THE SCULPTOR AND THE ABANDONED LOG OF WOOD

MEMORIZE: And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. Judges 6:12

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Amos 4-6, Proverbs 30

One day, a sculptor, whilst taking a stroll in the forest, found a log of wood. The wood was dry and very heavy. From his observation, the wood had been there for a while.  “An abandoned log of wood,” he thought to himself. As he stood observing the wood, he saw some potential in the wood. “A beautiful lion could be carved out of this abandoned wood!” he said joyfully. He went home, got his chisel, hammer, file, and other sculpturing tools and returned to carve out the beautiful piece he had seen. Whilst working on the wood to bring out the beautiful piece, which is a lion, he strikes a blow and suddenly a large chunk of the wood falls away. Frustrated and disappointed, he decided to abandon the project and return home. Before leaving, he took one last glance at what was left and he saw another potential in it. A beautiful eagle, although small, could be carved out of what is left, so he started work again. He strikes another blow and half of the wood falls off. “There is nothing left in this wood,” he thought to himself. Determined to create something out of the tiny wood left, he created a rat out of what was left.

In my story, the ‘sculptor’ is the almighty God. He is the master sculptor. You see when a sculptor wants to carve out something; he looks at a piece of wood and begins to see what nobody else can see in it. Each time God looks at a man or a woman, regardless of his or her current condition, He sees something beautiful that could come out of the individual by the time He is done. He looked at Rahab, a prostitute in Jericho, and He saw a good housewife in her. He worked on her and she became the great grandmother of Kind David (Matthew 1:5). He looked at Gideon, a man who had lost confidence in himself, and saw a mighty man of valour. Judges 6:12 says, “And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.” He worked on him and Gideon became a leader. We, you and i, are the abandoned log of wood the Sculptor found. The Lord has begun work on us to bring out a beautiful piece – the best we can be in Him. The blows, in the form of pressures, challenges, etc, are ‘coming’ to deal with things that are hindering us from realizing our potential in Christ. The blows are not always pleasant but they are necessary to help us realize our potential. As God is working on you, don’t fall part. Don’t allow the challenges and pressure push you to sin. Someone asked, “Why can’t God restore all that an individual has lost through sexual sins?” If God restores all that is lost through sexual sins including one’s dignity, and honour, how would others learn? Besides, there are things God don’t give, you have to earn them. God will not give you people’s trust or respect. You have to earn them. God may restore the spiritual gifts you have lost but your dignity, people’s trust in you, the respect they have for you, especially as a minister in the vineyard of God, is gone forever. No matter how much God uses you after that, people will always refer to the past and that kills one's morale. Therefore, do everything not to fall. The wood, which a large chunk of it fell off as a result of challenges in the form of blows, represents backsliders or believers who slide back into the world as a result of life challenges. If they return to Christ, God will still continue to work on them but they may never become God's best .Nevertheless, they will still become something. I will rather become God's best than become something ordinary. This is why you must not joke with your salvation. To backslide once is enough to set a man back in his spiritual walk.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY:  A man does not know what he has until he has lost it. Life outside Christ is full of heartache

PRAYER POINT: Father, please keep me till the end.

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Bro Samuel | Reaching the world for Jesus.

TYPES OF VESSELS – VESSEL OF GOLD AND SILVER/ VESSELS OF EARTH AND WOOD

2 Timothy 2:20 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 honour, and some to dishonour.

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Ex 26, John 5, Prov 2, Gal 1 BIBLE STUDIES: 2 Timothy 2:20-22

Yesterday we looked at some of the contents of a great house. We have discussed about borrowed vessels; vessel unto honor and unto dishonour. As we discussed, the great house mentioned in our bible studies is the present day church. The owner of the house is Jesus, Colossians 1:18. The vessels are the believers.

