Bible League: Living His Word Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.— 1 Corinthians 13:12 NLT The kind of knowledge the Apostle Paul has in mind in our verse for today is primarily prophetic knowledge (See 1 Corinthians 13:2,8). Every Christian is a prophet. Every Christian, that is, has the ability to receive understanding from God through the Holy Spirit and to share it with others. The fact that we receive a deeper understanding from God, however, does not justify taking an arrogant, dogmatic, know-it-all attitude about it. Why not? It's because the nature of our prophetic knowledge is not completed. Unlike love, which lasts forever, our prophesying eventually becomes useless (1 Corinthians 13:8). Our verse for today gives us two reasons why this is the case. First, it becomes useless because it's partial and incomplete. The Lord only reveals pieces of the puzzle to us, not the whole puzzle. He gives us glimpses of the future of the kingdom of heaven, not complete pictures. Even those that have the spiritual gift of prophecy do not know everything. Indeed, according to Paul, "the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture" (1 Corinthians 13:9)! Second, our prophetic knowledge becomes useless because it's like a puzzling reflection in a mirror. Mirrors in Paul's day were not nearly as clear as the ones we have today. Paul meant that our prophetic knowledge is not only partial and incomplete, but also somewhat puzzling to us. It is enough to give us the assurance we need to live for Christ, but it is not as clear as we would prefer. However, when the prophesies we've been given come to pass, when Jesus comes again in glory, then everything will become clear. Instead of seeing it in an incomplete and puzzling fashion, we will see it directly, completely, and with clarity. The glimpses and hints the Lord has given us will have guided us in all righteousness, but at that point they will have become useless compared to the clarity of the reality we will have then. May we study and prophesy in humility as we wait anxiously for the day when the revelation will be complete! Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingAmos 7, 8, 9 Amos 7 -- Amos' Visions of Locusts, Fire and a Plumb Line; Amos Accused by Amaziah NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Amos 8 -- Basket of Fruit and Israel's Captivity NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Amos 9 -- The Certainty of God's Judgment and Israel's Restoration NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Revelation 7 Revelation 7 -- The 144,000 Sealed; the Multitude in White Robes NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it's here a little while, then it's gone.Insight Life is short no matter how many years we live. Don't be deceived into thinking that you have lots of remaining time to live for Christ, to enjoy your loved ones, or to do what you know you should. Challenge Live for God today! Then, no matter when your life ends, you will have fulfilled God's plan for you. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Matthew 11:28 Come unto me.The cry of the Christian religion is the gentle word, "Come." The Jewish law harshly said, "Go, take heed unto thy steps as to the path in which thou shalt walk. Break the commandments, and thou shalt perish; keep them, and thou shalt live." The law was a dispensation of terror, which drove men before it as with a scourge; the gospel draws with bands of love. Jesus is the good Shepherd going before his sheep, bidding them follow him, and ever leading them onwards with the sweet word, "Come." The law repels, the gospel attracts. The law shows the distance which there is between God and man; the gospel bridges that awful chasm, and brings the sinner across it. From the first moment of your spiritual life until you are ushered into glory, the language of Christ to you will be, "Come, come unto me." As a mother puts out her finger to her little child and woos it to walk by saying, "Come," even so does Jesus. He will always be ahead of you, bidding you follow him as the soldier follows his captain. He will always go before you to pave your way, and clear your path, and you shall hear his animating voice calling you after him all through life; while in the solemn hour of death, his sweet words with which he shall usher you into the heavenly world shall be--"Come, ye blessed of my Father." Nay, further, this is not only Christ's cry to you, but, if you be a believer, this is your cry to Christ--"Come! come!" You will be longing for his second advent; you will be saying, "Come quickly, even so come Lord Jesus." You will be panting for nearer and closer communion with him. As his voice to you is "Come," your response to him will be, "Come, Lord, and abide with me. Come, and occupy alone the throne of my heart; reign there without a rival, and consecrate me entirely to thy service." Daily Light on the Daily Path John 13:1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.John 17:9,10,15,16 "I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; • and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. • "I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. • "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. John 15:9 "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. John 15:13,14 "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. • "You are My friends if you do what I command you. John 13:34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. Philippians 1:6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Ephesians 5:25,26 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, • so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
    |