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Day 178, or June 27th.

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Unity is not uniformity.

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Our thoughts today are rooted in Psalm 133, verse 1.

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How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity.

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First the big picture surrounding this verse.

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Our Psalms today are once again all called Songs of Ascent, bringing the full total to

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15.

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It seems logical, bearing in mind that Jerusalem is built on seven hills, that all who approach

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it will be ascending.

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Many pilgrims even today will sing these Psalms whilst they ascend as they approach the temple

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in Jerusalem.

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It's very probable that those being led back into the Promised Land by Ezra, many centuries

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before Jesus was born, sang them too.

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Today there is a flight of worn stone stairs at the southern wall of the Temple Mount,

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which are called the Rabbinic Steps, where Jesus would certainly have taught.

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Sometimes Christians visiting this special place stop on each step and read one of the

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Songs of Ascent, as they ascend towards the ancient temple entrance at the Huldah Gates.

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And now our action step for today.

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A modern criticism from unbelievers is how divided the church is today.

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I believe one of the reasons for such comments comes from confusing the word unity and uniformity.

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After the general election in the UK in 2010, two parties got together to form the Tory

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Lib Dem coalition.

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This produced immediate complaints that the Lib Dems and Conservatives were constantly

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fighting their own party political corners.

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Of course they were.

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Simply putting them together in the same government didn't make them identical any more than

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putting all Christians together in a big arena would produce uniform Christianity.

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If we concentrate on all the things that divide us, we will always be divided.

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If we focus on all the sound doctrine that unites us, then we are the united body of

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Christ.

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Our aim should be to show people that we are disciples of Jesus.

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John Chapter 13 and verse 35 tells us how,

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Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.