You Need To Desire The Gift of Prophecy | Prophecy A Superior Gift

-       To prophesy is to foretell the future, to speak a new message from God to the people/individual

-       It is to be noted that prophecy must be judged by the hearers and must not contradict what the written (logos) word of God says or what you are sure God had told/revealed (rhema) to you

-       The place of time also matters for prophecy. Do not be quick to dismiss it except you are certain that it is against the word of God

-       Prophecy is not to replace the written word of God and should not stop you from praying to God continuously for clarity and confirmation

-       You do not need to have a church title or be ordained before you desire to prophesy

-       You need to be a follower of Jesus Christ and His Word, and also spend time regularly to know God, this can aid the gift of prophecy

-       You can desire the gift of prophecy. God gives this gift freely to His children as He wishes. Thus, you do not need to pay for this special gift.

SIX BENEFITS WHY YOU SHOULD DESIRE THE GIFT OF PROPHECY

1) You will be helping others to grow in the Lord by upholding and advising them concerning the matters of God

"But one who prophesies, preaching the messages of God, is helping others grow in the Lord, encouraging and comforting them (1 Corinthians 14:3 TLB version, Living Bible)"

2) You will be helping the entire church or group to grow in Godly wisdom, to be dedicated to God, in holiness and joy

 "One who prophesies, preaching messages from God, helps the entire church grow in holiness and joy (1 Corinthians 14:4b TLB version, Living Bible)"

3) Other people will understand what you are telling them, thus, they will be strengthened. You will also understand what you are saying

"Now I wish that all of you spoke in unknown tongues, but even more [I wish] that you would prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater [and more useful] than the one who speaks in tongues, unless he translates or explains [what he says], so that the church may [b]be edified [instructed, improved, strengthened] - 1 Corinthians 14:5 Amplified Version]

4) You will be able to comfort others

Prophet Isaiah was instructed by God to speak comforting words to His people in Jerusalem:

"Comfort, yes, comfort my people,” says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and tell her that her sad days are gone. Her sins are pardoned, and I have punished her in full for all her sins.” (Isaiah 40:1-2 TLB Version, Living Bible)."

5) You will be able to learn about God's plan for individuals, nations and church and it will help you to follow God's instructions accordingly 

Check out how God used Agabus to prophesy:

"During our stay of several days, a man named Agabus, who also had the gift of prophecy, arrived from Judea and visited us. He took Paul’s belt, bound his own feet and hands with it, and said, “The Holy Spirit declares, ‘So shall the owner of this belt be bound by the Jews in Jerusalem and turned over to the Romans.’” Hearing this, all of us—the local believers and his travelling companions—begged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. (Acts 21:10-12 TLB Version, Living Bible)"

"During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch, and one of them, named Agabus, stood up in one of the meetings to predict by the Spirit that a great famine was coming upon the land of Israel.[c] (This was fulfilled during the reign of Claudius.) So the believers decided to send relief to the Christians in Judea, each giving as much as he could. This they did, consigning their gifts to Barnabas and Paul to take to the elders of the church in Jerusalem. (Acts 11:27-29 TLB Version, Living Bible)"

6) To convict others of their wrongdoings 

Check out how God used Prophet Nathan to convict David of his sin:

"1-2: So the Lord sent the prophet Nathan to tell David this story:

“There were two men in a certain city, one very rich, owning many flocks of sheep and herds of goats; 3 and the other very poor, owning nothing but a little lamb he had managed to buy. It was his children’s pet, and he fed it from his own plate and let it drink from his own cup; he cuddled it in his arms like a baby daughter. 4 Recently a guest arrived at the home of the rich man. But instead of killing a lamb from his own flocks for food for the traveller, he took the poor man’s lamb and roasted it and served it.”

5 David was furious. “I swear by the living God,” he vowed, “any man who would do a thing like that should be put to death; 6 he shall repay four lambs to the poor man for the one he stole and for having no pity.”

7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are that rich man! The Lord God of Israel says, ‘I made you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul. 8 I gave you his palace and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah; and if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more. 9 Why, then, have you despised the laws of God and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah and stolen his wife. 

10 Therefore murder shall be a constant threat in your family from this time on because you have insulted me by taking Uriah’s wife. 11 I vow that because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man, and he will go to bed with them in public view.[a]

 12 You did it secretly, but I will do this to you openly, in the sight of all Israel.’”

13 “I have sinned against the Lord,” David confessed to Nathan.

Then Nathan replied, “Yes, but the Lord has forgiven you, and you won’t die for this sin." (2 Samuel 12:1-14 TLB Version, Living Bible)”

Picture reference: http://www.enlivenpublishing.com

The Benefits of Speaking in Heavenly Languages (Speaking in Tongues)

1) You will be talking to God directly

 "But if your gift is that of being able to “speak in tongues,” that is, to speak in languages you haven’t learned, you will be talking to God but not to others, since they won’t be able to understand you. You will be speaking by the power of the Spirit, but it will all be a secret." - 1 Corinthians 14:2 TLB Version, Living Bible.

2) You will stay connected with the Holy Spirit

 "And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in languages they didn’t know, for the Holy Spirit gave them this ability." - Acts 2:4 TLB Version, Living Bible.

