two examples"). that is really dangerous when yyou start treating yourself like you are more important than God... 3: *the level of your love will match the magnitude of your forgiveness. -the wager os sin is death! frankly speaking, we should all be dead! analogy: say youre a kid, you just got home from school after gwtting in trouble knowing your mom is going to beat you the minute you walk through that front door. you would be scared right? (flip it to the spiritual): so God... God is winding back his hand, preparing to beat yo behind for every sin you have ever committed. and Jesus stands over you and takes the licks (that were not his at all!) just so you couldnt feel it??!! Jesus took our beatings b/c of our sins and we have the audacuty to showc more love to people than God?? would we care then if Jesus had stepped aside and let God whoop us like he should have?? maybe we would care then.. -all sin is equal to God: dont try and say, "well that sin isnt as bad as that sin" - when you weigh your own sins like that, you are kaming judgements on your own life -> you stop playing "creation" and start playing "creator" -youre basically trying to play God b/c he is the only judge. you dont have that right. *be careful who u talk about and judge b/c they could be the very ones God is defending! (in the txt, Jesus defended the woman and forgave her of her sins- verses 44-48). some of us invite jesus into our hearts but do nothing more to make him feel at home or welcome!! (and yes there are people out there who only accept christ to say they arent going to hell). Q: who are you going to make your valentine??.