Showing posts with label clay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label clay. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Little Pieces of Clay-Making a Christian-Creating Me


2. Creating Me - Psalm 139:13-16;  Psalm 119:73; Job 10:8-12


     I am covered with the fingerprints of God. My Bible tells me His hands made me and formed me while I was yet inside my Mother. I have been created for a purpose. Every person on earth has been created by God for a purpose. It is our responsibility to seek God and ask Him to reveal our purpose to us. 
     It may take several years before our purpose is unveiled to the point where we can not only see it, but understand it. Though,  history has shown us that sometimes children are better able to hear God and know what His purpose is for their lives. 
     Joseph knew he had a purpose; he just didn't understand it at such a young age. Even as a slave in Pharoah's kingdom, he knew God had not left him. Though he was imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, he knew God was still with him. It is Joseph's faith, love and knowledge for God that kept him close to God and thus kept God close to him. And when it was time, God revealed His purpose for bringing Joseph to Egypt. 
     Samuel had a purpose. Before he was born his Mother prayed for him. She sought God in the temple; her prayers were so intense that the priest saw only her lips moving and accused her of being drunk. But her desire to have a baby was so visible to him, he asked that her prayer be answered. And it was. Samuel stayed with his Mom until he was weaned. I would think that she prepared him for his purpose by talking to him before he was born. 
     As Moms, we all talk to our babies. It's nothing to be bashful about either. We sing. We talk. We thank God for this baby inside of us. We praise God for choosing us to be this baby's Mom. And when our child is born, we continue him or her on that same heritage. We sing. We talk. We pray and glorify God for all that He is doing within our child(ren). Hannah did this, too. Samuel grew up knowing not only is there a God, but that God loved him and had chosen him to serve Him. And when he was ready, Hannah brought him to the temple and handed over his keeping to the priest. She didn't abandon him; she continued to bless him while she lived.
     You and I have been created for a purpose. Our purpose is to glorify God in all that we do. We cannot glorify God if we are living a sinful life. I grew up in a Christian atmosphere. I knew of God. I knew about God. But I did not know God. To glorify God we have to know God. A person can fulfill part of God's purpose on their life even if that person does not know God. We see in the Bible how he would put ideas into some kings' heads that God's purposes would be accomplished at that time. But that's not enough for me. And it shouldn't be enough for you either. 
     God is not finished working on me. His thoughts for my life are greater than my own thoughts for my life. My choices have not always lined up with His. But I have learned from my mistakes; I have not repeated them. I must continually seek God on a daily basis that I may know what He desires of me or what He may choose to reveal to me. He is more than my oasis, God is my well. I draw from Him daily to quench my thirst. And, I am thirsty. It seems as if I will never get enough.
     By sharing my Bible studies with you, I am fulfilling part of my purpose for which I have been created. For this purpose I have been created and am constantly being transformed moment by moment into someone that only God can see, as yet. Greater is He that is in me: God works on me not only on the outside, but also on the inside. God is faithful; I am getting there.
     

Little Pieces of Clay-Making a Christian-1. In the Potter's Hands


Job 1:20 "THEN Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down to the ground, and worshiped." 

The art of worshiping comes from the heart of a worshiper. True worship comes from a heart that remains broken before God. Anyone can sing a song of praise; but God knows the heart. So, even if the song sounds good to our ears, it is just a clanging noise to God's ears. 

1. In the Potter's hands: Job 1
     The book of Job begins with a description of who Job is: that he is an upright man, perfect (righteous) and honorable. A man of Integrity. He fears God and does no evil. We are shown his children, his livelihood, and his abundance. We see that Job interceded for his children on their behalf to God. 
     But one day Satan and the Lord have a conversation regarding Job, resulting in Satan being allowed by God to test Job. Satan hopes to destroy us through our trials and tests, as he tried to do to Job. But God knows our hearts. He allows us to be tested that our faith may be strengthened. And revealing to other people in our lives that God is God through our actions while be tested. 
     Satan is allowed to bring death and destruction to Job's family and property believing that Job would curse God and thereby sentence himself to death. But Job did not. He got up from where he sat, tore his clothes off, shaved his hair off, and fell to the ground, WORSHIPing God: I was born naked, I will die naked: the Lord gives and the Lord takes away: BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD." 

     Everything I have, I have because God gives it to me. Everything I am is a culmination so far of the changes I have allowed God to make within me. I am not who I was: no longer do I wallow in the pits of sin.  I do not drink. I do not get high. I do not sleep around. I do not even want to any more! God changed me because I asked Him to. When I was baptized in His Holy Spirit, He took away the desire to self-destruct. I am His daughter and He is my God. Blessed be the Name of the Lord.