“In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you.”—Romans 12:6 I’m a little suspicious of someone who claims to be a prophet of God because sometimes I’ve seen abuse in this area, especially during crises. The Bible also warns there will be false prophets in the last days.However, there is a spiritual gift of prophecy where someone speaks for God, and God speaks through them.In Romans 12 the apostle Paul shares a partial list of spiritual gifts, and prophecy is the first spiritual gift that he identifies.Prophecy has been defined in different ways both in the Old and New Testaments. For example, it can mean to speak for another as a representative of God. However, the prophet always must be held accountable to the Scriptures.In the Old Testament, God raised up certain prophets including Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Jonah. In some instances, these prophets foretold the future. Daniel foretold the future in graphic detail. So did Isaiah and Ezekiel.The New Testament mentions prophets as well, such as Agabus. In Acts 21:10–11 we read that he predicted the future for the apostle Paul.Also, we should note certain phrases that Paul used in his mention of these spiritual gifts:So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. (Romans 12:6–8 NLT, emphasis added)Every follower of Christ has a spiritual gift. Whatever our gift may be, we need to start developing it and using it for the glory of God.
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