November 6, 2007
>
> LIKE CLAY
> by Charles R. Swindoll
>
> Read Acts 12:25-13:5
>
>
>
> Keeping the clay of your will supple and flexible
> calls for
> constant attention along the way. Once you grow hard
> and brittle
> to God's leading, you're less usable to
> Him. I want to
> take the truths we've wrestled with here and
> make them into
> a softening ointment you can regularly apply when a
> change is on the
> horizon. The ingredients in the ointment you need to
> apply include a
> pinch of the negative and a smidgen of the positive.
>
> First negative: Do not remove any possibility. Stay
> open to whatever
> it is God may have for you by removing all the
> limitations. Tell the
> Lord you're willing to cooperate. But
> don't forget, you
> may be the next Barnabas or Paul the Lord decides to
> move. Remember,
> we're dealing with change-changing so we
> might obey.
>
> Second negative: Do not allow a lot of activity to
> dull your
> sensitivity. Remember, God spoke while they were
> ministering. You can
> be so busy in church activities you can't
> figure out what the
> Lord's saying.
>
> First positive: Let God be God. He is selective when
> He moves people.
> He picked two and left three. That was His
> prerogative. He could have
> chosen all five or only one. It's His call.
> Our sovereign Lord
> does as He pleases, and when it's clear, our
> response is to
> obey.
>
> Second positive: Be ready to say yes. Don't
> wait for all the
> details to be ironed out before you agree to release
> and obey. Sure,
> there will be hardships, some uphill stretches in
> the road. So what?
> Be ready to say yes, and trust Him to take care of
> the rest.
>
> Only you and the Lord know the condition of your
> heart. Is it soft
> and
> pliable clay, ready to be molded and shaped by the
> Master sculptor?
> Or
> has it hardened into brittle and fragile pottery
> from years of
> faithless living? You know exactly what God is
> asking you to do. It
> may be well beyond the boundaries of logic and far
> outside your
> comfort zone. You may even have a few friends
> telling you that what
> you believe He's asking you to do is wrong,
> completely wrong.
> Still, His leading is clear. Only one thing is
> needed: say yes, Lord,
> yes.
>
> LIKE CLAY
> by Charles R. Swindoll
>
> Read Acts 12:25-13:5
>
>
>
> Keeping the clay of your will supple and flexible
> calls for
> constant attention along the way. Once you grow hard
> and brittle
> to God's leading, you're less usable to
> Him. I want to
> take the truths we've wrestled with here and
> make them into
> a softening ointment you can regularly apply when a
> change is on the
> horizon. The ingredients in the ointment you need to
> apply include a
> pinch of the negative and a smidgen of the positive.
>
> First negative: Do not remove any possibility. Stay
> open to whatever
> it is God may have for you by removing all the
> limitations. Tell the
> Lord you're willing to cooperate. But
> don't forget, you
> may be the next Barnabas or Paul the Lord decides to
> move. Remember,
> we're dealing with change-changing so we
> might obey.
>
> Second negative: Do not allow a lot of activity to
> dull your
> sensitivity. Remember, God spoke while they were
> ministering. You can
> be so busy in church activities you can't
> figure out what the
> Lord's saying.
>
> First positive: Let God be God. He is selective when
> He moves people.
> He picked two and left three. That was His
> prerogative. He could have
> chosen all five or only one. It's His call.
> Our sovereign Lord
> does as He pleases, and when it's clear, our
> response is to
> obey.
>
> Second positive: Be ready to say yes. Don't
> wait for all the
> details to be ironed out before you agree to release
> and obey. Sure,
> there will be hardships, some uphill stretches in
> the road. So what?
> Be ready to say yes, and trust Him to take care of
> the rest.
>
> Only you and the Lord know the condition of your
> heart. Is it soft
> and
> pliable clay, ready to be molded and shaped by the
> Master sculptor?
> Or
> has it hardened into brittle and fragile pottery
> from years of
> faithless living? You know exactly what God is
> asking you to do. It
> may be well beyond the boundaries of logic and far
> outside your
> comfort zone. You may even have a few friends
> telling you that what
> you believe He's asking you to do is wrong,
> completely wrong.
> Still, His leading is clear. Only one thing is
> needed: say yes, Lord,
> yes.