Most people who read the book of Corinthians find Paul's opinions in chapter 11 somewhat controversial and derogatory of women. Let me attempt to make this chapter clearer. My advise is that when reading chapter 11, instead of seeing this as Paul's opinion about women in general, realize first of all that he is referring to married women. Secondly, read chapter 11 with the understanding that Paul is addressing public worship and how those married; including the husband and wife, how they ought to carry themselves in public or at church meetings. Also, importantly, you want to pay attention to some of the issues Paul had earlier been addressing in his letter; sexual immorality for example was rampant, you don't want someone walking up to a married person to try and strike a relationship, that would have been causing some divisions. Lastly, everything Paul talks about, at least in addressing the issues of men and women covering or not covering their head must be understood in light of the dominant custom in Corinth at this period in time. In other words, a huge part of what Paul is talking about is customs, not doctrines; "but if anyone wants to argue about this, I simply say that we have no other CUSTOM than this, and neither do God's other churches." 1Cor 11:16. In their custom, women indicated they were married by covering their heads or wearing a veil. That is not the same in every custom and culture. In this custom, men do no keep long hair, it made them look feminine and was a deceptive trick for those who practised homosexuality to meet without raising any suspicions. These were the issues Paul was addressing in chapter 11.

Would you have followed Jesus when he walked, lived and fulfilled his ministry? The majority would immediately claim; certainly. However, I am not so sure. My opinion is that the majority of Christians around today would have rejected Jesus just as the Jewish people did. They called him a wine bibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners (Luke 7:34). How many of us would truthfully have moved with that crowd? I am drawing this lesson from what we read here about the children of Israel in chapter 10, Paul says they all went through the same experience guided by the pillar of cloud and fire, they ate the same manna that came down from heaven and drank from a rock they never realized was Chris. However, they eventually rejected him appointing to make a golden calf that would lead them back to Egypt. Did they realize they were rejecting Christ? Is it possible that by the way we are living today, we are rejecting Christ like they did? Did I hear someone say, "God forbid", hmmm. My advise is the same as Paul's to everyone reading this; "these things happened to them as an example for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age. If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall." I pray that you will not fall. May you stand strong and complete in Christ. Amen.

The Corinthian Church faced many struggles, and Paul has addressed a few already in the book; divisions, siding with church leaders against one another, avoiding sexual immorality and taking one another to court. Paul continues this pattern in chapters 7 and 8 where he gives the church instructions on marriage in light of the difficult times they were living in, and then how they should handle or treat food offered to idols. The guiding verse for me has to be 1 Cor 8:1; "but while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church." Never forget that, in Christ, we are at liberty to do a lot of things, however, love must always be our guiding principle. The question to always ask oneself regularly is; are my actions done in love or not.

The apostle Paul has some strong words for those who think they can live however they choose and especially since they now have liberty in Christ, Paul says; "don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honour God with your body." 1 Cor 6:19-20. Someone needs to hear that one more time; "you do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price." Yes, the price was the life of his son Jesus Christ, that is how much precious you are to God. We are living in a time where people declare; "my body, my choice", you are wrong, you are not yours, you are the LORD'S, that is if your claim is; "I am a child of God".

Paul continues to address the divisions and infighting in the Corinthian church. In their case, the division was happening as a result of them comparing Paul's work with them to Apollos'. We often feel the need to compare so that we can take sides. Paul however warns us that there are no sides here, there is only Christ. We are all building on the same foundation and each one of us, one day will have to give account of what we did on the foundation. My prayer is that you will build wisely.

Paul's first letter to the Corinthians is such a profound and useful lesson for us today. Corinth was a big cosmopolitan city which also impacted the church as it was full of Greeks; the rich, the poor, illiterate, learned, etc. For a background of Paul's first encounter with the Corinthians, please read Acts chapter 18. Paul had lived among them for about two year along with Priscilla and Aquila, he was also working as a tent maker during this time to sustain himself so as not to have to be a burden to anyone. This background will help you understand Paul's tone and reasoning as he addresses the issues that were coming out of this church.

In chapter one, he addresses division and infighting. Chapter two, he talks about the wisdom of God that sounds foolish to the hearer. The Corinthians were comparing Paul to other super and powerful people; Peter and Apollos, Paul who had lived as a tent maker among them didn't sound powerful and so they were questioning his authority. Sounds so applicable to the church today where we have so much divisions and denominations and people and preachers trying to add something to the word of God to make it sound more powerful, Paul chose not to. The book of Corinthians will bless you, it is very applicable and addresses some of the same issues we have in our churches and family today.

