2021 Daily Devotion - Day 361

-
A sculptor once fashioned a magnificent lion out of solid stone. When asked how he had accomplished such a wonderful masterpiece, he replied, “It was easy. All I did was to chip away everything that didn’t look like a lion.”

This is what God wants to do with us. He wants to chip away everything that doesn’t look like Jesus. Can we allow Him to do this work? Too often, we get stuck in the way we have always done things. We often develop what I would call the “routine of religion” and we never change. And yet in God’s great love for you and me, He wants to change us and shape us as He wills. Here is how the Prophet Jeremiah describes the process:

Jeremiah 18:1-6 NRS
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Come, go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him. Then the word of the Lord came to me: “Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done?” says the Lord. “Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.”

Pray with me:
Heavenly Father, too many times we have resisted You shaping us into the person You want us to be. Our stubborn self-will pushes away all of Your efforts. We have suffered as a result. Help us to be submissive to Your work at shaping us. Give us a desire for You to do a new work in us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Yours because of Him,
Pastor John R. Steward
Senior Pastor
Mount of Olives Church
Tags:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2021 Daily Devotion - Day 369

-
Palm Sunday Matthew 21:1-11NRSV When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.” This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying, “Tell the daughter of Zion, look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is the one who comes i...
More »

2020 Daily Devotion - Day 81

-
John 15:15 NRS I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. From an article on some of the great hymns of the church, we learn about the hymn, “What a Friend we have in Jesus”:   In 1844 a young Irishman, Joseph Scriven, had completed his college education and returned home to marry his sweetheart. As he was traveling to meet her on the day before the planned wedding, he came upon a horrible scene—his beautiful fiancée tragically lying under the water in a creek bed after falling off her horse. Later, Scriven moved to Canada and eventually fell in love again, only to experience devastation once more when she became ill and died just weeks before their marriage. For the second time, this humble Christian felt the loss of the woman he loved. The following year, he wrote a poem to his mother in Ireland that desc...
More »

2020 Daily Devotion - Day 120

-
"An optimist may see a light where there is none, but why must the pessimist always run to blow it out?" Many people often look at the negative side of life. President Reagan used to say that when people do this, it’s as if when you “give them a silver lining, they will find a cloud”. Of course, he was using the old saying “in every cloud, there is a silver lining” and reversing it to make a point. It is very important to be a “glass half full” kind of person. Looking for and expecting good things helps us to stay hope-filled. So, on this new day, be a positive person. Look for the good in everything. Look for hope in everything. Refuse to let yourselves dwell on the negative. Speak to others in inspirational ways, and you will find that your days will be better. Ephesians 4:29 ESV Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. Pray with Me: Heavenly Father, so many peop...
More »