HE MADE IT AGAIN ANOTHER VESSEL

MEMORIZE: Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. Jeremiah 18:5-6

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Philippians 1-2, Proverbs 22

BIBLE STUDIES: Jeremiah 18:3-6

Prophet Jeremiah, as instructed by the Lord, went to a potter’s house. When he got there, he saw the potter making a vessel and he sat down to watch the whole process. The potter sat by his potter’s wheel, working away, labouring hard with his hand, trying to create a useful and durable vessel. Unfortunately, the vessel did not turn out as he had hoped. I thought the potter was going to discard that vessel, get new clay, knead it properly and make another vessel from the new clay but he did not. The bible says, “And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it” (Jeremiah 18:4). Instead of discarding the vessel, the potter worked again on the clay and made a new vessel. Just as the prophet was admiring the patience of this potter, the Lord spoke. Jeremiah 18:5-6 says this: “Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.”

The potter in this story is Jesus and we, you and i, are the clay. The Lord is working tirelessly, pouring His resources – time, energy, love, etc - on us to make us vessel unto honour but in the process, some have become marred in His hand. I do not know how you have become marred in the hands of the Lord. Maybe you used to be fervent, you loved the Lord and things of God, you used to evangelize but when you got into the university, you fell into the sin of fornication and everything died in you. Maybe you used to be a youth leader, God was using you mightily in the ministry, anytime you preached people will become convicted and begin to cry, but you got pregnant out of wedlock and it all ended. Maybe you have made a mistake in marriage and it has not only affected your music ministry, it is gradually destroying your spiritual life to the extent you cannot even pray. Maybe when you were in the university, you had the gifts of dreams, God used to show you things before they happen. You used to see visions and hear the voice of God regularly but ever since, you went for work placement all that stopped partly because you have now started to drink and smoke. Maybe before you lost your virginity, whenever you lead praise and worship, healing takes place. Back then praying was something you loved because you always felt His presence but ever since you lost it, it is as if there is a gap between you and God. It is true that you have repented, but you know deep within yourself that you are not where you used to be. You became marred when you committed adultery or when the pressures of life made you to run to a herbalist. Whatever it is that has made you marred in the hands of Christ, He is saying to you today, “cannot I do with you as this potter?” Just as the potter did not cast away the clay, Christ has not cast you away. It is true that you are marred in His hands but He wants to build you into another vessel. You have suffered enough. It is not over for you. Christ is not finished with you yet, regardless of whatever you ever done, even if you have had an abortion, He will forgive if you return to Him today. Regardless of your situation, God can still make something glorious out of your life.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Abram became marred in His hands when he had Ishmael. Yet, the Lord did not cast him away but he restored him.

PRAYER POINT: Father, we ask for restoration.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.

NO VESSEL, NO OIL

MEMORY VERSE: and it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, there is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed, 2 Kings 4:6

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Sam 18, 2 Cor 11, Ezek 25, Ps 9

BIBLE STUDY: 2 Kings 4:1-7

The oil in our bible study represents God’s blessing and anointing. The borrowing of vessels represents tasks or divine assignments. As long as the widow kept on borrowing vessels, the oil kept flowing. The moment the empty vessels ceased, the oil stayed. 

The task of borrowing empty vessels was not an easy one for the sons of the widow. The task involved taking actions and obeying divine instructions from the prophet. They had to leave their comfort zone (home) to go and knock at the door of their neighbors and strangers. At first they started with nearby neighbors (those on the same streets) and later moved on to the next street. The farther they traveled to borrow empty vessels, the more effort was required to bring these empty vessels back home. In the process of going from house to house to borrow empty vessels, the boys experienced abuse, rejection , some even harassed them but these boys ignored all these and kept on making efforts to borrow empty vessels. At a point, these boys became satisfied with the number of empty vessels they had borrowed and went back home. Sadly their oil stayed when their vessels ceased.

Friend, I want you to know that life is a continuous motion. You are either moving forward or going backward, there is nothing like been stagnant. The moment these boys stopped borrowing vessels, they began to go backwards. They frustrated the agenda of God for their family and threw away the opportunity to become a blessing to their nation. This is the exact thing that happens in the life of many believers today. They get satisfied with the little things the Lord has done for them and stop pushing themselves. The reason why many are not experiencing God the way they should experience Him is because they have either stopped pushing themselves or they don’t want to be pushed anymore. Many only want to fast once or twice in a week; nobody wants to wait before God in fasting and praying for seven days. Many of us do not want to memories bible verses anymore, we want to depend on Google. Many of us are satisfied with functioning in one department of the church, we do not want to join any other departments. The moment we stop pushing ourselves to be better in the Lord, the oil dries. Many are satisfied with the one or two gifts of the Holy Spirit they have. As far as they can speak in tongues or dream once in a while they are satisfied. We no longer covet other gifts like interpretation of tongues or word of wisdom.

REMEMBER: The moment we stop pushing ourselves to be better in the Lord, the oil dries.