The gift of Grace, Sermon 12/20/15

Posted on January 7, 2016 by growintheword

The Gift of grace

Synopsis of sermon 12/20/15

Delivered by Bishop Walker III

Anchor text:

Isaiah 9:6 says For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

In this season, people are trying to get last minute gifts for un-grateful people. In the midst of all the chaos and all the hustle and bustle, we must remember the greatest gift there ever was. This gift was Jesus!

For those who may be upset at what you get or don’t get for Christmas, know that you have something that money can’t buy. You have love, peace, mercy, and if nothing else, you’re still alive! God has been good to you. All your good days have outweighed your bad days, so why would you complain?

Isaiah as a prophet, gives us a view of things to come. He gives us the messianic forecast that the savior would come down through 42 generations and be born. God has given us the greatest gift through Jesus Christ.

  1. Recipient of God’s grace

Unto us child is born, a son is given.

  1. Jesus was heaven’s answer to our earthly situation. We had become displaced because of sin, so we out to shout over the grace that God has given us. Even the psalmist said, “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so”.
  1. The Jews believed Jesus would come by a chariot as a mighty warrior, but he came another way. He came as a baby wrapped in swaddling clothing. The way things are now, if there ever was a time we needed the Lord, we sure do need him now. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, so that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but instead have everlasting life.
  1. He did not come for a few, he came for us all. The gift of grace was not given to a particular group of people. Unlike religion who givens certain things to certain people, Jesus came for all of us.
  • The phrase “Unto us … “mentioned in the text means, “no matter your situation or what you did, unto us he came”. Everyday day I wake up, I am thankful for the grace of God. Just think, no matter what you did, the text says, “unto us…” You can’t even say His name without saying “us”. Jesus, is in His name! He didn’t come for the frozen chosen or the elite status quo, he came for all of us!

 

  1. If you only knew he came for us, you would bless his name at all times. Praise would continually be in your mouth. Unto us!
  1. Revelation of God’s glory

We are able to see of a gift. The child (baby Jesus) represents humanity and the son represents His divinity.

  1. His humanity is a point of identification. John 1:14 says 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. – This would mean he could identify with us. Heb 4:15 -There is nothing we go through that Jesus didn’t go through. If we want to know how to deal with something, all we have to do is look in the bible and see how Jesus dealt with it.
    1. He dealt with demons by casting them out. He dealt with haters by ignoring them. However Jesus dealt with anything, we are supposed to deal with it.
  2. His divinity puts him in a class by Himself- He was God in Christ. He was the son that was given. He is the son of God. He was human enough to be in touch with humanity, but God enough to change you by a simple touch. If you touch him, whatever you need will happen. Ask the women with the issue of blood what happens when you touch him. The songwriter says, “He touched me and oh the joy that fills my soul… ”. When we touch him, something happens.
    1. He is the son of God which puts Jesus in an entire different category. This is why we seal our prayers with, “in Jesus’ name”.
    2. Jesus is in a class all by himself. Who else can heal the sick or raise the dead from the dead? Mahammad, Buddha, and all the other idol gods are still in the grave, but Jesus is alive. He has risen just like he said. He is in a class all by himself. He is immutable, unchanging, unreadable, and impossible.

 

III. Rejoice in God’s greatness

The bible says the government will be upon his shoulders…- Isa 9:6 says 6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

