August 2017

Posted on 27Jul CATEGORIES: Uncategorized

“’Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?’ declares the Lord. ‘Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.’ ” (Jeremiah 18:6)

 

God knows how to bring revival to our friends, our community, our families, our church, and our world. He looks for those who will allow Him to shape them into the instruments He requires to do his work. One mark of revival, when God comes to His people in power, is that God’s people are

compelled

to offer their lives for His service – they give themselves to God completely. You see, clay has no plans of its own, no aspirations for service. Nor does it have any reluctance to perform the task it is given. It is just clay: moldable, pliable, totally submissive to the will of its master.

 

Many churches lack people who are willing to get involved in carrying out God’s redemptive work. We are more interested in conducting our own interest and gift inventories and telling God what we think we can or can’t do for Him, or what we want or don’t want to do. But, this is not a characteristic of clay. God is not limited to working with our strengths, or around our weaknesses (2 Cor. 12:9-10). He looks for someone who will submit to being broken and remade into a holy vessel. He finds those who will allow Him to remove their impurities.

 

One of the personal lessons I learned this summer is that the mission fields are crying out for Christians to go and share the Gospel with those who’ve never heard it. I never thought it was me – it was something for someone else to do. But, then I realized that obedience is a willingness to be what God wants you to be, and go where He wants you to go – no questions asked. That’s what being a disciple means. What we need is not more pleas for volunteers, but an outpouring of the power of God. When God comes among His people in power, there is never a shortage of volunteers or resources for His work!

 

When Christians today are asked what aspects of the Christian life are most important to them, missions is not usually ranked as a priority. This is because we have lost track of why God called us in the first place. We were not saved from our sin simply so that we would qualify for heaven. God delivered us so we would have a relationship with Him through which He could carry out His mission to redeem a lost world. It is not a noble task, being clay. There is nothing noteworthy, or glamorous, or worthy of boasting – except it is exactly what God is looking for.

 

Only the power of God can free us from our natural self-centeredness and reorient us toward the

mission

of God. There is no need to pray that God would come in power – that is the only way He ever comes! We need hearts that are so willing, so responsive to Him that he will choose to demonstrate His power through us. Is your heart so filled with love for God that you are watching for the first opportunity to say with Isaiah, “Here am I. Send me!”?

 

In His love,

Bro. Heath

 

(Excerpts taken from Experiencing God Day-By-Bay, by Henry and Richard Blackaby (1997).)

 

 

 

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