Wed.'s Devo - Apostles and Prophets

Read Eph. 4:11
This is the list of gifts he was talking about in verse 8: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. So let's look at each of these gifts and how they operate in our culture. Apostles in the Greek means "a delegate, ambassador of the Gospel, a commissioner of Christ with miraculous powers". I have met a few of those who walk in the miraculous. They speak with authority and when they pray they see results. Jesus, Paul, and Peter are the only apostles mentioned in the Bible. They traveled from town to town encouraging, rebuking, healing, and casting out devils. We don't see too many of these in traditional churches but they are present and they are a gift to the body. They are only mentioned in the New Testament but Moses would have been a good example of an apostle in the Old Testament.
The next gift God gave us is prophets. Prophet in the Greek means "a foreteller, inspired speaker, one who shows or make's known one's thoughts, one who brings hidden things to light. There were many prophets in the Bible who foretold the future and revealed mysteries. They are here in our present world also. They can speak your future and it will happen if you believe and act on it. The Bible says that if you receive a prophet in the name of a prophet you will get a prophet's reward. (Matt. 10:41) The reward of a prophet is that you get what he spoke over you. If you do not believe him you might not see his prophecy come to pass. Some prophecy is etched in stone and not conditional but other prophecy is contingent on what you do with it. There are prophets in the world who prophecy in the occult. They have the gift of prophecy and are just using it for the wrong team. The world is always prophecying and so should we. Isaiah says in at least 3 places that God will tell you the future before it happens. We may all prophecy but not all be prophets. A prophet is an office that God places a person in and he uses his gift to edify the body. There were prophets all throughout the Bible. Jesus was all the gifts in one man and so we can have more that one gift. The Apostle has all the gifts and is a prophet, evangelist, teacher, and preacher. The thing about a gift is you have to receive it.
Lord, help us to receive the gifts you have given the body no matter what package it comes in. May we walk in the gifts you have put inside of us and grow in our gifts.