There Is Nothing About You Or Your Life Or Your Past That Is Powerful Enough To Hinder The Hand Of God’s Work! Understand That Whatever God Has Spoken Over Your Life, He’s Not Stopping Until He Sees It “All Come To Pass”! He’s Still Working On You Because All That He Has Spoken Has Yet To Manifest In Your Life.
When you see a "Cannot in Yourself," GOD SEES A “CAN”. When You See Will Not in Yourself, GOD SEES A “WILL”. When You See Do Not in Yourself, GOD SEES A “DO” When You See Shouldn’t in Yourself, GOD SEES A “SHOULD”. God Will Always Put Your Potential on A Pedestal! In Other Words, He Will Always Lift Up What You Will Be, Not What You Have Been! Cracks and all, you are still becoming “…a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.”
The Devil’s Not Intimidated by Your Caterpillar Stage, Because You are on The Ground, Low, At His Level, Defeated, And Struggling to Crawl By. But What Intimidates Him Is Your Butterfly Stage Because You Then Possess the Ability to Fly, To Soar, To Excel, And to Reach Altitudes He Cannot Reach! You see, some snakes can sliver through trees, but when they reach a certain height, it can reach no further. But the Butterfly Is not Limited to Where the Tree Top Stops! And Neither Are You! That is why you cannot get distracted from what you are becoming! Children of God, it is time for you to soar, but if you keep allowing your past, the devil, discouragement, and low self-worth to hinder you, you will remain in a cocoon with undeveloped wings that were designed and destined to soar! You were never meant to stay on this level! The cocoon is only for a time; then you break out of it fully developed and soar to new heights!
Understand that Whatever God Has Spoken Over Your Life, He’s Not Stopping Until He Sees It “All Come to Pass”! And If That Takes Smiting, Buffeting and Polishing…He’s Committed to Doing Whatever It Takes, For However Long It Takes and No Matter How Painful It Will Be…” Not A Word Failed of Any Good Thing Which the Lord Had Spoken. All Came to Pass!” He’s Still Working on You Because All That He Has Spoken Has Yet to Manifest in Your Life. And He Has to Keep His Word! So, Endure the Wheel, the Spinning, the Hammering, the Smiting, the Buffeting, and the Polishing! In the End It Will Be Worth It to Possess All God Has Promised You! God is the Greatest of Silversmiths.
Highlight for yourself from John 1:12, “to them gave The Power TO BECOME…” That is what the devil is after to destroy, WHAT YOU WILL BECOME! Do not let him do it! Do not let the devil distract or discourage you! Stay focused on what God Said no matter what the devil would want you to see! You are Becoming a wonderful, useful, cracked vessel unto honor, sanctified and meet for your master’s use, for He is preparing you for every good work! Do not lose sight of the big picture, stay focused on what you are becoming!
If You Are Asking Today, “Why Am I Going Through All That I’m Going Through?” The Answer Is: You are “In the Hand of The Potter!”
Knowing that alone helps, especially when you are on the wheel and everything in your life seems to be spinning and spiraling completely out of control! I use the word “seems”, because your life is not spinning and spiraling completely out of control. All You Need to Do Is Look Under the Table and See Whose Foot Is on The Wheel! “…Behold, He (The Potter) wrought a work ON THE WHEELS” Many of us have seen wheels spin on bikes, motorcycles, cars, trains, and the like, and when those wheels get to spinning, if you stare at them long enough it can make you dizzy! The speed is swift as it goes around and around in circles! And sometimes as believers that is how our lives feel when God has His foot on the potter’s wheel! Everything feels like it is spinning completely out of control, but the potter has been doing this far too long to not know how to control the speed of the spin! And God, likewise, has not loss control of your life even when the marriage, kids, family, job, finances, health, business, and church all seem to be spinning at 200 MPH in all different directions at the exact same time! But Be Encouraged, The Potter’s Foot Knows How to Handle the Speed of The Wheel!
