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Israel is no stronger than its capital, Samaria, and Samaria is no stronger than its king, Pekah son of Remaliah. Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm.” Isaiah 7:9 (NLT)
“Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm.” It’s a short little phrase stuck in the middle of an important part of Israel’s history. King Ahaz had to make a decision. Would he really put his faith in God and stand firm against the enemies that wanted to destroy Israel or would he put his trust in a neighboring countries power?
In the midst of his emotional and mental struggle God said “Go ahead. Ask me to show you a sign of what you should do and what will happen.” It was a crisis of faith for the King. Where was his true allegiance? Ahaz chose not to ask for the sign. In the end he trusted the neighboring power rather than the God of heaven and his kingdom was ripped from his hands.
Each of us must choose where our true allegiance is. It’s a daily decision, even a moment by moment decision. The enemy wants us to doubt who is really in control. It happened in the Garden of Eden, “Did God REALLY say you’d die?” It happened in during Jesus time on earth when He visited His hometown and the Bible tells us “He did no miracles there because of their unbelief”.
As Christ-followers we must always remember that God’s way is the best way. We must measure each of our actions according to what God wants and allow Him to determine the outcome by His power. God CAN do anything we ask but He requires that we first trust Him to do what is best for us, even if His best seems detrimental at the time.
There will be bumps along the road. There are going to be forks in the journey with confusing sign posts directing you along the way. As you grow closer to Christ, through obedience and knowledge of His word, He will show you the path to take. Don’t be afraid to ask Him. Don’t impatiently take action on your own.
Never forget that the Creator God of the universe loves you and wants you to experience all He has for you. He will never leave you. He will never forsake you. But you need to make that first step. Each of us needs to make a conscious decision to trust Him above all else and actively believe that He can and will see you through life’s obstacles. That’s what His love is all about.
PRAYER: Father God, I acknowledge that you are the creator and sustainer of the universe. I believe that you have all things in control. But I confess to you that there are many times during my day when I am faced with a choice to follow my own wisdom or ask you for direction. This almost always takes me down the wrong path. Forgive me for living in fear. Forgive me for following my heart and not what I know to be true. Help me to stand firm and step out in faith, truly believing that You can and will accomplish great things if I let You have control of my life. Amen.
So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NLT)
Reflection: the act of reflecting an image; representation; counterpart; the production of an image by or as if by a mirror.
Who is Jesus? What is He like? Why should I put my trust in Him? If He was alive 2000 years ago why should I pay any attention to Him now? What good would that do?
These are questions our world is asking during a time when there are many questions about religion, many other ‘choices’ offered to bring meaning and truth to life.
Each of us, as Christ-followers, are given the privilege of showing the world who Jesus is. The Apostle Paul tells us that we reflect the glory of the Lord to those who don’t know who Jesus is. That means that if your neighbor were asked what Jesus was like, they would say something like, “I’m not sure. But I think Jesus is probably like my neighbor.”
There are many people that have rejected Christ because they haven’t seen Him in the lives of His followers. Rather than seeing a reflection of Jesus when they look at us they see a reflection of something else, a human just as they are.
The bad news is that we are humans. We fail. We get angry. We hurt people physically, emotionally and mentally. In and of ourselves we can never reflect anything other than failure. It seems we are constantly reminded of that. Sometimes we are our own worst enemy by remembering our past and beating ourselves up for not being strong, not being holy, not following God the way we should. Other times people around us hold up our past mistakes like banners to remind us that we’ve failed.
The good news is that as reflections of Jesus we are not the source of the light. We simply reflect it. God is the one who ‘cleans the glass’ through the forgiveness offered through Jesus. God is the one that provides the light that shines though us.
The cleaning of our ‘mirrors’ takes time. We shouldn’t expect to reach perfection overnight. Don’t be discouraged by past mistakes and present struggles. That’s all part of the process God uses to prepare us for greater things.
Remember that God loves you dearly. He loves you enough to cleanse you through His Son, Jesus. He loves you enough to let His glory shine through you. ‘God’s glory’ refers to His Holy Spirit. When the Spirit is shining through you other people will notice because of the spiritual fruit of: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! (Galatians 5:22-23-NLT)
PRAYER: Dear Father. Thank you for Jesus and the love and forgiveness I have received through Him. I confess to you that I am often not a very good ‘mirror for Jesus’. Forgive me for the times I’ve been a poor reflection of Your glory. I ask that You would continue to clean and polish me so that others would see Jesus when they look at me. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
“O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. Jeremiah 18:6
One day the prophet Jeremiah was told by God to visit the house of the local potter. As Jeremiah watched, the potter worked gently shaping a piece of clay. In the process of forming the pot, the potter noticed a flaw in the clay. “This will never do,” he said. With that he began to reform the pot until the flaw was gone and a perfectly useful pot was formed. God said to Jeremiah, “just as the potter shaped this vessel for use, so I can shape my people to be used in the best way possible.”
Just as the potter was able to take the piece of clay in his hands and mold it into something useful, something perfectly able to accomplish the task it needed to accomplish, God shapes us daily so that we are better able to accomplish all that He has desired for us. Like a skilled artist God is molding you and shaping you into the person He wants you to be.
As God the Father is shaping you it’s important to remember some things about how He works. Just as the potter is very deliberate in his work, so our Heavenly Father is passionate about what He is doing in your life. His actions are never arbitrary or random. No movement of His hands is without reason. As a Sovereign God He makes every moment of our lives an opportunity to grow stronger and more effective.
As the potter shapes the clay, he pays attention to detail. No flaw goes unnoticed. He knows that even the smallest of flaws can make a vessel worthless. He knows the limitations of the clay but also knows the possibilities. Our Father is never willing to allow us to be useless vessels due to the flaws in our lives. Rather, he works each flaw out so that we can be strong and useful vessels for Him.
The potter also works patiently. He knows that a strong pot is formed slowly. Only under the direst of circumstances is he harsh and forceful with the clay. When that happens it happens for a reason and for a short time so that the clay can be reformed into something special. Sometimes God has to bring harsh things into our lives to work out the flaws and make us stronger. He does so in love and for our benefit.
Lastly, the potter is proud of his work. He has worked long and hard to make each vessel useful, strong and beautiful. Our Father does the same for us. Some stores sell products that are imperfect, or rejects. You can buy them at a discounted price because they are flawed. God doesn’t send us into the world as rejects or irregulars. We are His prized possessions. With His gentle hands He molds us, shapes us and works out the flaw so that we can be used for Him.
PRAYER: Father thank you for caring enough about me that you will not allow me to be a flawed vessel. I praise you for the fact that you will mold me and shape me to be the best I can possibly be. Help me to be empowered by you to be used in real and mighty ways. I pray this for your name’s sake. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 