Daily Devotional

A Ministry of the Kerwin Baptist Church

May 25, 2018

by Pastor Hawtree

I AM PERSUADED THAT HE IS ABLE:

TO BE THE POTTER (part 3)

Jeremiah 18:4 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.

We have seen the POTTER, the PLAN, and the PROCESS.God is the Potter, and God’s will is the Plan, and God’s work is the Process.

The fourth thing we see in this passage is the PROBLEM.
“The vessel…was marred”. Vessels are made to be filled. By the way, so are you and I. We are filled with the Spirit of God, or we are filled with our flesh. Vessels are made to be used for something. Vessels are to be useful, valuable, and to serve a purpose. This vessel did not stand up to the pressure. We do not know if it was marred on the wheel, or maybe in the heating process. The heating process will often cause clay vessels to break and crack. We can simply wonder “what happened”. As is so often the case in the lives of some Christians, marriages, and ministries. “What happened”? What happened was when friction or heat came their way, they cracked. We all show our true selves whenever the heat is applied. Every vessel normally looks nice, pretty, and strong, until it hits the heat. Only then do we know if there are any imperfections in the clay. That is why as a pastor, we try hard to invest in young people; praying that when friction or heat come, they will stand up to it. All around this area are houses tonight full of people that are out of church, away from God, not being used, having no purpose and we could sit down and ask, “what happened”. Our churches are full of marred vessels.

One thing before we move on I must comment on. If you will notice, the clay was in the potters’ hands as he put it on the wheel and turned it. It was in the potters’ hands as he molded it. And the vessel was in the potters’ hands when it was marred. It was in the potters’ hands through the whole PROCESS, but the Potter did not discard it after he saw the crack. He just started making it over. My dear friend, we are never out of our Fathers’ hands no matter if we crack under the pressure or break under the heat. We are always and will always be in God’s hands.

* Psalm 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. 24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.