The Potter, the Clay and the Outcome...

       clay            lump             speed           

            whirling               pressure         

impression          shaping           carve      
           
         band             stop              glaze             

                fire           rest            use

Is this a picture of your spiritual life?  Has the Master Potter spent considerable time and effort on your vessel?  Do you know for what purpose you were created? 

Wikipedia has this definition:  Pottery is made by forming clay into objects of a required shape and heating them to high temperatures in a kiln or oven to induce reactions that lead to permanent changes including increasing their strength and setting their shape. 

Wow - did you just grasp what that said?  Christ is forming us [clay] into objects of a certain shape and purpose [of His choosing] and heating us to induce reactions [purifying us] that lead to permanent change [new creation] in order to increase our strength and permanent use [for His Glory].

Our Potter determines what material, what shape, what purpose, and what prominence we have in His Kingdom.  We are clay formed from the dust of this world into a vessel of honor for our Potter’s honor and glory.  Ephesians 2:10 declare, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works…”

In his devotional My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers says this concerning our vision of what our reality should be according to our own inclination:

     “We always have visions, before a thing is made real…God gives us the vision, then He takes us down to the valley to batter us into the shape of the vision, and it is in the valley that so many of us faint and give way… Let Him put you on His wheel and whirl you as He likes, and as sure as God is God and you are you, you will turn out exactly in accordance with the vision. Don’t lose heart in the process.”

Chapter 18 in the book of Jeremiah contains the famous passage of the potter and the clay.  Jeremiah was lamenting and admonishing Israel about their grievous sin and idolatry.  He stood in the gates of Jerusalem proclaiming God’s words of warning to a stiff-necked people.  During this time the Lord spoke to Jeremiah and said, “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.”  

When Jeremiah visited his house he observed him making something at the wheel.  Jeremiah says in verses 4-6, “And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter, so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ‘O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?’ says the Lord. ‘Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel?’”

This  pottery “factory” in Palestine (mentioned in Jeremiah 18) was in the Valley of Hinnom near the Potsherd Gate and near the tower of the furnaces or pottery kilns (Nehemiah 3:11; 12:38).   Potter’s clay was made by “weathering” the dry native clay-dust or the wet stream-bank clay before treading it by foot for use in making cooking vessels and water pots.  Often the clay was hand-kneaded several hours in order to remove all of the air bubbles before working with it on the wheel.  After it dried to a leathery consistency, the vessel would be returned to the wheel for turning, cutting and paring off excess clay.  It was then beautified with a variety of tools and techniques before having a “slip” coat for color or sheen.  Finally, it was “fired” by heating it in an open fire or in a kiln and later removed for cooling.

In our marriages we must remember that our Potter created us to be unique.  His process differs from one vessel to another. He knows just how to make us so we will fit into our particular family unit.  Our clay may have been tread on for a longer period of time. Our kneading might have lasted a little longer than someone else.  We may possess a different color or texture than the next vessel.  We might have been whirled and whirled and stretched longer and harder.  Maybe we were beveled or poked or intricately cut more than the others. Finally – just when we thought we couldn’t take one more second in that intense heat – we are removed. Now we wait… and wait… and wait as we sit and cool. Our Potter knows best.

God formed Adam from the “dust” in Genesis 2:7, and we are likened to the potter’s creation as found in Job 10:8-9, “Your hands have made me and fashioned me, an intricate unity; Yet You would destroy me. Remember, I pray, that You have made me like clay.”  And in Isaiah 29:16 we read of God’s reply to him saying, “Surely you have things turned around! Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay; for shall the thing made say of Him who made it, ‘He did not make me?’ Or shall the thing formed say of Him who formed it, ‘He has no understanding?’”

Paul makes a similar plea to the Romans in Chapter 9:20-21.  He states, “But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to Him who formed it, ‘Why have you made me like this?’  Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?” Who are we to complain or self-determine with what or how we will serve Him?

I have finally given up trying to analyze how I was formed and how I will be used. I am coming to peace with myself and my Potter. There are times when I simply don’t grasp His methods or timing.  But this I know: as He was with the three Hebrew youth in the fiery furnace, so will the Lord be with you (Daniel 3:25).

