BROKEN POTS still have a purpose!
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr
Kyfingers@aol.com
TEXT:
1 CORINTHIANS 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of this world to confound the things which are mighty.
28 And the base things of the world, and the things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and the things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
29 That no flesh should glory in His Presence.
Joel 3:10 Beat your plowshares into swords, and your prunning hooks into spears: LET THE WEAK SAY, I AM STRONG.
Romans 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and to make another to dishonor?
2 Cor. 12:5. of such an one will I glory; yet of myself I will not glory but in my infirmities.
vs. 7: And least I should be exalted above measure, through the abundance of Revelations there was given to me a thorn in my flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, least I should be exalted above measure. vs. 8: for this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
vs. 9: And He said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. vs. 10: Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distress for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak then am I strong.
What breaks a man? Can God use broken vessels?
Does God care when life has broken you?
Are we really broken? Or can God mend us better than new?
What is the value of a broke pot...
Is His grace is sufficient?
Again I ponder the thought of how human humanity appears to be.
All our flaws and defects, many are our imperfections and weaknesses, it would appear that our weaknesses detract from the whole or at best would hinder our effectiveness.
Many years ago, I failed the Lord in a stupid teenager deed.
I can painfully remember January the 1st, 1968.
I was raised in the parsonage,
I was 16 years old, I knew right from wrong.
But I failed the Lord!
1/1/68 was always a painful memory of my stupid
failure.
Before the sun went down Jan. 1, 1968 I begged God
to forgive me for breaking the very heart of God.
On Jan. 2nd, I begged God for His forgiveness.
On Jan. 3rd I begged God for His forgiveness.
And this continued for many years as the enemy oft
reminded me of my failure.
In 1970 I started college and moved to Tennessee
for my education.
One day as I was driving to class my enemy
rightfully accused me of my failure.
And I again asked the Lord to forgive me.
In 1973 I had been to classes, my junior year,
and driving home I remembered Jan. 1, 1968
and the enemy laughed at me for my failure.
I went to my apartment where Linda and I lived and
laid on the couch.
I know not that I was awake or asleep,
but as I lay there remembering my failures of
Jan. 1, 1968,
Jesus appeared right in front of me.
And I immediately cried and told him I was so sorry
for breaking his heart on Jan 1, 1968.
He said, Hum, Hum, as he stroked his beard, and he
reached for the book of my life.
I could see the tops of the pages,
I could see the headings : 1961, 1962..etc.
As he neared the end of 1967 my heart was broken
because I knew that he was getting close to a
terrible page in my life.
Finally, Jesus turned to the page for which I had
long dreaded.
He took his right hand and stroked his beard several
times and said, Hum!
I then had a fear come over me.
I looked in His eyes and I wondered,
I reached over and I touched the book and I pulled
it down where I could see the whole page of
Jan. 1, 1968 and to my surprise it was totally
clean!
WHITE! Snow white!
There was not one blot of dirt or anything on that
page.
I said to Jesus, "I very clearly remember
Jan. 1, 1968.
To which He replied to me,
"Son, you asked forgiveness for that on that
evening and I took my blood and
I washed your black sin and made it white as snow
and removed it as far as the East is from the West.
As far as I am concerned, you have been justified by
the blood of the lanb.
I will never remember or recall any of the deeds of
your life that is under the blood."
Before Jesus left, I said,
"Jesus, I have one question to ask you.
If you have removed this from my past, and it is
very apparent that you have,
why did you not remove this painful day of Jan. 1,
1968 from my mind, my memory hurts me so bad?"
Jesus looked over his shoulder and said,
"Son, while I have forgave you and forgotten your
sin, if I removed this painful memory out of your
mind, you would again fall into the same trap.
I love you so much that I have forgiven you, but I
leave this scar to remind you that you need to live
your life pleasing to me."
With that, He said, "I love you and was gone."
2 Cor. 12:5. of such an one will I glory; yet of myself I will not glory but in my infirmities.
vs. 7: And least I should be exalted above measure, through the abundance of Revelations there was given to me a thorn in my flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, least I should be exalted above measure. vs. 8: for this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
vs. 9: And He said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. vs. 10: Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distress for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak then am I strong.
For we are all but broken and flawed vessels.
For years I had a problem with vessels of honor.
