Potter and Clay - Devotionals

Potter and Clay devotionals

Daily

Inspirational Thoughts

to bless your life.

Monday through Saturday

by

Beth McLendon

Topic this week:

Amazing Insights into

God as Potter

and

Us as Clay.

O Lord, thou art our father;

we are the clay,

and thou our potter;

and we all

are the work of thy hand.

Isaiah 64:8

Introduction

Years ago I became fascinated with this topic

from watching Lemme the Potter.

She was often on Christian television programs

and once

she even came to my church to teach us.

If anyone knows how to get in contact with Lemme -

please let me know.

She was fantastic!

Monday 

The Water of the Word

As you watch the first video below,

notice

how the potter

keeps adding

water.

We need the

water of the word of God

(which means we need to read the Bible)

in order to be 

pliable in God's hands.

(Ephesians 5:26 - We must read our Bibles.)

Reading the Bible

with a teachable heart

allows God to change us.

Notice the Potter in the video

is putting water on her hands

as she molds the clay.

Tuesday

The clay must

Yield

to God.

As the next video helps us see,

we need...

The water of the word,

pressure,

time,

patience,

and obeying God's plan....

 to become mature in the Lord.

God makes us

more and more glorious.

Have thine own way, Lord, have thine own way.

Thou art the 

POTTER

and I am the

CLAY.

Mold me and make me 

after your will.

While I am waiting,

Yielded and still.

Wednesday

Today we are going to talk about the wedging process.

But first....

We will begin with a video

that would be great to share with

older children and teens.

Consider taking what you are learning on this page

and share it with

children and teens that you love.

Also see the following video for younger children  https://youtu.be/whB16SHyUEk

The  Wedging Process

Before we get on the spiritual potter's wheel,

we go through the wedging process.

Wedging softens the clay.

God is softening us to enable us to

understand the Gospel

and our need for the Gospel.

1.

The first thing a potter does is

cut off some clay from a block of clay.

2.

He then takes the clay and begins

the process of wedging it.

The potter stretches and works the clay.

It is like kneading dough.

But the clay is harder to work with than dough.

Further down...

We have a video of wedging clay.

What does wedging do?

Wedging softens the clay.

And

wedging

is needed

to get out

all the air bubbles

(air bubbles would later make the clay weak)

and wedging is to get

all the clay particles aligned properly.

Spiritual Application

We are the clay... 

Think about all those strong wedging actions

- which include pressure and stretching - 

in order to prepare us for the potter's wheel.

We are -   mashed, smashed, smooshed - again and again.

If the clay could talk.... it would say,

"OUCH!  STOP!!"

After the clay is ready for the wheel.

The next step is "throwing" the clay on the wheel.

God does not do this for us.

He woos us to accept Jesus as Savior but...

we must

choose to accept Jesus as Savior & Lord.

The meaning for this illustration is ...

We must ask for God to put us on the wheel.

Lemme used to "throw" a piece of clay

on the pottery wheel.

Then she would say,

"That loud thud you heard

was your commitment when you gave your life to Jesus.

Without that firm commitment,

you would fly off the wheel when it begins to turn."

Thursday

God's word says...

“Go down to the potter’s shop,

and I will

speak to you

there.” 

Jeremiah 18:2 NLT

Steps from the above video:

Step one - Centering 

The clay is put on the wheel and it endures the work of centering. At first the clay is wobbly. The clay needs a firm hand. After the Potter centers the clay, it will appear motionless on the wheel. 

Notice that at first our walk with God is bumpy.  We are struggling with the process of  allowing God's will in our life.

Step two - Opening the clay

Here God opens up our heart so he can more easily work on our heart. 

As you can see - The Potter, our heavenly Father, works on the outside of the clay (our outside circumstances) and the inside of the clay (our heart).

Step three -

Preparing the clay for shaping.

Here - our walls of resistance become less thick. We become more pliable in God's hands.

The clay is lifted up.  The Potter draws the clay upward -  toward himself and his heart. 

Step four - Shaping

The wheel slows down and the Potter shapes the clay. 

During this step, the vessel gets a foot, a base, a body, a neck, a mouth, and a lip. 

We grow toward our destiny as God continues to shape and fine-tune us. 

God molds us

as

we

yield to him.

In this process, we are...

YIELDING

to God

over and over and over again.

-

"Not my will but yours be done."

Luke 22:42 b

Friday

As you watch the next video, think about:

The wheel goes around and around -

it's morning then it's night and over and over.

Sometimes life is just dizzying. 

And we have to deal with the pressures of life -

difficult circumstances and situations

financial stress, health issues,

loneliness, frustrations, cruel words, cruel actions,

the everyday responsibilities of life, etc.

And so

we go around and around.

After we are taken off the wheel...

we have to be

put on a shelf to dry out.

We are the clay - so spiritually...

We are sitting on the shelf thinking that nothing is happening in our life.

God doesn't seem to be using us.

Our life seems stuck.

But this is an important time for us. We must go through a drying process before going into the fire. If we didn't, we would be destroyed in the fire.

Consider our Prayer for Despair if you feel boxed in and left on a shelf.

Next, we go into the fire.

The Kiln

The pottery must go

into the fire

in order to become strong.

We are the clay - so spiritually, we are thinking ...

"The fire is too hot.

This is too much to bear. I just can't stand it. Get me out of here. "

We have to learn how to lean on God and encourage ourself in the Lord..... over and over.

When Father God

allows his children

to go into

the furnace of affliction,

he keeps his eye on the clock and his hand on the thermostat.

Music

can be a great encouragement to us.

Disclaimer: I am not endorsing any singer or church.

God tells us that we NEED to put on

The Full Armor of God

in order to

deal with the difficult things of life.

I put on the Armor often - sometimes daily!

Here are my -  Full Armor of God prayers: Here

Becoming a Champion for Christ

is awesome to think about

but we need encouragement to achieve it.

Here are Champion for Christ pages to inspire and motivate you...

Champions for Christ

Saturday Devotion

God has a purpose for your life.

God has a plan.

God is working on you.

This man is a little intense but has some good points.

Take note:

Sometimes our destiny requires us to do something that we are afraid to do but feel compelled to do.

To achieve our destiny, we are at times going to have to step out in the Power of God and do something that is uncomfortable.

In God's Time

All

His promises will prove true!

-

God’s way is perfect. All the LORD’s promises prove true. 

Psalm 18:30 NLT

"Reassure me that your promises are for me,

for I trust and revere you."

Psalm 119:38 TLB

God wrote Psalm 119:38

for us to speak out to him

in prayer

so that

he can answer that prayer.

-

Listen for his still, small voice reassuring you.

A Beautiful Song...

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