This was supposed to follow The Empty Pitcher" blog!
AND I felt like I had blogged this before, but I couldn't find it in the past posts. It may be because I have thought about this many times as I have used the broken pitcher at church.
As I said in "The Empty Pitcher" blog this is a pitcher from an old pitcher and bowl set that had been discarded, or should have been discarded....and it is used to place seasonal arrangements in and is displayed on the front table in our sanctuary.
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| Father's Day 2021 |
It is a broken vessel, a cracked pot! But I use it anyway!
📖 Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. 2 Timothy 2:20-21(ESV)
We may feel useless, cracked, broken, even crushed;
📖 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. 2 Corinthians 4:6-12
But the treasure of God is within us!
Our brokenness, our weakness is why Christ can shine, why His strength can be glorified.
📖 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:6-10
He doesn't see the cracks, He sees our hearts, what we are capable of FOR HIM!
📖But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
There are many instances in the Bible where God used the broken to further His kingdom, because He saw their heart.
They are included in the Holy Bible, their purpose was for us.
Rahab - a prostitute (Joshua 2)
David - even a man after God's own heart, committed adultery and conspired to murder (2 Samuel 11)
Tamar & Judah - Genesis 38 (you have to read that one!)
Moses - Couldn't speak well (Exodus 3)
Jonah - self righteous and disobedient ( the whole book of Jonah)
and there are many more!
Jesus associated with the broken, tax collectors, women with bad reputations, sinners.....
hmmm 🤔 like me?!
📖When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:5-10
He even said He came for the sinners!
📖While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Mark 2:15-17
Which is me! I can relate to what Paul says;
📖 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen. 1 Timothy 1:12-17
God can use us when we are broken...actually it is better when we are! We just have to surrender ourselves, cracks and all, to Him so He shines!
📖For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6
God draws near BECAUSE of our brokenness
📖The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18He is waiting for us to humble ourselves before Him in that brokenness.
🙏My prayer for you this week; you know that God is close, no matter how broken and crushed you feel. That you are able to allow Him to use your brokenness for His glory! That you can see yourself as He sees you, as a beautiful vessel and not a cracked pot!❤️
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