  1. Know how great your God is. Some people look at you and can’t make sense of your level of enthusiasm. They wonder why you are exited all the time. The answer is simple. We searched all over and couldn’t find nobody, nobody greater than Him!
    1. What makes God so great? The government shall be on his shoulders. –This means that leaders will depend on him to carry them.
  2. He came to establish his kingdom in the earth – This is a transfer from one kingdom to the next. Every king has a king. Governments are governed by principalities which mean we elect our leaders. The kingdom of God is not run by principalities, like things are down here. When God makes a transfer, he elects us. We then are the elect of God.
  1. Jesus comes down to earth wrapped in swaddling clothes. He doesn’t look like the earth expected him to look.
  2. The magi (wise men) were looking at the stars waiting on the savior to come. When he came, he didn’t come as a warrior on a chariot as many figured he would. He came as a baby lying in a manger.
  3. They wise men came to bow down to the baby. No man bows down to a child unless they know something. This was the start of a kingdom transfer. It was a transfer to bring the kingdom up there, down here in the earth realm.
  4. There were 3 wise men, but you can’t use the amount of gifts to determine how many people were present. This means that there could have been more than 3.
  5. When Christ is born, a king is here, which makes Herod the king, feel threatened. As a result, he sends the wise men to tell him where the child is. Herod is threatened because he thinks his kingdom will be taken, but the King (baby Jesus) doesn’t need Herod’s kingdom. He doesn’t know that this is all about kingdom transfer.
  6. John the Baptist caught the idea of kingdom transfer, because he kept saying, “…The kingdom is at hand…” In fact, when John was in his mother’s belly (Elizabeth), he leaped at the name of Jesus. When Jesus came into the earth, he comes to bring down heaven’s kingdom.
  7. Adam and Eve lost it. The Garden of Eden was the kingdom in the earth realm. Everything they needed was there. Jesus was coming back to give us the kingdom back. This is why in the model prayer, Jesus says, “thou kingdom come, thou will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…” Everything that is in heaven can be available down here. We have our deliverance and healing, because we have everything available to us.
  8. The bible says and his name shall be: called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
  1. Whatever you need is in his name. We live in a name- brand culture. We all like something name-brand, because name brand stuff feels good. But when you know the name you got… There are over 200 names for him in scripture.
  1. Wonderful – One who does wonders?
  2. Counselor- This is a legal term. It means advocate, one who stands and pleads ones case. Somebody gone through situation and needed help and didn’t know who to go to. God set it up and turned the situation around.
  3. Mighty God- Might is a term often used in comic books. Might always deals with the supernatural which means it’s something above my power. There were some things you had to go through, that you thought was too big for you to get through, but that’s when God showed up with all his might. What a mighty God!
  4. Everlasting father – People come in out of our life, but God is the same yesterday today and forever. He is not a dead-beat dad. When you cry, cry “Abba father!”, which means thank you for being there.
  5. Prince of peace- Somebody, somewhere has not had a good night sleep in months. If they only knew some of the stuff you I have been through, they would understand why we thank him for that peace that surpasses all understanding!
  6. What a gift of grace!
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The Power of Grace, Sermon 12/06/15

Posted on December 19, 2015 by growintheword

The Power of Grace

Synopsis of sermon 12/6/15

Delivered by Bishop Walker III

 

TEXT:

1 Cor 15:10  10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

The first thing to examine is the love of God. Sometimes we just can’t comprehend how much God loves us. John said, God so loved us.

Grace is the love of God, but what is grace?  Grace is un-merited favor. Every day you wake up, you are demonstrating the grace of God. God gives us life each day even though we might not really deserve it. Regardless of your intellect, your financial status, or your social status, it is the about the grace of God. Just the mere fact that you still have your intellect and have not gone crazy, is an example of the grace of God.

You have these gifts that allow you to make a living BUT at any moment, you could be in an accident and wound up paralyzed or unable to do what you do. The fact that you did not get into that accident is God’s grace. You going to school and having the money to pay your tuition is another example of God’s grace. You were only able to afford it because of God’s grace.

God wants to remind us of the power of grace. Grace can transform our lives. It can turn a drunk into a preacher, a drug dealer into a counselor, or a lazy person into an athlete! You have no idea where the people around you have been transformed from.

This text was part of a letter to the Corinthian church. Paul had to point out to them that there is a resurrection from the dead. Without that, there could be no grace. He also talks about this corruptible body putting on incorruption.  When it is all said and done, it was the grace of God that gave us a chance at life.

 

  1. Your past has to be put into perspective

You can’t appreciate grace until you put your past into perspective. You have to:

  1. Be honest concerning what you used to be – The Saul in Paul was the one the persecuted Christians. Everyone here has had a Saul season. Saul represents our pre-Christ time and Paul represents our post-Christ time.
  2. Being honest about your past, puts grace in perspective.
  3. Grace doesn’t hold your past against you. – Charles H. Spurgeon says it best when he was quoted as saying, “If you are renewed by grace, and were to meet your old self, I am sure you would be very anxious to get out of his company.” – Here Charles explains that even you would not kick it with the old you.
  4. Grace is about the sacrifice of Christ, not us – God gave us grace regardless to what we were and what we have done. Psa 103:12 says 12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. – Max Lucado says, “When grace moves in, guilt moves out”.
  5. Eph 2:8- 9 says 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.- After Paul gives a transparent look at what he used to be, he comes back in verse 10 and says 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.- We were created for good works.
  6. 1 cor 15:9 says 9 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.- Translated Paul is saying, “I am the least of the people that should be here, but by the grace of God. “ Paul is thanking God that he didn’t hold his Saul past against him. Every time the devil tries to torment you, tell him, “ But grace!”.
  7. You got to move out of being histrionic. 1 John 1:9 says 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

 

  1. Potential in your presence

In all of us, is some amazing potential.

