Glory of God Prayer Group, St. Cecilia Parish, Wa Diocese, Ghana - Let Your Light Shine

The future

The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is. C. S. Lewis

Forgive those who hurt you

One who is injured ought not to return the injury, for on no account can it be right to do an injustice; and it is not right to return an injury, or to do evil to any man, however much we have suffered from him. Socrates

Judging disputes

If two friends ask you to judge a dispute, don't accept, because you will lose one friend; on the other hand, if two strangers come with the same request, accept because you will gain one friend. Saint Augustine

Our heart is not quiet until it rests in…

Thou hast created us for Thyself, and our heart is not quiet until it rests in Thee. Saint Augustine

Our walking is our preaching

It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching. Francis of Assisi

Man lives as to make happiness impossibl…

Indeed, man wishes to be happy even when he so lives as to make happiness impossible. Saint Augustine

Pride of wealth

If a man is proud of his wealth, he should not be praised until it is known how he employs it. Socrates

God is happiness and peace

God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing. C. S. Lewis

Meaning of the universe

If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning. C. S. Lewis

Men should wonder at themselves

Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering. Saint Augustine

As we are, such are the times

If we live good lives, the times are also good. As we are, such are the times. Saint Augustine

Affection

Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives. C. S. Lewis

Progress

We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive. C. S. Lewis

Forsaken by sin

To abstain from sin when one can no longer sin is to be forsaken by sin, not to forsake it. Saint Augustine

The richest

He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature. Socrates

A simple smile

We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do. Mother Teresa

Death, a blessings

Death may be the greatest of all human blessings. Socrates

God dispenses beauty even to the wicked

Beauty is indeed a good gift of God; but that the good may not think it a great good, God dispenses it even to the wicked. Saint Augustine

The gift of overcoming self

Above all the grace and the gifts that Christ gives to his beloved is that of overcoming self. Francis of Assisi

Destroyer of peace

The greatest destroyer of peace is abortion because if a mother can kill her own child, what is left for me to kill you and you to kill me? There is nothing between. Mother Teresa

Teaching for Sunday 30th October, 2011
Teacher: Felix Dordaa Mahama
Text: John 15:17-19.

We are in the world but we are not of the world

What is our social life? The Lord tells us that even though we are in the world we do not belong to the world. Through our brother Paul in Romans 12:2, He tells us again that we should not conform to the standards of the world. We live in the world everyday; eating, drinking, sleeping, working and interacting with other people. Living in the world is our social life.

How can we gain spiritual freedom?

In order for us to gain spiritual freedom, we have to guard this social life with all we have got. We do not enjoy our lives in Christ because we still allow ourselves to be put under spiritual bondage, enslaved by so many things, in the name of fitting into society. God did not born us again to fit into society but for society to fit into us! But what do we see today; instead of dictating for society we allow society to dictate for us, thus selling our spiritual freedom.

When we read 1 Corinthians 6:15-17, we get this advice from St. Paul, “Shall I take a part of Christ’s body and make it part of a prostitute? Impossible! Or perhaps you don’t know that a person who joins his body to a prostitute becomes physically one with her? But he who joins himself to the Lord becomes spiritually one with Him.” The only way we can gain true spiritual freedom and enjoy our life in Christ is to “become spiritually one with Him”. This is the very thing the devil, through our social life, tries very hard to prevent, and we let him. He tries to push us into and keep us in spiritual bondage. He uses many tools, and when we indulge in them, we become spiritually one with him and lose our spiritual freedom.

We lose our spiritual freedom in different ways. I’m going to outline only a few.

Tools used by the devil to put us into spiritual bondage

Speech

One of the tools of the devil through which we lose our spiritual freedom is speech. God loves His Holy name so much that he will do anything to protect it, even to the extent that He would even ignore the sins of His people Israel – Ezekiel 36:16-27. He wants us to honour, adore, and proclaim His name every time and everywhere. In fact, that is one of the primary reasons we are here on earth and will be in the world to come. Refer to John 3:2. But Satan will do anything to ensure that we profane the name of the Lord, either by saying certain words ourselves or condoning with or encouraging others who do, like buying and listening to profane music.

What happens when you keep on listening to music like this? The devil controls your mind, your mind is polluted, your will is crashed and you lose your ability to resist the devil’s temptations. In short, he puts you in spiritual bondage, you lose your spiritual freedom and become a slave to him!

Popularity

Another of the devil's tools through which we lose our spiritual freedom is popularity. In a bit to live our social life, we adore, support and condone popular figures of society, no matter what they do, believe or practice, even if they contradict our faith.

  • Play Asamoah Gyan’s song
  • Observe what is done and said there and how people like it because Asamoah Gyan is in it

 Music and dressing

Still another of the devil's tools through which we lose our spiritual freedom is music and dressing.

  • Play Shakira’s track
  • Observe what is done and said there and how we patronize clothing with their names on them
  • Wearing of bangles on ankles
  • Wearing of multiple earrings

Signs

Yet another of the devil's tools through which we lose our spiritual freedom is signs.

  • Play illuminati signs
  • Observe how popular people are involved and sometimes we imitate them
  • What should we do to such clothing and other materials? Destroy them!

What kinds of things should we associate with? We should associate with things that are Christian such as music, the Holy Bible, crucifix, rosary, etc. If we do, we will have spiritual freedom, and the devil will never be able to put us into spiritual bondage, thus safeguarding our social life.

 

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