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.
*What separates "US"? RECEPTIVITY!!!!
*Those who are closest to God have a spiritual receptivity/antenna/awareness and went out and cultivated it until it became the biggest thing in their life! (Mon-Sat...not just on Sunday)
T.S.: Being receptive to God is essential to becoming putty in His hands, but it’s not enough.
II The second prep to becoming putty in God’s hand is to become spiritually responsive.
A The psalmist put it very neatly, "When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek" Psalm 27:8 KJV (Use King JamesVersion Here)
a God is as close to you as He was Elijah, the apostles, St. Francis, Martin Luther, Thomas a’Kempis, George Fox, D.L. Moody, Billy Sunday, Annie Armstrong, Lottie Moon...so what’s the difference?
*These people responded to God’s presence.
b God can’t be any closer to you than He already is right now.
(He’s as close as your soul. He’s as close as your most secret thought.)
*It’s not enough to WANT to be closer to God, you must DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!!
B When God speaks...things change.
a He spoke into nothing and it became something, chaos became order, darkness became light. When He spoke to you...what changed?
*God’s Word are His Words.
*A little 4 year old girl saw here Mother open up the word every morning and read. One day the little the girl asked here momma, "Mom, are you ever gonna get finished reading that book?" The mother said, "Honey, this book is reading your Mom."
b In your lap right now is God’s WORD...you hear the Word week after week after week. When was the last time you heard HIS WORDS and the darkness became light? Chaos/Order?
*God hasn’t stopped talking, we’ve stopped not only listing, we’ve stopped responding.
C Sam and his grandfather were inseparable and even though he was only 4 when his PaPa died, they had amassed a wealth of good memories together.
a Sam’s mom was worried how he’d handle the death, but it was she who had a more difficult time. (Sam couldn’t comprehend all the theological issues which surrounded death/eternity, he did know he had heart filled with the memories of a man whom he dearly loved.)
*One day Sam was sitting in the kitchen floor coloring in his Spider Man coloring book and he said, "I love you too." His mom laughted and reminded himm you only say that after someone has said, "I love you." Without even breaking stride from his coloring, Sam replied, "I know. Papa just said, ‘I love you, Sam’ and I said, "I love you too." She stopped working with the macaroni and cheese and knelt down and asked, "Papa just talked to you?" Sam said, "Oh, Mommy, he tells me he loves me every day. He tells you too, you’re just not listening."
b Little Sam wasn’t hearing strange sixth sense voices, he was simply allowing the memories to speak of his grandfather’s love.
*What helped Sam grieve can help us grow.
*Listen for God’s voice and respond!!!!
Conclusion:
What a beautiful thing when men and women turn back into clay. The believing Christian is always trying to back to being clay. ESS
A We’ve looked at two preps that must be made before we can become putty in God’s hands.
a Be spiritually receptive. (Be aware of God’s presence)
b Be spiritually responsive. (Do something about God’s presence)
B I hope you’ll do whatever it takes to draw nearer to God.
a Becoming putty is a process/journey.
*Doesn’t happen in one service, one day, one week, one year...
*Becoming putty takes one journey that runs the course of one lifetime that’s destination ends at one eternity.
b You can a rock or putty. God wants the later of the two for you.
C Joni Eareckson Tada became a quadriplegic four decades ago after a diving accident. She’ accomplished more than most of us have with complete mobility. (She paints, writes, sings and lives out the beauty of godly woman.)
a 20 years ago she learned a beautiful lesson about being putty.
*On her wedding day she wanted to come down the aisle in her motorized wheelchair in her spectacular white wedding dress and a bouquet of flowers laid on her lap. (Just before her grand entrance she noticed 2 distressing problems. 1. She had rolled over dress/huge grease stain. 2. Her flowers had slide from her lap to rest between her leg and her chair. As for any bride, it was terribly disappoint, but all of that suddenly changed when the doors flew open. She looked down the aisle and saw her husband-to-be. Here was the man who was committing his life and love to her.
b When we realize that It’s not about me, it’s about God. It’s not about now, It’s about His eternal Kingdom. We turn back into putty and now God can use us!
***Notice: I have used Sermon Central sermons for a very long time. If this or any of my sermons are similar to a sermon that is currently already on Sermon Central by another pastor or teacher.....chances are I have used it. Actually, there is probably absolutely nothing in this sermon that hasn’t been preached before! If I used your sermon and haven’t given you credit, please write me and I’ll give you credit by name. I have in no way intentionally withheld credit to any work I’ve used/borrowed from. PLEASE NOTE THAT IF I HAVE "USED" YOUR WORK IT WAS BECAUSE I THOUGHT YOU HAD A SUPER SERMON! I prefer to preach with an outline and just rearranged your sermon. My intent is to make sermons relevant and easy for outline guys to use. If you use MY work, feel free to claim it. I do not care!!! Simply realize that I have borrowed from other preachers, too.
Mike Fogerson, Pastor, Chester’s First Baptist Church