  1. Your identity is a result of God’s divinity. Wherever you are, is a result of series of events that God orchestrated to make you who you are today. Because of Him, we are what we are.
    1. Job says God allowed him to go through this crazy moment in his life, but Satan was not allowed to touch his life. God protected you, because he protected your destiny. The good, the bad, and the ugly made you who you were. If you hadn’t gone through what you have, then you wouldn’t pray like your do, read the bible like you do, or have the faith that you have.
  2. You can’t take this chance for granted. – 1 cor 15:58 says 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.- Paul understood that this hardship given to him would not be in vain. This meant that this opportunity (the hardship) couldn’t be mishandled, because what was to come was greater than what he came from. Paul could not take a chance on going back from where he came from.
    1. We can’t be flighty. When Paul was all over the place in his spirit, he found that God’s grace was still there. No matter what happens, you have to declare that you ain’t going nowhere, because you are a recipient of grace.

 

 

  • Power to produce

We got to make full proof of our life in Christ Paul said. Paul perfected the art on how to persecute Christians. Now Paul has been transformed from being Saul. Having said this, know that what you have in your old life, transforms to your new life. Too many of us got tired after our change to our new saved lives. We are renewed, but like Paul (Saul), God wants the qualities that we possessed in our old lives to be used in our new lives.

  1. Walk in purpose beyond expectation. When you walk in purpose, you observe grace. We serve over and beyond what is required because of grace. When you recognize the grace that was allotted to you, to have that job or to possess something you didn’t deserve, you might stay a little longer than you normally would have.
  1. Ex- Bishop Walker shares that his friends are always telling him that he is always doing too much. The caution him to pace his self in the things he does in the Body of Christ. Bishop’s response to this is he was like this when he wasn’t saved. The Old Joe, burnt the candle at both ends when he wasn’t saved, so naturally, God wants to use this in the Body of Christ. No need to burn the candle at both ends and then get tired after you get saved.
    1. Give God glory for it all. Matthew Henry has been quoted as saying, “Extraordinary afflictions are not always the punishment of extraordinary sins, but sometimes the trial of extraordinary graces.”- God will let you go through sometimes just for you to see his grace.

2 Cor 4:17 says 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory

James 1:2 says 2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials – Sometimes, our trials are not for sins, it is a precursor for the next level of our lives.

2 Cor 12:9 says 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. – Give God glory in his infirmities, because God gave us the grace to deal with it.

  1. There is grace on your life – When you go through, grace got your through. God is to going share his glory with you.

Closing Story:

There were 3 people that were to show up for a required meeting. Their names were Time, Justice, and Grace. When it was time for the meeting, Time and Justice showed up, but Grace was nowhere to be found. As a result, Justice said, “We are going to have to penalize Grace based on the law”!

A while later, Grace came limping over the horizon. Grace’s pants was wet and torn and Grace’s hands were burnt also. After Time and Justice had finished looking at one another astonished, they noticed that one of Grace’s eyes were missing too.

As Grace got a little closer, they noticed blood on his clothes. Justice said to Grace, “I am going to read the charges that will be brought against you for being late for this mandatory meeting”. Time cosigned by saying, “That’s right!” Afterwards Justice asked Grace if he had anything to say on his behalf before punishment was administered to him and Grace slowing began to respond. Grace told them both, “I apologize for being late, but you see, some things happened on my way here.” Grace continues to say, “On my way here, I saw a man named Moses and he stretched his rod over the Red Sea, trying to escape Pharaoh’s Army, so I stepped in the Red Sea and parted it for them. This is how my clothes got wet.

