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User-friendly devotionals with audio

  • 20 Nov

    Decisions, Decisions

    By Maria Fontaine

    Audio length: 10:00
    Download Audio (9.1MB)

    I was listening to the story of King David in the books of First and Second Samuel. There was one very outstanding thing that David seemed to almost always do when a new factor entered his situation. Whenever circumstances changed, even in small ways, his first reaction was to ask God what to do. And consistently, the answers God gave him worked.

    Sometimes, a situation looked very much the same as previous ones, such as when he faced the Philistine army, and the Lord told him to launch a full-frontal attack. It brought victory—the Philistines were defeated! Then, sometime later, the circumstances looked the same, but this time the Lord told him to instead sneak around to a position behind them, and then at God’s signal, he was to come at them from the opposite direction.

    Many times, when David asked the Lord what to do, the answers he received were unexpected, but it always resulted in a positive outcome. In one case, when David and his men were hiding from Saul, the Lord told him to help a small town that was under attack, which would literally save the lives of the townspeople. However, if they did this, word that David was there would likely get back to Saul, who at the time was trying to kill David. David’s own men tried to persuade him not to go, but when David asked the Lord what to do, the Lord showed him to go to the town’s rescue, so he obeyed (1 Samuel 23:1–13).

    Afterwards, you would expect that the townspeople would be indebted to David and his men. So you would expect them not to betray David’s whereabouts to Saul. But David sought confirmation on this from the Lord, who told him that the townspeople would betray him, and that it was time to flee!

    What looked like an unwise move on David’s part at the time was going to play a part later on in ending Saul’s campaign to destroy David. Eventually, David’s mercy and compassion on the people, and even on Saul, did cause Saul to stop his attacks on him (1 Samuel 24).

    Despite his many faults and failings, David depended on God and looked to Him for answers. Perhaps that is one reason why God called David a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22).

    When Saul was aggressively trying to destroy David, God didn’t allow him to succeed. In one instance, Saul was on one side of a hill, trying to find David and his men, who were just on the other side of that hill. But God sent the Philistines to attack Saul’s land so that he had to immediately stop pursuing David for a time in order to go and fight them (1 Samuel 23:26–27). Saul, even with his many spies among the people, was never able to lay a hand on David.

    This is a beautiful illustration of how, when we look to Jesus in our decision-making, He can and will guide us. It’s so easy to look at circumstances and figure that we’ve “been there and done that,” and to rely on past experience alone when deciding what to do. But only God sees the whole picture, which we cannot see.

    It’s good to learn from experience, and we do learn spiritual principles from the things we go through, but we can’t always know when other factors that we’re not aware of may be playing a part in our present situation.

    The point is not that we have to be perfect in always looking to Jesus in every situation. That is not possible. However, our inability to be perfect shouldn’t cause us to give up trying to refine our skill of including God in our decisions as much as possible.

    Our decisions, big and small, are important to bring to Jesus. He understands that we need to learn and grow. It takes time to grow in wisdom from the trials and errors we experience, but little by little our weaknesses can be transformed into strengths. God is merciful and compassionate, and He looks at our hearts, in spite of our shortcomings.

    King David failed on numerous occasions, such as when he sent out men to perform a census to count the number of fighting men he had available (2 Samuel 24:8–17). He knew how to look to the Lord and depend on Him, yet in a moment of weakness and pride he looked to what he could see, the strength of numbers instead of God. He suffered a painful loss as a result, but he also grew stronger in his convictions to rely on God even more.

    Another example of dependence on God is the apostle Paul. He’d started out as a vicious enemy of the Christians. But once he came to know the Lord, he was determined to follow wherever Jesus led him. Though he faced ostracism by some of his own brethren and brutality and the threat of death from others who hated the truth he proclaimed, Paul wouldn’t stop following Jesus. His determination to go wherever God led him and his deep relationship with his Savior were instrumental in reaching countless people with the gospel.

    “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding. Think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths” (Proverbs 3:5–6).

