Jars Of Clay

Focus verses: II Corinthians 4:7-12

The metaphor of clay in the life of the Christian has always been a source of comfort for me, but I didn't fully realize what it meant until I became involved with my daughter's pottery class.

Clay is malleable. It can be rolled, stretched, incised, imprinted, and watered down and worked again. I love working with clay.

The clay became even more special to me when I took classes in precious metal clays. You see, the "clay" part is just a binder to hold the tiny fragments of the metal together. The clay burns off when you fire the piece to harden the metal clay. If you are working with silver clay, you come out with a product called "fine" silver. It is more nearly pure silver than sterling.

But handling this clay takes special care. First it must be kept moist or wet. If you let it dry out, you cannot work with it as you should.

Then you must oil both your hands and any surface that it touches to keep it from sticking in places where you don't want it and ruining the piece you are making.

Once the piece is completed, you let it dry - sort of like a desert experience.

When it is dry, you file any rough edges or accidental protrusions.

Then you put it in a kiln - or in the flame of a torch to fire.

Once it is fired, you polish it by putting it in a tumbler with shot.

If you want special effects, you treat it with chemicals to change the color or give it the appearance of age.

Eventually you have a piece of jewelry that is 99% fine silver, a thing of beauty and a joy to wear.

We have the treasure of the gospel in our jars of clay. Only if we keep it watered with the Word, oiled by the Holy Spirit, will it fit for molding by the Lord.

We may go through desert experiences and have abrasives applied to refine our shape. We will most certainly be proved in fire of one kind or another. Then we will be thrust into a world that tumbles us with grit or shot to polish us to a high shine so that we reflect the light of Christ. In fact, the dross of us will have been burnt away, leaving only the pure spirit of Christ in us.

Completely yielded, we can be of service to the Lord. It's not a quick process. It takes time. Let us yield with patience to the Lord's shaping.

Father, God,

Help us to be soft, malleable clay in Your hands. Give us the grace to endure the process so that we may come out refined and useful to Your kingdom. Less of us and more of you.

In Jesus' most precious name.
Amen.

Jars Of Clay

Focus verses: II Corinthians 4:7-12

The metaphor of clay in the life of the Christian has always been a source of comfort for me, but I didn't fully realize what it meant until I became involved with my daughter's pottery class.

Clay is malleable. It can be rolled, stretched, incised, imprinted, and watered down and worked again. I love working with clay.

The clay became even more special to me when I took classes in precious metal clays. You see, the "clay" part is just a binder to hold the tiny fragments of the metal together. The clay burns off when you fire the piece to harden the metal clay. If you are working with silver clay, you come out with a product called "fine" silver. It is more nearly pure silver than sterling.

But handling this clay takes special care. First it must be kept moist or wet. If you let it dry out, you cannot work with it as you should.

Then you must oil both your hands and any surface that it touches to keep it from sticking in places where you don't want it and ruining the piece you are making.

Once the piece is completed, you let it dry - sort of like a desert experience.

When it is dry, you file any rough edges or accidental protrusions.

Then you put it in a kiln - or in the flame of a torch to fire.

Once it is fired, you polish it by putting it in a tumbler with shot.

If you want special effects, you treat it with chemicals to change the color or give it the appearance of age.

Eventually you have a piece of jewelry that is 99% fine silver, a thing of beauty, and a joy to wear.

We have the treasure of the gospel in our jars of clay. But if we keep it watered with the Word, oiled by the Holy Spirit, it is fit for molding by the Lord.

We may go through desert experiences and have abrasives applied to refine our shape. We will most certainly be proved in fire of one kind or another. Then we will be thrust into a world that tumbles us with grit or shot to polish us to a high shine so that we reflect the light of Christ.

Completely yielded, we can be of service to the Lord. It's not a quick process. It takes time. Let us yield with patience to the Lord's shaping.

Father, God,

Help us to be soft, malleable clay in Your hands. Give us the grace to endure the process so that we may come out refined and useful to Your kingdom.

In Jesus' most precious name.
Amen.

Prosper In Captivity

Focus verses: Jeremiah 29:1-24

People love to quote Jeremiah 29:11. "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." What they forget is that these words were written to the faithful remnant of Judah in captivity.

The Lord has told the people that they will remain captive to Nebuchadnezzar for seventy years. Seventy years! That's enough time for three generations to die. Grandchildren just born will be old when they are allowed to return to Judah. A ten-year-old boy led into captivity will be an old man of eighty with grandchildren and great-grandchildren before they are allowed to return to Judah.

In the meantime, God has told them to carry on the affairs of life, just as if they were in their homeland. They are to build houses, plant gardens, marry, and multiply. Much the same list of duties that He gave Adam in the original garden.

Oh, and one more thing, they are to seek the peace and prosperity of the city into which they have been exiled. They are to pray to the Lord for the city of their exile because if it prospers, they will prosper also.

If you are a child of God, you know that this earth is not your real home. You are here for a season only. Your real home is eternity. How fitting is this passage to where we are and what we need to do and pray for?

The parallel is clear. We are to carry on the affairs of life under the laws of God. We are to marry and multiply, we are to tend fields and wield His authority. Let us not miss what I consider one of the most important points. We are to pray for this world and the citizens thereof - whether they are Christian or not.

You see, God loves all the children He created. He would that all of them should come to a saving knowledge of His Son and the redemption work of the cross of Calvary.

Father, God,

Help us to see that our exile on earth is similar to the exile of Judah in Nebuchadnezzar's reign. Remind us that this is only a temporary home. Keep us faithful in prayer for this hurting world and ready our hearts to be united with You after our exile is finished.

In Jesus' most precious name.
Amen.

True Security

Focus verses: Isaiah 26:1-13

Today's reading is rich with promise.

