O LORD, You induced me, and I was persuaded;
You are stronger than I, and have prevailed...
His word was in my heart like a burning fire
Shut up in my bones;
I was weary of holding it back,
And I could not...
The LORD is with me as a mighty, awesome One.
~ Jeremiah 20:7,9,11 (NKJV)
Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy... he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.
~ 1 Corinthians 14:1,3 (NKJV)
Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith.
~ Romans 12:6 (NKJV)
Each person sanctified by the blood of Christ is equipped by His Spirit with different spiritual gifts. Though we likely manifest strength in a particular gift, every Christian should exercise all spiritual gifts. Even tongues has been described as taking the time to understand an individual’s love language and then communicating accordingly.
Prophecy is first among spiritual gifts, especially needed in these last days, and frequently misunderstood as merely seeing the future. Prophecy is discerning what God sees—by the revelation of His Spirit—and proclaiming it to someone else. It is far more about what is than about what shall be.
If you are Christ’s, you take the Lord’s presence everywhere you go. You may minister mercy. You may teach. You may prophesy and speak a word on God’s behalf. You can do all things through Christ, who strengthens you for every situation, that the Father may be glorified.
And if the Lord has indeed given you the gift of prophecy, you will surely know a time when you wish to hold it back. Pray to speak no more and no less than His word.
Mighty Awesome One, we bless You for all Your good gifts. Your Scripture is the purest Word we may speak. Induce us to prepare ourselves with Your Word, that we would both mightily wield the Sword of the Spirit, and accurately speak other words on Your behalf, wherever and whenever You wish to use us.
Your feedback is appreciated. Post to BuildingHisBody.com "Comments" or e-mail to BuildingHisBody@gmail.com. Copyright 2009, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Praise God for His gifts.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard prophecy described that way before. I usually think of Jeremiah or John the Baptist when I think of prophecy. But that's true when we speak God's word to direct others, God can use us to prophesy.
ReplyDeleteThese are powerful words, Anne. I'll dwell on them today.
ReplyDeleteTongues being described as taking the time to understand someone's love language...thinking on this. Amazed by the thought.
ReplyDelete~ Wendy
Wendy (and all),
ReplyDeleteI apologize for not including the link on the reference to tongues. (I wasn't able to get to it when I did this post.)
It's from a poem titled Linguistics by Milton Brasher-Cunningham on the blog "Don't East Alone." You can see the whole poem if you click above or here.
Amen to that prayer!
ReplyDelete