Stay on the Wheel

Jeremiah 18:1–11 NIV84

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 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of 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.’

1. God is not limited by our condition

Don’t let your condition limit what God can do in you

Don’t let your condition condition you into less

God has good plans for you

If you are still alive, then God is not done with you

Children, if you obey and honor your parents, the Bible says that you will have a long blessed life

Don’t listen to the lies the enemy whispers

Don’t let your eyes deceive you

Don’t let your eyes focus on the condition because you could miss the blessing waiting for you

2. Jars that can’t be mended are useless

As long as you are on the wheel you are mendable

Learn to be teachable

Be coachable

If its your way or the highway, you will be alone on the road

On the Road Again

The only clay that can’t be mended is the one that refuses the love of God

A broken vase is no good

Don’t be a useless pretty jar

3. God is patient in forming you

Stay on the wheel

God is patient and will never give up on you

He will never leave you nor forsake you

He is patient

He will keep forming you

He will tear you down to remove all lumps

He is forming you fearfully and wonderfully

4. Transformation is not complete without the fire

God will work in you until you are formed for His purpose

You have to be formed, then dried so that you can go in the fire to achieve permanency

You will go through trials in order to learn to remain

After you do all you can to stand, stand

Before clay goes into the fire, it must be done dry

Bone dry clay is fragile

Bone dry clay breaks easily

Bone dry clay can shatter if it gets knocked down

We must go through a dry season

We must endure the dry season

Bone dry clay is soluble

If you put bone dry clay in water it will dissolve and return to plastic workable state

Bone dry clay is not practical or useful

Bone dry state is absolutely necessary to achieve His Purpose

Without the chemical transformation that occurs through firing, an uncooked bowl dissolves back into mud once it comes in contact with water

Stage 2 is Biscuit (Bisque) Firing (one kind of fire)

During biscuit firing the clay transforms into ceramic

Ceramic is hard and brittle stronger than bone dry

Ceramic is non-soluble it can be submerged in water and it will not dissolve

The clay undergoes a process called sintering.  This is when the surface of the clay particles start to bond to one another.  The particles move closer to one another and the clay becomes denser

During bisque firing, clay starts a process of becoming mature.  Clay is said to be mature when it is as dense and as hard as it can be

If you can’t be around people without pushing some away, you are still not done being in the fire

The closer you get with one another the more mature you are

The more divisions that exists the more time that is needed in the fire

The purpose is to become closer together in order to be stronger

Purpose of Glaze Firing:

The first is decorative

The second is functional

Glaze coats the pottery in a layer glassy layer that makes the pottery water-resistant and sometimes waterproof.

5. God has a plan for you, stay on the wheel