“Missing Mud”
October 12, 2008 am
Jeremiah 18:1-6
&n= bsp; What comes to your mind when you think about mud? A couple of things come to my mind. This past summer my oldest son was able to go to the beach with us. Y= ou know how sometimes the waves will carve out an indentation in the sand. At = low tide the indentation will hold some seawater. On the days when the air is a little cool, it is chilly when you come out of the water. The shallow water= in the indentation is heated up by the sun. Several times we would lay down in= the very warm water and scoop up mud and pour it over each other’s back a= nd legs and arms. It was very therapeutic.
&= nbsp; Another thing I think about when I think of mud is the football games I played in t= he mud. Slipping and sliding, covered in mud, there was nothing like playing football in the mud. None of these have anything to do with the mud we will look at today.
Jer 18:1= -7
18:1 =
This is
the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2 "Go down to the potter=
's
house, and there I will give you my message." 3 So I went down to the
potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was
shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into
another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
5 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 6 "O h=
ouse
of
&=
nbsp; All
of us are mud. And too much of the time, we are “missing in
action.” We, like the nation of
&=
nbsp; 2
Chron 16:9
9 For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the ear= th to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.
&= nbsp; Henry Blackaby in “Experiencing God”= uses the Potter and Clay analogy to understand what it takes to be a servant of God. He makes the unequivocal statement that God works through H= is servants. For the Master Potter to use his clay/servant it needs to:
&= nbsp; First of all>
&= nbsp; 1. Be Molded
&n= bsp; For you see, effective clay has no agenda, no preconceived designs for service = and no reluctance to obey. It’s moldable, pliable and totally submissive = to the will of the Master.
&n= bsp; Too often we have our own plans, and we know exactly what kind of servant we sh= ould be then God switches gears on us.
&n= bsp; For the last ten years I have been on a journey to discover what makes me tick.= I know my strengths, weaknesses and personality profile. Don’t get me wrong. I am an advocate of people knowing there spiritual gifts, personality traits and passions. But, does God only use my strengths.
&n= bsp; Several years ago at a conference I heard a very respected teacher passionately tell how important it was for you to serve in your strengths. He inferred that if you didn’= ;t you were completely out of God’s will!
&n= bsp; One of the important things about being molded is the fact that “God̵= 7;s ways are not our ways.”
=
; 2
Cor 12:9-10
9 B=
ut he
said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perf=
ect
in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my
weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Chri=
st's
sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in
difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
&n= bsp; God is not limited to working with our strengths. If humility is needed, God wi= ll find someone who will allow him to mold it. If zeal is needed, he will find someone who willing to be filled with the Spirit. If God needs Holy vessels. He will find someone who will allow him to remove the impurities.
&n= bsp; Pour me out.
&n= bsp; First, the Master Potter needs us to be Molded.
&n= bsp; The second thing the Master Potter needs us to:
2. Remain ins his hand..<= /p>
&n= bsp; If we are to continue as effective servants, two things will be a constant in = our life. DISCIPLINE and OBEDIENCE.
&n= bsp; Our Lord was the perfect example of this. His life was a constant discipline to= the will of the Father.
John 5:19
"I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he ca=
n do
only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son
also does.
&n=
bsp; Paul
described his this way in 2 Cor 10:5 “we take captive every though=
t to
make it obedient to Christ.”
= ; That’s why the disciplines of Bible study, prayer and worship with other believers= are so critical. We can not know Him and His will unless we spend time with him= .
&n= bsp; All of the saints that have borne tremendous fruit for the Lord have been peopl= e of incredible discipline. In William Carey’s biography they tell how he disciplined himself tremendously in preparation for the trial of the mission field.
Be careful though, if the discipline is fueled and motivated by anything but a love for God it becomes legalistic and dead. If the discipline turns into a habit instead of genuine desire to follow God, it will lose its power and transforming ability. It t= akes discipline and work to stay in stride with God, to remain in his hands. Whe= n we remain in his hands, what manifests itself in us is the “life of God.”
&n=
bsp; Discipline
is something we choose to do, but it is also something God does to us. H=
eb
12:5-7 "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes everyone he accepts as a
son."
7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating =
you as
sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?
=
; Flip
&n= bsp; Be careful when you attribute difficulties to Satan. It is much more glorious = to endure something by attributing it to Satan than dealing with it as somethi= ng God will use to mold us into His vessel..
&n= bsp; As hard as discipline is, its brother, obedience, is even more intimidating. J= esus said that obedience is the proof of our love for him. John 14:21 21 Whoe= ver has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
&n= bsp; You want to let God mold you? Obey him! You want to remain his hands? Obey him!= You want to know God? Obey Him! You want to love more? Obey Him! You want to experience God’s love more? Obey him!
&n= bsp; If we are having a dark time in our life where there is no love or joy or peac= e, it very often can be attributed to something we do not intend to obey. When= God gives us an assignment, he expects us to obey immediately.
Man without a coat.
The scary part is that very often h= e will tell us to do something where we can not see the next step.
In the Indiana Jones movie, The Last Crusade, where he is in search of the Holy Grail. Nearing the end of his search, he comes to the edge of a bottomless chasm. He must get to the other side to get the grail. The clue tells him to take a step of faith into the chasm. When he finally takes the step he realizes that he has stepped onto a solid bridge that he could not see.
Oswald Chambers says that= Jesus will not help us obey. We must do that. But the love relationship with God = will be the source of faith that enables us to take the steps of obedience.
&n= bsp; Remember it is not about obedience. It is about a relationship with Him. Without that love for Him there is no true obedience. Obedience without love is legalism= . It has no power. It is dead.
&n= bsp; But when we obey God out of a love relationship with Him there is power. Litera= lly all the vistas of heaven are opened up to us.
&n= bsp; Love is the discipline that brings us to obedience.
&n= bsp; Back to the analogy of the potter and the clay. If we are to allow him to mo= ld us, if we are to remain in his hands, we must go back to the greatest commandme= nt, Matt 22:37 "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your s= oul and with all your mind.' = In the end its about attitude of heart.
&n= bsp; I want to share with you the life prayer of a young missionary by the name of Betty Scott Stam. I think it speaks of an attitude of heart that enabled he= r to allow Him to mold her and to remain in His hands.
Betty Sco= tt Stam’s Prayer of Commitment quoted by Elizabeth Elliot
Lord,=
I
give up all my own plans and purposes, all my own desires and hopes and acc=
ept
your will for my life. I give myself, my life, my all utterly to you to be
yours forever. Fill me and seal me with your Holy Spirit. Use me as you wil=
l,
send me where you will, and work out your whole will in my life at any cost, now and forever.
AMEN.