DAILY DEVOTIONAL – Saturday, May 19, 2012
You can read the Scripture for today, 1 Corinthians 13, by clicking on the link http://www.ahelpfulinspirationalblog.com/2012/01/17/love-faith-hope/. 1 Corinthians 13 defines love; and chapter 14 shows how love works. Therefore, the Scripture for today is The Gifts of Tongues and Prophecy. Prophecy may involve predicting future events, but its main purpose is to communicate God’s message to people, providing insight, warning, correction, and encouragement. Speaking in tongues is a legitimate gift of the Holy Spirit, but the Corinthian believers were using it as a sign of spiritual superiority rather than as a means to spiritual unity. Spiritual gifts are beneficial only when they are properly used to help everyone in the church. We should not exercise them only to make ourselves feel good.
Paul makes several points about speaking in tongues: (1) It is a spiritual gift from God; (2) it is a desirable gift even though it isn’t a requirement of faith; (3) it is less important than prophecy and teaching. Although Paul himself spoke in tongues, he stresses prophecy (preaching) because it benefits the whole church, while speaking in tongues primarily benefits the speaker. Public worship must be understandable and edifying to the whole church.
There is a proper place for the intellect in Christianity. In praying and singing, both the mind and the spirit are to be fully engaged. When we sing, we should also think about the meaning of the words. When we pour out our feelings to God in prayer, we should not turn off our capacity to think. Pure Christianity is neither barren intellectualism nor thoughtless emotionalism.
Everything done in worship services must be beneficial to the worshipers. This principle touches every aspect–singing, preaching, and the exercise of spiritual gifts. Those contributing to the service (singers, speakers, readers) must have love as their chief motivation, speaking useful words or participating in a way that will strengthen the faith of other believers.
Worship is vital to the life of an individual and to the whole church. Our church services should be conducted in an orderly way so that we can worship, be taught, and be prepared to serve God. Those who are responsible for planning worship should make sure it has order and direction rather than chaos and confusion. When there is chaos and disorder in the church, God cannot work, for he is not a God of confusion but of peace. (NLT)
1 Corinthians 14:1-5, 13-17, 26, 32-33, 36-40 - Let love be your highest goal, but also desire the special abilities the Spirit gives, especially the gift of prophecy. For if your gift is the ability to speak in tongues, you will be talking to God but not to people, since they won’t be able to understand you. You will be speaking by the power of the spirit, but it will all be mysterious. But one who prophesies is helping others grow in the Lord, encouraging and comforting them. A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally in the Lord, but one who speaks a word of prophecy strengthens the entire church.
I wish you all had the gift of speaking in tongues, but even more I wish you were all able to prophesy. For prophecy is a greater and more useful gift than speaking in tongues, unless someone interprets what you are saying so that the whole church can get some good out of it.
So anyone who has the gift of speaking in tongues should pray also for the gift of interpretation in order to tell people plainly what has been said. For if I pray in tongues, my spirit is praying, but I don’t understand what I am saying.
Well then, what shall I do? I will do both. I will pray in the spirit, and I will pray in words I understand. I will sing in the spirit and I will sing in words I understand. For if you praise God only in the spirit, how can those who don’t understand you praise God along with you? How can they join you in giving thanks when they don’t understand what you are saying? You will be giving thanks very nicely, no doubt, but it doesn’t help the other people present.
Well, my brothers and sisters, let’s summarize what I am saying. When you meet, one will sing, another will teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak in an unknown language, while another will interpret what is said. But everything that is done must be useful to all and build them up in the Lord.
Remember that people who prophesy are in control of their spirit and can wait their turn. For God is not a God of disorder but of peace, as in all the other churches.
Do you think that the knowledge of God’s word begins and ends with you Corinthians? Well, you are mistaken! If you claim to be a prophet or think you are very spiritual, you should recognize that what I am saying is a command from the Lord himself. But if you do not recognize this, you will not be recognized.
So, dear brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and don’t forbid speaking in tongues. But be sure that everything is done properly and in order.
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