“But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth, and some to honor and some to dishonor,” 2 Timothy 2:20.

Over the last several days I have been carving various pieces of wood to make wooden figures.

Each of them is unique in its own way as they display the different aspects of characters.

Earlier this morning, actually during the middle of the night, I started thinking that in some strange way each of us has a purpose of displaying our LORD to those around us, and we of course know this as we live out our lives upon this earth.

But even in a much deeper way, a thing as small or perhaps as insignificant as a carving displays the various textures and designs in it, can begin to show the chipping-away of the old man within us, thus eventually showing a new image of Christ to those around us.

You see it’s definitely a “chipping-away” process even daily as those things within us need to be done away with.

There are fragments, pieces of wood if you will, that are then cut away by the Spirit of God through the use of His divine instrument.

Our God is the supreme artist and He has a definite aim in achieving His goals and ultimate design that He desires in us.

Yes of course, there are times when His surgical knife may seem to be injurious, but His deftness has great skill in digging out the debris within us that needs to be severed.

He is the supreme artist, not unlike the story of how the prophet Jeremiah went and watched the potter as he worked the clay.

The hands of the potter knew what he wanted as he held the clay in his hands as the wheel went round-and-round.

There was a digging away process as small amounts of debris left the vessel, and with his hands a great height was beginning to be seen as the vessel rose above the platform.

But then the hands squeezed the clay and brought the lump of clay downward causing a completely different configuration to behold.

You see the inside of the vessel needed to be cleaned out and its walls needed to be strong and secure.

At the Potter’s House
“This is the word that came to Jeremiah from The LORD: “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.”
So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 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.
Then the word of The LORD came to me. 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, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, 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,” Jeremiah 18:1-10.

 

Selah,
~ Stephen Hanson

---

Stephen Hanson of In His Truth Ministries came to The LORD is a special way in 1975 and has prophesied regularly since. In these end-time birthing pangs we are reminded that judgment must first begin with the household of God. Will we be prepared and ready?

Back to Top