Editing God

Good evening church, I am excited and thankful to share with you a message that while it is hard to agree with, it is the key to our growth as believers. Thank you Pastor David for allowing me to share the word tonight.

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MAIN POINT: God has the right to use our lives as He pleases, we have the option to resent or accept it.

Sadly, it is easier to resent God than to accept His sovereignty and reign in the universe. In the book of Jeremiah, God gives the prophet a simple illustration that can translate to our life today.

Let’s read this passage and we will look at some principles in it:

Jeremiah 18:1–12 NIV

1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. 5 Then the word of the Lord came to me. 6 He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. 7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. 9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, 10 and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it. 11 “Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’ 12 But they will reply, ‘It’s no use. We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.’ ”

There are four principles I want to share with you tonight:

Principle # 1: God knows best

Jeremiah 18:1–6 “1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. 5 Then the word of the Lord came to me. 6 He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.”

Principle # 2 God’s mercy is active.

Jeremiah 18:7–8 “7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.”

Principle # 3: God’s favor is not assumed

Jeremiah 18:9–10 “9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, 10 and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.”

God’s response to us, make our choices real choices.

Principle # 4: Choose to accept God’ Sovereignty or resent Him.

Jeremiah 18:11–12 “11 “Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’ 12 But they will reply, ‘It’s no use. We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.’ ”

We can know that God will accomplish His plan for His good pleasure

God gives us real choices to have real freedom

“Just as clay finds its highest purpose when it remains pliable in the hands of the potter, so our lives fulfill their highest purpose when we let our Potter have His way with us.”

MAIN POINT: God has the right to use our lives as He pleases, we have the option to resent or accept it.