Powerful lessons in today's devotional 🔥🔥🔥

The gifts of the Spirit enables us in a ministry situation to exact the will of God and see people healed and liberated from the bondage of the devil. With the gifts of the Spirit, we are able to demonstrate God's power. Like Jesus in Acts 10:38, we are able to go about doing good and healing everyone oppressed by the devil. Today, I am going to tell you how to see the these nine gifts work freely in your life. I could tell you know that it's just prayer and fasting, waiting on God at some mountain somewhere, and there is a place for that. However, the secret is to pay attention to why the gifts of the Spirit worked in the life of Jesus and then in the life of the disciples. For Jesus Christ, it was only when he began his public ministry that we began to see him demonstrate these gifts freely. As for the disciples, Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem until the were filled with the Holy Spirit because they were to continue his ministry, they were to become his witnesses. In other words, if you want to see the gifts of the Spirit at work in your life, you must be ready for the work of ministry. Allow the Lord fill your heart with love for people. When you love people, you will serve them and the gifts only manifest in the place of service. My prayer is that these nine gifts of the Holy Spirit will find free reign amongst us, and that we will start seeing their demonstrations freely amongst us in Jesus' name.

In my opinion, the inspirational gifts are the most misunderstood and I mis-applied of all nine spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit. The inspirational gifts are; the gift of prophecy, speaking in diverse kind of tongues and the gift of the interpretation of tongues. The gift of prophecy is often used to wrongly manipulate and control people, the gift of speaking in diverse kind of tongues is often mistaken for speaking in tongues so that the speaking in tongues we do in our churches does not edify the church anymore.. The gift of the interpretation of tongues is somewhat none existent in the church today as we don't even want to bother ourselves understanding whether being spoken is for communicating a message. The gift of prophecy enables us in a ministry situation to give a special message, in the language of the hearer, for the purpose of comfort, edification, direction and strengthening (1Cor 14:1-6). The gift of prophecy is not for communicating fear. It's purpose is always to build up and strengthen (1Cor 14:26). The gift of speaking in diverse kind of tongues which is often mistaken for the tongues that is an evidence of being filled with the Holy Spirit. While the first is for the sole purpose of edifying the hearers, general speaking in tongues is for edification of the one speaking. The gift of the interpretation of tongues enables the minister to interpret the meaning of an unknown or unlearned language or tongues into the language the hearer understands. Of the three inspirational gifts the gift of the interpretation of tongues is almost extinct in my opinion amongst believers. However, the apostle Paul tells us to desire the gifts of the Spirit (1Cor 14:1).

Today, we discuss the sets of spiritual gifts referred to as the Power gifts. The Power gifts of the Holy Spirit enables the believer in a ministry situation to act, to do something on behalf of God. The Power gifts are; the Gift of Faith, the working of Miracles and the Gifts of healing. The gift of Faith enables us to have assurance or confidence that God will prove his power in the moment we are representing him (Mark 4:37, John 11:41-44, Joshua 10:13). To raise the dead for example, the gift of Faith has to be at work. For clarity, the gift of faith as a spiritual gift for ministry is different from the measure of faith that God gives everyone who believes in him. Next is the gift of the working of miracles; this gift enables us to carry out acts that are contrary or opposite to natural laws, with power beyond what any human being should be able to do. A good example, Peter walking on water could only have happened because of this gift in operation. Also, (John 2:1-11, Luke 9:16-17), in both scriptures, Jesus did things that were contrary to natural law; he turns water into wine in one and spoke to the storm to be still in the other. Remember again, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are for empowering us to fulfill our assignments as ministers. Lastly, the Gifts of healing. With this gift, the minister is able to administer healing spiritually, emotionally and physically (Mark 1:29-31, Mark 3:1-5). It is often called "gifts" of healing because there are different kind of healing just like there are different kind of doctors. As with the revelational gifts, the power gifts can manifes as a combination of gifts at work and at the same time. Take the raising of Lazarus from the dead, what gifts do you think Jesus would have needed to ask him to walk out of that tomb? Lazarus had been dead for four days remember, his body was already probably rottening. As such, all three power gifts would have been needed; the gift of faith would have brought him back to life, the working of miracles would have restored his body and the gifts of healing would have sorted whatever killed him in the first place. It's truly remarkable how the gifts of the Holy Spirit works.

In today's devotional, we continue our discussion on the spiritual gifts with a focus on the revelational gifts. The Revelational gifts comprises; the gift of the Word of Wisdom, the gift of the Word of Knowledge and the Discerning of Spirits. The gift of the Word of Wisdom reveals something in God's plan in the future and helps us position favourably. At times, it comes simply as a warning so we are not caught unawares (Acts 11:28). The gift of the Word of Knowledge on the other hand reveals something in the mind of God or of an event that occurred in the past to help us understand how to handle the present (John 4:17-18, Acts 9:10-12). The difference between the Word of Wisdom and Knowledge is that one reveals things that have not yet occurred (Word of Wisdom), the other, something that already happened. Lastly, the Discernment of Spirit enables us to supernaturally know or judge whether the spirit influencing a situation is divinely, humanly, or demonically inspired (Luke 13:11-13, Acts 16:16-18). The Revelarional gifts will save you from making mistakes or taking the wrong step, however good they appear. They will help you discern whether a thing is right and what is inspiring it. My prayer for you today is that these Gifts of the Holy Spirit will be at work in you as you fulfil your calling as a minister.