    We make many mistakes, and we give in to our faults and weaknesses at times, but if we make the effort to look to Jesus as much as we can, He will work in and through our lives to achieve His good purposes.

    We can look at Peter, whose worst failure—denying His Savior three times—preceded his greatest testimonies and impact on the world. We may feel humiliated and ashamed at times about the imperfections that we struggle with and sometimes fall into. But Jesus’ love can bring good out of such things; and as we learn, grow, and mature, we will gain wisdom and a heart that more clearly reflects Jesus’ own heart. God’s perfect love for us casts out all fear; it replaces condemnation with forgiveness and hope, and we learn the importance of relying on Him more and more.

    So, as you face decisions throughout your life, do the best you can to keep your mind and heart open to God’s still small voice and the truth of His Word. This habit, when developed faithfully in small ways, gradually grows into a foundation of faith for the bigger decisions you face.

    God speaks to you through His Word as you read, or through verses that the Holy Spirit reminds you of. Hearing His guidance might be the still small voice of God whispering in your heart, encouraging you, giving you gentle hints. It might be a picture, or simply a sense of what needs to be done, or you will have peace in your heart that He is guiding you.

    His direction for you might also come through a sense of warning or apprehension that something isn’t right, even when there is nothing you can see that would explain that feeling. Sometimes He might open doors or allow certain circumstances to help you see a glimpse of His plan. The more we choose to be open to His “voice” in whatever way He speaks to us, the clearer and stronger it becomes.

    All of us have faced our share of troubles and failures, and in most cases, we have eventually found that precious treasures have grown from the ashes of those things. We have learned to keep going and to keep making decisions as best we can with His help, because we know that “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion” (Philippians 1:6).

    We’re all a work in progress. And even when we fail to make the right decisions, there is no condemnation in Jesus. When we look to Him, and experience His mercy and forgiveness, He can use even our bad decisions to help us grow wiser and stronger. Praise the Lord!

    Originally published October 2022. Adapted and republished November 2025. Read by Debra Lee.

  • Nov 19 Hand in Hand, Connected to Love
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  • Nov 10 Steps for Sharing Your Faith
  • Nov 6 Temptations in the Wilderness
  • Nov 4 On Fire for Jesus
  • Oct 30 The Effects of Christianity: The Status of Women
  • Oct 28 Does Prayer Really Make a Difference?
  • Oct 24 Two Ways the Hope of Heaven Battles Your Anxiety
   

Directors’ Corner

Faith-building Bible studies and articles

  • 11 Nov

    1 Corinthians: Chapter 14 (verses 26–40)

    In the first section of 1 Corinthians 14, Paul emphasized that the pursuit of spiritual gifts should be for the building up of the church and edification of the believers. He also reminded the believers that worship gatherings should be conducted in a way that these will serve as a witness to non-believers. Paul continues to address these themes in this final section of the chapter.

    What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up (1 Corinthians 14:26).

    For the third time in this chapter, Paul refers to the Corinthians as brothers. In asking “what then,” he is asking them to consider what conclusions should be drawn from the preceding discussion. The answer was that everything should be done in an orderly way for the building up of the believers. As he began to define this, he instructed them to come to worship prepared to exercise their spiritual gifts, whether this was a hymn or a lesson, a revelation, or a message in tongues or an interpretation.

    A lesson (translated as “a word of instruction” in the NIV) probably referred to preaching and teaching. A revelation possibly referred to some specific matter that God had revealed to the believer, perhaps a prophecy. This list appears to be an example of spiritual activities that might take place in a worship service at the time, and Paul made it clear that everyone had the opportunity to participate during worship.

    If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God (1 Corinthians 14:27–28).

    Paul then gave specific instructions for people speaking in tongues (also known as glossolalia), limiting this to only two or at most three people permitted to do so. They were to do so sequentially not simultaneously, and someone was to be present to interpret the message so that the congregation could benefit from it. If no one was available to interpret the message, then no one should speak in tongues out loud during the service. This follows Paul’s earlier point that uninterpreted tongues do not edify others. Of course, those present could use the gift to pray to God in silence.

