2,000 Degrees

Today is the last day of school before Christmas break. YEA!!! And we dismissed at 11:00. Double YEA!!! We are very excited around here to be spending the next 17 days foot loose and fancy free. It's been a super busy week and we've had Devotions in a Box every morning instead of our usual devotional meetings. They've all been wonderful, but I thought I would share the one from today.

Here's how the ways of God are described in Isaiah 64:8. It's our word for today from the Word of God. "Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand." There it is. Me clay, Lord; You potter.

When God wanted to explain to His people the painful events in their lives, He sent His prophet Jeremiah down to the potter's house for an illustration. Jeremiah said: "I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as it seemed best to him." Then the Lord sent this message: "Like the clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in My hand" (Jeremiah 18:1-6.)

Since this potter parallel is God's idea, let's consider how the ways of the potter may shed some light on the ways of God in your life, in the past and even in your current circumstances. We're all that shapeless lump of clay until we put ourselves in the hands of the Master Potter. Only the One who gave you your life can shape your life into what it was created to be.

How does He make you into a masterpiece? First, there's the purifying. The Potter works to wash out and work out impurities that keep you from becoming something beautiful. And then, there's the poking and the squeezing-the pain which makes us want to ask the Potter, "Why?"

His answer: "I'm shaping you into something of great value. Trust Me." And then there's the heat-2,000 degrees in that kiln oven. If the clay could talk, it would probably scream, "You're killin' me in here!" No, see the heat solidifies and makes permanent the beautifying work that the Potter's been doing. Without the heat, you lose what He's made you. The heat makes it last. (The heat analogy brought to mind this short post from two years ago. I love it when that happens.)

So whatever you're going through right now is a tool in the hands of the Master Potter. It's not random, it's not just about the situation you can see in front of you. It's the chosen tool of the Potter who is also your loving Father. Let Him do His wonderful work. Trust His loving hands even when you can't understand what He's doing. He's using what's happening to make you more beautiful and more valuable than you could ever imagine.

If Day

February 19, 1942, was a fascinating day for Canada. It was "If Day"--a World War II staging of a fake Nazi invasion of Winnipeg, Manitoba. The intent was to show what it would be like "if" Canada fell under the harsh occupation of Nazi forces, so that Canadians would support the war effort more fully.

As one person described the event, "If Day brought home the reality of Nazi occupation. Manitobans got a very bitter taste of nearly every aspect of Nazi brutality." The key word there is nearly. While "If Day" was a valiant attempt to educated people about danger in the world, it cold not begin to recreate the actual suffering that was sweeping Europe.

Real trials in life are not ifs--they are whens. In fact, life's most profound lessons cannot simply be observed, they must be experienced. It is there, in actual seasons of heartache and loss, that we gain greater insight into life, faith, and our need of God. To that end, James wrote, "My brethren, count if all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience" (James 1:2-3).

Trials come because we live in a broken world, but we decide if we will learn the lessons taught. There are no "ifs" about it--it is an important way to grow. Someone has written:

Though you cannot see the outcome,

Trust the Lord--He knows what's best;

Be assured He sees your trial,

And He's with you in your test.

Tough times can teach us to trust.

Therefore, seek a relationship with God, finding your joy there, and out of you "will flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38). Be a fountain through which Jesus can pour His "living water." Live "your life...hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3). A person who has that kind of relationship with God lives a life as natural as breathing wherever he goes. The lives that have been the greatest blessing to you are the lives of those people who themselves were unaware of having been a blessing.

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How wonderful to know that we serve a loving God who has control over everything. How different would we do things if we could see the big picture the way that He does? My guess is that a lot of us wouldn't change much because we couldn't possibly understand the big picture OR we would try to "fix" things and end up making them worse. Trials will come. Tough times will come. And hopefully we learn from them and lean on the Lord more because of them. Three times in the less than a week this verse has been brought to my attention: 2 Timothy 1:7, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." Last week my SIL referred to it when blogging about a difficult road that they are currently traversing. Then Monday night, at our women's bible study, it was the key verse for the night. Our leader had printed it out on bright green "bookmarks" for us to place in our Bibles to help us remember to place our "worries" in the Lord's hands. Then this morning, our principal said that he was going to share with us the teacher's bible verse and then he quoted 2 Timothy 1:7. Three times in less than a week!!! I know difficult times will come, and I'm beginning to believe that the Lord has placed this verse in my path to prepare me for something. What? I don't know. It would be nice to have a wonderful little handbook that tells me all about what's coming and how it's going to turn out. However, that's not the way it works. Instead, whatever comes my way I have to trust in the Lord and know that He knows the who's, what's, why's, and how's even if I don't. And I'm glad that He does because I would just make a mess of things!

Hope every has a very blessed Wednesday!

Devotion in a Box

Appling Christian Academy is a very special place and it is a very special place to work. One of the many reasons is that the people of ACA, whether they be students, parents, or staff, all become one big family. We look out for each other, we lean on each other, and we pray for each other. The staff begins each morning in devotion. We read the Bible, talk about the Bible, and pray. Occasionally instead of meeting for our morning devotion, our principal writes and hands out our devotion. These are labeled our Devotion in a Box. Today I thought that I would share one of our recent ones.

It was many centuries ago in a remote village in India. Word began to spread that something was about to happen that no one had seen in their lifetime-the prince was actually coming to visit this forgotten little village. Well, everyone was excited, but no one was more excited than the village beggar. Every day he eked out another day by sitting by the road with his little cup, hoping to get enough money to buy some rice to live one more day. He actually had two cups, one for collecting money and one for his few grains of rice. But now the prince as coming. I mean, the wealthy prince! When the prince finally arrived, the beggar mustered his most impassioned appeal, "Alms! Alms for the poor!" And the prince stopped. The beggar's heart was pounding furiously.

"Give me your cup of rice." That was all the prince said. The beggar slumped down in disbelief. Here was the wealthiest man in the land, asking for his lousy little cup of rice. The beggar was about to refuse, but instead he reached in and he put three grains of rice in the prince's hand. The prince turned to his servant and said, "Bring me the bag of gold." The beggar could hardly contain himself as he eagerly stretched out his empty collection cup. The prince reached into his bag and placed three grains of gold in the beggar's cup. And then he disappeared, never to return, but leaving the beggar to wonder for the rest of his life what would have happened if I had given him my whole cup of rice?

Jesus, the Prince of Heaven, may be passing your way today with so much to give you. The forgiveness of every sin you've ever committed, a new beginning, the peace that has eluded you your whole lifetime, and an eternity with Him in heaven. He wants to make you spiritually rich.

II Corinthians 8:9 says, "You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ (grace means undeserved love), that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich."

Your life is as big as you can make it, and it's nowhere near enough, is it? Jesus has chosen to pass your way today, asking you to turn over to Him the life that He gave you and the life He died for.

If you're ready to trade what you have for what Jesus has, would you tell Him that right now? Tell Him you're putting all your trust in Him.

May everyone have a blessed day!