The Jim Bakker Show

Clay in the Potter’s Hands (Pt. 4)

By Lori Bakker | February 5, 2013 | Filed in General | Tags: clay in the potter's hands, master potter, spiritual growth, Spiritual Maturity

STEP 2: THE POTTER’S WHEEL –

The Lord then scoops up the moistened clay with His mighty hands and places you on the Potter’s wheel. You hear His promise: “I have measured you; I know your portion; I know what destiny I have for you. For even though the enemy would want to kill you, I tell you, I have a mission and a calling for your life!”

He begins to center you on the wheel. Slowly, His gentle hands go down into the very depths of who you are and begins to pull up the walls of your new vessel.

While you are on the Potter’s wheel, being shaped by the hands of the Master Potter, there is a wonderful mystery taking place within you. You are growing! It is a time of great favor and blessing.

But as you go around and around, you begin to notice that other vessels are sitting on the shelves around the Potter’s house. You want to be like them!

“Lord, I love the closeness and intimacy of Your hands,” you cry. “But I see all of these other vessels sitting on the shelf and I want to be a part of what they’re doing!”

STEP 3: THE POTTER’S SHELF

Suddenly the Lord comes with His cutting wire and pulls you off the wheel. Then He places you on the shelf to dry.

What a change this is from being on the wheel, where you were joyfully spinning in the hands of God!

At first, you don’t mind it too much, but after a month or two, you say, “Uh…you know, Lord, I’ve been sitting on the shelf for a long time and I’m really dry. When is my ministry going to begin?”

You remind Him over and over again, “Lord, I’ve been praying to You!” But you don’t feel His presence. In desperation you cry, “God, where are you? I seem to be in a dry and lonely wilderness!”

“You’re right,” He answers. “You’ve been promoted!” Surprised, you respond, “But Lord, I thought promotion was getting to start my ministry!”

In His love and wisdom He explains, “Promotion is the wilderness! I’ve called you here so you can learn to recognize My voice. I’m testing your heart. I’m testing your love for Me. Will you continue to seek My face, or will you turn away?”

When you were on the wheel, there was great intimacy between you and the Lord. Everybody said such wonderful things about your future! But now that you’re on the shelf, everyone seems to have forgotten you.

“Does God really have a future for my life?” you begin to wonder. “Did He really speak those things to me?” You’ve learned all the worship songs by heart, read all the books, been to all the conferences and seminars – yet there’s a dying in your heart because you feel the Lord has forsaken you.

The worst part is that other people don’t understand. “Why don’t you have more faith?” they ask. They don’t understand that God has taken you into the wilderness. You see, the greater the calling on your life, the greater the persecutions from other people. This is the price behind the anointing.

“My child,” the Lord says, “as you seek My face you will find the hidden streams of living water beneath the desert floor. For it is not the reputation and approval of man you need, it is to be so deeply rooted in Me so no matter what storms in life come, you will not be moved.”

While God works out His perfect plan, your soul is wrestling and dying in the wilderness. Finally, you stop struggling and quietly pray a prayer of resignation: “Lord, I’ll stay in the wilderness my whole life if I have to. I have found You in the desert and You are all I need!”

Clay in the Potter’s Hands (Pt. 3)

By Lori Bakker | January 30, 2013 | Filed in General | Tags: clay in the potter's hands, spiritual growth

STEP 1: THE POTTER’S HOUSE –

“This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: “Go down to the Potter’s house, and there I will give you My message.” So I went down to the Potter’s house, and I saw Him working at the wheel. But the pot He was shaping from the clay was marred in His hands; so the Potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to Him” (Jeremiah 18:1 NIV).

Think back to the day Jesus saved you. Remember the agony you felt as you cried out to Him from the shattered ash heap of your life. You were just a broken clay vessel when the Lord, the Master Potter, first found you.

In biblical times, all the shattered vessels were thrown onto a garbage dump outside the village know as the ‘potter’s field.’ This field represents the world. It’s the place where broken lives are thrown after they’ve become worn out and abused; discarded and rejected by the world.

Even though you were a useless clay vessel and your hopes and dreams had been destroyed, He came for you. Do you remember when He gently picked you up and carried you into the Potter’s house?

