Open To The Spirit

DEVOTION

CORINTHIANS

OPEN TO THE SPIRIT

1 Cor 14:29-33

29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. 30 And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. 31 For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. 32 The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. 33 For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.

NIV

IF we are going to go by what this says then we first of all have to understand that operating in the Spirit means just that. If or rather when the Spirit moves, or inspires someone to speak out with words of instruction or encouragement, which of course, we also need to see it is not just babble, but actually true instruction and real encouragement for others, the person speaking will know the precise moment to stop and sit down due to the Spirit inspiring someone else to speak up. We know that in the course of human conversation, that is the polite mannerly thing to do, except we also see times when everyone is talking at the same time and no one is really listening to the other. Dinnertime can look like that in some families. But here it must have been like that in Corinth. A whole bunch of unruly people in church all trying to prophecy at the same time. The other truth we see in this passage is the fact of weighting carefully what someone says as being prophesy. Whenever someone attempts to speak for God, or speak words of instruction or encouragement in the form of speaking as inspired by God, we need to listen carefully and weigh those words against the divine Word of God we already know. We can be assured that Spirit will never inspire anyone to speak what is contrary in any way to the Word of God that has been recorded and handed down through the generations for us and those who follow after is us. If the words we hear do conflict in anyway, then we know we must dismiss them as words of man, and not of God. This puts a great burden on us for we must know whether it conflicts or does not. That means we must know the Word of God so well, that we could not be fooled or lead astray by someone with a silver tongue, who seems to flow with words or milk and honey and presences themselves as speaking for God, but is actually seeking self-edification, or frame and fortune or both. We need to know or we need to be so sensitive to the Spirit and allow Him to gift us with discernment to we can tell who is actually speaking for God, and who is speaking for self. In the middle of all this, the truth that prevails is the Spirit controls the situation, not man, and it is orderly and peaceable. We only need to be open to the Spirit.