Then he said, “Also I saw Daniel in the Lion’s den, so I got down in the den with him to tame the lions and keep him safe. This is how I got my clothes torn.  And oh yeah, there were 3 Hebrew boys name Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and they were thrown in the furnace, because they refused to bow down to the king’s idol god, so I stepped in the fiery furnace to calm down the fire. In fact, I was the 4th character in the furnace, waving at the king.

There was a man called blind Bartimaeus whose eyes were missing, so I gave him one of mines so that he could see. This is how lost my eyes. Finally, I had to wait until the 6th hour for this man hanging on the cross. He happened to be shedding his blood for mankind. —- We don’t always get it, but no matter what we go through, God’s grace is with us. We don’t always recognize it, but it is there. Thank God for his Amazing Grace!

 

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I’ve been forgiven, sermon 11/29/15

Posted on December 11, 2015 by growintheword

I’ve been forgiven

Synopsis of sermon 11/29/2015

Delivered by Bishop Walker

Text: John 8 (NKJV)

8 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

2 Now early[a] in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. 3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught[b] in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses, in the law, commanded[c] us that such should be stoned.[d] But what do You say?”[e] 6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear.[f]

7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up[g] and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” 8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience,[h] went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her,[i] “Woman, where are those accusers of yours?[j] Has no one condemned you?”

11 She said, “No one, Lord.”

And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and[k] sin no more.”

We all have been benefactors of forgiveness. Having said this, there are so many unreasonable expectations that are placed on children of God, it is unreal. We are progressive, meaning we are becoming, but have not yet arrived. Although we have not arrived, there should, however, be some measurables along the way. In other words, some things we used to do, we don’t do anymore.

Stepping out of it is not the hard part. Staying out of it is much harder. The good thing is, once I understand who I am, I know what I’m capable of and so I keep myself out of some situations. In the text, it talks about a woman being caught in the act of adultery. People often talk about this text and how it is about the woman caught in her adultery, but the revelation is much deeper than that. This is really about the first time grace was given.

In the text, the Bible doesn’t name the woman it talks about. Whenever the name is not mentioned of the main character of a scripture, it means we are all included in that situation, which means we can apply the scripture directly to ourselves. In the text today, the scribes and Pharisees come to Jesus after catching the woman in the very act. They say that she should be stoned. Now we have:

  1. The reality of being caught in the very act

Have you ever been caught with your hand in the cookie jar?  There are a lot of emotions tied to this. No matter how good you think you are, we all have had moments where we were caught in the midst of our weakness. You need to know:

  1. No matter who you are, the struggle is real – There is struggle in the life of all us and that struggle is real. You have to be on guard at all times, because the devil is always looking for an opportunity to exploit you.
  2. The devil will make it fun of you in private and make it shameful for you in public – No matter what your issue is, we don’t know how long you been dealing with it. In fact, you would be surprised of how many people that you know that once had pasts that would surprise you ( if you knew about it). The devil will lead you on to make it shameful publically.
  3. How do we deal with the devil’s tricks?
    1. By self-realization – Don’t get caught up in what people think you are. Know who you are for yourself. Paul says in Romans 7:24 (NKJV) 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? – After you get through jumping, shouting, and praising the Lord, you have to be willing to ask the Lord to help you out, because you got some real issues.
    2. Have sense enough to run – When you are confronted with something that can consume you, then you have to run! Sometimes you simply have to run!
    3. Spiritual Resolve- You come to a place where you are just done! When I was a child I thought as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

Now we must:

  1. Reveal the contradictions of your accusers

Religious leaders brought the woman to Jesus to say she was caught in the very act of adultery. One has to wonder where the scribes and Pharisees were to be in a position to catch her in the very act. Were they in her window? If so why? Tell your neighbor to get out of your window!

Religion vs relationship:

  1. In religion, people would rather antagonize rather than evangelize – Don’t use religion to beat people up. You would be surprised to know how many pew devils there are. One of the worst things you can have is members with stones in their hands. If it wasn’t for God’s grace where would you be?
  2. You got to catch the fish, before you clean them. Rom 3:23 says 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
  3. Prov 24:16 says 16 For a righteous man may fall seven times And rise again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity.

1 John 1:10 says 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

  1. Religious people have selective morality – She is accused of this act. You can’t commit adultery by yourself. It takes two to tango. Where is the man during this accusation? Nowhere is the man brought up on charges or accused of any wrong doing. They just brought the woman to Jesus. People do the same today. We give some people a pass, but we want to throw stones at others. This is called Selective morality. We throw people under the bus, but when we are down, we want people to pray for us.

