Tuesday, July 28, 2009

The Potter's Wheel


I didn't see him lie down in the shallow ditch in my yard but there he was, resting from the tiring work of pouring a new concrete driveway for me. I kept an eye on him for a couple of minutes to make sure he was okay while I finished up a couple of small jobs.

I really didn't know him very well at all. When I first met him he didn't talk much, he was all business. I was surprised he looked so tired; he was a big burly man, about six foot three inches tall weighing close to three hundred pounds or so.

After a couple minutes I walked over to him; he was still lying in the ditch; and asked him if he was alright. That's all it took. He spent the next ten minutes sharing his troubles with me. He said he had lost about a hundred pounds on his doctor's orders but had gained it all back so you couldn't tell it now.

He went on to say it didn't work trying to get healthy; in fact he thought it might have caused him to get cancer. I don't know how serious he was about that, but he didn't laugh as he said it. Anyway, the point to all this is that after he told me about the cancer surgery and the other medical treatments, he made the following statement.

"The Lord was trying to get my attention … and He did."

I replied back … "Yes, He can do that, and He has a lot of ways to get our attention."

I know the introduction to my subject is longer than I normally take, but God deals with real people, who have real problems and He can use these problems to get their attention.

So today I want to deal with how God, as "a potter" can shape and reform our lives using the things in the world. Even though the following scripture's first true meaning concerns the nation of Israel, I believe a secondary meaning can be applied to our individual lives.

Jeremiah 18:1-6 … "THE WORD which came to Jeremiah from the Lord: Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear My words. Then I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he was working at the wheel. And the vessel that he was making from clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he made it over, reworking it into another vessel as it seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the Lord came to me: O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does? says the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel."

Why would God want to place our vessel back on the potter's wheel?

He told Jeremiah the vessel was spoiled … something was wrong with it. It could have been shaped wrong, maybe it couldn't stand up on its own; perhaps it just wasn't quite like … the potter wanted it. Could this be a description of man?

How does He rework us into a vessel that seems good to Him? We all live in a body made of flesh, and this body has become just as big a part of who and what we are as our spirit and soul are. So, I want to start with this premise … most of us as Christians wouldn't have too much trouble living for the Lord if it wasn't for these two things …

1.) Our flesh and its desires.
2.) Our fallen nature that controls our flesh.

You could say that both are really one in the same since the desires of the flesh come from our fallen nature. But if or when our vessel of clay ends up on the potters wheel, remember it's not so much that God wants to work on our physical body of flesh (although He has the right if He so chooses) but rather it's our fallen nature He wants to work on.

Paul wrote in Romans 8:7 … "the mind of the flesh, with it's carnal thoughts and purposes, is hostile to God, for it does not submit itself to God, it cannot."

The mind of the flesh is the fallen nature that is in your soul, which is different than your spirit. The soul (again, not your spirit) is where you have your passions, your thoughts, your mind, the real you, the person inside of you that looks out through your eyes, the one that is responsible to control the appetites and impulses of the flesh, the desires of our fallen fleshly nature. And as I have found out, most of them aren’t good.

I want to repeat what I stated before … your flesh (with its desires) is just as much who you are, as is your spirit. And that's the problem. It's your flesh … not your spirit that causes the trouble.

God has given us a "free will" to do what we want, which could be a problem. We do have the right to resist God as He reworks our clay; and most of the time as a rule He won't force us, but He has been known to do so. I do remember a man named Paul who met Jesus on the road … that experience was a little forceful with the light, the voice and the blinded eyes.

Which brings up the question; does God have the right to do … whatever … He wants with us? Psalms 24:1 states … "The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness of it, the world and they who dwell in it."

God owns it all. This verse covers everything; the earth … the planet, the fullness of it … everything on it and all it produces, the world … man's social systems and governments, and they … all living creatures including mankind. He even owns the very breath in our bodies.

Paul continues in Romans 9:20-24, "… who are you, a mere man, to criticize, contradict and answer back to God? Will what is formed say to Him that formed it, Why have you made me thus? Has the potter no right over the clay, to make one vessel for honorable use, and another for dishonorable use? What if God, fully intending to show and to make known His power and authority, and His dealings with the vessels, (objects of His mercy) including ourselves …"

The Lord would always prefer to use His Word and His Spirit to make the changes we need in our vessel of clay. God, as the potter wants to make changes in our attitude and our purpose in life; which then changes our fleshly desires or at least helps us control them. That change only comes through having more of His Spirit within us.

But what if we aren't listening to His Word as the Holy Spirit speaks to us?

Then He must first get our attention. Remember I stated that I replied back to the man lying in my ditch … "Yes, the Lord has a lot of ways to get our attention."

