Jars of Clay

God created us as fragile, clay jars to contain the greatest treasure this world has ever known. We have the light of Christ shining in our hearts, and His power is constantly available to us in every situation (2 Corinthians 4:7). Jesus’ sacrifice on Calvary’s cross cleansed us, consecrated us and set us apart to God (1 John 1:7; Hebrews 10:10-12).

Jesus chose us to be a royal, holy people who exclusively belong to God’s family (1 Peter 2:9). He bought us with the price of His life, so that we would glorify God in our thoughts, words and deeds (1 Corinthians 6:20). God’s Holy Spirit exchanges, in our soul, the fleshly carnality of our old nature for the holiness and spirituality of God’s Son (Galatians 5:16; Romans 8:13).

Christ manifests His life in and through us. The individual members of Christ’s Body die with Him, are set free from the powers of this world and are raised to walk in new life in Him (Colossians 2:12,20). When we realize our human powerlessness, dependence and worthlessness apart from Him, we enter into a place of His spiritual power and authority, and our identity is centered in Jesus (Luke 10:19).

We faithfully walk before Him in humility and total reliance on Him for every need in our life (Genesis 17:1). People see Christ in us and realize that we are set apart for Him. An example of this phenomenon is Joseph in Potiphar’s and Pharoah’s service, as well as his time in prison. They recognized the power of God in Joseph, and respected him and elevated him in power and authority.

Joseph accepted God’s plan in spite of his brothers’ duplicity and abandonment, as well as false accusations against his character. He knew that God would work out everything, even prison, for his good. Joseph gives us an example of someone entirely sold out to God. God will bless our life as He did Joseph’s, if we will put our complete faith in His faithfulness.

Prayer:

Father God, You are more to us than a help in times of trouble, the pardon for our sins and our fire insurance policy against hell. You are also our King. We do not live according to our plans and purpose and ask You to bless us. We live in constant, total surrender to Your plans for our life, and we reap the blessings of a child of the King. Thank You for sending Jesus to redeem us and to reconcile us to Yourself. Remind us to live each moment of our life in Your service and not in selfish ambition and self-serving goals.

Thought for the Day:

As we obey God fully and keep His commandments, we are His treasured possession from among all the people in the whole world. - Exodus 19:5

A Place of Refuge

God does not abandon us at birth and expect us to make our own way in life. He does not want us to work for Him; He prefers to work through us (Galatians 2:20). Even our best self-efforts are merely filthy rags in His sight (Isaiah 64:6). Once we recognize our need for complete reliance on the Lord, His Spirit engulfs us. We are filled through all of our being with all of God’s fullness (Ephesians 3:19-20). We take specific time-outs during the day to draw away from society and to sit in silence in God’s company.

Many of us maintain a lifestyle of extreme anxiety. We rush through life, losing sleep to meet quotas and cut-off dates, using up every degree of human exertion we can rouse. We pay inflated prices for dessert coffee to wake us up, and then swallow medication to quell the physical illnesses produced by our frantic pace. We depend on our self-effort to handle all of life’s terrors. We mistakenly think the world depends upon us and revolves around us. What we fail to remember is that the cemetery is full of people who thought they were indispensable.

Sometime after our conversion, God brings us to a deeper place of brokenness. Recognizing that we can no longer function through our human potential, we acknowledge our weakness and totally surrender to His Lordship. We enter a new realm of the Spirit, which leads us to God’s power in us and through us. Basking in His presence, we receive His love, peace, wisdom and strength (Isaiah 26:3). We let go of control over our life and relinquish our worries into His capable hands. He is our only lasting refuge and strength, our constant help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1).

When we sit alone, we are never lonely as long as the Spirit of God resides within our spirit (Psalm 46:10). Connecting to the Spirit of God in times of aloneness gives us the opportunity to walk in His peace and rest throughout the day (Mark 6:31. We receive His healing for our spirit, body and soul – our mind, will and emotions. We enter our quiet place within, experiencing unity with His Spirit. We move through the routine of our daily life led by God’s Spirit.

As we carve deliberate times of solitude from our schedule to be alone (all-one) with the Lord, He readily speaks to us (Revelation 3:20). We suspend our thoughts and praise Him for His faithfulness and glory. Whether we are walking on the sunny beach beside the lulling cadenced of the swishing surf under the call of gulls floating on the breeze, or carpooling the children, or performing household chores, or driving in rush hour traffic, or chained to the overwhelming aspects at work, we remain in His presence, listening to His direction for every moment of our day.

We are dead, and our life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). God lives within us through Christ and leads us by His Spirit, ready to commune with us whenever we give Him the chance. All it takes is for us to silence the dissonance within and without and to focus all of our attention on His love welling up within us. Then we will walk in balance with His Will and direction for our life. As we remain in the Lord and rest in His goodness, His quietness and confidence invade our spirit and give us strength. (Isaiah 30:15).

