Stay On the Wheel by Brother Duke Hansen

         The scripture we are going to be reading is from the book of Jeremiah 18 verses 1-10.

      The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,

        2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.

        3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.

        4 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.

        5 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

        6 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.

        7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;

        8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.

        9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;

        10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.

            The scripture in Jeremiah read today is about the potters house. Back in the time of Jeremiah, there was considerable time and effort in making these vessels. We have the ability today to pick up any set of bowls, cups, saucers, utensils and pay no mind how they were made. We are spoiled by our instant gratification and impatient with understanding how the clay and mud were built and molded into these items for our use. Unless you have any pride in family or understand heritage, you may not have a dining set from three generations back. You may just routinely cycle utensil sets, dinnerware and glasses every so often, giving away your previously owned items to someone else. A reminder of our instant gratification and disposable culture. 

            God wanted Jeremiah to physically go to the potters house and watch the work. There are many and varied vessels God uses everyday. GOD may have good for you, but if you are content to do evil he will turn from you. Because of the flesh, we can take the basic of steps in our walk, see it as self righteousness and think our light is breaking through the darkness of the world. Our light is a singular dim light in the darkness, because there is still darkness in our vessel and around us. The difference in overcoming obstacles and destruction in our life is the love of our brethren and the support they give us. God is still in charge of the vessel. If mire (sin) gets into the vessel, God can break down the vessel and the vessel can be remade.

           There are a few things God likes from his adopted children. He likes faith, the fruits of true righteousness. When you hold onto that faith when it is tried by fire. None of our past, our struggles, thoughts, deeds, actions- ultimately matters. It is our faith that matters. Your faith is the only thing that protects you from the enemy when you are attacked spiritually or physically. According to Jesus all of us are given a measure of faith. We can grow that faith through prayer and study, or we can let it sit and plant it into some other ideology or fleshly pursuits. There are a lot of christians going through a personal struggle who think it is an attack from the devil or his minions. There are some christians who think God has left them over something. Here's a news flash for you; Sometimes God is trying to get out attention and we are blind to it for a season!

        When we look at the potters wheel, what is God's primary purpose? He is determined to make a vessel that will work for him here on earth. How you look, you work, you present yourself to others, you are designed to answer the Holy Spirit. God can build you up or take you down, and we always can help him with his choices by our actions day to day in the world. 

        What is our part in this? What can we do in this process? I can allow God to work. I can look for God to work. What is pleasing to God? How the vessel is made is pleasing to God. Now, because of our free will, we can turn from him, cut him off and destroy our vessel. We can get too attached to our emotions instead of keeping our eyes on the goodness of God. In his building of vessels, God molds and shapes then puts us in places with certain people. It is never people we are going to be 100% of the time content with. Often it is with a stubborn, stiff necked bunch. Now you can be that subtle influence among these people, or you can fall short and follow the people you were designed to influence. It goes back to the free will and the choices which dictate our outcomes.

        A question which is asked often is "where does my ministry start?" Your ministry starts in your house. As Joshua said in his book chapter 24 verse 15 but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. You need to retrain your thoughts and upend your mindset to only rely on God to save you from something, or bail you out of a situation. He's not a Marvel comics superhero! Judge yourself lest ye be judged. You need to evaluate yourself often, look at yourself from the outside in. A true relationship with Jesus, truly being on the path will having you hating your personal sins and renewing your mind to turn from them. If you can't do that, or you do it half hearted, that sin is staying attached to you. This is life changing when you do it and put it into practice. When God picks you up as a vessel and molds you into something other than what you were, don't worry and focus on the hurt, the pain, the elements you grew attached to that he removed. Stay on the wheel! God is not done with you yet!