“…behold, He (The Potter) Wrought a work on the wheels” Now the word “Wrought” means “Beaten Out or Shaped by Hammering.” This may hurt you, but it will eventually help you, listen, the pain you THINK is the devil, is Really Just the Potter Reshaping You! Think About It, If the Enemy Had Been in Control of Your Situation, He would Have Thrown You Off the Wheel a Long Time Ago! But He Cannot, Because the Potter Controls the Process, The Wheels and The Wrought! And all this time you have been giving the devil credit for work he did not do! The devil wants to steal, kill, and destroy you, not work on you for the better! Yes, the hammering hurts, it is painful, it is difficult, it is uncomfortable, but it is God’s process! And most important, the Hammer is in the Hand of God! This should serve as great encouragement to you that no hurt, harm, or hindrance will come of it. He is simply shaping you to become the masterpiece He already designed you to be! Ephesians 2:10, “For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us].” (AMP) That is what all the hammering is about! It is transforming us, renewing us, and making us ready to be used by God for good works as His workmanship, His own Master Work, His own Work of Art! And you really thought the devil was behind all that goodness?! Absolutely not! Stop adding skills to the devil’s resume for work he could not and did not do!
But Listen to What the Devil Would Have You Focus On: “… And the vessel that he made of clay was MARRED in the hand of the potter…” The devil does not want you to focus on the Masterpiece God is creating you to be, he wants you to focus on the fact that you have become Marred in the Potter’s Hand! But what he does not know, however, is that God is Monitoring Your Every Move! Now, I know how messed up you think you are because you have been “Marred” but understand that when something is “Marred” it is defined as “to Harm the Appearance or Quality of.” And let us be honest, the devil is not trying to simply Harm You, Or Harm Your Appearance, Or Harm Your Quality, he is trying to DESTROY YOU! Which is why the Bible forewarns us: “The Thief’s Purpose Is to Steal, Kill and Destroy…” (John 10:10 TLB). Therefore, If It Were the Devil’s Foot on The Wheel, You Would Be Dead by Now! But since he cannot kill you, he tries to distract you by getting you to focus on stuff that matters to you, but does not matter to God, stuff like your marring, your mess up, your mistakes, and especially your past! But beloved, before you go and lose heart, know this, you are simply “Marred” and Fortunately, God is Not Intimated by Your “Marring”. He is not intimidated by the clay regardless of where He finds it or how flawed and out of shape it is. Truth is: We Seriously Give Our Past Way Too Much Power Because God Is Not at All Intimidated by It or What It Has Caused Us to Look Like! He is not intimidated by our past promiscuity, addictions, mess-ups, screw-ups, or mistakes. He is not intimidated by our ex-friends, lovers, or spouses. He is committed to working on us until we become what He wants or better yet, “As Seemed Good to the Potter…”
Listen: I do not care what you have done, who you did it with, how long you did it or where, no man has the right or authority to hold you captive by your past, neither the devil, not even you! Your “Marring” did not mess you up for all eternity! There is no accidental mistake, or deliberate bad decision that you have ever made (or will make) that the Potter cannot make over into what seems Good to Him! You still have use, you still have value, you still have worth, and you still have purpose! So, let nothing and no one (not even YOU) allow your past to make you believe that you have no future! The Word of God still holds true for you, regardless to your past: “This is God’s Word on the subject…I’ll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I am doing. I have it all planned out – plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the FUTURE you hope for.” (Jeremiah 29:10-11 MSG). In the words of my pastor, you need to start saying daily to yourself: “I See Myself in The Future and Things Look So Much Better. I’m Expecting A Miracle, And My Miracle Is Expecting Me!” (Bishop James R. Chambers). So, you see if God Himself is not hindered by your Past, why should you be? “He has removed our sins as far away from us as the east is from the west.” (Psalm 103:12 TLB). Therefore, marred vessels keep moving forward, “Marred” and all! God can still make you the light of the world, no matter how dark your past was! God Still Uses Cracked Pots!
