#1 THE CLAY WAS MARRED… GOD IS NOT FINISHED… TRUST THE PLAN!
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com (YouTube: Wade Hughes)
What does heat and hot water do to butter? To a tea bag? To an egg?
WE NEED MORE THAN BAND AIDS… THE MASTER! THE CLAY! THE LESSON OF THE REVELATION: GO DOWN TO THE POTTER’S HOUSE:
Remember the commercial: I HAVE FALLEN AND I CAN’T GET UP…? Seems we know more and more about less and less until we finally know everything about nothing. When religion becomes more and more ceremonial and traditional forms than KNOWING A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP. God calls us to revival and renewal.
Jeremiah 18:1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. 3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. 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. 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hands.
* MAR: troubled, injured, flawed, scarred, to be impaired, to be disfigured, damaged, spoiled, to destroy.
* DISPOSABLE: Has life become disposable? Use until no longer usable, then throw it away.
TELL THE TRUTH… DO WE SEE PEOPLE AS GARBAGE/JUNK? IS IT EASIER TO THROW AWAY AND REPLACE THAN TO TEACH? JESUS TEACHES USE TO NOT SEE INDIVIDUALS AS DISPOSABLE… WE MUST TRY AND TRY AGAIN AND AGAIN. ARE WE MORE COMFORTABLE WITH THE 99 THAN THE 1? 100-1=99.
Matthew 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
WHAT MARS THE CLAY? DO WE LIVE IN A “THROW AWAY, DISPOSABLE AGE” ARE WE USING PEOPLE TO BUILD THE CHURCH? OR ARE WE USING THE CHURCH TO BUILD PEOPLE?
Hebrews 11:38 (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
God’s plans and purposes may not always be understandable to our eyes. GUESS THE QUESTION WE MIGHT ASK: WHAT DO YOU LOVE… ??? Why do I love? Why don’t I love? CAN WE SEE THE VALUE OF A SOUL?
DO I STAY EMPTY? AM I CALLED OF GOD TO STAY FULL? AM I LOOKING BEHIND ME? AT TODAY? OR WILL I CONSIDER TOMORROW? AM I WAITING TO UNDERSTAND GOD? IS GOD WAITING ON ME? LET US CLIMB UP THE MOUNTAIN SO WE CAN SEE MORE CLEARLY? HAVE I CLEARLY DEFINED MY PURPOSE? HAVE I EXPRESSED MY PURPOSE SO THAT OTHERS MAY KNOW?
Habakkuk 2:1 I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. 2 And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. 3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. 4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.
RELIGIOUS DUTY VS AN ACT OF WORSHIP? A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP?
Matthew 9:36 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
I had a 1973 VW Bug. I made dear friends with a man named COVA MORGAN. Cova and Lola his wife were on the way to church one Sunday morning and they noticed a “knot” near their son’s belly. They stopped at a local clinic. It was not long until the report came back: IT IS CANCER. This 4 year old boy was terminal. My dad had some friends at The Oak Ridge Tennessee Hospital that was doing Radiation Experimental Research. Samuel was four years old. Oak Ridge was on the cutting edge of Radiation Research as that is where the secret project of the Atomic Bomb had been developed.
Samuel and his mom stayed in the research hospital. His dad Cova would visit and on some weekends Samuel was allowed to come home. All the friends and family gathered around. The time was so precious.
Over a period of time Samuel gradually weakened. In the research hospital the patients had to stay in their rooms. The hallways were off limits. Samuel met a little girl in the next room. They would often visit and play together. The families became dear friends both fighting the same enemy. Samuel loved his time with his friend.
One day the little girl in the next room passed away. She won her battle over cancer. The doctors and the families decided not to tell Samuel in his fragile condition. Samuel never mentioned the friend for several days. Finally one day Samuel mentioned the little girl. Lola his mother explained Samuel: “JESUS CAME AND VISITED THE LITTLE GIRL AND JESUS TOOK HER HOME WITH HIM.”
Samuel didn’t say anything for a little while. He crawled up in his momma’s lap and lay his head on Lola’s chest. He said: “MOM, I CAN’T BELIEVE JESUS CAME AND WAS THAT CLOSE AND JESUS DIDN’T COME IN AND VISIT ME AND TAKE
ME HOME WITH HIM. MOMMA, I WOULD HAVE WENT WITH HIM, TOO.”
It was not too long until JESUS CAME INTO SAMUEL’S ROOM AND VISITED HIM. SAMUEL WENT TO LIVE WITH HIS FRIEND AND JESUS. Samuel was 5 years old when he died. Samuel asked my dad to give an altar call at his funeral.
A GOOD SHEPHERD WILL LEAVE THE FLOCK OF 99 TO FIND THE ONE… WE MUST NEVER SEE PEOPLE AS MARRED CLAY THAT IS DISPOSABLE… GOD WORKS IN STRANGE AND MYSTERIOUS WAYS?
Matthew 18:12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? 13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. 14. Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
NEVER GIVE UP ON PEOPLE… WHERE ARE THE VOLUNTEERS… LOVE THROUGH ME!
Isaiah 6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
WHY CUMBER THE GROUND? THE REAL VALUE IS NOT JUST BEARING FRUIT OR NOT BEARING FRUIT… THE LESSON IS THE VALUE TO TRY AGAIN… LET ME! LET US TRY AGAIN…
Luke 13:6 He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. 7 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? 8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: 9 And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.
