"This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord. 'Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message.' So I went down to the potter's house and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seem best to him." Jeremiah 18:1-4
"Lord, bless this dear stander today. Lord, I pray for You to give this husband or wife the divine wisdom they need today for their most urgent need. Holy Spirit speak to Your child's heart as they read this devotional. May they ask these questions; 'What do You want to show and say to me today, Lord? What is Your will for my life? Open my spiritual eyes and ears so that I may see, hear and receive this message from You. Lord, please remold and make me into the person You want me to be. I thank You that you love me and my beloved husband/wife. I pray that You will start remolding my spouse and loved ones to be the men and women of God you created them to be. May You remold and make each of us to be as patient and loving as You are. Lord, please start working and reshaping our family. Thank You for speaking to my heart today in a very special way, in the wonderful Name of Jesus. Amen.'"
Have you ever seen a potter make a vase with clay? If you have children, they would enjoy seeing and observing how so many products are made. Some time ago, Bob and I went to a church service where we witnessed an awesome testimony and a live demonstration of a potter working with a huge block of clay, molding and making it into a beautiful vase. The couple had a restored marriage. They traveled giving their testimony. The wife sang while the husband was giving a live demonstration of working with the clay, making a vase and sharing scriptures, as he told his personal testimony.
I love visuals! The presentation was remarkable. The husband had been a potter and the wife was a singer. They both were successful in their own careers. They had marriage problems and God did the rest by becoming the Potter for their own lives.
"Then the word of the Lord came to me: "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel." Jeremiah 18:5-6
God is asking you every day to surrender your mess of your life, your marriage, your mind, your will, your emotion and being to become like clay in God's mighty hands and allow Him to mold and make you to be the person He wants you to be. Are you willing? Will you allow the Lord to do what He wants to do with your life? I know in my personal life twenty-five years ago, I had my own plans and own ideas as to my goals in my life and marriage. I wanted the Lord to bless them, but I did not expect Him to have a daily part in my life. That is a problem with God, as He created us and wants to use each of us in His kingdom daily. We can become a "willing vessel" or an hindrance to His plan.
What are you doing with your life today? I was not ready or suitable for the Lord to use me so many years ago, but the Lord got my attention, through a divorce, and I realized that I needed His help more than I could ever have imagined. I had made a mess in so many areas of my life and in my most important relationship, my husband. When I surrendered my life to His will and way, my Lord put me on the potter's wheel as a piece of clay, broken and marred, wanting to make me into a new vessel with His plans for my life. I, as the vessel, was not suitable at the beginning when the Master Potter started working on me, as I had deep marks, defects and woundings. My Potter (God) had to remold me and make me into something beautiful that He wanted to create.
"Then the world of the LORD came to me: 'O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?' declares the Lord. 'Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it...So turn from your evil ways each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions." Jeremiah 18:5-11
Are you willing to trust your Lord with your life forever? Allow Him to transform you into a new creature in Christ. Will you allow Him to remold and make you into the husband or wife that you need to become? Allow the Potter to remold and make you into the vessel that is His plan. You need to give God permission and submit to God to remold both your character and your service to Him as He determines. God's plans for your life will be much more exciting, and will have a much larger goal and purpose. Please remember to pray daily that your husband/wife will also surrender their life right now to the Master Potter!
"Look at the nations and watch--For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told." Habakkuk 1:5
Imagine if you had been the Sunday School teacher or the one who prayed as a prayer warrior for Billy Graham or D.L. Moody or Rick Warren, or David Jeremiah or Beth Moore, or Jim or Carol Cymbala as they were growing up! God uses ordinary people to make big accomplishments in His kingdom. Don't limit your God to what He will use you for, or what your children or grandchildren could end up accomplishing many years from now. Nothing is impossible with God!
"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you." Psalm 32:8
Regardless of your past or present circumstances, God the Potter, can make you, your spouse and children into beautiful creatures in Christ, if we each will allow ourselves to become like clay. Today surrender your all to the Potter and say:
"Lord, I know it takes time and effort to make a beautiful vessel from clay. I want You to do this to me. I surrender my life to You! You God, the Potter, put me, my spouse and my family on your wheel and mold us back together again. Lord, You know our deep hidden chambers of bitterness, hatred, anger, jealousy, unforgiveness, revenge, sharp tongue, and hardness of heart. Please remove and cut away all that is not of You. Today, mold us, melt us, and fill us up with You, in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen."
"Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter, we are all the work of your hand." Isaiah 64:8
It will be awesome in years to come to see what the Lord will accomplish for His kingdom by using you and your family in the future as He remolds and makes you into His image! Look at what the Lord has done for His glory, honor and praise!
Nothing is too hard for God, Charlyne Steinkamp Rejoice Marriage Ministries, Inc. Post Office Box 10548 Pompano Beach, FL 33061 USA http://rejoiceministries.org (Ministry web site)
There can be no testimony without a test. I am praying to go through this test and come out the other end with a new and better marriage then before.