Somehow I thought that the honor belonged to the
vessel, and one day the Holy Spirit taught me that a
vessel of honor was not to honor the vessel,
but to honor the master of the vessel;
for at best we are but cracked pots.
Consider this little story.
Raise your head,
focus your eyes,
look towards the cross,
don’t look towards people,
for they to are cracked pots and broken vessels.
Poor Mary, came to Jesus so broken and battered by life?
But as she offered and broke her alabaster box at
Jesus’ feet, what was broken began to be healed.
Her precious gift became more precious as Mary
was willing to break open her alabaster box for the
Master.
Mary will never be the same!
Romans 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and to make another to dishonor?
Look to the grace,
for in His amazing grace there is hope for the
despair.
There is healing for the sick.
There is deliverance for those in bondage.
There is a plan, we must focus to see His plan.
The Cracked Pot (Unknown)
A water bearer in India had two large pots,
each hung on each end of a pole which he carried
across his neck.
One of the pots had a crack in it,
and while the other pot was perfect and always
delivered a full portion of water at the end of
the long walk from the stream to the master’s house,
the cracked pot arrived only half full.
For a full two years this went on daily,
with the bearer delivering only one and a
half pots full of water in his master’s house.
Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its
accomplishments,
perfect to the end for which it was made.
But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own
imperfection, and miserable that it was able to
accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter
failure,
it spoke to the water bearer one day by the
stream.
"I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to
you."
"Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed
of?"
"I have been able, for these
past two years, to deliver only half my load
because this crack in my side causes water to
leak out all the way back to your master’s house.
Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this
work, and you don’t get full value from your
efforts," the pot said.
The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked
pot, and in his compassion he said,
"As we return to the master’s house,
I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along
the path.
Indeed, as they went up the hill,
the old cracked pot took notice of the
sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side
of the path, and this cheered it some.
But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad
because it had leaked out half its load, and so
again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.
The bearer said to the pot,
"Did you notice that there were flowers only on
your side of your path,
but not on the other pot’s side?
That’s because I have always known about your flaw,
and I took advantage of it.
I planted flower seeds on your side of the path,
and every day while we walk back from the stream,
you’ve watered them.
For two years I have been able to pick these
beautiful flowers to decorate my master’s table.
Without you being just the way you are,
he would not have this beauty to grace his house."
Each of us has our own unique flaws.
We re all cracked pots.
But if we will allow it,
the Lord will use our flaws to grace His Father’s
table.
In God’s great economy, nothing goes to waste.
So as we seek ways to minister together,
and as God calls you to the tasks He has
appointed for you, don’t be afraid of your flaws.
Acknowledge them, and allow Him to take advantage of them, and you, too, can be the cause of beauty in His pathway.
Go out boldly, knowing that in our weakness we find His strength, and that "In Him every one of God’s promises is a Yes."
You see, life grows from the cross.
Life grows towards the light.
I was reading in a fallen preacher’s Bible 10 years after his death and written at the top, in a shaky old man’s handwriting, were penned these words:
Bury the past or it will bury you!
Disappointments can kill the hope of people.
Disappointment in others, but the real killer is when
the disappointment is in yourself.
1 CORINTHIANS 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of this world to confound the things which are mighty.
28 And the base things of the world, and the things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and the things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
29 That no flesh should glory in His Presence.
Wow, isn’t it neat that God asked,"Moses, what is
that in your hand?"
"Well, God it is just a little rod? What can a rod
do?" Exodus 4:2
Hey, little boy what is in your lunch box?
It is so little?
John 6:9 The Preacher says: WHAT ARE THEY AMONG SO
MANY?
Well, lad offer what you have, Jesus can bless the
little.
Just make them sit down, and we shall see God
enlarge the small.
See, my dear friend, God’s plan and purpose reaches
beyond all our faults and failures.
Jesus looks beyond our faults and He sees our needs.
Life grows from the soil of forgiveness ’neath the foot of cross.
Scarred hands heal scarred lifes. Jesus loves you! Jesus has a plan for you! Broken and spilled out at the feet of Jesus!
Come home. Jesus sees beyond your hurt, beyond your past, beyond the guilt, Jesus is building your life.
Stay faithful and meet me at Jesus’ feet.
His servant,
Wade Martin Hughes,Sr
Kyfingers@aol.com
Tell some else of my work and enlarge my hands?