Below is one of my favorite worship songs of all time - The Potter’s Hand by Darlene Zschech of Hillsong.  One of the repeated lyrics is, “Take me; mold me; use me; fill me. I give my life to the Potter’s Hand.”

“Click on Play” and let it minister to you as you continue to browse online or work on your computer. It’s a magnificent outpouring of our love to the Master Potter…

Deborah is the author of a Christian non-fiction book titled “Mission Possible”. It is written for women who love the Lord Jesus, but their spouse doesn’t share their passion.  It will encourage and challenge the reader to embrace God’s promises for their spouse and future together. 

Visit  http://www.spirituallyunevenmarriage.com

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The Potter, the Clay and the Outcome...

Are You Feeling the Heat Yet?

When God wants to purify us it’s often by means we’d rather not acknowledge.  Not only that, it may be done through people we are not especially enamored with. 

Malachi 3:2 states “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap.”  

Matthew 3:11-12 tells us the Lord Himself will baptize us with the Holy Spirit and fire, and that the “chaff” will be burned up with unquenchable fire at the last Day.

Of course, right now God will refine us when it is required - no need to wait until the Judgment.  If we are His child, and we continue to walk in the flesh, He will “turn up the heat” (so to speak).  We won’t get away with bad behavior without correction.  After all, He lovingly corrects and rebukes those He loves (Revelation 3:19).

Do you notice when God begins to knock off the rough edges of your character?  What does He do to curtail your gruff attitudes? How does God interfere in your life when things don’t go your way?

One of my favorite devotionals is My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers.  An entry in September reads in part as follows:

   Our call has nothing to do with personal sanctification, but with being made broken bread and poured-out wine. God can never make us wine if we object to the fingers He uses to crush us with. If God would only use His own fingers, and make me broken bread and poured-out wine in a special way! But when He uses someone whom we dislike, or some set of circumstances to which we said we would never submit, and makes those the crushers, we object.  If ever we are going to be made into wine, we will have to be crushed; you cannot drink grapes.

Does this resonate with you?  Do you “feel the squeeze” and wonder what on earth God is up to?  Are there are times when He has to put us between a rock and a hard place just to get our attention?

It might be a neighbor He uses to point out something we didn't realize was offensive. Or how about your siblings?  They know you better than almost anyone on the planet.  What happens when God uses them to pinpoint an attitude that is less than God-honoring?  He often uses our spouses to prick our consciences.  Or perhaps our employer brings something to our attention that God uses to correct us.  

However the rebuke comes - let the Refiner burn away all that remains of your "old nature" in order to bring forth something better - something pure.

In marriage, we often have periods in our relationship where God is working on one of us, while the other seems to “get a pass”.  If you are in an unequally-yoked marriage, your squeeze can be especially painful to endure. The believer knows that God might hone in on their character or brings them under conviction in an area they think they have already conquered.  That can be difficult to accept unless we understand that ultimately the greater goal is to refine us, define us, and bring Him glory.

The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 8:18 “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.”  He goes on to say that even though he wills to do good, he does not do it. The sin that dwells in him commits the sin.  His body is in conflict with his mind, and thus he is brought captive unto his sinful nature.  He wrestles with a dilemma we all face.  

Victory lies in submission to the Spirit of God by taking every thought captive unto the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).  Listen to the still small voice.  Ask another believer to agree in prayer with you about your shortcomings and how to overcome them.  Recite Scriptures that reinforce Godly behaviors and thinking.

God's teachings are truths that can only be understood by His Spirit within us. Make sure they are deeply embedded within your mind and soul.  Your relationships depend on it.

Deborah is the author of a Christian non-fiction book titled “Mission Possible”.  It is written for women who love the Lord Jesus, but their spouse doesn’t share their passion.  It will encourage and challenge the reader to embrace God’s promises for their spouse and future together.  Visit

http://www.spirituallyunevenmarriage.com

Are You Feeling the Heat Yet?