Being Prepared

Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope”.

I’m a planner. I like to be organized and prepared. I have a calendar, a meal plan, and lots of to do lists. I like to have a firm grasp on what’s happening each day, each week, and each month. I’m not opposed to change, but I like it to be on my terms. Aren’t we all like this to some extent? We like to be “in control”. But ultimately, we have no control over God’s perfect master plan for our lives. I can do all the organizing, planning, and preparing I want to, but at the end of the day, I need to have a willing heart to heed to God’s plan, not my own.

This world is constantly changing. Every day new technology is invented, new fashions are created, new ideologies of political correctness are spread, and new plans are always being made for the “next best thing”. It’s impossible to keep up with everything, and it gets harder and harder to be a Christian and follow God’s plan for our lives.

What a blessing it is to have an unchanging God in the midst of a changing world. Even more of a blessing is to know that God has a perfect master plan for my life. Through my ups and downs and constant changing I have a Rock to lean on. Life is hard. My life is hard. I try so hard to make it look like I have it all together, but the truth is, that if it wasn't for Christ sustaining me, I'd have fallen apart long ago. I'm a broken, flawed woman. But I have an unchanging God who looks at me with love and chooses to use me to do great things for Him.

All God asks of me is to be willing. What is God asking me to do? What area is He asking me to serve Him in?

Read Matthew 24:36-51. These verses tell us of Godly preparedness. Meal plans and to do lists can be a useful tool in my day to day life, but what does God tell me to be prepared for?
I encourage you to be in prayer for God’s will for your life. Ask that God would help you to be willing to serve Him, whether that be in the Sunday School classes or as the Queen of Persia (though I think the latter is a bit of a stretch). Ask that God would begin preparing your heart for His plan and finally for His second coming.

Hard-Pressed on Every Side

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed...." II Cor.4:7-8a
I am usually easily overwhelmed, even by everyday mundane things. So when tough times arrive, I feel a sense of panic coming on. I'm sure that this has something to do with my desire to be in control. In one particularly difficult time not long ago, as I was meditating on the above passage of God's Word, I received such comfort from the Lord and some insight into this passage in the form of word pictures that have since helped me to trust Him more and more when storms start to rage....
Think first about how it would feel to literally be "hard-pressed" on every side. I feel kind of claustrophobic when I think about it. How is it that someone or something would not be crushed by very forceful pressing from every direction? When cares, worries, temptations, illnesses, sin, etc. in your life increase...don't you feel almost like you're being crushed? Why does God allow this in the lives of those He loves and tenderly cares for? I believe that part of the answer is in "counter-pressure" and what is formed in the process. O.K...so imagine this; When a potter is at the pottery wheel, what would happen if he only used one hand? If he pressed on the outside of the pot, it would collapse inwardly. Likewise, if his hand was only on the inside, the pot would spin recklessly out of control. By using the pressure from one hand, however, and then the "counter-pressure" of the other hand, a beautiful one-of-a-kind treasure is the result. Now think of this; When you make waffles, you first pour the batter into the waffle iron. What if you decided to leave the top of the iron up so that you can watch the waffle cook? It would eventually burn on one side, and be raw on the other side. You need the "counter-pressure" from the waffle iron to adequately form the waffle. I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this...but here's one more: Have you ever seen an old printing press? The letter tiles are put in place, the paper is set out, then the press is pulled down onto the paper to "stamp" the image of the letters. The paper remains empty and void until the top is "hard-pressed" upon it.
So then, what is the "counter-pressure" in us....the Holy Spirit of Christ Jesus!! "For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose." (Phil.2:13) The very Spirit that raised Christ Jesus from dead is living and active in us!! Do you know what this means? This is the only way that we are not crushed by every blow that comes at us. The Spirit not only empowers us to ENDURE hardship, persecution, and trials of every kind, but He is actually the "counter-pressure" in our lives that is forming us into beautiful treasures, creating us to be broken bread for a hungry world, and stamping His image into our very being. Dare I say that this rarely happens without the hard-pressing from every side.
What a difference this has made in my life! I do not fear hard things as I once did, nor do I always try to escape them, control them, or see them as something evil that I just need to endure. I am trying to practice this prayer as I am in the midst of hardship, "Lord Jesus, thank you that you are always at work in my life for your good purpose. Thank you also for your indwelling Spirit who is the power at work to form me, humble me, and use me. Not only is this trial not a surprise to You....but I know as well that it is a tool in Your hands to do something extraordinary in my life. I trust You. I submit to You. I praise You for Your work in and through me!"

His Vessel

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. Galatians 2:20

I was recently reminded by my Pastor that when we ask Christ into our hearts, He becomes our personal savior and LORD OF OUR LIVES. This was a reminder to me because I tend to "work" at being Christ-like rather than relinquishing myself to Him for use as His vessel. The moment we accept Jesus into our hearts, He comes to live inside of us and we become new creatures in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17); our bodies become His temple (1 Corinthians 3:16). Therefore, let us seek Him (know Him intimately through His Word) in all we do and patiently wait on Him (Proverbs 14:29a) to use our vessel for His will and glory. Day by day, let us remember to LET GO AND LET GOD!

God's Desire is That We Be United With One Another

Have you ever sung this song to the Lord?....'You are the potter, I am the clay. Mold me and shape me. This is what I pray'.... I love that song and the picture it portrays of God at the potting wheel. He is molding us and shaping us into His vessel. So have you ever thought about what it is that makes clay moldable? It is the oil content. When clay is dry, it is hard as stone, and unable to be molded. But when oil is added and mixed into the clay it becomes soft and sticky, and able to be easily molded, shaped and joined together with other pieces. So, if we are the clay, then God’s Holy Spirit is the oil that makes us soft and moldable. God gives us His Spirit when we accept Christ and He continues to fill us to overflowing as we spend time with Him in His Word and apply His Word to our lives, which is like the process of mixing the oil (His Spirit) into us…molding us, shaping us and forming us into a vessel.

Where I have been mistaken as I pictured God at the potting wheel is in picturing that vessel as just me… each of us as individual vessels being filled with His Spirit, when in fact God’s Word says (Ephesians 4:4 and 1Corinthians 12:20) that we are one body… one vessel. When He is molding each one of us, He is taking separate chunks of clay that are hard like stone, adding his Spirit which softens the stone, then sticking them together to form a larger vessel made up of many chunks, or many stones. We are each a part ... and His desire is that we be united and smoothed together as one. The result of God's Spirit in us is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22) Don't you find it easier to stick with someone who displays these things? But, if we are dry, lacking His Spirit and therefore lacking the fruits of His Spirit, we remain hard chunks of clay that hit against each other and cannot be stuck together and united as one. If we are hitting against each other, we are probably in need of a fresh supply of oil found through time in God's Word.

So what is this vessel He is forming? Ephesians 2:20-22 says '... Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.' So, the vessel that God is forming (on that potting wheel) is a holy temple for His dwelling place. Each of us are the stones added to the building of His temple, softened by His Spirit as He dwells in us, and united together. Before His temple can be complete, and thus His presence be complete in us, (The fullness of Christ...Eph.4:13) first all of the stones need to be added.

What are we waiting for?.... let's share His love so that all can be sticky and added to his temple. We read in 2 Peter 3:8-10 that he is patient in waiting for all those who will come to him in repentance and be united in Christ. He does not want any to perish, nor does He want to return prematurely. He is waiting for His dwelling place to be complete!