How To Become Putty In God's Hands....again

How To Become Putty In God’s Hands......Again.

March 3, 2003 FBC, Chester, Illinois Mike Fogerson, Speaker

(Many ideas and thoughts in this message were inspired from A.W. Tozer’s The Pursuit of God)

Introduction:

A In the beginning pages of scripture we see God making man in their image.

a [7] the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7)

b Isn’t that a wonderful miracle? What a picture!

B A greater miracle happens when God goes to that man/woman and breathes on them again....and they turn back into clay.

a Dozen of times in the bible "clay" is used as pottery/jars. They were always filled with something (Water/Wine/Wheat) and served a purpose.

*(Some special purposes/some common) Romans 9:21

b We are "Jars of Clay" and we should be filled with the Holy Spirit and we should be serving some purpose.

*Some of us need become Putty in God’s hands.

*We’re full of something...maybe not His spirit.

*We’re fulfilling a purpose...maybe not His purpose.

B (ESS)The believing Christian is always trying to go back to being clay.

a I hope you’ll do what ever it takes to draw nearer to God. (Objective)

b P.Q. "When was the last time you where changed by God?"

T.S.: Let’s look at two preparations (preps) that we must make before we can become putty in God’s hands.

I The first prep to becoming putty in God’s hand is to become spiritually receptive.

A There are nearly 7 billion of us this celestial ball and God is the same distance from every one of us!

a No point is closer/nearer to God than any other point.

*God is just as close to me if I’m in the deepest, darkest, brackish waters in the most obscure bayou in southeast Louisiana as he is this aesthetically appealing, worship conducive sanctuary in southern Illinois.

b 7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. PS 139:7-10 NIV

PS 139:13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. God was even in your momma’s womb!

*When you walked your first step...God was there

*When you spoke your first word...God was there

*When you walked your first step...First day of school...read your first book..first prom...first kiss...first job...wedding..birth of every child..death of your parents...your spouse died...doctor told you that you had cancer..when you held your first grandchild for the first time...when you draw your last breath...GOD WILL BE THERE!!!!!

B Paul told the Athenians that God was there!!!

[27] God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. [28] `For in him we live and move and have our being.’ ....Acts 17:27-28a NIV

*If God is everywhere then why doesn’t the world celebrate that fact/knowledge/Good News?

a The same reason that the patriarch Jacob didn’t.

*After a rough night of sleep and dreaming, Jacob was awoken by a vision of God. GE 28:16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it."

*God was with Jacob all along in that place, he just became aware of it.

Receptivity. Jacob’s antenna was up now!

b God is ALWAYS with us–often were like Jacob. (Were not aware of it.)

C Being spiritually receptive has nothing to do with physical distance. It has everything to do with RELATIONSHIP.

a We sang "Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord" *Not miles, nearness to a place. Nearness of relationship.

IL. My wife, Pam, and I have been a couple for 19 years. We’ve been married for 11, nearly 12 years. We’ve been married approximately 4,097 days and we’ve barely spent a day a part. We are closer today than we were 4,000 days ago. Closer? I’ve spent everyday, night with her? How can I move closer? Closer has nothing to do with physical distance. Everything to do with relationship.

b Why is it that some people are "closer" to God? Is He closer to them?

*Does He want some of us closer to Him? (No. God doesn’t have favs.)

*What God’s done for you He’ll do for me. (God’s house were All equal)

Why is it that some people are "closer" to God? It has nothing to do with Him and it has everything to do with US.