Shaped and Molded by God

Jeremiah 18:1-6

If you have ever watched a potter work, as Jeremiah did in today’s passage, you know the wonder of seeing a lovely vessel take shape from a lump of clay. God’s object lesson to the prophet was that the nation of Israel—as well as every person from the beginning of time—was to be shaped by His hand. We are all lumps of human clay waiting for the touch of the master Potter.

When clay is placed on the wheel, the potter already has a specific design in his mind. The same is true of us—God has determined how He plans to work in our life and what part we are to play in building His kingdom – he design has already been done (Eph. 2:10). He shapes with His hands and cuts with His tools so that our character begins to look like that of His Son Jesus. Each believer will be formed differently to carry out the unique service God has in mind for him or her. But regardless of our special equipping, we all bear the unmistakable imprint of our Potter.

Too often we look around at the talents and abilities of others and wish to be more like someone else. But we have been perfectly designed for the purposes God has for us, and He makes no mistakes. If we spend our time wishing for talents that do not suit God’s plan, or if we refuse to use the spiritual gifts He’s given us, we waste His effort and our opportunity to serve Him.

The Master is pleased with the way that He has designed our life and the abilities He’s poured into us. To honor the Potter as a vessel should, we must submit to being molded and used as He desires.

Confidence in Christ

For we [Christians] are the true circumcision, who worship God in spirit and by the Spirit of God and exult and glory and pride ourselves in Jesus Christ, and put no confidence or dependence [on what we are] in the flesh and on outward privileges and physical advantages and external appearances. —Philippians 3:3

God is merciful toward us and wants to bless and prosper us. He sees our heart attitude and our faith in Jesus. When we have confidence in God and His love and kindness, we can progress to living confidently and enjoying the life He wants for us.
Note that I said confidence in God, not in ourselves. Usually, people think of confidence as self-confidence, such as TV self-help gurus or [what] athletes promote when urging us to “Believe in yourself!”

I must disagree. I want to make it clear, right from the start, that our confidence must be in Christ alone, not in ourselves, not in other people, not in the world or its systems. The Bible states that we are sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency (Philippians 4:13), so we might also say that we are confident through Christ’s confidence. Or another way to say it would be, “We have self-confidence only because He lives in us, and it is His confidence that we draw on.”

Lord, I know that far too often I put my confidence in my own abilities, or other people, or the place I work to provide for my needs. I fix my eyes upon You. You alone are worthy of being my confidence. Amen.

The New & Living Way

Therefore, brethren… we have full freedom and confidence to enter into the [Holy of] Holies [by the power and virtue] in the blood of Jesus, by this fresh (new) and living way which He initiated and dedicated and opened for us. —Hebrews 10:19–20

Believing we are made right with God through our faith in Jesus Christ is a new and living way, one that gives us freedom, boldness, and confidence. Trying to follow the law (trying to do everything right) in order to earn acceptance ministers death (every kind of misery) to us.

Grace is God’s power coming to us free of charge to help us do with ease what we could never accomplish on our own. Grace is freeing! It puts the burden to perform on God, rather than on us. As believers in Jesus Christ, our work is to believe while God works on our behalf.

I cannot make myself acceptable to all people, and neither can you; but we can believe God will give us favor with the people He wants us involved with. Sometimes we try to have relationships with people God does not even want us to be associated with.

Knowing who we are in Christ sets us free from the need to impress others. Once we know who we are and accept ourselves, we no longer have anything to prove.

Lord, thank You today for Your grace and all the freedom it brings. I ask You to help me to be free in my relationships as well. Give me favor with the right people. Amen.

Listening to God’s Voice

Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength,Whose heart departs from the Lord. For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, And shall not see when good comes, But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, In a salt land which is not inhabited.—Jeremiah 17:5-6

One attitude that welcomes the presence of God into our lives is the attitude that honors Him above everyone and everything else. Our attitudes need to say, “God, no matter what anyone else tells me, no matter what I think myself, no matter what my own plan is, if I clearly hear You say something and I know it’s You, I will honor You—and honor what You say—above everything else.”

Sometimes we give more consideration to what people tell us than to what God says. If we pray diligently and hear from God, and then start asking people around us what they think, we honor their human opinions above God’s. Such an attitude will prevent our being able to consistently hear God’s voice. If we are ever going to develop an ability to hear from God and be led by His Spirit as a way of life, we have to stop listening to so many opinions from so many people and begin trusting the wisdom God deposits in our hearts. There is a time to receive good counsel, but needing the approval of people will keep us out of the will of God.

The devil wants us to think we are not capable of hearing from God, but God’s Word says that is not true. The Holy Spirit dwells inside of us because God wants us to be led by the Spirit in a personal way and to hear His voice for ourselves as He leads and guides us.

In the verse for today, God says we will be blessed when we look to Him. According to Jeremiah 17:5–6, severe consequences come to those who trust in the frailty of mere men and women, but blessed are those who trust in and honor the Lord. Good things happen if we listen to God. He wants to be our strength and we must honor His Word above all else.

Confessions for a Healthy Self-image

Today I want to share with you some powerful truths that are based in God’s word. I encourage you to confess these words over and over, so they will change your thinking and become part of your belief system about yourself. As you confess them with a heart full of faith, doing your best to believe them and act on them, you’ll be well on your way to a healthy self-image. Continue reading “Confessions for a Healthy Self-image”