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Topic: Profiting From God’s Gifts
[DCLM Daily Manna 20 February 2019 Daily Devotional by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi]
Text: 1 Corinthians 14:1-25 (KJV)
Key Verse: “He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church” (1 Corinthians 14:4).
MESSAGE:
God’s gift are not for showmanship; they are for edification. Wonderfully enough, the folly of man can never subvert God’s standards.
Here was a seemingly thorny issue that Apostle Paul had to deal with in the Corinthian church. The word prophecy is used here, not in the limited sense of foretelling the future, but of pouring forth heaven-inspired utterances. There was a strong tendency at Corinth to magnify the use of tongues to a point of making a show of it. The Apostle rebukes this, and says that it is far better to be able to speak to the edification of the hearers. Indeed, he directs that speech in an unknown tongue should be withheld, unless someone were present who could explain and interpret it because it is unintelligible and makes no sense to an unlearned hearer except it be interpreted and understood. When the disciples first spoke in tongues, it was principally to act as a convincing sign to the unbelievers who became “…amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?” (Acts 2:7,8). Words that are devoid of meaning will make no impart on the mind.
Speaking in tongues or even praying in tongues when Christians come together for worship is out-of-place when ministering to one another. Believers should covet earnest spiritual gifts of charity and prophecy. But the gift of prophecy in its use should not be an invitation to confusion. Prophecy from the Lord should be for the edification of the body of believers. We ought to watch carefully over the gifts of the Spirit and how we use them. We need to pray that the Lord will guide us in the use of what He has given us, for edification and not for confusion.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: A meaningful word is better than ten thousand meaningless words.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Luke 9-10