What wonder and awe filled your being when you first realized He loved you! How you longed to stay in His arms and bask in His presence. There was nothing you wouldn’t do for Him! Just a glance from His eyes ravished your heart. “You have ravished my heart and given me courage, my sister, my [promised] bride; you have ravished my heart and given me courage with one look from your eyes …” (Song of Solomon 4:9 Amplified)

With great compassion, He tenderly said, “I know you. Your substance is not hidden from Me, for you were fearfully and wonderfully made. When you were in your mother’s womb, you were My chosen instrument. And I have destiny and calling for you.” (see Psalm 139:14-16).

With His own scarred hands, He reached into the depths of your heart saying, “But first, I will remove all the rocks, thistles, thorns and foreign matter – all the debris you’ve picked up on the highway of life.”

Then He brought His stone of Unrelenting Love carefully down upon you – cracking open your vessel to a place where all you could do was lay in a heap of dust before Him. Perhaps you were confused because you thought there would be no more pain after you entered His house. Surely if He loved you as much as He said He did, He wouldn’t allow any more pain to come your way! After all, you’d been through so much already!

Next, He carefully placed your clay dust in a large bin and poured the clear living water that proceeds from the throne of God over you. (see Rev. 22:1) Worship and the Word filled your life and brought soothing refreshing to your thirsty soul. He drenched you until you had absorbed this living water into every pore of your being.

After a while, spent in the hands of the Potter, you finally realized this crushing was not for your destruction as it had been in the past. And you heard Him softly whisper, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11-12). Worship and praise flowed over you and you could say, “Lord, I can feel Your love like never before.”

The journey from salvation to transformation had begun!

Clay in the Potter’s Hands (Pt. 2)

By Lori Bakker | January 22, 2013 | Filed in Uncategorized | Tags: anointing, clay vessels, fires of God

Finally He stops before you and says, “I’m calling you to come into the high fires and let My glory fall upon you,” and gazing deeply into your being He continues, “but it will cost you. You’ll have to die to your reputation, your theology, and all of your ‘religious formulas’. You will have to let go of your fears and your control. Do you love Me enough to come, or will you be content to live out your life in the back pews of the church?”

You sit quietly for awhile, pondering what to do. You’re afraid to say yes but more afraid to say no. Glancing over at the beautiful vessels, your spirit stirs within you and your heart says yes! But this seems dangerous … it could cost you everything … even your life!

Then you remember when Jesus said, “He who has found his life shall lose it and he who has lost his life for My sake shall find it” (Matthew 10:39). You think about some people you’ve known. They started so well but ended up apathetic and lukewarm toward the things of God; more influenced by their carnal lifestyle than the truth and counsel of His Word.

You believe it’s the Lord’s desire for all to be chosen vessels. But are you pursuing the high calling and destiny the Lord has purposed for your life, or do you shrink back … not willing to pay the price?

As a clay vessel, you must take a journey. The steps in this journey can sometimes be painful but they are necessary for you to be transformed from broken bits of clay into an anointed vessel that reflects the glory of God.

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It’s not easy to ‘die’ to what other think of you, your reputation. Anyone who says it is, is only trying to fool you or worse, themselves. Your reputation is something you’ve been taught to strive to protect, and losing your reputation is like the worst thing that could happen.

But what if Mary had chosen not to believe the angel who delivered the good news that she was to be the mother of Jesus, even though she knew what that would mean to her reputation? Jesus would have still been born, but to another… and Mary’s life would have looked much different because she missed the high call.

It would have been much easier for Joseph, or Moses, or Noah to refuse their commissions and just go along with the flow, not causing any waves. But, they are some of the Biblical greats whose lives reflect the magnitude of the Lord’s anointing, with many other lives and souls set free because of their willingness and obedience.

And what about your theology? Could you put aside something you learned to receive a greater truth from the depth of the Word? I challenge you to do a word search on “you have heard it said” in the Bible. What you will find is the teaching of Jesus that was greater than the teachers of the law. For example: Jesus said in Matthew 5:27,28, “You have heard it said ‘do not commit adultery.’ “ “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” In one fell swoop, Jesus called the hypocrisy of the religious crowd to account by exposing their hearts which were full of adultery even though they kept the law and didn’t actually do the deed.

What could be exposed in our own hearts, should we really, really examine them in God’s light?

