(ThyBlackMan.com) 2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. As Christians we are all jars of clay. Before we were born again we were useless lumps of clay, but now have become jars of clay that hold the Holy Spirit within us! We are now containers of His glory. We are not pottery jars but jars of clay. The difference is that pottery jars are very hard and the outside represents a finished product. Always prettier on the outside then the inside. As jars of clay we are a work in progress that God has already finished and perfected. We start out as jars that are short and have very thick walls or sides.
Our center opening, where the Holy Spirit lives, is small and narrow leaving very little room for God. That is why we become a work in progress. As God works on us through the Holy Spirit, He takes us as useless clay vessels and then He reshapes, remolds and remakes into useful vessels of God. God puts us on His potter’s wheel. As clay in the master’s hands we must be willing and obedient to allow God to work with us. That makes us soft and pliable hard clay cannot be reshaped until it becomes soft first. He then begins the process of making our walls thinner, wider and taller. All designed to allow us as His containers to hold more of Him by making less room for us. It is a hands-on type of work that the Master Potter does.
Through this ongoing process God, who is Jehovah Jireh, fills us with ALL that we need to get through each day, all that we need to grow in Him, all that we need for protection and all that we need to always be victorious. Since God is present in us through the Holy Spirit we have access to all that He has for us. God fills us with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, (1 Corinthians 12:1-11), tools of the Holy Spirit, (courage, boldness, will power and self-control). His plan is not that we are to survive everyday but to be more than conquers and to be a blessing to God. For His Shekinah Glory to shine daily through us so brightly that everywhere we go people notice. There is a difference about us because of God in and through us.
By allowing God to mold and shape you as a clay jar, you allow God to create more surface area in you. By taking the walls of the clay jar and making them taller, wider and thinner God creates more surface area in you to hold more of Him and for you to experience more of God. By asking God to freshly fill you with the Holy Spirit, God will make sure that you have enough room first. You will have to get rid of the clay that is interfering and limiting God’s work in and through you. Asking God to remove all of the old hard clay that hinders the moving, empowering and amazing work of the Holy Spirit.
As He shapes you He has to remove the excess, useless, and unwanted clay that is hanging on to you. Again making more room for God and less room for you. What is God telling you? Do you hear His voice? I heard recently that to have success in your crisis you have to have success in your process. If your daily walk with the Lord isn’t obedient and unrestricted then you don’t have success in your process. Being reshaped and reformed into His likeness is all part of the process!
Clay, by itself, is a useless hunk of raw material. The best that clay can hope for is to get stuck to the bottom of someone’s shoe. But God, the Master Potter, takes that hunk of clay and gives it purpose, gives it meaning and gives it value. You now have a future and a purpose! The clay can’t tell the Master Potter what to make or what to do. It is ALL the work of the Master Potter’s hands that brings life to the hunk of clay.
2 Timothy (Amplified Bible) 2:21 So whoever cleanses himself [from what is ignoble and unclean, who separates himself from contact with contaminating and corrupting influences] will [then himself] be a vessel set apart and useful for honorable and noble purposes, consecrated and profitable to the Master, fit and ready for any good work. God loves His children so very much! As the Master Potter, God takes great pride in His jars of clay. As God reshapes the inside of each jar, the inner you, He starts adorning the outside of each jar. Each jar is uniquely different, beautiful and useful! All quality made clay jars carry the mark of the one who created them. Because the Master Potter created and owns you, as His vessel you carry His mark.
Sometimes the clay will get prematurely hard due to unresolved sin and it will take God to break the jar so that He can start again reshaping and reforming the jar of clay. You must repent first to allow God to reshape you. Ask the Master Potter to reshape your thinking, your attitude, your relationships, your mind set and your walk with the Father!
Fill and spill!
Staff Writer; Steve C.
Can contact this Christian brother at; SteveC@ThyBlackMan.com.