Also present in this great house are vessels of earth and wood. We know that the wood and earth have little or no use. Wood and clay are reserved for ignoble use. Wood and clay vessels are used for dishonorable purposes, perhaps in the kitchen or to carry out garbage or human waste. They often get broken and are cheaply replaced. The vessels of wood and clay are believers who are like dry wood. They are destitute of the grace of God, and are fit matter for Satan to work upon, and by them raise and increase the flames of contention and division in the church. Every time there is a quarrel or contention in the church they are always involved. They are sensual, carnal, and wordly. They are void of spirituality and lack spiritual mindedness. They are the ones you will see fighting most of the time for positions in the church. If they are not put in posts, they start a quarrel and turn the church upside down. Also in this great house are vessels of gold and silver. These vessels are for noble uses. No one uses china cups to feed dogs. These vessels are kept clean so that they may be used for honourable purposes, such as dinner parties. These vessels are prominently displayed as decorations or used for serving important guests as a gesture of honour while the vessel of earth and wood are strictly utilitarian. They are used for duties that are never seen and are kept out of sight as much as possible. These persons or believers are comparable to gold and silver for their worth and value, and preciousness in the sight of Christ. To the Most High God they are His jewels and peculiar treasure because of their excellency and usefulness in the church. These vessels are known for their purity and worthiness while the vessels of earth and clay are known for their impurity and unworthiness. The question is what type of vessel are you – gold or clay, silver or earth? How useful are you in the house of God? How useful are you in that department in the church? Are you the type the pastor is always calling to settle quarrel between you and your spouse or other members of the church? How valuable are you in the hands of God?

PRAYER POINT: Father please open my eyes to myself as You see me. Also help me to take to correction when You rebuke me.

LET THE FIRE FALL

 BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Gen 2, Matt 2, Ezra 2, Acts 2

1 Kings 18:33 – then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.

BIBLE STUDIES: 1 Kings 18:25-40

In 1 Kings 18:25-40 is a story we all know. Elijah and the prophets of Baal met at Mount Carmel to decide who the true God was. The prophet of Baal called on Baal but there was no response.Elijah called on God and He sent down fire. The fire consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.

Let us now carefully look at what the fire consumed. The first thing the fire consumed was the burnt offering. In the olden days, when God accepts an offering, He will send fire to consume the offering and also say thank you. During the dedication of the temple, Solomon offered uncountable number of sheep and oxen (2 Chronicles 5:6) and brought it before the Lord. The Lord accepted this offering by sending fire, 2 Chronicles 7:1. After the fire He also said thank you by ensuring that Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom, 2 Chronicles 9:22. The only offering God accepts is an offering from a cheerful heart. 2 Corinthians 9:7 says God loves a cheerful giver. God will never accept any offering giving grudgingly. The second thing the fire consumed was the wood. Science will tell you that when fire touches a good wood energy is released. When the fire of the Lord falls, your potential is released. Peter had potential but no fire. In Luke 5:1-7, he fished all night and caught nothing. But immediately the carrier of the Holy Ghost came into his boat, his potential was released. He was then able to cast his net once and caught so much fish that two boats began to sink. I pray that the fire of God will fall and your potential is released in Jesus name, amen. The next thing the fire consumed was the stone. The stone represents unfruitfulness or unrepentant heart. Once the fire falls, unfruitfulness or bareness is consumed and you will begin to bring forth fruit. Also the unrepentant heart i.e. heart of stone is consumed. The next thing that was consumed was the dust. We are created from dust and dust represents the flesh. Once the fire fall, living a life of holiness will be easy because fleshly desires will be consumed. Also diseases in the flesh are consumed. The fifth thing that happened was that the fire licked the water. The water represents your tears. The fire will dry up all you tears. The only one who can tell you weep not is the One who is capable of taking care of what is causing you to weep.The fire from God is capable of dealing with what is causing you to weep. Before Elijah called down fire, he prepared the altar i.e. he put things in other. The fire will not fall until we put our walk with God in order. We need to begin to obey Him. The fire will not fall when are living in disobedience. We also need to prepare our bodies through fasting and prayers. If fire touches a bad wood nothing is released but if it touches a good wood, energy is generated.

ACTION POINT: Before you call down fire, put things right with God and prepare your body so that when the fire falls, your potential is released.