Finally,

III. Rejoice for complete acquittal

Jesus does something in this woman’s life that is so important. It is about Jesus’ act of grace.

  1. He created space for grace – It’s interesting; A doctor recently said that if people believed that their sins had been forgiven, half of his patients would walk out of the hospital the next day. Lots of time, we allow what we have done, hold us captive. We blame what we have done as a reason that God put sickness and diseases on us. God doesn’t work like this.
  2. Finally Johnny decides he’d had enough. He decided that he would confess. He figures his fate for killing the duck couldn’t be worse than what he was suffering under his sisters blackmail tactics. Johnny goes and tells his grandma that he accidently killed her duck. When he told her, his grandma said, “I know what you did, because I was looking out the window when you did it and I forgave you then for what you did. I just wanted to know how long you was going to allow your sister to make you out of a slave”. Just like this, God has forgiven us for the things we have done. He forgives us and gives us his grace.
  3. One day, he takes aim at his grandma’s pet duck, thinking maybe he needed to try and hit something else. He draws back on the sling shot and on this particular day he hit’s the bullseye. Yes, that’s right, he kills his grandma’s duck. Johnny’s sister saw it and threatened to tell his grandma what Johnny had done. Johnny pleads with her not to tell what he had done and she agrees not to tell if he would do her chores. Johnny agrees and every time his sister was told to do something, she would make Johnny do it. Johnny had to do the dishes, take out trash, and anything else his sister did not want to do.
  4. Ex – There was a boy named Johnny and everyday he would try to take his sling shot and hit the bullseye on his target. Day after day, Johnny failed to hit the bullseye.

John 1:14- 16 says 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me. ‘” 16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. – Whereever Jesus is, grace is. What is grace? It is God giving me what I do not deserve. It is the acknowledgement of my own human condition and granting me what I don’t deserve regardless.

  1. They brought the woman to Jesus, trying to trap him. John 8:6 says Jesus writes in the sand. Sand is another form of dirt. We don’t know what Jesus was writing in the dirt, but I imagine he was thinking, “Dirt is talking about dirt” (referring to the Scribes and the Pharisees).
  1. The Bible says the Scribes kept pressing him. Jesus finally says in vs 7, “you without sin, cast the first stone” and from the youngest to the oldest, they start dropping their rocks.
  2. Jesus looked at the woman in vs 10. Jesus gets up from the ground and looks at her, then he asks “Where are your accusers?” If you can imagine, the woman probably was crying with her hands in her face. Jesus stops her from doing this and forces her to look around and she discovers that all her accusers were gone. This meant that there was no one left to condemn her, so Jesus says to her, “Neither do I condemn you”
    1. They wanted to kill her, but Jesus wanted to give her life.John 10:10 says 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
    2. Rev 12:10 – 10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.
    3. Luke 6:41 says, 41 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye?
  • When the enemy wanted to kill me, Jesus gave me life – “Where are your accusers”, Jesus asked? John 8:11 says 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” They were gone. Since they were not there to condemn her, then He said he would not condemn her either. – Being accused of what you did not do isn’t grace. This is being not guilty. For Jesus to say he won’t condemn you, then He is saying he is aware that the accusations are true, but instead of throwing rocks at you, He is throwing grace at you.

 

 

You have to acknowledge what you did, if you want God’s grace. He gave me life, when my enemies wanted to kill me!

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You are going to make it

Posted on December 3, 2015 by growintheword

You are going to make it

Synopsis of sermon 11/22/15

Delivered by Bishop Walker III

Text: Jeremiah 18:1-6 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.” Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the wheel. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?” says the Lord. “Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel!

 

One of the most amazing things about God is he kept working with me. Another amazing thing about God is his patience. He kept working with us in spite of us. In fact we ought to thank God for giving us another chance.

God never gives up on what he intended for our lives to become. God is not like people. People are quick to give up on you. God never forsakes his children and never gives up on us. There should always be evidence that God is working on us, no matter where we are in life. Every circumstance in your life is God working on you.

Remember that all things work together for the good of them that love the Lord and are called according to his purpose. In the text, Jeremiah is summoned to come down from the wall to see what the potter was working on the wheel. God gives us this revelation to show us his heart and his passion. In comparison to the story in the text, God is the potter and we are the clay.

