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1 God told Jeremiah, 2 "Up on your feet! Go to the potter's house. When you get there, I'll tell you what I have to say." 3 So I went to the potter's house, and sure enough, the potter was there, working away at his wheel. 4 Whenever the pot the potter was working on turned out badly, as sometimes happens when you are working with clay, the potter would simply start over and use the same clay to make another pot. 5 Then God's Message came to me: 6 "Can't I do just as this potter does, people of Israel?" God's Decree! "Watch this potter. In the same way that this potter works his clay, I work on you, people of Israel. 7 At any moment I may decide to pull up a people or a country by the roots and get rid of them. 8 But if they repent of their wicked lives, I will think twice and start over with them. 9 At another time I might decide to plant a people or country, 10 but if they don't cooperate and won't listen to me, I will think again and give up on the plans I had for them. 11 "So, tell the people of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem my Message: 'Danger! I'm shaping doom against you, laying plans against you. Turn back from your doomed way of life. Straighten out your lives.' (Jeremiah 18:1-11 The Message Bible)
It is Wednesday! I pray it is a Wonderful Wednesday for you so far! I know it still may be early, but set your mindset to be Positive and God-Led, and God will bless you and use you! That's my prayer! Again, I ask your prayers for the brave travelers from Gonzales headed to Frankfurt then Athens. I haven't told my travelers, so please don't tell them this. The Apostle Paul was a great evangelist for Jesus. If you remember your childhood Bibles, in the back pages there were maps. I think a remark form a comedian made Bible makers change their minds about including them in the back. He said, "If you're ever traveling in the Holy Land and you get lost, don't bother using the maps in the back of your Bible! They won't help!" But, if you remember those maps, The Journeys on Paul featured dotted red lines that showed where Paul traveled. Well, the Greek Highway Department decided to roll those up and now they're no longer there. We're going to have to take the word of our local guides!
We visit the prophet Jeremiah once again. The man known as the Weeping Prophet because of what he had to endure, gets called by God (it may have been a text) "Get yourself to the potter's house and wait there." And bear in mind, the potter's house was not a Starbuck's. It was a place of business where the potter had things to do, but given Jeremiah's status and role, the potter probably thought, "Here comes Jerry again; wonder what he and God are up to? But I can't stop to just chit chat; I've got things to do!" And what he did was what God wanted Jerry to see all that was involved in the process of making pots. (He was a good student and very observant). Jerry saw hard work! He noted that when a pot didn't turn out as he wanted, he would take that same clay and start over, and make a good pot. It was then that God texted (or called, Jerry would answer!) and asked, "Can't I do just as this potter does, people of Israel?" And then God stressed, "In the same way that this potter works his clay, I work on you, people of Israel. At any moment I may decide to pull up a people or a country by the roots and get rid of them. Yet, if they will repent (turn away) of their wicked lives, He would think twice and get rid of them." God also said, "I may decide to plant a people or country, but if they don't cooperate and won't listen to me, I will think again and give up on the plans I had for them." The warning was then given to Jerry to share with the people of Israel: "Beware, God may shape doom against you, laying plans of destruction against you. Turn away from your doomed way of life. Straighten out your lives." Ouch.
It was another of God's many "Don't make me come down there/Don't make me stop the car and you will regret that!" message to the people of Israel; you know the ones who act like me and you. One day we are good (and we know it) and another day we're not (and we try to hide it because we know it!). God's love is constant as is our ignorance and willful ways of being bad. God's love will win out over us, but the sooner we realize the errors of our ways, the sooner we enjoy the blessings of being right with God. My invitation to you? Now is the perfect moment to make a decision with and for the Lord.
PRAYER: Awesome God, speak to me as I await Your word. Like Your prophet Jeremiah, I await Your word and help and I will respond. I want to be obedient to You and faithful. May that bless us in being fruitful. In Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Be a potter with your words in helping others be shaped by God.
Blessings of love,
Pastor Eradio
