CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS VIEWS IN IUO
ABOUT THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE GOSPEL OF TRUTH.. DAILY MEDITATION
DAILY ⓂANNA* MONDAY 28TH NOVEMBER, 2022
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DAILY ⓂANNA* MONDAY 28TH NOVEMBER, 2022
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</div><div>*YOU MUST BE DIFFERENT*</div><div>
</div><div>_It is advisable you read the text first_</div><div>
</div><div>📜TEXT:LEVITICUS 19:26-37📜</div><div>
</div><div>Leviticus 19:26-37</div><div>[26]Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood: neither shall ye use enchantment, nor observe times.</div><div>[27]Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.</div><div>[28]Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.</div><div>[29]Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.</div><div>[30]Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.</div><div>[31]Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.</div><div>[32]Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD.</div><div>[33]And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him.</div><div>[34]But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.</div><div>[35]Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure.</div><div>[36]Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.</div><div>[37]Therefore shall ye observe all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: I am the LORD.</div><div>
</div><div>🔑📖KEY VERSE:_*”Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD” (LEVITICUS 19:28).*_</div><div>
</div><div>Customs, traditions and practices are clearly distinguishing marks of peoples of different cultures. These practices, which include food, dressings, ceremonies and different rites, differ from one group to another. Efforts are made to retain these cultural traits in order to maintain the distinctiveness of each group.</div><div>
</div><div>In our passage today, God wanted His people, the children of Israel, to know that they were different from other nations around them. Therefore, they were not to copy the customs and practices of those nations. The nations that surrounded them had different traditions, cultures and practices, many of which were connected to their idolatrous worships. Cannibalism, magic, necromancy, stargazing, etc., were not to be among their practices. They were not to make marks on their bodies or shave their hair as a rite of burial. They were also not to have any form of tattoo on their bodies. They were to be different in their business transactions and relationships with strangers in their communities. Everything they do must show that they belong to the Lord and that they fear Him.</div><div>
</div><div>All these have not changed for us as Christians today. God still expects us to be distinct. There must be very clear differences between those who are born again and those who are not. Christians must not follow the ungodly and idolatrous practices of the people around them. They are not to remain bound to ungodly cultures and traditions of their tribes.</div><div>
</div><div>True Christians live and walk in the fear of the Lord. Through their lifestyles and practices, they send a clear message that they belong to the Lord and not to the world. Can this be said to be true about your life? Can people easily identify you as a Christian when they observe your life? Or do your claims conflict with your practices and so leave people in doubt as to who you really are? If indeed you are a Christian, then you must be different.</div><div>
</div><div>✍🏽THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:_*By their fruits, we shall know them!*_</div><div>
</div><div>📜THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:*SONGS 5-8*📜</div><div>
</div><div> *MEDITATION*</div><div>
</div><div>*What should be our attitude to the world*</div><div>
</div><div>*1. Christian separation*</div><div>a. Many churches are busy bridging the gap between the world and the Church. While the Church has opened her door to worldliness, the world is also importing Christian traditions. The text shows clearly that God frowns at it.</div><div>
</div><div>*Question*</div><div>Check vv 27-29, 31 for some of the worldly practices that the righteous are commanded to separate from. What is wrong with them?</div><div>
</div><div>b. The main problem with those practices is that they originated from idol worship and idol worship are demonic worships.</div><div>c. In order to differentiate between worldliness and godliness, the first thing is to check up what the Bible says about them. Next is to ask questions as to the origin, the motivation and the effect of such practices as the honour of God is concerned. God wants us to be distinct and separate from the world and its ungodly practices, Luke 16:15, I John 2:15-17, James 3:1-3.</div><div>
</div><div>*2. Courtesy of the spiritual*</div><div>a. True spirituality references God, His sanctuary and the day of the LORD, v30.</div><div>b. True spirituality gives honour to the older persons, either natural or spiritual, irrespective of their spirituality, v32. The modern age has erased this precept.</div><div>c. Racial segregation of all forms, discriminatory and preferential treatment of foreigners in the land etc are all opposed to true godliness or Christianity, vv33,34.</div><div>
</div><div>*Question*</div><div>a. How would you like to be treated by a younger person?</div><div>b. How would you like to be treated as a foreigner in another country?</div><div>
</div><div>*3. Commercial sanctity*</div><div>a. Christians must show total separation from the world in their business and professional practices, vv35-37.</div><div>b. Dishonesty, false measurements, presenting fake products as genuine etc. are all condemned by God.</div><div>
</div><div>*Question*</div><div>Do you show the world that you are a righteous person the way you pursue your business transactions?</div><div>
</div><div>Those who are of the world will perish with the world👌</div><div>
</div><div>*Prayer points*</div><div>Ask for power and courage to be distinct from the world without being ashamed🙏</div><div>Ask God to open your eyes to all areas worldliness that has crept into your life and ask for deliverance🙏</div><div>Pray that God will purge His Church from all the intrusions of the world🙏</div><div>Ask God to close the door of your church against all forms of worldliness🙏</div><div>
</div><div>*HYMN* Search me O God</div><div>
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</div><div>*Good morning sir/ma.*</div> -
1 Reply
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Hallelujah
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