Reject Your Own Ignorance!

Monday's Devotion (1-17-05)

"But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another [divers] kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also [is] Christ." 1 Corinthians 12:7-12 (KJV)

Today, I am praying for the Lord, to do some eye opening. Some people believe that it is required to speak tongues to be filled with the Holy Spirit, but these scriptures say that through faith each man receives a gift and not everyone gets the same gifts. Saying, "You can only be Spirit filled if you speak in tongues!" is like saying, "You can only be Spirit filled if you prophesy or if you perform miracles!". The Holy Spirit, gives us all different gifts. All these gifts are given by the same Spirit, the Spirit of God. These gifts are equal and all of great value, but not everyone is going to receive all of these gifts of the Spirit. I believe that everyone who follows the Lord, has a gift from the Spirit, a special job that they can do. Let's look at these other scriptures, "Follow after charity, and desire spiritual [gifts], but rather that ye may prophesy. For he that speaketh in an [unknown] tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth [him]; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries. But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men [to] edification, and exhortation, and comfort. He that speaketh in an [unknown] tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church. I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater [is] he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying." That was 1 Corinthians 14:1-5 (KJV). Don't get me wrong, I believe in tongues, but I don't believe that anyone is required to have them to be saved.

Why do I even bother with this kind of message? I am saying this because someone is out there right now rejected by their church and told, "You can't speak tongues then you must not be saved!". You know what is sad about this? What's sad is that this poor rejected soul believes them and they have another gift. God's people should not reject different people with different gifts, but should see all of God's children as a different part of the body with a different job to perform! The people with the belief about having to have tongues to be saved, I have one question for you: Can you prophesy, can you discern spirits, can you heal people, can you interpret tongues and not just speak them, can you speak the word of wisdom and word of knowledge? Most likely there isn't one of you reading this that can do all of those things. Read these scriptures again and tell me if one of these gifts is more important than the other and if so which would that be? Why are we serving as a stumbling block to our brothers and sisters by telling them, "You can't be saved if you don't have the gift of tongues or etc!"? God, can not be put in a box, but everyone keeps trying to fit Him in one! Think on what you have read here, I backed up my points with scripture. I have yet to see anyone who believes that we must speak in tongues show me one scripture that contradicts these here. God's Word, does not contradict God's Word! After reading this, I hope in my heart that everyone rejects their own ignorance on this subject and sees the truth.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this message and for all things. Please forgive us of all our sins and we forgive all those who've wronged us. Please help us to not be ignorant concerning you and your gifts. Help us not to be stumbling blocks to our brothers and sisters and give us the gifts of the Spirit, that you want us to have. In Jesus, name. A-men!

God bless!

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