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COMMUNICATION WITH THE POTTER
COMMUNICATION WITH THE POTTER
Being a potter was a popular occupation during Biblical
times. Most potters in the Bible seemingly worked for and by themselves;
therefore, a potter was considered an entrepreneur. However, the vessels that
were created had a uniqueness that allowed them to be properly used for their
designed purpose. Therefore, a cup was not made into jug, a jug was not made
into a jar, but every vessel was crafted in accordance to its appropriate use
for what the potter had in mind. God is the Entrepreneur of our lives. He has
given us gifts to use independently, while collectively for the Kingdom
building for we are the workers of His vineyard. Luke 10:2 He told them,
“The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the
harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (NIV)
How do we communicate with the
Potter?
A potter is unable
to talk to the clay in order for it to become a vessel. Well, let’s just say
for instance the potter did talk to the clay, I doubt that he would get much of
a response. Therefore, the potter has to use his hands as his form of
communication with the clay. A potter has to be in tune with the characteristics
of the clay in order to mold it into the vessel that he desires. For example,
there are various types of clays, which we will go into in another chapter,
that serve for different uses and require different types of heating and
molding. The potter’s hands is his way of communicating with the clay because
the potter understands what the clay needs in order to reach its full
potential. This is the same way with God.
God knows what we
need because He made us and unlike clay, we are able to communicate our needs
and wants to Him. Matthew 7:7 Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will
find; knock and the door will be opened for you. (NIV) However,
communication with the Potter is not just about asking and receiving, although
God does want us to make our requests known to Him, but it is about having a
relationship with Him. John 1:10-13 (10)He was in
the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not
recognize him. (11)He came to that which was his own, but his own
did not receive him. (12)Yet to all who received him, to those
believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – (13)children born not of natural
descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. (NIV) God wants us to know, receive,
and believe in Him. We are to talk to
Him when times are good, bad, and/or in between for He cares about us.
God is a good
listener. He never tells your conversation to anyone else unless it is to
receive an answer. He takes every word that comes from your mouth into
consideration. His thoughts are not like our thoughts where we may lose focus
when someone else is talking to us, God’s ears listen intensely. Isaiah
55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my
ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my
ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (NIV) There
are times, however, that God seemingly is not responding. Nevertheless, when He
is silent, that means that He is already working on your behalf. All you have
to do is wait patiently for the answer. Psalm 27:14 Wait for the Lord, be
strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. (NIV)
Answers to pray
falls into three main categories. They are yes, no, and wait. A “yes” is given
when God agrees that you will have what you asked for. Mark 11:24 Therefore I
tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it,
and it will be yours. (NIV) However, you must never ask for something
that goes against His laws or His will. God cannot grant something that goes
opposite of His word, for His word stands forever. 1 John 5:14-15 This is the
confidence we have in approaching God: that is we ask anything according to his
will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us – whatever we ask – we know
that we have what we asked of him. (NIV)
A “no” is given when
God sees that what you are asking for is not in your best interest, goes
against His laws, or there’s unconfessed sin in your life. Psalm 66:18 If I had
cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. (NIV)
Because God desires the best for His children, He will never give you anything
that will harm you nor take you away from Him. Many people have not received a
desired answer to a prayer because if God had given it to them, they would have
turned that answered request into their god. And as we know, God is a jealous
God and will never give you something that will be placed first in your life
ahead of Him. Exodus 20:3-6 (3)”You shall have no other gods before
me. (4)You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of
anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. (5)You
shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, punishing
the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of
those who that me, (6)but showing love to a thousand generations of
those who love me and keep my commandments. (NIV)
A “no” is sometimes
given when God sees that He has better plans for your life than what you
requested. Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is
the Lord’s purpose that prevails. (NIV) God never says “no” to be cruel, but He knows the end from the
beginning; therefore, His way is the best way if we allow Him to be the leader
of our lives. We are not able to see the future, but because we have a God who
can, we must place our trust in him.