In this man's life, the one in the ditch, could it be that what got his attention was the fact that God just stepped back as He did in the case of Job, which then allowed the nature of sin that is in the world to come against him, the natural evils; things like sickness or a disease like cancer, or maybe an attack from the devil … one or all … who really knows what causes things like sickness, depression, suffering, the loss of love, and yes, dare I say it … even the death of a loved one. So many things are in the world and are at God's disposal, which He can use to get our attention.

I do know this … God is Sovereign … and if He so chooses; I'll let you finish that statement.

God would always prefer just to speak to our hearts. But if we aren't listening … He can get our attention when He places us back on "The Potters Wheel" and starts it spinning.

One fact usually overlooked by believers is that God Himself is the one who cursed the world we live in … perhaps to remind us of what sin has done.

Monday, July 20, 2009

In Regard to Healing


R.C. Sproul said …

"I don’t know how many times I’ve seen on the walls of pastors’ studies or in Christian homes the little sign … Expect a Miracle."

If a miracle is something we can expect, like we expect the mail every morning, it ceases to be miraculous … it’s no longer extraordinary, and it no longer does the job that miracles were designed to do, which is … to call attention in an astonishing way to the intervention of God.

On the other hand, the New Testament tells us to bring our prayers before the Throne of God, and particularly for those … who are sick. So I expect God to be merciful because He promises to be merciful, and I expect God to be present in times of trouble because He promises to be present in every time of trouble. I expect God to take our prayers seriously when we pray on behalf of the sick.

But … I do not expect that God is going to heal everybody we pray for because I don’t know that God has ever promised to do that. I have no right to expect something from God that He has not categorically promised in every situation.

In the New Testament we see that Jesus, as far as we know, had a perfect healing record. When Jesus asked the Father to heal somebody, they were healed.

The apostles healing record however wasn't that consistent. There were times when they prayed for the healing of people and those people were healed; but there were also times when they prayed for people who were not healed.

In many healing situations when dealing with others, speaking practically now; what we should do is bring our requests before God in faith, and then … let God be God.

The Bible tells us that in the world we have tribulation, there is pain and suffering; we are going to suffer … sorry … there is sickness, disease and death. I can't find where God has promised us healing every time, in every situation. But I can find where God has promised to go with us"though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me."

Again I find myself thinking of Christ as my shepherd; and as such my total care which includes healing, is in His hands. "I shall not want"more … than my shepherd gives me.

So … I pray, trust God and go on.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Standing in the Gap


Ezekiel 22:30 … "And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none." K.J.V.

In the Amplified Bible, in place of "make up the hedge" it reads … "who should build up the wall …"

Sin makes a gap, a breach, a hole in the hedge or wall of protection that is placed around God's people … Israel in the verse above … a gap which allows both, good things to run out from them and evil things to pour in upon them; a gap by which God was also willing to enter and destroy them because of that sin.

It's God's desire to show mercy even when He must correct or judge a sinful people; that He expects someone to intercede for them, and enquires if there would be a man (or woman) that will stand in the gap.

There is a way of making up for the breach caused from sin and standing in the gap against the judgments of God, and that is through repentance and prayerful intercession.

When there is a breach in the wall and judgment is about to break in upon a nation … a nation like Israel or America today; and if prayer is restrained because no one is found that will intercede or speak a good word for them … when it is so, what can be expected but utter ruin and destruction?

Ezekiel 22:31 … "Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD."

God also deals with our sin no worse, and usually much better … than we deserve.

The nation of Israel might have been said to perish for the lack of such a man to interpose or … come between, to alter or hinder an action … like the judgment of God as Moses did when he "stood in the gap" for Israel.

God seemed determined in His own mind to destroy Israel, being provoked at their forgetfulness of Him and their sinful idolatry when He said to Moses in Exodus 32:10-14 … "therefore let Me alone, that My wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them …"

The Psalmist also speaks to this in Psalm 106:23 … "Therefore He said that He would destroy them, had not Moses His chosen stood before Him in the breach, to turn away His wrath, lest He should destroy them."

Ezekiel 22 summarizes the sin of Jerusalem, her prophets and her priests. The eye of God sought for someone to stand in the gap before Him, but found none.

God is basically saying … I saw there was a breach made in the … "walls" … the moral state and heart of the people; and I sought for a man that would stand in the gap, that would faithfully exhort, reprove and counsel with sound doctrine from the Word of God. But none was to be found in Israel, so judgment came.

I have said all of this to come to this point; today the … "walls" … that have a breach or gap in them is our nation's faith in God and in Jesus as Lord. Have we as a Christian nation forgotten who has given us our salvation? Are we as a nation just as guilty of idolatry as Israel was when Ezekiel said that God was looking for a man (or woman) to stand in the gap?

