Treasures in Jars of Clay 2 Corinthians 4

April 6, 2018

Treasures in Jars of Clay              2 Corinthians 4

Each of us is molded by the Creator.  As we read in Jeremiah 1:5, before God formed us in the womb, He knew us.  In Bible verses found in Jeremiah, Isaiah, Romans, and 2Corinthians we are described as clay which is formed by our Creator.  God is the Potter.  We are a clay pot on the wheel of life being shaped and molded by God for a purpose and a destiny.  We are a jar of dust into which He has placed Himself.  As is clay on a wheel, we are bent, twisted, formed, created, and produced. Throughout life we have times of being hard pressed, persecuted, perplexed, beat up, and afflicted.  Paul penned his letters of first and second Corinthians to the early Church in Corinth.  He was writing to believers.  Paul assured the church that he was speaking for Jesus Christ as Christ’s servant.  He wanted the light of Christ to shine through him as he wrote and taught the Gospel.  Jesus lives inside of every believing heart.  The Holy Spirit of Christ manifests His light in our mortal flesh.     

We are cracked broken fragile pots.  Precious Jesus is inside of every believer.  He is the treasure of great price living in our earthly vessel.  Jesus works from within us.  We are God’s agents.  We have received and we carry inside of us the dying and suffering of Jesus.  Jesus is the Light of the world.  We become the light of the world as Christ’s light shines through the cracks and brokenness of each of our lives.   His light is revealed through the cracks of our mortal bodies.  As Christ’s death, life, and resurrection were at work in Paul’s life they are also at work in us and in the lives of every believer.  

Paul ends 2 Corinthians 4 with the following words, “because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us in His presence.  All this is for our benefit, so that the Grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the Glory of God.  Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away (perishing), yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal”. 

  

God teaches and instructs us when we spend time in communion and conversation with Him.  He grows our faith and gives us wisdom and spiritual understanding.  God allows wounds and times of suffering so that He might be revealed.  We learn of His Grace and Redemption.  He knits our hearts as we become connected to Him.  Each life has a story to tell.  We become a testimony of brokenness and restoration.  Now His light shines through us enabling us to bring the light of His Grace and Redemption into the lives of others.

God spoke this message to me many years ago as I searched the scriptures for answers in a time of deep personal suffering; the deaths of two of our daughters.  No physical person could console me.  I sought a word from God.  I needed Him to speak to me.  I sat in my yard reading my Bible, God’s Word.  He heard my prayers.  He heard my cry to know the reality of His presence.  He brought me to the Book of Job.  Job had gone through great suffering.  He had lost everything including all of his children.  He was God’s beloved.  I knew that God loved me as much as He loved Job.  Job never stopped trusting and loving God.  His life was restored.  I would continue to love and trust God even when I didn’t understand.  God brought me to 2  Corinthians 1:3-7.  His Words spoke to my heart through my pain.  I knew the words were for me.  I knew that His light would shine through my brokenness.  He was comforting me and would use me in the lives of others whose sufferings would be even greater than mine.  I believed God’s promises.  When we share in Christ’s sufferings we will also share in His Glory.  God has revealed Himself to me.  He restored our lives.  Richard and I have two wonderful daughters walking through this life with us and two waiting for us in Eternity.  Jesus Christ lives within my mortal clay.  May His light always shine through my beat up, afflicted, and imperfect physical body.   I have received God’s Mercy.  As I experience His Mercy I want His Mercy to flow through me as He uses me and gives me a ministry to share the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God in Christ with others.

Thank you Lord.  May all I think, say, and do be to your Glory as I walk my earthly journey.  Amen          

Isaiah 45:9-12

“What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator.
Does a clay pot argue with its maker?
Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying,
‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!’
Does the pot exclaim,
‘How clumsy can you be?’
10 How terrible it would be if a newborn baby said to its father,
‘Why was I born?’
or if it said to its mother,
‘Why did you make me this way?’”
11 This is what the Lord says—
the Holy One of Israel and your Creator:
“Do you question what I do for my children?
Do you give me orders about the work of my hands?
12 I am the one who made the earth
and created people to live on it.
With my hands I stretched out the heavens.
All the stars are at my command.

The Potter's Clay by Deborah Smith Plemmons

I was but a lump of shapeless clay, until I was touched by the Potter one day.
With His hands, He started molding me into what He would have me to be.

I did not resist His gentle touch, though I thought I'd not amount to much.
He smoothed rough edges, getting rid of self.  I really didn't want to sit on a shelf.

He fashioned me after His own image.  I remained pliable to avoid any damage.
Thank you, God, for not giving up on me.  I pray I'll be all you want me to be.

God is the Potter and I am the clay.  He molded me into what I am today.
I feel now I'm a vessel fit for His use; A vessel of honor to share His truths.

 

Poem: Clay in Potter's Hand - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w1x8OKaulM

▶ 4:22

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w1x8OKaulM

Feb 14, 2017 - Uploaded by Poetry of Love Media

This is the video version to the one we have on Soundcloud. As we are clay in the Potter's Hand we can be ...