For example, Benjamin felt small; Gideon felt insignificant; Moses felt his speech hindered him from being God’s mouthpiece, and yet God used each of them in a big way, flaws, and all, and He is using you the same way! God never asks for our perfection, just our availability. The question is, are we willing to give God our flaws that He may use them to bring Himself Glory?
To take it further, bear in mind: John 1:12 “As many as received Him, to them gave the power TO BECOME the sons of God.” Always Remember: The Battle Is Over Who and What You are Becoming! Regardless of what you have been up until now, God Sees in You the Potential to Become! And what are you to become? “…a vessel unto honor and sanctified for the master’s use and prepared unto every good work.” (2 Timothy 2:21). Listen: When You See Cannot in Yourself, GOD SEES A “CAN”. When You See Will Not in Yourself, GOD SEES A “WILL”. When You See Do Not in Yourself, GOD SEES A “DO” When You See Shouldn’t in Yourself, GOD SEES A “SHOULD”.
“The Lord God is my Strength, my personal bravery, and my invincible army; He makes my feet like hind’s feet and will make me to walk [not to stand still in terror, but to walk] and make [spiritual] progress upon my high places [of trouble, suffering, or responsibility]!” (Habakkuk 3:19 AMP)
You Were Made for High Places, So Stop Settling for Low Positions!
Notice also, that even though the vessel was “Marred”, It Was Still in The Potter’s Hand! God Never Throws Us Away, Nor Is His Plan for Us Thwarted Because We Have a Flaw of Struggle in Certain Areas! Understand that whether you are being lifted from the mud, turned on the wheel or made over again, Always You Are in His Hand, and Always Will Be! “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall Never Perish, Neither Shall Any Man Pluck Them Out of My Hand.” (John 10:28) So, Be Encouraged: You Are in The Potter’s Hands, And His Hands Never Stop Working!” “But Jesus said, “My Father Has Never Stopped Working…” (John 5:17 CEV) Therefore, even if you continue to mar in the master’s hand, which you will if you are still flesh and blood, but the good news is, that can’t hinder the Hand of God on your life! From birth to death and everything in between, God never stops working on you and your life! So even when you make more mistakes, and even deliberate sinful choices, God never stops working on you! Do not let the devil, your past, or yourself make you believe anything different! There is nothing about you or your life or your past that is powerful enough to Hinder the Hand of God’s Work!
I found yet another little nugget too! Did you know the word “Smith” in “Silversmith” comes from the Old English word “Smite”? Well, in case you did not know, Silversmiths are very Accomplished Smiters! AND SO IS GOD! You see the word “Smite” is defined as “Striking a Firm Blow”. In other words, God Knows the Weight of the Hammer and the Force of the Blow Required to Produce in You Christ-Like Character! And absolutely no one yanks the hammer out of His hand and says, “Go easy on that silver; you’ve pounded it enough!” No, He Buffets the Metal Until He’s Finished with It! And when you “Buffet” something, it means you “Strike It Repeatedly and Violently”. In other words, there is a Determination on the part of the Silversmith to Beat the Silver into the Design He Envisioned It to Be! And He Will Beat It Until It Conforms to What He has Constructed in His Mind! He Will Beat It Until the Blueprint Comes Off the Pages and Stands Before Him Fully Erected! He Will Beat It Until He Sees with His Eyes What He Saw in His Thoughts! And the Same Goes for You!
Please Understand that Your God Will Bless You, But Never Forget, Your Father Will Buffet You Too!
I know the Blows come Fast and Hard, and it seems like they will never end, but you must Trust that God Knows What He’s Doing!
