But now, O Lord, thou art our Father;

we are the clay, and thou our Potter;

and we all are the work of thy hand.

Isaiah 64:8 AKJV

One Sunday morning service the pastor’s sermon was on the Bible story of The Potter and the Clay. 

These passages, Jeremiah 18, tell of the message that the LORD sent to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, regarding the evil which He planned against them for their sinful ways. 

In the verses, the experienced potter forms a vessel and it becomes marred (spoiled, flawed, blemished) in his hands, so he remakes it. 

The LORD asks, “cannot I do this with you as this potter?”  “Behold, as the clay is in the potters hand, so are ye in My hand,…” 

These passages teach us not only that there are very real consequences of sin but it is a pictorial of Salvation. We are born a sinner and, in the hand of the Lord, He cleanses us by Salvation through Christ Jesus and transforms us by His Holy Spirit.

On this particular Sunday, as I listened to a very familiar recount of the scriptures, the pastor held up a clay pot in one hand and place his other inside of it to illustrate how the potter would have formed the pot. 

As I watched the pastor, holding the vessel, God impressed a thought and image in my heart and I wrote it down.

“It is My Holy Spirit that I place inside of you that gives you shape and dimension [character]. My Spirit within you creates the vessel. My sovereign hand, between you and the world completes the design. It is the world that presses in on you, trying to rob you of My gift. But it is My hand that holds back the world and protects you.

Without My Holy Spirit within you, to bring you into a usable godly vessel, the world will push and press and crush… the world will destroy you.  I AM shaping you!”

I have a little experience with pottery and there are a few things that I know. The potter begins with a lump of clay, dense and formless, and through various processes he prepares the clay for use. One process is called wedging, where the potter places the clay on its corner, like a wedge, and presses or smushes its opposite corner toward it until they meet. This motion will be repeated many times. Wedging will align the clay particles, making the clay body to become homogeneous and have more plasticity. This is crucial because it allows the clay to mold easier into the vessel that the potter desires to create.

In the potter’s skilled hands the clay begins to take shape. It takes a firm even pressure, both within and without, to guide the clay into his desired form. If the potter applies too much pressure, the vessel will break and be destroyed. If he applies too little pressure, the vessel will become unstable and collapse. It is with the balanced amount of pressure and resistance that the perfect vessel is wrought. 

Also, the process to remake a marred pot is not a gentle one. The potter completely destroys the existing vessel by compressing the clay and then he slowly begins to form it anew.

Is this not how we are transformed from a sinner into the image of Christ?God doesn’t issue us a list of changes we must do immediately. He will bring about changes in us in His own perfect timing, but

process is uncomfortable as we are being reshaped. We struggle between submitting to the purifying hand of God and resisting the temptations of a familiar and sinful world. 

Another interesting thing about clay, such as with pure clay and porcelain, is that it can be both weak as the dust it contains and yet strong enough to withstand being fired at extremely high temperatures. In pottery there are low, medium, and high fire clays. If a clay is fired at a higher temperature than its clay body can endure, it will crack, or explode. 

I have wondered if this may be why the trials we face throughout our Christian journey are “never more than we can bear.”  God, the Master Potter, knows what we can endure that will stretch us and strengthen us yet not destroy us.  

It is in His skilled hands that we are transformed from faith to faith and from glory to glory. It is through continual change, by His Holy Spirit that we are sculpted into His likeness and increase in the nature and character of God. He transforms us little by little to render us a strong godly vessel. One that will not grow weary carrying out His purpose, sharing the gospel, and leading the lost to Christ. One that will stand firm in faith under inevitable trials and tribulations and give glory to God.

When we come to Christ Jesus by faith our Salvation is in an instant but our transformation takes time. 

No matter the passage of time since the day of your Salvation, it is imperative to remain in prayer and in the scriptures. The branch cannot bear fruit separate from the Vine. It is through revelation of scripture, given by God, that we grow in knowledge and wisdom of His Word. The answer to every question, problem, trial, tribulation, inquiry, and curiosity can be found on the pages of the Holy Bible.

If you have not accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord and Saviour then I personally invite you to do so today. 

Do these 2 simple things and begin your walk in Christ Jesus. 

Ask God in all sincerity for forgiveness of your sins and He will forgive you.

Accept Christ Jesus by faith as your Lord and Saviour. 

If you have done these things then you are saved and filled with the Holy Spirit. 

Welcome to the body of Christ.  

REF: Acts 20:21/Romans 10:9/2 Corinthians 5:17/Acts 2:38 (See full scripture below)

I strongly urge you to find a Church body to join as we are called to assemble with one another. Remember that whichever Church you choose will be filled with other fallible humans in continual need Christ Jesus. Our individual transformations will take place in God’s timing so be patient and pray for fellow Christians rather than criticize them. 

GOD LOVES YOU !!! ❤️❤️❤️

NOTE:

There are “Sinners Prayers” that can be recited which lead in you in repentance of sin and acceptance of Christ Jesus by faith as your Lord and Saviour.

Doing either one of these is fine as the only things that matters are a sincere repentance of sin and acceptance, by faith, of Christ Jesus as your Lord and Saviour.

Current arguments on whether the prayer should or should not be recited are irrelevant.  It is not by the prayer that we are saved but by the blood of Christ Jesus we are saved. 

SCRIPTURE

and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house, 

testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

Acts 20:20-21 AKJV

that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Romans 10:9 AKJV

Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Acts 2:38 AKJV

But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

2 Peter 3:18 AKJV

But now, O Lord, thou art our father;

we are the clay, and thou our potter;

and we all are the work of thy hand.

Isaiah 64:8 AKJV

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

2 Timothy 3:16 AKJV

Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

Galatians 3:24 AKJV

But we are all as an unclean thing,

and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags;

and we all do fade as a leaf;

and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

And there is none that calleth upon thy name,

that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee:

for thou hast hid thy face from us,

and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.

But now, O Lord, thou art our father;

we are the clay, and thou our potter;

and we all are the work of thy hand.

Isaiah 64:6-8 AKJV

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 

Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. 

Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. 

And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Jeremiah 18:1-4 AKJV

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

2 Corinthians 4:16 AKJV

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 

knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 

But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

James 1:2-4 AKJV

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

2 Corinthians 5:17 AKJV

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Romans 12:2 AKJV

being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Philippians 1:6 AKJV

For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

Romans 1:17 AKJV

Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.

Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

2 Corinthians 3:16-18 AKJV

Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.

Psalm 18:35 AKJV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 

according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: 

having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 

to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved. 

Ephesians 1:3-6 AKJV