WHERE HAVE THE FATHERS GONE?

And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. Then the word of the LORD came to me: "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.
Jer 18:4-6 ESV

Once while I was in Colorado Springs I took the time to visit Van Briggle Pottery. I knew very little about making pottery, but that day I would learn a lesson that would have a profound impact on my life and ministry.

The clay they were using was being shipped in from Kentucky, which is hundreds of miles away. It seems as though the finer the pottery, the more special the clay has to be.

All clay has a purpose but all clay cannot be used for fine pottery. On the potter’s wheel was written the scripture, Jer 18:4 “The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him”.

After going through Van Briggle Pottery, I suddenly realized that the formation of a father is far more than just being born male and growing old.

Man starts off his Christian life as a shapeless glob of clay on the potter’s wheel awaiting the touch of the master’s hand. The master then shapes the clay into what has the potential of being a useful vessel. However, for the vessel to reach its potential after it is shaped, it must go through a series of hot ovens. The ovens will soon test the legitimacy of the clay to see if it’s real potter’s clay or not.

Spoiled clay means there are still impurities and air in the clay which will explode under heat. In other words, the explosion is the evidence of refusing to stay on the wheel long enough for the potter to finish working the impurities and air out of your life. Impurities and air speak of the sin and pride that still remain.

If we make it past the potter’s wheel and through the first oven, surely we would be a finished product and a true father. But that is not the case because there are other steps on our journey. The next step to fatherhood is the glazing process followed by a second oven.

The potter’s wheel is for our shaping, or justification. The oven is for our sanctification. The glazing is the beauty, or the presence of the Holy Spirit shinning through our lives.

Being shaped and reshaped into the image of God is a lifetime of oven experiences.

In case you were wondering where the fathers have gone, maybe you should check the ovens.

Father,
My highest potential comes as a result of You shaping me with Your precious hands while I’m on the potter’s wheel. I understand that life is full of ovens and it’s for my ultimate benefit to go through each of those ovens. Shape alone only shows my potential, while the ovens experience reveals my kingdom purpose. Father help me to always walk in that kingdom purpose with thanksgiving.

Amen

Potato Faith

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

For by it the elders obtained a good report.

Hebrews 11:1-2 KJV

I am often asked what is the difference between hope and faith? We actually need both hope and faith working in tandem in our lives. Hope is a dream of something that is either wanted or needed-but faith is what turns that dream into a substance or reality. Without hope there is nothing for faith to create a substance from. And without faith, hope is nothing more than just a powerless dream.

Hebrews 11:3 says that "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."

That scripture didn't say there was nothing there-it only said that we couldn't see it. By God's faith and by His word He formed what we couldn't see into what we could see-the worlds. When God formed man He formed him in His image. That means that He formed us with the same creative powers that He has. That's why Hebrews 11:1 says that "faith is the substance of thing hoped for and the evidence of things not seen".

Faith is intriguing because it's the creative side of hope. Perhaps that's why Hebrews 11:6 says, "Without faith it's impossible to please God".

Many years ago I met an old Pentecostal preacher that taught me the practical things about living by faith. Each of those lessons has become a guiding light in my path of service.

He told me many stories of how his faith had turned his hope into a needed substance for him and his family. One such story will forever remain my primary example of faith.

He said in his early ministry he was called to take on the pastorate of a small country church that had been vacant for a while.

Most country preachers at that time got little more than a parsonage to live in and maybe a small part of the weekly offering. However, it was customary for the new pastor to get a food pounding on the day he moved in. A food pounding simply meant that all the church folks would share in filling the cabinets of the parsonage with food for the new pastor and his family when they moved in. However in this case the people had not arrived with the food pounding.

As the day went on and it began to get dark, the kids began to cry because they were hungry. The only thing they had in the house was a jar of lard, (or grease), that he wife brought from their last house.

After a while my friend told his wife, "You comfort the kids and I'm going outside to pray." The Lord will provide the food as He always does.

In those days in East Texas they didn't have indoor plumbing so you had to use an outhouse. Also, many of the country homes didn't have grass in the yard but only hard dirt that was swept with a brush broom. The reason for no grass was because if someone walked to the outhouse at night, they could see by the moonlight if there was a snake on the ground.

My pastor friend went outside and began to walk back and forth in the moonlight praying and asking God for food to feed the kids. He said he must have walked back and forth for an hour praying. After a while he began to stumble over something but kept on walking and praying. He was so engrossed in praying but kept stumbling over what he thought to be a rock. He thought to himself, where did that rock come from because it wasn't there when I started praying. Finally he reached down to pick up the rock to throw it out of the yard and discovered it was a potato. He said it was the biggest potato he had ever seen-and he knew it was from the Lord. He ran into the house shouting, "Mama put the grease in the skillet because God has provided!"