Clay in the Potter’s Hands (Pt. 1)

By Lori Bakker | January 15, 2013 | Filed in Teaching | Tags: anointing, potter's clay, processes of God

The anointing – most people don’t know what that means in today’s church. The impression of anointing has far too often been associated with talent, skill, aptitude or showmanship when we see the demonstration of a skillful preacher or teacher.

However, the anointing produces a harvest of spiritual maturity and reflects God’s glory. It’s not intended to produce material things, though they may come through favor with God and man.

Discerning Christians recognize the anointing and cannot be fooled by mere talent.

The anointing is far more than anything you can learn or practice. The anointing is a God-given thing – a special enablement to accomplish God’s purposes. God is the giver of anointing! Man does not give it, and man can’t take it away.

The anointing is a costly thing. Anyone I have ever known who is anointed of God has paid an enormous price in death to self and extensive processing in the fires of God. Many are called to the ministry, but few choose to endure God’s processes and quit before He is finished.

You can subvert your own destiny at any time by simple saying, “that’s enough, I’m not doing this anymore!” But, oh how sad.

In the Bible, God uses the story of a potter and his clay to symbolize the growth process of those who are called to carry the anointing. In a prophetic writing in 1998, the late Jill Austin uses this imagery to portray the life of those who are called and persevere to become beautiful vessels that God can use. It touched my soul and I know it will yours.

Let’s walk through this prophetic writing together.

Clay in the Potter’s Hands: The Price Behind the Anointing

By Jill Austin

ALL OF US WANT GOD TO FASHION US INTO VESSELS FOR HIS USE. BUT WE MUST SUBMIT TO HIS SHAPING AND MOLDING – AND TO THE REFINING OF HIS HOLY FIRE.

“Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel, (Jeremiah 18:2-6 Amp).

Imagine that you’re sitting in church one Sunday and suddenly, the room is filled with the fragrance of Jesus. You turn to see some incredibly beautiful vessels enter the sanctuary.

These vessels are full of the Shekinah glory of the Lord, and their transparent glaze wonderfully reflects His image. You immediately know that they’ve paid an incredible price for the powerful anointing they carry and a yearning to be like them is awakened in your heart.

In your spirit, you see Jesus walking up and down the aisles with wedding gowns on His arms. “Do you want My anointing?” He asks. “Do you want My presence and My miracles?”

“I’m calling you to be My bride,” He continues as He paces, “I want you to be like the chosen vessels of honor you see here. Do you love Me enough to walk with Me?”

The Cutting Edge Church

By Lori Bakker | December 31, 2012 | Filed in General, Last Days

I believe the Church should be on the cutting edge. When you think about what that statement really means, it means to be razor-sharp and out front. The sharp edge is what goes first and cuts through obstructions so you can get to the vital target.

Sometimes the cutting edge is in revelatory teaching and preaching which we believe in doing here at Morningside. But more often the cutting edge is in action – you have to DO SOMETHING to complete the process! Faith without works is dead!

I have often said that we (the Church) should not be the victim in the end times. We know from the scriptures and from the signs we see in the earth and in the heavens that catastrophic things will occur and are occurring every day. We have the Word of God that illuminates (shines the light on) these things.

So, because we know what is coming, we should be proactive! The government should not be taking care of us – we should take care of each other! Pastors of local churches cannot take care of all the people. It will be too much for one man. You ALL will need to help one another! That is the definition of the Church being the Church.

Jesus said “you will know them by their love” for one another. Loving one another means doing the best we can to not only profess our faith, but to take action to first prepare, and then to protect and provide for the family of God. And not only should we take care of one another, but we should be able to give to others. I learned many years ago that you will never be able to minister to a person’s spirit until their hungry bodies are fed.

Jesus said the end of the age is the Harvest Time. When you think about the awesome plan of God to bring many people into the Kingdom at the end of the age, you have to marvel that we, as the Church, are entrusted to execute much of that plan. I don’t know about you, but that’s an awesome privilege and an even greater responsibility. One that requires a very sharp edge – a cutting edge.

The Christmas Story (Part 4)

By Lori Bakker | December 19, 2012 | Filed in Teaching | Tags: Christmas, jesus' birthday, virgin birth

The Nativity

In those days the government decided that they should count everyone that lived in that area of the world. So Joseph had to take Mary to his town, Bethlehem to register.

