RELIGION

Deuteronomy 12:10-11 But when you cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety, then there will be the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. There you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice offerings which you vow to the Lord.

INSIGHT -In Hebrew religion is written as re-lij-un which means faith, belief, devotion, denomination. -This was after God gave the Israelites the ten commandments. Crossing the river Jordan a shadow of baptism and a form of cleansing where they would offer sacrifices & tithes & keep the statutes. This was God’s original intension for religion. -In Mat 3:13-16, Jesus started Christianity by being baptised in the river Jordan by John the Baptist.

PRAYER: Jesus Christ, baptise me with Your water & blood. Santify me Holy so that I may be a beloved son of God as I wait to inherit Your kingdom. Give me power to abide by Your law & to offer tithe & offerings as You please. Protect me from all the evil snares now & forever. Amen

Hebrews 13:8-9 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.

INSIGHT -St Paul addresses the Hebrew community saying that Jesus Christ is still God now & forever. He searches the hearts of men which is established through grace & arged them not to focus on the body but the heart. -In Deut 12:31-32, The Lord warns against idolatry, where people sacrificed their sons and daughters in fire to false gods which was a strange doctrine. -Religion is the relationship between God & man in which the heart is established everyday through the Word of God.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, You are the same yesterday, today & forever. Establish my heart in Your Word & grant me grace. Mould & shape me in the way that You please so that I may be established in true religion to serve You everyday. Increase my faith & love for the church; in which You are the head & I the body. Amen.

James 1:26-27 lf anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

INSIGHT -St. James writes that pure religion entails controlling of the tongue, being established in the heart, visiting orphans & widows in their needs & finally living a righteous life.

PRAYER: Holy Spirit one God, give me the gift of wisdom & perseverance so that I can bridle my tongue. Come into my heart to establish it so that I may visit & pray for the ophans & widows in their trouble. Cover me with Your hedge of fire to protect me from the evil one & remain unspotted from the world. Amen.

Matthew 21:12-13 Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’”

INSIGHT -Jesus was cutting off rogue pastors/priests & congregants who were corrupt in the temple. -Money was the driving force in the temple instead of seeking God first, which indicated idolatry. -They sold doves in church which means they rejected peace, purity & the Holy Spirit for money. -Corruption in the church trickles down to corruption in the government & the country in general.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I humbly ask You to restore sanity in our church which is a house of prayer. Guide our country in Your direction as our leaders seek Your will & advice from priests ordained by You. Lead all those in the government & all citizens in honesty so that corruption may not be part of us. Holy Spirit come into our heart’s & bestore in us peace, purity & love. Amen.

Ephesians 2:20-22 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

INSIGHT -Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone in whom we are fitted for a dwelling place for God in the Spirit.
-In 1 Cor 6:19, do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you. In 1 Pet 2:5, you also as living stones are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. -Religion begins with baptism, focuses on an established heart in the Word of God, entails visiting the widows, ophans & following God’s commandments, involves cutting off corruption from the churches & finally it’s a personal relationship with God.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, Whos Spirit dwells in me, I love You. I glorify, honor & praise You above everything seen or unseen. Lead me in true religion according to Your original plan. Enhance my relationship with You & remove everything that displeases You from my heart. Let my sacrifice be acceptable to You & bless the work of my hands, my family & the entire nation. Amen

Our Father who at in Heaven; Hallow be thy Name……

Please meditate on the theme, Religion.