America as a nation has been blessed by God from its inception. The founding fathers created this nation to be a lighthouse based on the Word of God. Although this country did not have a physical "wall" around it for protection from enemies; it did have God's Salvation as its walls.

Isaiah 60:18 … "Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise."

Isaiah states that our salvation is our "walls" that protect us from the enemy. Sin opens a gap in the hedge of protection that God has placed around us. The gap or breach allows the enemy access to us individually and as a nation. I am not saying that our individual salvation is not secure. All that is ever going to be done has already been done by Jesus … He paid the price for our salvation in full … once and for all.

But America is not like Israel, where a Priest can offer Atonement for the nation. We, the believers who are following the Lord Jesus are being called to … stand in the gap … for America before it's too late and God sends judgment upon us like a flood through the gap or breach opening up in America's … "walls."

But there is still hope, because God said in …

Isaiah 62:6 … "I have set watchmen upon thy walls … which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD, keep not silence …"

God has also set … "watchmen" … on America's walls to watch for holes, breaches or gaps in the walls … our Christian faith, our salvation. Could it be that I am one of the watchmen that … "never hold their peace … that make mention of the LORD and keep not silent …"?

Is this the reason I have this blog, to give warning of a breach or gap in the wall?

Had not Moses stood before God in the gap; the allusion is either to a hedge broken down, or a hole in the wall which allows the enemy a way in to … "kill, steal and destroy." So Moses made up the hedge, and stood in the gap. He presented himself to God, stood in the gap on behalf of the people with fervent prayer and was successful in his intercession for them. This shows the power of prayer, and its result with God.

This may also be seen or thought of as a shadow of intercession to come, a type of Christ; as Moses was a mediator between God and the people of Israel, so is Christ a mediator between God and His people. Sin is a transgression of God's law, a breaking of His statutes, which He has set also as a hedge or wall around man; and sin makes a breach between God and man.

But today Christ has stood in the gap, made up the breach with His intercession, and has appeased the wrath of God, and turned it away, and by doing so is preventing the ruin and destruction of His Church today.

Hebrews 7:25 … "Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them."

As … a watchman on the wall … I pray that others will stand in the gap with me for America.

May God restore what America has lost.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Stumbling


Jude 1:24 … "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling …"

As I look back into the history of man in each of the dispensations or periods of time, I find that man has always had a problem with … "falling."

Adam, in the dispensation of Innocence while in the garden, after walking with God, could not keep himself from falling. In the dispensation under Law, King David, a man after God's own heart could not keep himself from falling.

Even the Apostle Paul living in the dispensation of Grace as we do stated that he was the chief of sinners, meaning he also could not keep himself from falling.

I'm not speaking of falling as to the fact that "all have sinned" as Romans 3:23 states. I'm speaking of believers walking with Christ, doing all they can to keep themselves from falling.

All the people of God are liable to fall into temptation, into sin, into errors and mistakes today just as man has from Adam's day on; we are not able to keep from falling. Imperfect sinful men cannot keep themselves; we lack the power to do it … in and of … ourselves.

But here in this short letter, Jude closes with this promise that even though we are not able, Jesus … "is able to keep us from falling …"

What He keeps us from is … from falling through temptations; not from being tempted by Satan, that's going to happen; but from sinking under his temptations, and from the dominion that sin can have in your life.

This word "falling" (aptaistous) occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It literally means … "not stumbling" … as a horse would stumble. Therefore, I not only believe that Jesus can keep me from the dominion of sin in my life; but also that Jesus can and will keep me from "stumbling" … from being tripped up by sin. But only if

If I allow God, by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, total free access to my heart, my mind and my spirit; and I give Him the reins of my life, like leading a horse; He can then lead me around things or away from things that would cause me to "stumble" and fall.

My translation of this verse would read … "Now unto him (that's Jesus) that is able to keep you from not stumbling …"

All of us, even as believers … fall into sin … that's a fact. But … we don't fall completely. Why do I say, "We don't fall completely?"

It's basically because of this one fact; we are not holding God's hand, He is holding our hand, and God won't let go, even when we stumble. We don't fall … all the way … we don't fall completely.

Jude goes on in this verse and reminds us that not only will Jesus keep us from falling; He also presents us faultless before God.

Jesus Christ is able, and He is as willing as He is able … "to keep us from falling, and to present us faultless" … not as though we never have had faults or sin in our life, for what has once been done can never be undone, even by God Himself; but rather …

He presents us to the Father as those whose faults … shall not be imputed to them.

Our salvation depends upon Christ's keeping power, not ours.