Reading: Jeremiah 18
My Verse: "And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled
in the potter's hand,
and he reworked it into another vessel,
as it seemed good to the potter to do" (Jeremiah 18:4).
This passage is really quite telling. So many think, LORD God, that You simply do as You will with us. Too many hold the wrong idea that they have no say in how their lives play out. And yet here You tell us this is simply not so. The fact that You can reshape our lives is a good thing. But more importantly this reshaping depends on us, how we respond to You.
"Oh house of Israel, can I not do with you as the potter has done? declares the LORD.
Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand,
so are you in my hand,
Oh, house of Israel" (Jeremiah 18:6).
Yes, this is a good thing. You will actually step in when we mess up. You will help us to reshape our lives - heal our wounds, correct our wrong thinking and get us back on the right track. But, it is dependent on us - how we respond to the difficulties before us and how we respond to You!
Many studies have actually been done on this concept - our response to difficulties. Studies that show how the important thing is not that we have difficulties for we will all have them but how we respond to those problems. One such study by George Valiant, a Harvard professor shows this. He did this 40 year on 268 male Harvard graduates and found "the relatively broad socioeconomic differences among the subjects upon college entrance had no correlation" with how or if they succeeded in life. The study showed that participants born to privilege fared no better than those born in poverty. He even concluded that "family circumstances were not a major determinant of future success."
An interesting conclusion Valiant made from his study was "sustained relationships with people, not traumatic events, mold character." Basically, this is saying that without love it is hard to grow, to hope, to look ahead. And that is what You are all about LORD God! HOPE and LOVE!
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD,
plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you a hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11)
"Anyone who does not love does not know God,
because God is love" (1 John 4:8).
Yes, You want only good for us, but we have to want that as well. We need to open ourselves up to You and Your guiding. When we have done wrong we need to admit the wrong, ask You to heal and forgive us.
"If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom,
that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it,
and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken,
turns from its evil,
I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it" (Jeremiah 18:7,8).
A most wonderful example of this is the city of Nineveh. (Jonah 3)
"And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom
that I will build and plant it,
and if it does evil in my sight,
not listening to my voice,
then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it" (Jeremiah 18:9, 10).
Sadly, there are too many examples of this, Israel being one of them in a sad, sad repetition throughout history.
Yes, it goes both ways. You gave us free will and and a brain. You expect us to use both. You created us in Your own image, with an eternal soul that has goodness, love and hope imprinted upon it so that we all long for that very goodness, love and hope. But we must, must give up the self - the hardest thing to do!
Oh, LORD God, I want Your loving hands to softly, lovingly shape and mold me! Help me today to not be a stubborn hard clay but a soft and pliable clay, accepting You and Your "plans to prosper" me. Accepting Your "plans to give [me] a future and a hope."
Ditat Deus - God Enriches!
My Verse: "And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled
in the potter's hand,
and he reworked it into another vessel,
as it seemed good to the potter to do" (Jeremiah 18:4).
This passage is really quite telling. So many think, LORD God, that You simply do as You will with us. Too many hold the wrong idea that they have no say in how their lives play out. And yet here You tell us this is simply not so. The fact that You can reshape our lives is a good thing. But more importantly this reshaping depends on us, how we respond to You.
"Oh house of Israel, can I not do with you as the potter has done? declares the LORD.
Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand,
so are you in my hand,
Oh, house of Israel" (Jeremiah 18:6).
Yes, this is a good thing. You will actually step in when we mess up. You will help us to reshape our lives - heal our wounds, correct our wrong thinking and get us back on the right track. But, it is dependent on us - how we respond to the difficulties before us and how we respond to You!
Many studies have actually been done on this concept - our response to difficulties. Studies that show how the important thing is not that we have difficulties for we will all have them but how we respond to those problems. One such study by George Valiant, a Harvard professor shows this. He did this 40 year on 268 male Harvard graduates and found "the relatively broad socioeconomic differences among the subjects upon college entrance had no correlation" with how or if they succeeded in life. The study showed that participants born to privilege fared no better than those born in poverty. He even concluded that "family circumstances were not a major determinant of future success."
An interesting conclusion Valiant made from his study was "sustained relationships with people, not traumatic events, mold character." Basically, this is saying that without love it is hard to grow, to hope, to look ahead. And that is what You are all about LORD God! HOPE and LOVE!
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD,
plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you a hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11)
"Anyone who does not love does not know God,
because God is love" (1 John 4:8).
Yes, You want only good for us, but we have to want that as well. We need to open ourselves up to You and Your guiding. When we have done wrong we need to admit the wrong, ask You to heal and forgive us.
"If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom,
that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it,
and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken,
turns from its evil,
I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it" (Jeremiah 18:7,8).
A most wonderful example of this is the city of Nineveh. (Jonah 3)
"And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom
that I will build and plant it,
and if it does evil in my sight,
not listening to my voice,
then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it" (Jeremiah 18:9, 10).
Sadly, there are too many examples of this, Israel being one of them in a sad, sad repetition throughout history.
Yes, it goes both ways. You gave us free will and and a brain. You expect us to use both. You created us in Your own image, with an eternal soul that has goodness, love and hope imprinted upon it so that we all long for that very goodness, love and hope. But we must, must give up the self - the hardest thing to do!
Oh, LORD God, I want Your loving hands to softly, lovingly shape and mold me! Help me today to not be a stubborn hard clay but a soft and pliable clay, accepting You and Your "plans to prosper" me. Accepting Your "plans to give [me] a future and a hope."
Ditat Deus - God Enriches!
