Chosen Vessels
I have always loved nursery rhymes and
poems of all kinds. I especially
remember the one about Humpty Dumpty.
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the king’s horses and all the
king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again
Poor Humpty Dumpty didn’t have much of a
life. He just parked himself on that
wall and because he accomplished nothing and stood for nothing he got knocked
off and became little more than a cracked pot – a useless lump.
I. Useless Lumps
A. What He Wants
Most of those old nursery
rhymes carried a grain of truth. Some
say Humpty Dumpty was really about an English Monarch, who became an ineffective
figurehead. Because he served no real
purpose with his life, he was abdicated from his throne… a shattered man,
completely out of order
B.
What
We Were
Humpty Dumpty’s life provides a lesson
from which we all can learn when speaking about ineffective lumps or bumps on
unproductive logs. Before Jesus Christ came into our lives, you and I too had
little purpose. In fact, we were spiritually dead. We read in Psalm 82:54a, “They know not, neither will
they understand; they walk on in darkness.
Pieces of clay with little appeal ~ waiting for that Precious
Touch of God’s Hand to make us into the beautiful women we are today.
C.
What
We Are
When God breathed in us His breath of life,
He knew exactly what He was doing. What
we have become is so much more than just women without use, value, significance.
Do you truthfully believe you are beautiful
in the sight of the Lord? David prayed in the Psalms, “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully
and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth
right well…How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great
is the sum of them!” Psalm 139:14, 17. We
can be more than confident that as Christians we are WOMEN who are precious to
God and loved by God. There is a reason why we are all here.
2 Timothy 2:21, 22 tells us that “In a great house
(the church body) there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of
wood and of earth: some to honour and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these
he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use and
prepared unto every good work.”
Being
vessels for our Lord is the very essence of our faith today. BUT what
kind of vessels are we? Are we seeking to be vessels fit JUST for honor or are
we seeking to be fit for service unto the Lord also? Which vessel is the most fit for use of the Master?
“If a man therefore
purge himself…” In other words, God is asking us
flush out of our minds those thoughts and actions that could corrupt our walks.
He is asking us to withdraw from worldly lifestyles and get rid of little idols
that would draw us away from Him. We can
so easily be fooled by the outer appearance of the vessel itself. The Lord Jesus knows them that are his and he
knows what his plans are for our use.
D.
Possibilities
We recognize what we were before we
accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We also know what we are in Christ today.
But what about tomorrow? For all of us the future is hidden but not to
God. Only God holds the future for us
regardless of our planning to build bigger and better, to go here or there, to
become this or that. While we wait on
him to show us his will
v He
just asks that we place our lives in his
hands.
v And
patiently wait upon him for those
answers to our prayers.
v Also
he asks that we remain yielded vessels
to him
v Then
in the New Testament he tells us to be Steadfast
in our walks 2 Peter 3:17
v But
to be wary of the enemy’s devices which
can so easily detract us... those little idols again. Oh how he loves to use the enticements of the
world around us.
2 Corinthians 2:11
II.
Our Maker
A.
Who
He Is
It is important to understand the Sovereignty
of our God. EXCELLENT, SUPREME in VIRTUE and POWER,
UNLIMITED, ABSOLUTE, and with CONTROLLING INFLUENCE
And 1 John 4:8, 16 tells us That the Lord our God is our
God of LOVE who never takes his eyes off you or me. We are his living handiwork. I appreciate knowing that he is right here
watching us through every moment of peace and joy we experience, and through
every frustration we face. Even in the tough times he is there.
B. Just What Does He
Want from you and me?
God says not to worry, not to fret about
ANYTHING. Ah, that is so easy to say; but
not always so easy to do, especially for me.
(Many of us just don’t know what the Lord is trying to do through the
experiences going on in our lives.
Sometimes he is not ready to explain the details and remember he could
be answering yesterday’s prayer when we are in an entirely different subject!) Do we trust God that he will accomplish in us
only those things that are meant for our good? He knows the situation.
I
love this verse in Nahum chapter 1! “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of
trouble and He knoweth them that are his.” Nahum 1:7
Do you often wonder why God must apply
more pressure on some of his clay pieces than on others? It is so important to remember that we are
all his vessels to be shaped as HE wills. Not as WE will! Some of us need extra squeezing… he sees the end result and is working on
getting us there. (You get the most flavor from a squeezed
lemon the tighter you squeeze it.
