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1 Corinthians 14 Devotional – Day 5

ADORATION – Reflect on God’s Greatness

GOD IS SOVEREIGN God created everything and therefore all things are under His sovereign control.

Genesis 50:20
You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people.

Romans 8:28
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Praise the God who is Sovereign
God has a plan. He is not random. He is powerful and works all things according to his plan. Praise him for his plan. Praise Him because ALL THINGS fall under his power and plan.

CONFESSION: Confess your sins to God and receive his continued mercy.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

THANKSGIVING: Giving thanks to God for his specific blessings in our lives.

“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” Psalm 100

SUPPLICATION: Bringing our requests to God.

  • Bring your personal prayer requests to God.
  • Pray for River Youth group.
  • Ask God to save students who may not know Christ.
  • Pray that students would grow in their discipleship to Jesus.
  • Pray for yourself as you read the scriptures.

SCRIPTURE READING:

1 Corinthians 14 Christian Standard Bible

Prophecy: A Superior Gift
Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy. 2 For the person who speaks in a tongue is not speaking to people but to God, since no one understands him; he speaks mysteries in the Spirit. 3 On the other hand, the person who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouragement, and consolation. 4 The person who speaks in a tongue builds himself up, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. 5 I wish all of you spoke in tongues, but even more that you prophesied. The person who prophesies is greater than the person who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets so that the church may be built up.

6 So now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I speak to you with a revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? 7 Even lifeless instruments that produce sounds—whether flute or harp—if they don’t make a distinction in the notes, how will what is played on the flute or harp be recognized? 8 In fact, if the bugle makes an unclear sound, who will prepare for battle? 9 In the same way, unless you use your tongue for intelligible speech, how will what is spoken be known? For you will be speaking into the air. 10 There are doubtless many different kinds of languages in the world, none is without meaning. 11 Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker will be a foreigner to me. 12 So also you—since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, seek to excel in building up the church.

13 Therefore the person who speaks in a tongue should pray that he can interpret. 14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. 15 What then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with my understanding. I will sing praise with the spirit, and I will also sing praise with my understanding. 16 Otherwise, if you praise with the spirit, how will the outsider say “Amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying? 17 For you may very well be giving thanks, but the other person is not being built up. 18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you; 19 yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, in order to teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

20 Brothers and sisters, don’t be childish in your thinking, but be infants in regard to evil and adult in your thinking. 21 It is written in the law,

I will speak to this people
by people of other tongues
and by the lips of foreigners,
and even then, they will not listen to me,

says the Lord. 22 Speaking in tongues, then, is intended as a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers. 23 If, therefore, the whole church assembles together and all are speaking in tongues and people who are outsiders or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your minds? 24 But if all are prophesying and some unbeliever or outsider comes in, he is convicted by all and is called to account by all. 25 The secrets of his heart will be revealed, and as a result he will fall facedown and worship God, proclaiming, “God is really among you.”

Order in Church Meetings
26 What then, brothers and sisters? Whenever you come together, each one has a hymn, a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Everything is to be done for building up. 27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, there are to be only two, or at the most three, each in turn, and let someone interpret. 28 But if there is no interpreter, that person is to keep silent in the church and speak to himself and God. 29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should evaluate. 30 But if something has been revealed to another person sitting there, the first prophet should be silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that everyone may learn and everyone may be encouraged. 32 And the prophets’ spirits are subject to the prophets, 33 since God is not a God of disorder but of peace.

As in all the churches of the saints, 34 the women should be silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak, but are to submit themselves, as the law also says. 35 If they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home, since it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. 36 Or did the word of God originate from you, or did it come to you only?

37 If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, he should recognize that what I write to you is the Lord’s command. 38 If anyone ignores this, he will be ignored.39 So then, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. 40 But everything is to be done decently and in order.

The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.

SCRIPTURE REFLECTION:

“But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.” 1 Cor. 14:40 This sounds, historically, like something a British person would write. For many it sounds quite boring. “fitting and orderly” sounds to some like a library, a math lesson, a school for developing manners. But to think this way is to impose our ideas on the Bible rather than the Bible’s ideas on us. In Genesis 1 the earth was formless and void, a primordial chaos. God spoke and night and day became separate things. Think of the beauty and peace of the sun setting, night falling. The peace of sleep at the end of a day. Think of the promise and beauty of a sunrise, the grey turning to full color as light breaks forth. God continued to speak and seeds and animals came into being and began to reproduce after their own kinds. You can plant wheat and get wheat. A dog gives birth to a puppy. So many forms of beautiful, wonderful order. God is a good king. Good kings reign over their kingdoms in ways that bring order and dispels chaos. Everything beautiful and wonderful in your life from a song to a loved one’s physical body to a flower…rely on things being done in a “fitting and orderly way.” This is not boring. This is essential for beauty and life. God wants his people to live in this beauty.

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