The Sermon the Potter Preached

God told the prophet Jeremiah, “Go down to the potter’s house and there I shall announce My words to you” (Jeremiah 18:1). God could have told him everything at once, but He wanted to reveal information to him in stages. When we obey what God has told us to do, He will then reveal more.

After he got there, the potter preached a sermon to Jeremiah in a visual way concerning the future of Judah (Israel), but the message applies to us as well. I’m sure the potter had no idea we would be reading his sermon 2,600 years later! Here are three lessons from the potter’s sermon: 

Lesson #1  God is in the process of molding you.  Everyone is in the process of being molded, either by the Holy Spirit or the pressures of this world. Romans 12:2 says, “Don’t let the world squeeze you into its mold.” To be molded by God, He says to “humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God” (1 Peter 5:6). Yield to His touch.

Lesson #2  God’s plan for you may not be obvious at first.  Jeremiah 18:3 says the potter was “making something” on the wheel. What he was making wasn’t obvious at first. The potter had a plan in his mind concerning the vessel he wanted to make. Romans 9:20 says, “The thing molded will not say to the potter, ‘Why did you make me like this’ will it?” Trust the Lord to lead and guide you, even when the plan is unclear and you don’t understand.

Lesson #3  If you’ve made a mistake, remember that God isn’t finished with you.  “But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter, so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make” (Jer. 18:4). The potter detected a flaw in the clay because some gritty substance resisted his touch. Even though the clay was marred, the potter didn’t throw it away. He made it into another vessel.

Perhaps you’ve drifted away from God and resisted His will for your life. Maybe you think your life is over. The Lord has not abandoned you and still has a plan for your life. Put your life in His hands and He will complete the work He wants to do in you.  www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com 

BIBLE STUDY: Lessons from Cain, Balaam, and Korah

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Making Life Count Ministries
P.O. Box 680174
Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174
www.makinglifecount.net  

God Can Be With You ... When It Looks Like He's Against You

Joseph was taken to Egypt and sold as a slave to an officer of Pharaoh. Why would God allow such a thing? And then we read a phrase that makes us question our theology: “The Lord was with Joseph” (Gen. 39:2-3). It’s enough to raise an eyebrow.

We read on. Later he was falsely accused and unjustly thrown into prison, without a proper trial. Again it says, “The Lord was with Joseph . . .” But there’s even more, enough to lift the other eyebrow. “. . . and extended kindness toward him” (39:21).

Suppose an opinion poll was taken at that time. The pollster asks, “Joseph was betrayed, sold as a slave, falsely accused, and unjustly imprisoned. Do you think God is with him?” The man on the street says, “Obviously God can’t be with him. If the Lord was with Joseph, those things wouldn’t have happened.”

It’s easy to believe the Lord is with someone who is on the way up, but not on the way down. Up to this point, Joseph was only going down. The Lord can be with you when your circumstances tell you He isn’t.

Gideon was hiding from the Midianites, when the angel of the Lord said, “The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior!” Gideon responded, “If the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?” (Judges 6:12-13).

When is He with you? He’s with you when you’re faithfully doing what He calls you to do. He’s with you when you keep the right attitude when you’re falsely accused. He’s with you when you trust Him, even when the situation says He has abandoned you. Live today as though He is actually with you, and the Lord will be with you. www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com  www.makinglifecount.net

BIBLE STUDY: How can a loving God send people to hell?

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Making Life Count Ministries
P.O. Box 680174
Prattville, Alabama 36068-0174
www.makinglifecount.net