Tarnished, Cracked and Broken

Tarnished, Cracked and Broken
Jeremiah 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 seemed good to the potter to make it."

Do you see the tarnished pot sitting on the highest shelf? Do you see the cracked vessel, hidden behind the new shiny vessels?  Do you see the broken jar lying in the corner?  Of what use are any of these?  Only the potter knows the answer...he is the creator and surely he can repair and restore them to service again.

Do you relate to the tarnished pot?  Roughed up by the every day grind of surviving the hard challenges of life, sometimes letting despair creep in to color your days with hopelessness and loneliness.  Simply put...God is Hope.  (Hebrews 6:18, 19)

Do you mirror the cracked pot?  Rejection, anger and bitterness as relationships ebb and flow, allowing this poison to seep into the pores of the clay, resulting in cracks that overwhelm the integrity of the vessel.  Lovingly said...God is Love (I John 4:16)

Do you empathize with the broken jar lying in the corner?  Broken, abandoned, battered and torn, contemplating the consequences of ungodly decisions, depression and condemnation harass you.  Plainly speaking...God is Merciful.  (Romans 5:20)

If you are a "vessel" questioning your usefulness, be assured that the Heavenly Potter makes all things new by His design and in His time.  Nothing enters your life without a specific everlasting purpose. The refining fire of God's hand on your clay vessel is necessary to glorify Him.  Fire up the kiln, Lord...make us into Your desired vessel!

Bar Code

  

Time to share the recent devotionals the Lord impressed upon me. I know...I need to get back to my childhood and post more memories!  I will eventually!

Bar Code
Romans 6

What a great accomplishment was achieved with help from two grandsons...a master inventory list of the majority of books in this household!  Bar codes expedited this process immensely.  Using the laptop camera, the book is scanned, the computer finds the book and it is entered into the computer library.  Now a list will be available if needed.

I wonder...do we sometimes live our lives as if God has a bar code for each and every sin we commit?  Does He "scan" our sin and then it is entered into His book of sins, to be available later?  Do we dwell on our many sins and allow them to discourage and defeat us?  Just what Satan desires.  But Scripture is very, very clear in this regard.

Yes, God in His holiness must punish mankind's sin.  However, His redemptive love overruled and He lovingly sacrificed His Son for these sins.  He removed our sins "as far as the east is from the west".  As long as our name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life, He will not keep a master list of all our sins!  Every single sin has been blotted out by the shed blood of Jesus!

Our "bar code" needs to be packed away -- no master list is necessary.  "Scan" your sin, seek immediate forgiveness as God states in I John 1:9 and then "delete"!  Joyously continue living out the Gospel as a vibrant example of God's grace and mercy.