    Bible commentator Leon Morris noted:

    Edification is the supreme consideration, so ‘tongues’ must not be used unless there is an interpreter. This shows that we are not to think of ‘tongues’ as the result of an irresistible impulse of the Spirit, driving the man willy-nilly into ecstatic speech. He could keep quiet, and that, Paul says, is what he must do unless there is an interpreter. This also implies that he knows beforehand that he intends to speak—otherwise he would not be checking whether there was an interpreter present.1

    Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said (1 Corinthians 14:29).

    Paul now focused on prophets, referring to believers with the gift of prophecy. Those with this gift received messages or a revelation of some kind to pass on in an intelligible form to those in the church. He likewise limited the number of prophets delivering a message during a service to two or three.

    Paul also stipulated that others were to weigh what was said, which likely involved evaluating the message to judge if the message was truly from God. He wanted to make sure that the church had some checks and balance when it came to people prophesying. The message given by those claiming to be prophets was not to be accepted uncritically but was to be weighed and evaluated.2 This instruction regarding prophecy also appears in Paul’s epistle to the Thessalonians (see 1 Thessalonians 5:20–22).

    If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent (1 Corinthians 14:30).

    The first speaker is encouraged to yield to another person who has received a revelation. This promotes a spirit of cooperation and aligns with the biblical principle of considering others above oneself (Philippians 2:3–4). This instruction also helps the church to remain focused on God’s message instead of on an individual’s gifts.

    For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets (1 Corinthians 14:31–32).

    First, Paul instructed speakers to yield to one another, and then in this verse to wait their turn to deliver their message. He was concerned that prophecies would be given in an orderly way so that all could hear and understand them and be encouraged by them.

    In saying that “the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets,” Paul makes the point that the Holy Spirit does not “take over” a person's spirit to where they are unable to control themselves. The opposite is true—one of the nine characteristics of the fruit of the Holy Spirit listed by Paul is self-control (Galatians 5:22–23). Anyone who is legitimately using a spiritual gift can always decide when and how to start or stop expressing that gift.

    For God is not a God of confusion but of peace (1 Corinthians 14:33a).

    Many commentators note that the first sentence of this verse likely should have been part of the preceding verse, once again pointing out that those giving messages during worship gatherings should do so in an orderly fashion. Paul describes this orderliness as peace and reflective of God’s nature. As one author comments, “Paul’s larger point is that this order in the nature of God who acts coherently, faithfully, and without self-contradiction should be reflected in the lifestyle and worship of the people of God.”3

    As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church (1 Corinthians 14:33b–35).

    Paul then moved on to address women in the church, saying that women “should remain quiet,” are “not permitted to speak,” and “should be in submission.” This passage has led to much debate and discussion, as elsewhere in this epistle Paul acknowledged their right to pray and prophesy in the church. On this point, theologian Wayne Grudem noted: “In this section Paul cannot be prohibiting all public speech by women in the church, for he clearly allows them to pray and prophesy in church in 1 Corinthians 11:5.” 4

    Some authors propose that this comment was in regard to specific situations occurring in Corinth during worship. In this view, certain women or wives were interrupting the service by asking questions during prophetic speech, which while they may have been legitimate, were being asked in a disruptive or inappropriate way.

    In stating that women should remain silent during public worship, Paul notes that this was the practice of “all churches of the saints.” Paul was making the point that the instruction he was about to impart wasn’t a unique teaching; it was standard in all Christian churches. At that time women were not permitted to speak in the church, which was also the case for those who were living under Jewish law. This reflects the norms of the times whereby husbands were expected to guide their family in spiritual matters. In the Greco-Roman world of Paul’s day, speaking in public was reserved for men. For a woman to speak in a public setting could be considered inappropriate and a challenge to the culture of the time. This view is found in 1 Timothy as well. “Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet” (1 Timothy 2:11–12).

    While this was the practice in Paul’s time, today the majority (though not all) of Protestant denominations ordain women as pastors. (For more on this topic, see 1 Corinthians: Chapter 11, verses 2–16.)

    Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached? If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord (1 Corinthians 14:36–37).

    Paul proceeds to conclude his discussion of spiritual gifts in united worship. He starts by addressing the Corinthians’ spiritual pride by pointing out that the Word of God didn’t come from them. Rather, it came from God and was delivered through the apostles, first to the Jews in Israel and then to the Gentiles. One author notes, “It appears the Corinthians were trying to make up their own rules, and perhaps thinking their own word is sufficient or authoritative or even the word of God for themselves.”5

    He goes on to instruct those who considered themselves to be prophets or spiritual to acknowledge that his teachings were from the Lord. In doing so he affirmed his apostolic authority and emphasized that what he wrote in his epistles wasn’t just his opinion but rather was a command from the Lord. This parallels what Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 2:13: “When you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.” Word of God appears numerous times in the New Testament, in almost every case as a reference to the gospel message about Christ.6 (See, for example, Acts 4:31; 8:14; 11:1; 13:44–48; 2 Corinthians 2:17.) While prophecies given in united worship were to be weighed and tested, the apostolic word as recorded in the Bible is the Word of God.7

    If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized (1 Corinthians 14:38).

    Paul stressed that the Corinthians were not to disregard the teachings and instructions that he had given. The church had been experiencing some disorder during their worship. Paul had pointed out the importance of order and building up the believers through intelligible messages, and the consequences of not adhering to it. Anyone who ignored Paul’s teaching and failed to recognize it as the Lord’s command did so at their own peril.8

    So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues (1 Corinthians 14:39).

    Referring to the Corinthians as my brothers once again depicts a close and deep relationship among the believers and the unity within the body of Christ. Paul wants the members of the church to prophesy for the edification and encouragement of the church, as he wrote earlier in this chapter: “The one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation” (1 Corinthians 14:3).

    Paul addresses speaking in tongues less emphatically as he commends the believers to “not forbid” speaking in tongues. This is a continuation of his earlier discussion of these two gifts: “The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up” (1 Corinthians 14:5).

    But all things should be done decently and in order (1 Corinthians 14:40).

    Paul’s conclusion on his discussion of spiritual gifts calls for the Corinthians to conduct themselves and their worship meetings in an organized, well-planned and orderly manner. Their interactions, especially those which include worship and spiritual gifts, should be conducted with proper behavior and conduct. The gifts of the Spirit are to be exercised for God’s glory, the building up and edification of the believers, as well as to convict non-believers and draw them to worship God and become Christ-followers (1 Corinthians 14:24–25).

    1 Leon Morris, 1 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 7, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (InterVarsity Press, 1985), 172.

    2 Morris, 1 Corinthians, 172–173.

    3 Anthony Thiselton, The First Epistle to the Corinthians: A Commentary on the Greek Text, Vol. 1 (Eerdmans, 2000), 1145.

    4 Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Bible Doctrine (Zondervan, 1994), 824.

    5 Ben Witherington, Women in the Earliest Churches (Cambridge University Press, 1988), 98.

    6 Alan F. Johnson, 1 Corinthians, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series (IVP Academic, 2004), 278.

    7 Richard L. Pratt, Holman New Testament Commentary—1 & 2 Corinthians. Vol. 7 (B&H Publishing Group, 2000).

    8 Morris, 1 Corinthians, 175.

     

  • Oct 28 The Life of Discipleship, Part 5: Seeking First His Kingdom
  • Oct 14 1 Corinthians: Chapter 14 (verses 1–25)
  • Sep 30 The Life of Discipleship, Part 4: Relationship with God
  • Sep 16 The Life of Discipleship, Part 3: Abiding in Christ
  • Sep 2 1 Corinthians: Chapter 13 (verses 1–13)
  • Aug 12 The Life of Discipleship, Part 2: Loving God with Our Whole Being
  • Jul 29 1 Corinthians: Chapter 12 (verses 12–30)
  • Jul 15 The Life of Discipleship: An Introduction
  • Jul 1 1 Corinthians: Chapter 12 (verses 1–11)
   

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