Jars Of Clay

JARS OF CLAY

Are you feeling discouraged today

Has your world shattered and left you with no hope for your marriage?

He handcrafted the clay baby cup with her name on it. It was beautifully glazed and I hardly wanted to let her use it. But he said, "Please use it, that's why I made it." And so we did. She loved her own cup with her own name on it!Today the cup sits in her cupboard in her own kitchen. It is still beautifully glazed with her name on it. But the lines on it show where it was carefully glued back together. A clay pot is oh so sturdy yet oh so fragile!!God calls us clay pots. And true to the name most of us sport cracks, carefully glued back together. We are oh so sturdy, yet oh so fragile. Why would God entrust clay pots with the light of His love? We try to fulfill His purposes but we get cracked and broken.Yet His strategy is clear... He knows our weaknesses yet He chose clay pots anyway. He tells us why..."But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us" (2 Corinthians 4:7).Don't be ashamed of the cracks in your life... don't be afraid to show how God has mended you. This is the testimony to the watching world. Our God fixes broken pieces!If you are broken today because of circumstances in your life, or because of choices you wish you had made differently, don't stay in pieces on the floor. If you know you have disappointed God in your walk or in your talk tell Him you are sorry.God will forgive you, pick you up and mend you. Changed lives, lives lived in the power of the Holy Spirit, demonstrate that it is His power at work in us. This is our hope...this is the hope we hold out to a needy world.

Father God, Thank you that You use cracked pots to demonstrate Your love and power. Forgive me today for the guilt trips and the pity parties and help me to tap into the power that changes lives. Thank you that You put Your Spirit in me so that Your amazing power can be visible! Shine through my cracks today, Lord so that others can see who You are. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.

Questions: Do you need to change your thinking and accept the cracks in your life as the very places Jesus can shine through? Invite Him into those places today.