 

You are going to make it. You got to know that God is going to break you out, but understand that there is a process that God takes you through:

The text says he looked at the potter and the clay. In other words he saw that the potter was going to make something. Know that:

  1. I’m at the potter’s disposal

God, the potter, knows our end and our beginning. He has factored all things before he even begins.

  1. Never forget that you are just clay.
    1. You are just dirt. Gen 2:7 says 7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. Job 34:14 says 14 If He should set His heart on it, If He should gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath,- Here Job reminds us that without the spirit of God, we would be nothing but clay or dirt.

Acts 17:28 says 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring. – Some of you got it going on, but let us remind you that after all your accolades, you are still just clay. At the end of the day, you are nothing but dirt. If you die, you will return to dust. It is amazing how we can be so arrogant when we’re nothing but dust.

It is God’s power that sees the goodness inside of our clay-ness. Man can’t see it, but God can. He will get it out of you by any means necessary. God is working on you!

  1. God begins with us with the end in mind. He is the author and finisher of our faith. He has already completed our destination, before he begins. Before He even started, God knew it would be a part of us that would mess this thing up. Phill 1:6 says 6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; – God knew before we got in this mess, that he was going to bring us out.
    1. God doesn’t create you and then try to figure out what he will make of you. He already knew, before he made you, what he wanted you to be. The potter was going to make something.
    2. When God created you, he had something in mind. That something is your ending. That something is so awesome, Satan is trying to kill you to keep it from coming to fruition. Some of you can testify, the devil had his chance, but you are still standing!
  2. We have to recognize that we are the clay and He is the potter. We need to be in God’s hands. The scripture says the clay was in his hands.
  3. I have personal defects

The scripture says, the clay was in the hands of the potter, but it was still marred (vs4).

  1. Being in God’s hands doesn’t exempt you from issues. No matter your title, everyone has something wrong with them. Our defects are what cause us to leave the potter in the first place.
  2. The clay was marred in his hands; we became marred by the issues of life. God takes us back to the wheel to remake us. God preserves us and makes us have value and this keeps us from the clearance rack. John 10:29 says 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.- When you’re in the hands of the potter, the devil can’t get you out of his hands. Sometimes because you are flesh, you have a tendency to want to do your own thing. This is how we become marred. Pro 14:20 says 12 There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
  3. Where God is taking you, we might have to deal with your issues. God will not allow you to contain your issues. God won’t let you take your issue to you next level.
  4. It was marred in his hands. When God sees it marred, he sees what others can’t, because he is a master potter. The master potter knows that if he covers our marred condition up, there will be horrible consequences up the road. Therefore, he stops and fixes it right then, to make it what it ought to be. He cuts the bad place out and starts again. Everyone wants to be a diamond, but no one wants to be cut. When we come out of this, we will go to the next level.
  5. You started at the bottom and you wonder why you can’t make it to the top. The reason is because you marred. God tries to deal with your marred condition, before you get there, while you are still under the radar.

III. God preserved my destiny

God refused to give up on your defect. He refused to allow you to be defined by your marred condition.

God is patient enough to let us start over.

  1. God is a God of second chances and a God of reset. 1 Cor 13:4 a 4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; – God loves us despite of our short-comings.
  2. He loved us so much, he didn’t keep going. He stopped and fixed us first and started over.
  3. He puts us back on the wheel and makes certain that nothing messes with our destiny.
  4. God didn’t give up on me because he saw the best in me. – Eph 2.10 says 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. – God is willing to keep working on us on the wheel. When people said we were worthless, he kept working on us.

What if everything is flawed such as your marriage, relationship, and etc… What do you do with this? Jer 18:4 says 4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hands of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.- He made it again. Just like this, God makes you over. He makes you good for him and not people. The first time you tried to be good for people, but remember God don’t need man’s affirmation.

Only the master can take something marred and make another vessel. Only the master can make it something good. God made it! God made you! The same vessel and the same clay that was a disappointment, that didn’t look like it was supposed to, and that was flawed, God made that same over again. God made the same vessel over again! He didn’t throw you (the clay) away. He took that same vessel and made it good.

What does this mean? It means that I am the same, but not the same. It looks like me, but it is not me. I look the same, but I am not the same. I am different, because there has been a change that has taken place.i god says its done, it is done.

 

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