In The Potter's Hand

  Isaiah 64:8

But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand
“Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me.” is the chorus often sung in our worship services. We are nothing until we are made into a vessel that God can use. Our humanity is like a lump of clay. It is not until we let God, the maker of life, mold us into something that can be used to His glory.  He is the potter that wants to form us into a vessel that can be filled with the Holy Spirit. Satan would desire to make us a vessel that is filled with self, malice, corrupt communication, and all manner of sinfulness. The Father wants to take the works of Satan and reshape us into His image. When we yield our lives to God, we surrender our desires and ambitions, we allow Him to be the Lord of lives. We are crucified with Christ. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me..” Gal.2:20. This is what it means to allow God to mold us and make us. We are the work of His hand, let God mold you into something special, someone He can use for His Kingdom.

The Self-Made Man

Psalm 100: 3 Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

The self-made man is know as a person who successfully rises to the top without the aid of inherit wealth. From rags to riches, against all odds the self-made man perseveres to achieve wealth, power, or popularity. Such a man or women is praised and used as examples that anyone who does not quit in the face of failure can make something of their lives. No doubt, such tenacity plays a part in the earthly success of individuals. But for a Christian, the reality is we can do nothing without the help of God. We were made from the clay of the earth and our lives depend on the mercy of God who gives us breath. We can strive all we can to rise to the top, but ultimately true success comes when we have submitted ourselves as clay in the hands of the potter. Allowing Him to mold us and make us into a vessel that will honor and glorify Him. The true self-made person knows that he/she can do all things, but knows that it is only through Christ that our achievements are truly realized. We our not are own, we are bought we a price. We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. May our lives glorify Him in everything we do.

The Fingers of God

Psalm 8:3.4 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

The psalmist sees the Almighty as a artist, sculpting with His fingers the universe. The Creator of heaven and earth calls into existence the suns of the universe, the stars in the heaven are made for His pleasure. He has ordained the creation of the moon to help light the earth at night. He has gifted man with the intelligence to peek into the vastness of space. We have but scratch the surface of the vastness of His creation. The fingers of man have invented and constructed things of marvel. but it is God who can take what is not and make it into something that is. Who is man, but once again the fingers of God forming him from the dust of the earth. He is molding man into His image. We our the clay in the Potter’s wheel willing to let God make us into the vessel of His desire. The same God who with His fingers creating the worlds, wants to make us a vessel of honor, ready to be used for His pleasure.

Work in Progress

Eph. 2:10  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath beforehand ordained, that we should walk in them.-

We are a work in progress. He is the Potter we are the clay. The work continues daily and each day we become more like Jesus. We must be willing to submit our lives into the hand of God. He is the master of taking something that is worthless and making it valuable. Sin in our lives marred His work. He desires that we live spotless from the world and walk in good works. The works of Satan hinders the development of His workmanship. There are things in our lives that He wants to remove and change. He will show us the way to go and the way to walk. As a new creation in Christ, He changes our lives to reflect His image. It will change the way we think. Our lips will speak only what pleases Him, we abstain from that which is evil and unholy, we walk in holiness and our fruit of our lives is seen in the way we treat others. This is a work in progress, He is still working on me.

New Vessels

Jer. 18:4 “And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make it.”-

Our life is a vessel that needs to be remade into a vessel that can be used by God. From birth, our vessel was damaged, disfigured, and full of debris. In order to be used for God, the vessel must be crushed and made into clay, and be reshaped into a vessel that is fit to be filled with His love. God takes our self-will life and turns it into a life that seeks only the will of God. God can not only take the sin in our life and forgive us making us new vessels, but He also can take the imperfection that human nature creates and mold and make it a vessel of honor. We all have places in our lives that need improvement and reshaping. We need to let God mold us, make us, and use us for His work and kingdom.