But if it is just sitting there looking pretty it will eventually get
moldy.) Do you ever feel like that
lemon?
Some of us need more protracting … stretching,
stretching, stretching! God sees the end result and pulls and pulls on us to
get us where he wants.
Some of us have such unusual shapes we need
a lot more re-organization while
there are those of us who need real work overs because there are lessons to be
learned in our lives repeatedly.
What
shape are you in today? Ephesians 2:10 which tells us “…we are HIS
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before
ordained that we should walk in them.”
We are
HIS Workmanship…not our own.
C. He Know
Everything about YOU specifically .
1 Samuel 16:7b says, “For the Lord seeth NOT as man seeth; For man
looketh on the outer appearance but the Lord looketh on the heart.”
III.
Hidden Agendas
When we take the time to focus
on the cross it helps us to admit to God whether or not there is something going
on in our lives, that, maybe we having been trying to hide...perhaps a hidden
agenda…perhaps that false idol. (Idols are ANYTHING we put before God on any
given day) But God is already aware of
ALL those little things that are taking the place of HIM. He knows the feelings
we even have about ourselves. In all these things, He says to let go …get rid
of the hidden things you are carrying around that you think are so important.
This very thing happened to the Jews as
God was trying to make a point to them through the mouth of Jeremiah. They had begun clinging to their false idols,
some of which were hidden, which I refer to as mud, or filth, or mire. (Jeremiah 2:9-13) “Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith
the Lord, and with your children’s children will I plead. For pass over the isles of Chittim and see;
and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a
thing. Hath a nation changed their
gods, which are yet no gods?
(In other words they were surrounding
themselves with false idols instead of the living God.) But my people have changed their glory for that which doth
no profit. Be astonished, O ye heavens at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye
very desolate, saith the Lord. For my
people have committed two evils. They have forsaken me the fountain of living
waters and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”
When we have hidden agendas or idols in
our lives that begin to take priority over him, things like a love for
pleasure, or riches, or fame, or even self-glory, we become like broken cisterns
ourselves with false or cracked bottoms unable to hold on to the Spiritual
things of God … his stream of living water which fills us up and provides
something we can share with others.
A.
Complaints
Department
Sometimes those things we hold on to aren’t
little idols but common complaints which we don’t worry about too much. So we mumble and grumble constantly about them
to the Lord. This is just time wasted. I
believe he would have us change those mumbles and grumbles to prayers expressed
in love. I share this because I find myself in this predicament often.
B.
Sins
Revealed
In fact there isn’t one sin that has not
been first revealed to the Lord Jesus Christ. When we take them to the foot of
the cross and leave them there we can once again move forward in our walk. Are we willing to give our spot and wrinkles
to the Lord when he reveals them to us?
C.
Unwilling
Hearts
Are our hearts open to his call or closed? The more we submit to Him and yield our lives
to him, the more we will see ourselves in Him as he wants us to.
IV.
His Love
A.
Do
We Know His Love?
He says in His Word, “No one taketh it (MY Life) away from Me,
but I lay it down of Myself.”
That’s His LOVE poured out for us! Aren’t you glad He actually did that
for each of us?
B.
Learning
It
I want to learn all that he wants for me
to learn about that cross and what it represented for my life! I want to experience not only the Love of God
but I want to see his heart as well.
C.
Accepting
It
The best way we can show our acceptance of
all he wants for us is when we allow the heart of God to beat loudly in our
hearts not only this at a retreat or conference but after we leave here as well. Then we can indeed be the chosen vessels he
has called us to be.
V.
Chosen Vessels
God selected
you to be one of HIS vessels because he knew you could with your life bring Him
Glory, and not be as broken cisterns or useless lumps! On his display shelf are
beautiful serving bowls, vases, relish dishes, and fine china … all formed for
the purpose of doing that very thing and regardless of your flaws … regardless
of mine. God knows good and well He DID
NOT make a mistake in his selection process.
A. The
End Product
Do
you believe you are that Earthen Vessel?
I think you know. “Behold, as the
clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand…”Jeremiah 18:6b
ã Connolly Freelance
Hearts
For Christ Ministries
2004