3) You will grow spiritually 

"So a person “speaking in tongues” helps him/herself grow spiritually." 1 Corinthians 14:4a TLB Version, Living Bible.

4) Helps You to Pray the right prayers to God

"And in the same way—by our faith—the Holy Spirit helps us with our daily problems and in our praying. For we don’t even know what we should pray for nor how to pray as we should, but the Holy Spirit prays for us with such feeling that it cannot be expressed in words." - Romans 8:26 TLB Version, Living Bible.

5) Gives You the Authority to Stand Against the Work of Satan and his cohorts

"And those who believe shall use my authority to cast out demons, and they shall speak new languages (speaking in tongues). They will be able even to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them; and they will be able to place their hands on the sick and heal them." Mark 16:17-18 TLB Version, Living Bible.

Inspired by an article that I read on KCM.org
Picture reference: gospelepistle.com

The Dangers of Compromise as Christians

What does compromise mean from a Christian perspective? 

- Compromise is when you lower your Christian beliefs and principles in your thoughts and conducts.

- It is when you fail to accept the Word of God. The Bible says in 2 Timothy 4:3-4 that "For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths."

- When you place your preferences and desires above what you know the Word of God says.

Are you living a compromised life?

The Bible makes it clear that God does not condone compromising His standards. Psalm 119:1-4 says that "Joyful are people of integrity, who follow the instructions of the Lord. Joyful are those who obey His laws and search for Him with all their hearts. They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in His paths. You have charged us to keep Your commandments carefully."

Sadly there are many people who profess to follow Christ and His teachings but live a compromised life. God wants you to live your life for Him.

Ask yourself the following questions

A) What am I doing that is compromising the truth and the Word of God?

B) Am I compromising the Word of God for anyone or a reason that I believe is justifiable?

C) Have I truly accepted the Word of God as the absolute?

D) Should I just compromise the truth as I am not ready to face the implications of not compromising as it will cost me a lot if I do not compromise.

Let's look at the story of a couple in the Bible (Ananias and his wife Sapphira).  I love how Bible.org explained it. See below...

“But a certain man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife’s full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles’ feet” (Acts 5:1, 2). They collaborated on a plan to stash some of the money from the sale of their property in a safety deposit box for themselves and take the rest to the apostles. They would not necessarily say they were giving all of the money they received from the sale; they would just let everyone assume that. And presto, they would have instant acclaim as spiritual, self-sacrificing believers who had surrendered everything to Jesus Christ.

What was so wrong with their plan? They did not really lie to anybody, did they? They just gave the money and said nothing about what percentage of the total sale price it represented. They could not help what other people thought, could they? Evidently they could. Peter, with miraculous divine discernment, attributed their scheme to Satan and called it lying to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3). He explained that they were under no obligation to sell their property. And even after they sold it, they were under no obligation to give all the money to the church. But they were obligated to be honest (Acts 5:4). The major sin of Ananias and Sapphira was dishonesty, deceit, hypocrisy, pretence, presenting a false image of themselves, implying a greater spirituality than they actually possessed, letting people think more highly of them than what they knew was warranted. They were more interested in appearances than in reality. Peter said, “You have not lied to men, but to God” (Acts 5:4).  (Bible.org)

Dangers of Compromise

1. Compromise always has its consequences, only time will tell when it comes to its consequences. Sometimes the consequences affect future generations more than you may think, if you do not confess and turn from the compromised life and turn to God.
2. Compromise may make you to mislead others in the name of God which is wrong and hypocritical. Others may end up misleading you and you may also not realise that you were misled.
3. Compromise does not bring glory to God. Thus it is against the will of God for any of His children to compromise.
4. If you sow compromise, you won't reap God's blessings.
5. Compromise is likely to lead to other sins such as lying, being hypocritical, lust, immorality, lack of integrity, idolatry, pride, amongst others.
6. A compromised life leads to a dishonest society/organisation. It does not make a society better rather it makes it more corrupt. The bible says that Righteousness makes a nation great, but sin is a disgrace to any people (Proverbs 14:34).
7. A compromised life is a disgrace and a life of dishonesty.

Consider the following points:

1. It is never God's will for a Christian to taint the truth and to compromise for any reason and for anyone.
2. God does not support you when you rationalise your disobedience and give excuses for it.
3. Don't compromise your Christian beliefs and principles for the sake of being accepted by others or being favoured. 
4. There will always be consequences when you choose to compromise.
5. When you compromise the Word of God and the truth, you are not living a righteous life in the eyes of God albeit others may think you are living righteously.
6. Not compromising requires your total submission to God regardless of the temporary gain or pleasure or success that you will gain from compromising.
7. God wants you to be faithful to the end.
8. Not compromising may be painful depending on what you intend to compromise on. However, God wants you to be assured that the temporary pain or cost of not compromising will lead to greater blessings for you and your future generations.

Finally,  stay close to Jesus and His Word (Bible), when you love Jesus and His Word, you will not want to discredit His name in your thoughts and conducts. This would also help you not to lower your standards.

Keep your guard up and live a righteous life that is pleasing to God in the open and in the secret. 

Enjoy the rest of your week!

- Myss Lafunky

References: Bible.org, boldomatic.com, vijaybatra.com and lifevine.wordpress.com