Pastor Bell's Words To Live By

¹Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. 2For anyone who speaks in a tongue^[a] does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit.^[b] 3But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort. ³²The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. 33For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. (1Corinthians 14:1-3; 33 NIV).

The spiritual gifts we are given are meant to edify us for us to build up each other. However, as we glean from our passage, lack of understanding may cause them to be used for the wrong purposes which will lead to confusion. Look at it this way.  When a house is being built, all the building material needs to be procured before the project begins. Having all the material though does not necessitate that the building will be built and that it will withstand the elements.  There are crucial steps that need to be in place before the walls, ceilings and roof can be put in place. For a house, the most important part of the building is the foundation.  Although this is the most important part of the building, it is invisible to those who will come and admire the beauty of the building once complete. Different buildings require different foundations. So for example; for a two storey house, you may have to dig a foundation of 2 metres whereas for a sky scraper you may required to dig down a full 10 or more metres. If the foundation is not right then at the first hint of bad weather, the building will be in danger.

 When we compare the physical with the spiritual, we see that there are similarities. For us to grow into a spiritual building we need to have the following:

a. A good foundation that is not visibly but has deep roots and these roots must be in the word. Psalm 1 reminds us that we need to be planted where the streams are flowing. Notice that a flowing streams sustain life, whereas in a stagnant stream all sort of deadly insects such as mosquito’s breed.

b. Every part of the building must be held together. This is done with cement or mortar.  In the spiritual house it is done with love.  If our walk towards and with God is not predicated by love then we may do the right things for the wrong reasons.

c. Order, every new building must be build according to the same specification. Each building is different but they are build using the same principles, materials and in the same order. For our spiritual house, each individual must have Jesus as their foundation stone, and then we must desire spiritual gifts, and particularly prophecy.  Why prophecy? I believe that since prophecy is revelation from God to us, we need to know what God is saying to us now!

 If our spiritual house is not built properly, we will have confusion and our text clearly tells us that God is not the author of confusion.  So today if the foundation was not laid properly in the first place, knock down the house and dig again [this is done through repentance and confession]. Remember LOVE is the all important ingredient.

 Read 1Corinthians 14:26-40 13:1-13.