STARTING OVER (LESSONS FROM THE POTTER’S HOUSE)

Charles Billingsley 

1. Settle the past. 

2. Stop making excuses 

“One of these days is NONE of these days.” – Rick Warren

3. Set your goals 

4. Surrender your heart daily

John 15:5 (ESV)
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

So as we discuss today the opportunity of starting over, I want to go to the scriptures and show you a very vivid picture of what starting over looks like to God.

God uses much imagery in His word for the relationship between Him and us. As a Father and his children. As a shepherd and we as His sheep. As a husband, and the church as His bride.

We are going to take a close look at the portrait God uses several times in Scripture of The Potter and the Clay.

Genesis 2:7 (ESV)
then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. 

Isaiah 64:8 (ESV)
But now, O Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.

Jeremiah 18:1-6 (NKJV) 1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: 2 “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.” 3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the wheel. 4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.

5 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?” says the Lord. “Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel!

The Potter
He has a purpose

Psalms 40:1-2 (NKJV)
1 I waited patiently for the Lord;
and He inclined to me,
and heard my cry.
2 He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,
out of the miry clay,
and set my feet upon a rock,
and established my steps.

He has a plan

Psalm 139:13-14 (CSB)
13 For it was you who created my inward parts;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise you
because I have been remarkably and wondrously made.
Your works are wondrous,
 and I know this very well.

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

A. He Never Takes His Eyes off of HIs Creation

Psalm 139:15-16 (ESV)
15 My bones were not hidden from you
when I was made in secret,
when I was formed in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw me when I was formless;
all my days were written in your book and planned
before a single one of them began.   

B. He Never Takes His Mind off of His Creation

Psalm 139 (CSB)
1 Lord, you have searched me and known me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I stand up;
you understand my thoughts from far away.
3 You observe my travels and my rest;
you are aware of all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue,
you know all about it, Lord.

17 God, how precious your thoughts are to me;
how vast their sum is!
18 If I counted them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand;
when I wake up, I am still with you.

C. He Never Takes His Hands off of His Creation

Psalm 139:5-10  (ESV)
5 You have encircled me;
you have placed your hand on me.
6 This wondrous knowledge is beyond me.
It is lofty; I am unable to reach it.
7 Where can I go to escape your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.
9 If I fly on the wings of the dawn
and settle down on the western horizon,
10 even there your hand will lead me;
your right hand will hold on to me.

It is His hands that hold you….not your hands that hold Him!!

John 10:28-30 (ESV)
28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.30 I and the Father are one.”

The Wheel
The Clay must always be at the Center of the wheel 

Ephesians 6:12  (ESV)
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

The Water
The water is the Word

The Clay

Jeremiah 18:4 (NKJV)
And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.

1 John 1:9  (ESV)
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

2 Corinthians 12:10  (ESV)
For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

1 Peter 1:18-19  (ESV)
18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

1 Peter 2:24  (ESV)
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 

Because of the the blood of Christ, Beauty can come from our brokenness.

God The Potter has a purpose and plan for you…the clay.

The piece of pottery can’t make itself, can’t form itself, can’t cure itself, and it certainly can’t fix itself.

But when that potter puts that clay onto the wheel and uses water to shape it and form it, He takes that worthless, lumpy, impure, and imperfect piece of clay and creates from it something of immense worth and value.

Every bit of that can only be done by the hands of the Master Potter!!

Ephesians 2:10  (ESV)
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

So, Have your own way Lord
Have your own way
You are the potter I am the clay
Mold me and make me after Thy will
While I am waiting yielded and still