Bend Me Shape Me Anyway you want Me I know it ain’t the Sunday Post. I had a post ready but for some reason it didn’t flip my switch. I just did not feel good about it so I thought I would give it another shot. This is a piece of a Bible study that I have taught several times. Hope you enjoy it. JEREMIAH 18:1- 6 1The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2"Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words." 3So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. 4And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. 5Then the word of the LORD came to me: 6"O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. If you are going to be the clay there are two things you must do. The first is that you have to be moldable or you have to be willing to be shaped. Whatever the potter wants to do with the clay the clay has to be willing to do it. What do you suppose the potter does with a batch of clay that for some reason is un-moldable? Does he just throw it way or does he put it back until it is ready? What is clay anyway? It was the stickiest mess of stuff that has ever been. It is a pile of sticky mud. As humans, that is what we are, a pile of sticky mud. Our lives are full of sticky sin. What happens to that mud when it is put on the wheel and the potter makes something out of it? It becomes useful and a thing of beauty. What happens to our lives if we let God mold us? Just like the clay we become useful and a thing of beauty. What if we refuse to let God mold us? I believe HE tries to do whatever it takes in our lives until we are ready to me molded. Usually for me He has to either draw me a picture or beat me over the head until I see it. Like I say it takes me awhile to catch on to things. What is the next thing we must be willing to do if we want to be used by God? We must be willing to remain in the Masters Hand. What do you thing it means to remain in the Masters Hand. Lets go back to our potter. He has taken the sticky clay and created a thing of beauty. The question is what is next. We have to be ready to let God use the thing of beauty he has created. In our case the thing of beauty is a saved person who has given his live to the Lord. Now when God creates something that is beautiful he don’t put it in the shelf to look at He puts it to use. Think about a coffee cup. I would bet that most of us has a favorite. One that fits your hand just right. It started as a lump of clay out back in the mud pile. The potter got in and checked it out. It was moldable. The potter created a thing of beauty and also a useful tool. He created a cup. Now what do you suppose would happen if the cup decided it didn’t want to be drunk out of. All it wanted to do was sit in the window and look pretty. All it wanted to do was sit in the pew on Sunday Morning. What use would this cup be to the potter? The cups focus was on what it wanted to do, not what the potter wanted it to do. Once we are saved and become a thing of beauty we must be willing to let God use us the way he wants to. When we went through the class the first time one of my problems with all of this was when I prayed I asked the Lord “what is your will for me”? Does anyone else do this? It is very easy to fall into this habit. When you prayed like this how often were the prayers answered? Not as often as you would have hoped. The problem with this is the focus is not on God as it should be. The focus is on my life or me. The correct question is what is your will God? What is the difference between the 2 prayers? God what is your will for me vrs God what is your will? God and his work have to be the focus. God has a master plan that involves more than just what your role is. God’s plans are beyond belief. They involve what is going on in the whole universe not just one small part of it (Me or My) God wants us to see his work going on and then become involved in it. Once we see Gods work going on we can adjust our lives to Him and his work. I want to end by discussing the following statement: When you believe nothing significant can happen through you, you have said more about your believe in God than you have declared about your yourself. What do you think about that? I have said this with the youth a thousand times, All the great things that happened in the Bible God did them with ordinary men. Look what He did with a carpenter. He changed the world. God can do anything with you as long as you will let him. How long are we willing to stay in God’s hand? How much are we will to give up to let God use us? Merry Christmas to all Happy New Year!
Joyce Meyer had a list of all the "ordinary" people in the Bible and how God used them. It was a great list. It told of their sins, their flaws, and what made them overcomers......they said YES to His call. Good sermon, GT
