~ Wednesday Wonderful Word ~

Shaped By God In Grace



Jeremiah 18: 1-3 "The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels."


Having read these few verses of scriptures, I would like to look briefly at three things that we see taking place, and see how they could be applied today.


First, we notice that when Jeremiah gets to the potter’s house, he sees the potter working at the wheel on an earthen vessel of clay. Imagine God as the potter and you and I are the vessel of clay being worked on. Now wouldn’t it be wonderful if God as the potter could shape us into the vessel he wants us to be, take us off the potter’s wheel and not have to put us back on the wheel for what we’ll call “touch ups?”
After Salvation, God as the potter was working at the wheel on us, He was changing us. As an earthen vessel, He dusted us off, He wiped off the dirt, and He worked on every crack and every chip, and turned us into a vessel of great value and beauty. When we first had the washing of our sin away, by the blood,  for a short time, we were just how God wants us to be…without a single crack or chip. No dust or dirt. No mars. When He applied the precious blood of His dear Son as we accepted Christ, that blood washed away not just a few or not just some of our sin, but every sin that we had committed and repented of up to that point in time. We were spotless without sin.
But as we all know that didn’t last very long, did it? As soon as the newness wore off ,  we began to gather dust and get dirty, we began to get chips and cracks and we all allowed ourselves to become marred once again:
That takes us to the second point.  It says that “the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter.” It does not say that the potter made a mistake or marred the vessel; it says that the vessel in the hand of the potter was marred. When God (our potter) cleans us up and shapes us, He intends for us to stay that way. But no, we jump off the potter’s wheel causing cracks and chips; we wallow around in the dust and dirt. We sin.

In 1 John 2:1a, we read, “My little children, these things I write unto you, that you sin not.” John likes to use that term, “My little children.” He uses it 9 times in 5 short chapters. It could be because children make a lot of mistakes. We expect them to, but we also expect them to learn from those mistakes and not make the same mistakes over and over.
We are not supposed to sin. 1 John 1:8 says, “If we say that we have no sin, (if we say we’re not marred) we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” In Romans 6:1-2 Paul says, “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” “God forbid”. The entire verse of 1 John 2:1 is so comforting though, “My little children, these things I write unto you, that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous".


Thirdly, it says, “So he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.” Isn’t it comforting to know that God (the potter) is constantly shaping us into what he wants us to be? Back in the days of Jeremiah, the potter was using water to work on the vessel of clay. As we allow ourselves to become cracked and chipped, as we collect dust and dirt, yes, as we sin, our potter applies the blood of our Advocate to every mar and flaw and reshapes us back into that vessel of great value and beauty. Fortunate for us, there’s an endless supply of that blood, because we learn in Hebrews 9:22, “without the shedding of blood there is no remission.”


In closing, let me leave you with some scriptural descriptive adjectives of the blood our potter uses to cleanse us:
1.) In 1Peter...it’s called PRECIOUS blood
2.) In Matthew…it’s called INNOCENT blood
3.) In 1John…it’s called CLEANSING blood
4.) In Revelation…it’s called WASHING blood
5.) In Acts…it’s called PURCHASING blood
6.) In Ephesians…it’s called REDEEMING blood
7.) In Romans…it’s called JUSTIFING blood
8.) In Colossians…it’s called PEACEMAKING blood
9.) In Hebrews…it’s called SANCTIFYING blood
10.) In Matthew…it’s called NEW TESTAMENT blood


Lastly in 1Corinthians Jesus holding the cup calls it “My blood”

I hope you have enjoyed this wonderful word for today, yes He is the potter I am the clay, I sing that song, and everytime I sing it touches my heart deep within. Be blessed my friends, and let Jesus do that work in your life that needs be done.
Lots of Hugs and Blessings, Barbara♥