That night he and his family gave thanks to God for supplying their needs. Once again God turned their hope into a needed substance through their faith in Him.

My Father,
I thank you for the gift of hope because without it I would perish. I thank you that through hope I am able to dream dreams of achievements in my personal life as well as my spiritual life. I especially thank you Father for the gift of active faith that causes hope to become a reality. Father you said "without faith it is imposable to please God" I want to please you by my faith in you.
Amen.

HOLD ME FATHER

Jesus resplendent with light from God the Father as the voice of Majestic Glory spoke: "This is my Son, marked by my love, focus of all my delight."

2 Peter 1:17 MSG

It’s in the character of our Heavenly Father to show us the same honor and approval as He did His beloved son Jesus.

One day while sitting in a conference during a break---my attention was drawn to a tall striking man who I found out later was an evangelist. This man had such charisma that he was almost intimidating. He was probably 65 years old and looked to be 6’4” tall. There were several people who had gathered around him.

During one of the breaks in the conference the Lord spoke to me and told me to go over and hold this man as a father would hold his son. I thought about this for awhile and wondered how I could possibly do such a thing since I had never met the man.

After wrestling with myself for awhile I reluctantly went over to the man and simply said---stand up. The evangelist looked at me in total amazement for awhile and finely stood up. I walked up to him and put my arms around him and began holding him as a father would his child. While holding him I told the man the Lord told me to say to him that he knew what he was going through and that everything was going to be alright. This giant of a man began to cry while melting in my arms and thanking me for such boldness and obedience. I held him for a long while as he wept. When I let go of him I walked away and never saw the man again.

There are times in our life when going through difficulties that we need the heavenly father to hold us and tell us that everything is going to be alright.

Do we ever get too old to not need for the Father to hold us? I don’t think so---because God is in the holding business and He has created us to be “holders” as well.

Father,
I thank you for approving us by showing us your love through holding. I pray I will continue to grow in the ministry of holding and healing as well.
Amen

MY HAIR IS GRAY, BUT I STILL NEED YOU FATHER

The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.

Prov 15:14 MKJV

A person can live a happy productive life even as he grows older. Oftentimes when one is growing older, he loses his desire to learn and thus he becomes the walking dead. I am convinced that learning is good for one’s health. We must never get too old to sit at the feet of the fatherly-wise and learn. Learning from books is wonderful and should be a daily practice. However, nothing will ever take the place of sitting at the feet of an old wrinkle faced conqueror of life…learning truth from his wisdom and experiences. Such a man proudly wears the battle scars of life knowing that he has earned every one of them by overcoming the obstacles of life.

He now rejoices knowing that he is more able to fulfill Romans 12:1.
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

For the most part, I have found that it really didn’t make any real difference what the old talk about, as long as they talk. In sifting through their words and stories you soon discover spiritual nuggets that are ageless.

I remember growing up in the country where everyone had hand dug water well. Each well had a bucket, a rope, and a pulley for drawing water out of the well.

There were a few of us who actually had a hand pump on our wells. The challenging thing about a hand pump was to keep it from loosing its prime.

When a pump loses its prime you have to pour water in the top of the pump while pumping up and down on the handle like crazy until water comes out.

I was continually making new leather washers for our old pump hoping it would stop loosing its prime. My victories were always short lived and I would soon find myself priming the old pump once again in order to get a bucket of cool fresh water from the well.

These same priming principles apply to old folks as well. Like the hand pump on the well, you usually have to prime them a little in order to get their wisdom flowing. Priming old folks means you have to ask specific questions in order to get specific answers.

I personally make a habit of priming everyone I meet who is older than I am…hoping to learn something new that will help me in my own journey. If I have learned anything over the years, it is that old folks possess a sweet nectar called wisdom that I long for so that I can become wiser myself.

It’s amazing how the gems that pour forth from those of the previous generation can be life changing for those of us who are hungry and teachable in this present generation.

My hair is now gray and my once smooth skin is now furrowed with wrinkles that seem to shout to the whole world that I’ve been around awhile. The fact is, it doesn’t really matter what I look like on the outside as long as I know that I’m still a strapping young boy on the inside wanting to learn. If life has taught me anything, it’s taught me that I need to learn from the wisdom and experience of others.

Father,
I want to always be a learner. I want to grow continually in knowledge and wisdom as Jesus did when He was a young boy. Help me to always seek out and learn from those with whom you want to speak to me through. Over the years, you have put many of the fatherly-wise in my path so that I may become wiser.

Thank you for trusting me with the old and their wisdom. I will be faithful to pass that wisdom on to others who are thirsty for a cool drank of wisdom water from my well.
Amen.