A MAN WAS LOCKED UP IN JAIL. HE RECOMMENDED A BOOK TO ME HE GOT OUT OF THE JAIL LIBRARY. HE READ IT WHILE HE WAS LOCKED UP: THE BOOK IS: “THE BUZZARDS ARE CIRCLING BUT GOD IS NOT FINISHED WITH ME YET.” (BY STAN TOLER)
(On page 146 and 147, STAN TOLER relays a story from 1996. There was a contemporary Christian singer and composer named CINDY MORGAN. (Cindy is the younger sister of Samuel Morgan listed above.) The book tells of CINDY MORGAN COMING TO LOS ANGELES for a serious of concerts. As Cindy unpacked her clothes for the evening concert she discovered her dress was TERRIBLY WRINKLED. There was a woman there that offered to take the dress and find an iron. The woman ran to a staff member’s house with a key and instructions to get the ironing board and press the dress. When the volunteer entered the house she found a teenage girl prepared to COMMIT SUICIDE. The lady found the wisdom and grace to love and comfort the girl. The teenage girl dropped her gun. The girl received the prayer and the love, it was a miraculous intervention. It is written in that book that CINDY MORGAN SAID: “TO RESCUE A LIFE, HE WRINKLED A DRESS.” GOD CARES!
EXCHANGE? WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE? WE UNDERSTAND THAT THE LAST WORDS OF STEVE JOBS WERE CLEAR. STEVE WAS A BILLIONAIRE WHEN HE DIED AT 56 YEARS OF AGE. HE HAD LEARNED SOME POWERFUL LESSONS.
Matthew 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
In one of Steve Jobs’ speeches he stated several points in a COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY SPEECH. : 1. FIND YOUR PURPOSE. 2. LEARN TO DEAL WITH FAILURE. 3. FIND THE REAL MEANING OF LIFE. 4. SETTING PRIORITIES.
* STEVE SAID: I HAVE REACHED THE PINNACLE OF SUCCESS IN BUSINESS. IN OTHER PEOPLE’S EYES MY LIFE IS A SUCCESS. HOWEVER, ASIDE FROM MY WORK I’VE HAD LITTLE JOY. At the end of the day, wealth is just a fact I’ve gotten used to.
Right now, lying in my hospital bed , reminiscing all my life, I have realized that all the recognition and wealth I took so much pride in, has faded and become meaningless in the face of imminent death.
You can hire someone to drive your car or make money for you. You can’t hire someone to stand sick and die for you. Material things lost can be found again. But there is one thing that can never be found when it is lost: LIFE.
Whatever stage of life we are currently at, in time we will face the day the curtain closes. LOVE YOUR FAMILY, SPOUSE, CHILREN AND FRIENDS… TREAT THEM RIGHT. CHERISH THEM.
As we get older and wiser, we slowly realize that wearing a $300 or $30 watch both give the same time. Whether we drive a $150,000 car or a $30,000 car, the road and the distance are the same, and we reach the same destination. Whether we drink a $1,000 or a $10 bottle of wine, the hang over is still the same. Whether the house is 100 square feet or 1,000 square feet… loneliness is still the same. You will realize that your true inner happiness does not come from material things of this world.
Whether you travel first class or economy class, if the plane crashes, you go down with it… brothers and sisters, with whom you discuss, laugh, talk, sing, talk about north-south-east …or heaven and earth…, this is real happiness!!
An indisputable fact of life: Don’t raise your children to be rich. Educate them to be happy. When they grow up, they will know the value of things and not the price.
ACCORDING TO STEVE JOBS’ SISTER, MONA, HIS FINAL WORDS WERE: “O WOW. O WOW. O WOW! I ponder what was he saying? Are the words negative? Are they positive? Jobs’ friend Walter Isaacson records that the words Steve spoke in his last days were more and more about God and afterlife. The summation of life and the look into the eternal realm may speak the words: O WOW. O WOW. O WOW. Maybe we need to ponder: WHAT IS THE REAL MEANING OF LIFE?
CONCLUSION: IT IS EASY IN A DISPOSABLE SOCIETY TO THROW AWAY SOMETHING WITHOUT SEEING THE VALUE… WE NEED TO BE VERY CAREFUL WHAT WE THROW AWAY!!! WE NEED TO BE MORE CAREFUL WHO WE THROW AWAY!!! Do we see with ETERNAL VALUES IN VIEW… Do we love the pigs more than the man in the tombs? God looks beyond the externals…
1 Samuel 16:6 And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD'S anointed is before him. 7 But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.
God does not make JUNK. Eliab may have been what men were looking for … While Jesse and the 7 boys were parading by… everyone saw a little nobody shepherd boy --- GOD SAW A KING…
1 Samuel 16:11 And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither. 12 And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.
Dottie Rambo penned the words: AMAZING GRACE WILL ALWAYS BE MY SONG OF PRAISE … HE LOOKED BEYOND MY FAULTS AND SAW MY NEEDS…
Jude 1:22 And of some have compassion, making a difference:
GOD MAY WE BE PART OF THAT SOME THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE WITH LOVE AND COMPASSION.
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com (YouTube: Wade Hughes)
