Tag: fit for the Master’s use

Shaped

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Friends, without even realizing it we are on the wheel today. There is a final destination awaiting us in glory and progress is being made on that final product. While the end goal is heaven, here we are formed to be vessels fit for the Master’s use (2 Timothy 2:21). Some days we may feel all right, others our imperfections may seem more pronounced, but take heart for even that great apostle once declared, “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect…” (Philippians 3:12). It may be we are still in the process. It may be that the Father’s loving and careful hands are still at the wheel shaping us: “Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand…” (Jeremiah 18:6). By faith, allow yourself to be shaped.

~Word for Life Says

A Sweet Creation

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Have you ever witnessed the taffy-making process?  It is a very interesting process to watch for sure.  After mixing sugar and other ingredients together, you are left with this massive blob of sweet goodness lying on the work table.

What can one possibly do with such a non-conformative mess?  You can stretch it and pull it until it becomes a pliable consistency to be used for the sweet creation you had in mind.  Whether by hand or through the use of a machine, eventually the blob will yield to the purpose and intended design, becoming something very useful and delicious to the one who created it.

 My friend, you and I are the sweetness of God’s Creation.  So much so, in the beginning, He said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…” Genesis 1:26.  There is something genuinely sweet and uniquely beautiful in the reality that the God of all creation wanted a special creature in His “likeness.” 

Sadly, this beautiful, sweet creation has been tainted, corrupted, and susceptible to the dregs of sin this world produces.  But that doesn’t stop the story.  Thank God!

There is something more in the eyes and in the heart of the Father for this lowly being.  He still sees the possibility of all they can become and with His holy hands, He begins His own process of pulling and stretching.  And like the taffy maker, He’s watching, and working, and drawing hearts near for the end result – a sweetness we can never feel, experience, or imagine on this side of glory.

But as with the blob of candy turned treat, there must be a willingness to yield to the pulling and stretching work God wants to perform in you and through you. 

The question is, will you truly let God have His way in your life.  Oh, I know the sentiments we say, the songs we sing, and the prayers we pray – but when it’s all said and done, as uncomfortable and sometimes painful, will we yield our all I holy surrender to become those sweet creations?

“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” James 1:22

“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Romans 12:1

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jeremiah 29:11

“There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand.” Proverbs 19:21

“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” 1 Peter 2:9

“I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well” Psalm 139:14, and it is truly a sweet thing.

Blessings~

Additional Reads:

“Surrender”

“Are You Willing?”

“Giving God My All”

“God’s Omniscient View”

“The Value of You”

“You Make a Difference to God”

“God Can Use Your Life”

“God’s Design”

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God Can Use Your Life

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How often have we gone through a mental checklist to compare ourselves with others or even the lives we see represented in the pages of Scripture? “If I were more like so-and-so, then I would be able to do _________ like they did.”

While our living can be inspired positively by others and we can learn mighty lessons through their stories, in the end their story and your story is written with God’s purpose for that particular life in mind. While Daniel is noted for his wisdom, his obedience, and altogether good character, when it came time to do what no one in history was able to do, tell another’s dream and give the interpretation, Daniel readily made it known that, “But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart,” Daniel 2:30, emphasis added.

While all these good character traits put Daniel in a better position to be used by God in this fashion, Daniel, himself, recognized that it was not because of anything he had done, nor did he count himself more special than anyone else. He saw himself as the present vessel of that time that God chose to use for His divine purposes.

I feel like a lot of modern-day Christians are designing their own purposes for their lives and expecting God to put His stamp of approval on it. But when we read the lives represented in the Bible, that just was not the case. Peoples lives were often “interrrupted” by the call of God on their lives. Gideon was threshing wheat. Peter and the boys were out fishing. Samson’s mother was minding her business when an angelic being appeared to her. David was tending sheep. And Mary and Joseph’s plan for a normal betrothal period definitely did not go as they had planned. Even regarding the priesthood we see that, “No man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron,” Hebrews 5:4, emphasis added.

Individual’s callings are just that, callings. Certain people have certain appointments on their lives that may not look or operate as others do. Lives are meant to inspire us but we may not be able to completely replicate their story and experience exactly in our own lives. That was their story. We appreciate that we witnessed it or that it was recorded in history for us to glean God-truths from to help us build our faith.

But when Jesus states, “Without me ye can do nothing,” John 15:5, that’s exactly what He means. True wisdom recognizes this truth and lives daily before Him, measuring their course in this world by His Word. From that, as a potter with his vessel, we are molded, shaped, and used as the Master sees fit according to His holy purposes.

Live right. Yes.

Follow the Word. Yes.

Obey His calling. Yes.

Keep your character in check. Yes.

Walk in faith. Yes, and more.

But don’t get discouraged if your story looks different than another’s. As long as your living is pleasing in the eyes of God, that’s all that matters. And you can celebrate who you are, as the apostle Paul did himself in recognizing this truth: “By the grace of God I am what I am…” 1 Corinthians 15:10.

Who knows how your “right now” story is inspiring others. Daniel or other Bible characters probably couldn’t fathom us still being inspired by their stories thousands of years later. But, here we are.

You may not be interpreting dreams, healing the sick, or some other phenomenal feat – but I just want to encourage you to keep living for God. His purpose for you may look different than others but that does not take away from the fact that you are still here with a divine assignment on your life.

I may never walk on water, bring down Goliath with a stone, sleep in comfort on a pillow of lions, or take a stroll through fiery flames without being touched, but that doesn’t mean my life and your life isn’t touching someone else. Our daily, mundane, routine, unexciting, and unpopular living is not in vain. For if I only inspire one of my grandbabies (although I desire all) to follow the Lord, is this not a great treasure reaped from an “ordinary” life?

God can use your life right where you are at! Just live for Him. That is all Daniel ever wanted to do. He wasn’t seeking glory for himself or popularity. He simply recognized he was a vessel and it had nothing to do with him being better than any other in any sense of the word. God used him where he was at and God can use you, too.

“The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.” – Psalm 138:8

“There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand.” – Proverbs 19:21

“Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” – Ecclesiastes 12:13

“And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.” – 1 Thessalonians 4:11, 12

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