However, sadly enough, I wish I could tell you that after the Hammering and Buffeting is Done, you are Finished, BUT…then there must be POLISHING! And when you “Polish” something you “Make It Smooth and Shiny by Continuously Rubbing It!” And the Best of Silversmiths will tell you that they Keep Polishing Until They Can See Their Face in The Finished Product! So, When Will God Stop Polishing You? When He Sees His Nature and His Likeness Reflected in You! In other words, when He looks at you, He ought to see, Integrity, Faithfulness, Dedication, Power, Consecration, Diligence, Obedience, Honor, Loyalty, Leadership, Commitment, and the like. He ought to see “…the Fruit of the Spirit…Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness, Temperance…” (Galatians 5:22-23).
Simply put, He’s Done When He Looks at You and Sees Himself!
And if we are all to be Real Honest, God Is No-Where Near Finished Smiting, Buffeting or Polishing Any Of Us! Jesus said, “My Father Never Stops Working.” Therefore, you need to understand that: The Pounding You Feel Does Not Suggest God’s Distance, It Proves His Nearness! So, Stop Attributing Everything to the Devil!
Lastly, after a lifetime of walking with God, Joshua said, “Not a Word Failed of Any Good Thing Which the Lord Had Spoken…All Came to Pass.” (Joshua 21:45 NKJV).
Trust Him as you imagine what you are going to look like When He has All Done. In the meantime, remember: The Potters Hands Are Not Finished Molding You Yet! So, do not Be Discouraged in The Process, You Will Produce Something Great After This Is All Over!
Jesus may be preparing you to step up to something far more supernatural than you have ever been or you have ever done before. In fact, He has made your heart restless for more so you would get out of the boat and start walking toward Him in an exciting new way. Truth is, there are quite a few endeavors that you’ve your heart set on for quite a while now. And fear and nervousness about stepping into something new, uncomfortable, and unfamiliar is honestly terrifying! But you do not want to miss a moment because of a minute of insecurity.
Peter found out that day that if Jesus wants you to do it – no matter how beyond your capability it may be – He will give you whatever it takes to get it done!
We are settling for the mediocre when we are wired for the miraculous.
Who knows what will happen if you finally decide to get out the boat and apply for the mortgage, the business, student, or car loan? Who knows what will happen if you finally decide to get out the boat and head that ministry or start a new one? Who knows what will happen if you finally decide to get out of the boat and try that, or go there? Truth is, being inside the boat, especially during a storm, seems like the safest, best, and most comfortable, and sensible place to be. But if Jesus isn’t in the boat, do you really think it is the best place to be? If He is outside the boat, even in the storm, don’t you think it is better to be where Christ is than where your Cushion is?
You have the Holy Spirit of Almighty God living in you. You have backing you up the authority that Jesus has over everything in this universe. You have Jesus’ resurrection power in your life. The question is: So why aren’t you living like it? Are you settling for only pushing a couple of God’s buttons when there are so many more that could open a whole new frontier for you?
You need to be reading the Manual. You know that is the Bible, and you need to be reading it every single day. Not just for theology, not just for a lesson to teach or a Word to preach. But looking for the keys to powerful faith and then using them. And tell the Lord, “Lord, I want the “something more” you’ve made my heart hungry for. Then surrender yourself in a new, fresh way to Him. With all the things that are going on in your life now, update that old surrender. Let go of those areas that you have insisted on controlling. Get out of that safe little boat and dare to walk where you have never walked before!
You are becoming a vessel of honor in the master’s Hand and for the master’s use, cracks, flaws, imperfections, and all. So, do not hate the process, because you are going to love the product! Noah got drunk…Jacob lied…Moses murdered…Rahab was a prostitute…David had an affair…Peter denied Jesus…yet God still used them for His purpose….and He can use you too. Be encouraged, my Friends.
As Painful as This Is, Be Encouraged My Friend You May Have Been Marred, but Now You are Being Molded and Made into a Masterpiece Cracked Vessel of Honor for the Master’s Use and Glory!
Blessings
J.P. Olson
www.thewordwithjpolson.com
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