ESOCS Devotional 9 April 2025 – Let Our Glorifications Be Unto God
MEMORY VERSE: Who then is Paul, and who [is] Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?” 1 Corinthians 3:5
TEXT: 1 CORINTHIANS 3:1-15
And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? 4 For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?
5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.
9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
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It is not an unusual thing for one to have a Pastor, or an Apostle or a Prophet as a Spiritual guide. There are certain points we get to in our life, where we realize that we can’t do some spiritual things of life alone, and we would need help. In our church, we have vineyard workers, those Prophets who reside in the church day and night, those who devote their time to praying and interceding for those who need spiritual assistance. Where the whole issue stems from is treating these spiritual guides, as deities or demi gods.
We have to understand that the same God that created them also created us. They are all Ministers – instruments used by God Almighty to propagate His word. We should take care not to put these Ministers of God in the place of God, for they are not the author of our Faith; but instead, they were sent to reveal our faith to us. There is no man without gifts, even the simplest man we see in church, has his own God-given gift, and that is the gift God shared amongst His people, even to the Apostles and Prophets we see today. We are all expected to show forth our mission to the glory of God, and not ourselves.
Therefore, as Christians we should desist from causing divisions between ourselves in terms of following a particular Prophet or Minister. We all are one body (the Body of Christ), and one part of the body can’t function without the other. We all were made with one sole purpose – to give praises and honour unto one God, which is the God in Heaven. So, let us constantly rebuke from our hearts, every desire to deify any Minister or Prophet, for it is wrong to give glory to the earthly instrument, rather than to the divine authority by which they act; and let every Prophet or Minister also remember from whom their gifts of Prophecy, was borne.
CHALLENGES
- Do not covert the glory belonging to God to yourself, neither give any man the opportunity to feel like a god in your life.
PRAYER POINT
- Lord, grant us the grace to know ourselves for who we are, and to forever acknowledge you, for who you are in our lives. Amen!
FURTHER READING: Exodus 18:19-27; 19:1-13: 1 Corinthian 2:1-End
ESOCS Devotional 9 April 2025
