Vessels of Mercy

…that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory.

Romans 9:23

When a clay pot is being formed moisture is essential for keeping it pliable. At the end of a molding session, the potter carefully covers the pot in progress with damp cloths and then seals in a plastic bag. The process is repeated until the desired jar is finished.

Physically, a person can survive no longer than three to five days without water. Skin cracks, arteries shrink and harden as dehydration occurs, then death. The presence of water in the body means the difference between life and death.

In much the same way, our hearts are softened and remain pliable in the Potter’s hands as we soak in His Living Waters. What are the Living Waters available to fill our innermost beings to overflowing? The Word of God. Jesus (John 4:10-15) is Living Water. He shall become in us a well of water springing up in us to eternal life, as we drink. Drink continuously, not just one time. The Lord is pleased to use us as He prepared us beforehand for His mercy to be known in us.

What is it to be a vessel of mercy? It’s being a devoted Christ follower who has been called out of spiritual deadness and made fit to know God’s glory. Undeserved. All by His doing.

Dear sister, who is dry and thirsty, will you come to the Well with me, and drink. Be restored, refreshed, revived, renewed, rested, and resilient. Keep coming. Be free of the dry wastelands of your hardened heart. Let Him in and let Him keep you pliable this side of heaven.

Let’s keep our hearts moistened by the Word of God and His life in us, through His Holy Spirit, so that we will thrive as vessels of His mercy.

Lord, You choose to have Your glory be known to us through us as earthen vessels as we allow You to shape us, never to be the same again.

Karen Sims

A Perfect World

We grow weary in our present bodies,

and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing.

2 Corinthians 5:2, New Living Translation

I'm a perfectionist at heart. I like the flawlessness of new things.

For instance, I bought a new car for the first time in 13 years. I love all the bells and whistles, the new smell and the spotless exterior and interior.

But perfection in this world doesn't last long.

After three months, a rock hit the windshield and cracked it.

Sometime, unknown to me, I must have hit a curb or scraped the wheel against something. Now the beautiful shiny wheel well sports a six-inch scratch.

Life happens. The car doesn't stay spotless.

And neither do we. We grow weary. We age. We get sick. We get knocked around and come home with bruises, broken bones and broken spirits sometimes.

However, when we put our faith in Jesus, we know the best is yet to come.

Matthew 5:48 tells us our Heavenly Father is perfect.

I Corinthians 13:10 talks of a time when perfection will come and all things imperfect and incomplete will end.

That's a comforting thought to me.

No matter what troubles, imperfections and trials we face in this life, our life with Jesus in heaven will be perfect.

Do you know for sure that you will spend eternity in heaven? 

You don't have to guess. You can know for sure. Find out here.

Maybe you already know heaven is your eternal home. But that seems like such a long time away. You want help here and now. I know. I do too.

Try meditating on scriptures about heaven. Listen to praise songs about God's power.

Cognitive therapists tell us that our thoughts create our feelings and then lead to action.

We practice these techniques a lot in our house because we are a family of worriers. I hope you find them helpful too.

Lord, help us take comfort in your promises.

Stacy

My Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week

Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from His perspective.

Colossians 3:1-2, The Message

On Monday, my older son stayed home sick with a cold. That's the day the tree fell and poked five holes in our roof and crushed other outside equipment.

Reality check: A cold is minor. Landry is usually healthy with no chronic or serious illness. The roof got fixed in two hours on Wednesday for less than our insurance deductible.

On Tuesday, I found rust and mold in my washing machine.

Reality check: Yes, I will probably need a new washing machine. But I always hated that washing machine anyway. Sometimes I would look in and find some clothes didn't even get wet, thanks to the low water feature.

On Wednesday, I take oldest son to dentist to have two chipped teeth fixed. Later that day, I absent-mindedly took a hot dish out of the oven with my bare hand. I immediately dropped the dish and watched it shatter in a million pieces.

Reality check: The dentist fixed the teeth. They look perfectly normal again and chew just fine. As for the dish, so I lost it. It wasn't sentimental or anything. And I didn't suffer any lasting trauma to my hand.

On Thursday, my writing deadlines piled up because of chaos Monday through Wednesday.

Reality check: My husband let me catch up on deadlines on Sunday.

By Friday, I was starting to get a stuffy nose and scratchy throat.

Reality check: Nothing serious. I took Vitamin C and Zinc, and the symptoms seem to minimize.

So I decided that in the big scheme of things, the week really wasn't that bad. In 10 years, I probably won't remember any of it.

So what circumstances consume you today or this week? Chances are, they may just be distractions to get your eyes off Jesus.

Lord, help us see your perspective when circumstances cloud our view.

Stacy

Do You Know Your Value?

Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!

Luke 12:24

A boy I know worries every day that his mom will forget to pick him up from school. She's never forgotten him. But he still thinks about this every day. 

One particular day, he took cookies to school in one of his mom's plastic containers. It was an old container that might bring 50 cents at a garage sale.

However, he practiced his positive self-talk by saying that his mom would definitely pick him up because she wanted her container back. This actually seemed to help him get relief from his worry.

As I heard the story, I thought how many times I doubt God's love and provision for me.

Then, I remembered Luke 12 and how God tells us that we are so valuable to Him. He even knows how many hairs we have on our heads!

In Zephaniah, we learn that God delights in us and sings over us.

Psalm 34:10 says those who seek God will lack no good thing.

In the gospels, we read how God sent His only son, Jesus, to die for us so that we might have eternal life.

Jesus tells us in John 14 that he is preparing a place for us.

Dear ones, God loves us more than we can understand.

I find that I must meditate on verses like this regularly to remember God's love. I'm thankful that He knows I'm forgetful and doubtful. He doesn't hold that against us.

Lord, help me to trust in your love and not doubt.

Stacy

Just A Little Good News

Light in a messenger’s eyes brings joy to the heart,

and good news gives health to the bones.

Proverbs 15:30

My husband and I took our two boys to visit Grandpa (my father-in-law) who lives in a Christian-based assisted living center.

While we were there, the weather service issued a tornado warning. That meant everyone had to go to the basement for safety. This is no easy task with residents who don't hear well or move too quickly.

Grandpa has mild dementia, but he can move pretty fast! So we were among the first to arrive in the very warm and stuffy basement.

The staff stayed busy helping residents out of their rooms. So we were the only non-residents in the basement for much of the time. And the crowd grew restless.

I can't blame them. Many of them had been listening to the weather alerts for hours.

So there we waited with no news, no staff and nothing to do. Did I mention it was hot and crowded down there? That didn't do much for the mood either.

Although it didn't seem to bother Grandpa, he turned to me and asked:  Why do you suppose all these people have gathered down here?

I smiled. I wanted to tell him we had all gathered for a big party. I didn't, but it did give me an idea. While this gathering was far from a party, surely we could do something to make it more fun.

So we began to walk up and down the hall talking to residents. My husband watched the radar on his iPhone, and I gave them updated weather reports. A friendly face and a little good news went a long way to make the evening more bearable.

We knew these residents heard the Good News of Christ regularly. So we concentrated on giving them a little good news for the moment.

Who needs you to bring them good news? What will you tell them?

Stacy