A “no” is also given
when an individual has not stopped indulging in sin, which also includes the
sin of unforgiveness. Sometimes, we block our own blessings because we refuse
to get our hearts right with God and others. Whatever sins that we may commit,
we must confess them before God and turn from our wicked ways. If one of those
sins happen to be the sin of unforgiveness, God wants that person to get it
right before coming to Him about anything. Matthew 5:23-24 “Therefore, if you
are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has
something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go
and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” (NIV)
Another answer that
God gives is “wait,” which is a delayed yes. You may ask God for something and
the answer is yes, but the timing is not right. God may feel that you’re not
ready for what He has planned for you and therefore, the answer, even though it
is a yes, is delayed until His timing deems that you’re ready. Isaiah
40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they
shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they
shall walk, and not faint. (KJV) We are to wait patiently upon the Lord
until He gives us the desires of our hearts. God is a timely God and whatever
one has asked for, He will ensure that it comes right on time.
God wants us to
communicate with Him as we do family, friends, and loved ones for He never gets
tired, but is there all the time ready to listen. Psalm 121:4-5 Indeed, he
who watches over Israel will neither slumber not sleep. The Lord watches over
you – the Lord is your shade at your right hand. (NIV) You may ask,
“How do I know that God hears me?” He has told us in His word that He hears us
even while we are still speaking. That means that He doesn’t have to wait till
you’ve finished. He already knows your thoughts before you do. Isaiah
65:24 Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will
hear.
How do we hear and know the
Potter’s voice?
When the potter is
molding his vessel, he knows that it is an object that cannot respond to him. Even
if he formed the clay to have eyes, it could not see; ears, it could not hear;
a head, it could not think; a mouth, it could not talk. Its sole purpose is to
be used for the potter’s intent of either to hold something, for display or
some other function. However, When God, our potter made us from the dust of the
ground, He created us in a manner that we can speak, think, see, and hear His
voice. We see this in the book of Genesis that when God created Adam He also
spoke to him. Genesis 2:16 And The Lord God commanded the man, “You are free
to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the
knowledge of Good and evil, for when you eat of it, you will surely die.” (NIV)
Therefore, Adam recognized the voice of God and God knew that Adam had the
capability to understand what He was saying. Adam immediately recognized the
voice of the Potter.
Audible
The Potter’s voice
can be heard in several different ways. The first is audibly. God sometimes
talks to people in an audible voice just as you may talk to someone over the
phone and/or face-to-face. He talked audibly to Moses through the burning bush
when giving direction concerning his leading of the Children of Israel. Exodus
3:4-6 (4)When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God
called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I
am.” (5)”Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals,
for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” (6)Then he
said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and
the God of Jacob,” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look
at God. (NIV) Many people may find it hard to believe that the God of
the universe will speak directly to someone, but indeed He still does.
Thought
Process
The Potter sometimes
places thoughts in a person’s mind as a way of communication. Proverbs
16:3 Commit they works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be
established. (NIV) If we allow our thoughts to always be on God, He
will talk to us by placing His words upon our hearts and minds without ever
uttering a verbal word. For example, many people have been saved from
destruction, of some kind, due to an urging in their spirit to not go down a
certain path. That urging was from God. Because the Potter is our Shepherd, He
leads us in the way that we should go. Many choices that people have made in
life, that turned out for the good, where not always of their own doing, but
was due to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. John 16:13-14 But when he,
the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not
speak on his own, he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what
is yet to come. (NIV)
Dreams and Visions
There
are times when the Potter wants to speak to His children and therefore, He does
so through dreams and visions. In a dream, a person is asleep, but experiences
various scenes taking place as in a movie. God used two dreams to speak to
Pharaoh during Joseph’s stay in Egypt to warn him of a famine that would come
to the land. Genesis 41:1-4 (1)When two full years had passed,
Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing by the Nile, (2)when out of the
river there came up seven cows, sleek and fat, and they grazed among the reeds.
(3)After them, seven other cows, ugly and gaunt, came up out of the
Nile and stood beside those on the riverbank. (4)And the cows that
were ugly and gaunt ate up the seven sleek, fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.
(NIV) God speaks to everyone differently, but in this case, God chose
the method of communication through a dream and then God communicated the
interpretation to Joseph through his thoughts in order for it to be given to
Pharaoh. Because Pharaoh heeded the warning, Egypt and other countries were
saved from hunger, death and disease.
God
also used visions as a method of communication. Visions are similar to dreams,
with the exception that it takes place while the person is awake. Daniel
10:1 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a revelation was given to
Daniel (who was called Belteshazzar). Its message was true and it concerned a
great war. The understanding of the message came to him in a vision. (NIV) God
quite often communicated with Daniel through dreams and visions. Why does God
prefer to communicate using one method over another is only known to Him, but
what matters is that we are able to know when it is the Potter who is speaking.
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