Isaiah talks about the promise of the Lord for perfect peace. It is a verse I memorized in the King James version: "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee." (v.3)

In this world, the only thing that isn't transient is the Lord. Only He is permanent. Everything else will change or move or evaporate, but He is firm and sure and unchanging.

The basis for our security is to learn to walk in His ways, to set our hearts on Him, to put His name and reputation above our own. When we carry the title Christian, we are His representatives to those who have not yet learned of Him.

It has been said that there are five gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Christians. Most people will only read the fifth gospel. The world will judge our God by our actions. Even though the Bible is the most purchased book of all time, it is also the most neglected and dusty.

People who do not read the Bible will judge our God by our actions. What a terrible, awesome thought!

Father, God,

Help us to walk in Your ways and set our hearts upon You first and foremost. Grant that we may be ever mindful of being Your ambassadors to a hurting world. Keep us from misrepresenting You in word or deed.

In Jesus' most precious name.
Amen.

PS. Happy Birthday, Sally!

The Promised One

Focus verses: Micah 5:1-5

These verses tell us of the coming Messiah. It is one of a number of foreshadowings of Christ in the Old Testament.

In this prophesy, Israel has been abandoned until such time as the birth of this Ruler. Israel was under the thumb of Rome at the time of Christ's birth. Roman troops occupied the land. The priestly authorities had to go to the Roman ruler of the land to verify whether they could function or not. Israel was merely a geographical designation for a portion of the Roman Empire.

"He will stand and shepherd his flock." A shepherd was a nomad. He traveled the area with his flock, moving from one pasture to the next. Sheep have a split lip and can get their teeth even with the ground, cutting the blades of grass next to the roots. When sheep have grazed in a pasture, it needs time to regrow before it can be used again.

The Lord moved with His disciples, from one city to another in the land. At each location He taught or did something different from the last time. Then He moved on, leaving the people to assimilate what He had done or said. Or the people followed Him to the next place where He taught something more.

"He will be their peace." Sheep follow their shepherd in confidence because they know he will never lead them in dangerous places.

He is our peace in all circumstances, if we have put Him at the center of our lives. He will never lead us astray. We can rest securely in Him.

Father, God,

Reinforce in us the desire to follow the Good Shepherd. Help us to keep our eyes on Him and the narrow path He leads us.

In Jesus' most precious name.
Amen.

The Ideal Woman

Focus verses: Proverbs 31:10-31

If you are a woman, these verses are either an encouragement or a stumbling block. You can beat your head against a brick wall, trying to do and be all these things under your own power. Or you can rely on the Lord to help you become this woman of worth.

God doesn't set a task before us that is impossible to accomplish to frustrate us. He sets these tasks to teach us to rely on Him for all things.

There is a difference between the nominal Christian, who simply believes in God but tries to do everything under his own power, and the committed Christian who is consciously dependent upon God for every breath.

When you realize that you have come to the end of yourself, it is time to rely on God. The wise person realizes in the first place that he or she is inadequate to the task at hand and turns to the Lord immediately.

My grandmother used to say "before all else fails, read the instructions." Before you try everything else, ask God. He wants you to come to Him for the least things as well as for the huge issues. When you consult Him before any action, the action you take has a greater chance of success.

Father, God,

Help us to remember that without You, we are less than nothing. You are responsible for our every breath. Keep us aware of our dependence on You that we may not fail in our tasks.

In Jesus' most precious name.
Amen.

My People

Focus verses: II Chronicles 7:11-22

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

This promise from God is our only hope at this time in our history. I cringe when I think we have a president who states openly that we are not a Christian nation. This nation was founded by Christians on Judeo-Christian principles.

For forty years, we have taught revisionist history in our public schools. We have vaunted the sensational over the accurate. We allow the media hype to sway our opinions without studying the issues to discover the truth. Worst of all, we have grown lukewarm about defending our faith. We are silent and almost apologetic when Christianity is under attack.

Our only hope lies in following the precepts in this verse:
If my people who are called by my name--that's us, the Christians.
Will humble themselves and pray and seek my face -- notice the progression: humility, prayer, seeking.
And turn from their wicked ways -- quit aiding, abetting and tolerating evil.

If we do all these things, in this order, we have the promise of God that He will hear and forgive our sin, and heal our land.

Notice that He says the sin is ours, meaning belonging to the people called by his name. It is our sins of apathy and tolerance that need forgiveness, not the sins of the worldly who do not belong to Him.

Father, God,

Grant us the courage to see the ungodly attacks on Christianity as disrespect for you. Give us the wisdom to speak up for our faith effectively.

In Jesus' most precious name.
Amen.

Garment of Praise

Praise is one key to closeness with God.

In the Psalms we are told that God inhabits the praises of His people.

Psalm 22: 3: But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

4: Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.

5: They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.

---(KJV)

How better to draw close to God than to have Him living in your thoughts and speech at all times!

So how can we continually praise and draw close?

One method is to cultivate the habit of close observation. Look at the sunrise, the delicacy of a beta fish, the grandeur of a mountain, the vastness of the prairie or the power of an ocean. When we think about the infinite goodness of God and His precise attention to detail in all His creation, we cannot help seeing his power and generosity.

Today's Christian is pulled a hundred different directions with the urgency of the "now" world. In our hurry up - go society, time for reflection and solitude is hard to find. But we can train our eyes to notice the small details that God put into this world, especially for our pleasure and edification -- and I think, just a little to let us know He's still here.

Father-God, help us to train our eyes to see You in all the little everyday things that touch our lives. Help us to recognize Your hand in our circumstances. Help us to cultivate the grateful heart that will sing Your praises as we learn to see more clearly. In Jesus' most precious name.

Amen