Prayer:

Father God, I find my rest in You alone; my salvation comes from You. My soul waits silently for You, because You are the source of all of my joy. Remind me to enter that quiet place within my spirit all throughout the day, no matter what responsibilities claim my time, so that I can focus on You and enjoy fellowship with You every moment of my life. As we abide in You, Your love abides in us (1 John 4:16).  You are our hiding place. You preserve us from trouble and surround us with Your protection and deliverance (Psalm 32:7).

Thought for the Day:
Make it a priority to pursue more of Christ in silent times alone with Him.
- Psalm 42:1

Why God?

Read: Jeremiah 32:37-38

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.” - Proverbs 3:5

Have you ever questioned God’s behavior, promises or direction? You are not alone. Everybody does it. For instance, Jeremiah questioned God's reasoning in Jeremiah 32:24,25: "See how the siege ramps are built up to take the city? Though the city will be handed over to the Babylonians, You say to me, 'Buy the field'".  

Jeremiah’s puzzled prayer received an answer from God, but it did not make any more sense than God’s directive to purchase the field. The enemy was about to overrun the city of Jerusalem, and all God said was, "I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for Me?" (Jeremiah 32:27).

It turns out that God, in His foresight, wanted to use this piece of land as an object lesson for Israel. It was an earnest of their future inheritance. It was a symbol of God’s promise to their forefathers that Israel would always be God’s people and He would always be their God (Jeremiah 32:37-38). The purchase loudly proclaimed to Israel that God would eventually bring them back to dwell in safety in the Promised Land once again.

So often we have trouble seeing the big picture. From our perspective, the oddly shaped piece that God provides does not fit into the puzzle of our life in any way. He gives us a directive or opens a door or leads us down a road that just does not make any sense to us. We end up arguing, pleading and cajoling with Him.

When that does not work, we shift into a passive aggressive mode – pretending to obey, when we actually have absolutely no intention of carrying out what we view as an incomprehensible move.

Then, we go off and try unsuccessfully to solve the problem on our own. After hitting the brick wall a few times, we eventually give in and obey; although, we continue to wait impatiently for the desired results. We pace, we fret and we battle with growing anxiety, until we sit back and pray out of frustration, finally relying on God to reveal the purpose of His plan in His timing. While trust God during these puzzling times in our lives, our spiritual growth increases and our closeness with Jesus, our Bridegroom, improves.

When I compare Jeremiah with Jonah, I see the difference between obedience and doing things my own way. From now on, I vow to obey rather than to argue when I do not understand. I will take a lesson from Jonah’s negative behavior, and I will save myself a great deal of trouble!

Prayer:
Lord God, we often have difficulty comprehending how all of the pieces of your plan will work together for our good. Even if we follow your direction, we often unsuccessfully understand Your purpose - especially when things fall apart before they get better. We tend to rely on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). Help us to patiently trust You; because, after all, You are God! 

Thought for the Day:

Life operates more smoothly when we remember that God does all things beautifully in His time.

His Power Within Us

Read: Ephesians 1:18-21

"To this end I labor, struggling with all His energy, which so powerfully works in me."  - Colossians 1:29

For years I "labored" and "struggled" with my work for the Lord. But, just like Paul, I finally learned that it is only through His energy, which so powerfully works in me, that I can do all things (Philippians 4:13). On that day, I stopped relying on my own strength and abilities, and started learning to follow the leading of Christ’s Spirit minute by minute throughout the day.

The lovely thing about the word Paul uses in this verse for "energy" is that it refers to the power, which is as potent as dynamite. "That power is like the working (energy) of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at the right hand in the Heavenly realms now (Ephesians 1:19)." Through His death, He made us members of His body, which gave us His fullness. His power fills everything in every way and it actively works in all Believers (Ephesians 1:23).

This exact same power that raised Christ from the dead is working in us all right now (Ephesians 1:20). The tragedy is that we seldom use this extraordinary gift. We wander aimlessly in life, pushed about by various circumstances, and guided by human philosophy rather than the Word of God. We tire easily and we get discouraged, depressed and bitter. We exist with a carnal perspective on life and we rarely achieve any gift of eternal value to offer back to God. How can we remedy this situation?

As we utilize His power within us, He gives us clear direction, and He helps us to focus on His will and to accomplish all that He planned for us. At times, God actually puts to flight every enemy that comes against us. For the most part, however, God uses this power to strengthen us, to help us to continue trusting Him in our daily walk and to support us as we accomplish His will for our lives.

God's path for our lives varies from day to day and is difficult at times, unless we rely on Him to always provides us with both the will and the power to accomplish all that He calls on us to do (Philippians 2:13). Remember that His yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matthew 11:30). We find great fulfillment in life only as we fall more intimately in love with Jesus and keep Him as the center of our focus.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, I pray that the eyes of our hearts may be enlightened in order that we may know the hope to which You have called us, and the riches of our glorious inheritance as saints, as well as Your incomparably great power in us who believe (Ephesians 1:18-19). We thank you for equiping us with all that we need to accomplish Your will in and through our lives. May You produce in us, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to You, and may we give You all the glory and honor forever and ever. Amen.
- Hebrew 13:21

Thought for the Day:

For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. - Romans 11:36