It took Mary and Joseph a long time to get to Bethlehem. They didn’t have cars back then, so it probably took them a lot longer to get there. This was very tiring for Mary because she was soon going to have a baby.

When they reached the town, all the hotels were full and there was nowhere that they could stay. Finally, someone felt bad for them, and offered them a place to stay.

The Bible doesn’t say for sure where they stayed but most people think that they stayed in a small barn where animals were kept. In any case, doesn’t it seem strange that Jesus, the King of the Jews wasn’t born in a fancy palace or even a hospital?

Mary and Joseph were thankful that they at least had a place to lay down. It was warm, and there was plenty of straw to lay on.

That night an exciting, wonderful thing happened. Mary and Joseph had a baby! But it wasn’t just any baby, it was Baby Jesus! The creator of the whole world, the King of Kings, the one who would save the world.

The little baby boy fell asleep in Mary’s arms and she wrapped him in cloths and laid him in a manger on some clean straw.

Mary and Joseph soon fell asleep, they were so glad to have this special baby join their family.

Some shepherds who lived near Bethlehem, were out at night in their fields watching over their sheep. They were worried a bigger animal might come and hurt the sheep, so that sat on a hill visiting and watching their sheep together.

Suddenly there was a bright light. Now this wasn’t just any bright light, the light was so bright that they had to close their eyes for a minute because the light hurt their eyes.

When they opened their eyes to see what was going on, a beautiful angel was standing in the air just above them with his arms opened wide.

The shepherds looked at each other in disbelief, but realized it must be real, because they were all seeing the same thing. All at once they were very afraid, but they didn’t run because they were too stunned to do anything.

Then the angel spoke to them. “Do not be afraid. I’m here to bring you good news for all people. Today in Bethlehem a baby has been born, He is the one that will save the world. You will know the baby because He will be wrapped in cloths, and laying in a manger.”

Suddenly, just as quickly as the first angel came, there were a large group of angels, and they said together, “Glory to God, and peace to all people on earth.” After they spoke, they floated away.

The shepherds were amazed and excited, did everyone know this news, or just them? They had to go see this baby the angels were talking about.

They ran as fast as they could, and soon found Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. The shepherds fell to their knees when they saw Jesus, they were filled with joy that they had found the Lord.

During the time when Jesus was born there was a very mean king who ruled the land, his name was King Herod. Remember his name, because we will talk about him later.

Soon after Jesus was born, wise men were traveling on their camels; one night they noticed a very strange star in the sky. They knew that this star meant that the King of the Jews, the One who would save the world had been born.

When the mean King… (what was his name again?) Herod heard this he got very worried.

He called a meeting with all the other important people in the area and asked them where this special baby had been born. The people replied, “In Bethlehem, because they heard that one day a special person would come from there and take care of all the people.”

Then King Herod called the wise men to a secret meeting and found out from them exactly where they saw the star. He then told them, “Go and find this child. As soon as you find him, tell me, so that I can go and worship him.”

After they had spoken to the King, the wise men left to find the baby. They didn’t know exactly where the baby was, but at night they followed the star in the east. They followed the star until it hung right over the very place where Jesus was.

Since it took the wise men a while to get to baby Jesus, they probably didn’t arrive the day Jesus was born but sometime later. When they finally had arrived they were very excited and happy. They found Jesus laying in Mary’s arms, and they bowed down and worshipped him.

After that they opened the gifts they had brought Jesus. They were gold, frankincense and myrrh. These were very expensive gifts, gifts that you would give to a King, not to a baby.

The story of Christmas is special, full of miracles and strange visitors all coming to visit a King and someday the Savior of the world.

The Christmas Story – Part 1
The Christmas Story – Part 2
The Christmas Story – Part 3

The Christmas Story (Part 3)

By Lori Bakker | December 12, 2012 | Filed in Teaching | Tags: Christmas, jesus' birthday, virgin birth

The Wise Men

During the time when Jesus was born there was a very mean king who ruled the land, his name was King Herod. Remember his name, because we will talk about him later.

When the mean King… (what was his name again?) Herod heard this he got very worried.

When they finally had arrived they were very excited and happy. They found Jesus laying in Mary’s arms, and they bowed down and worshipped him.

After that they opened the gifts they had brought Jesus. They were gold, frankincense and myrrh. These were very expensive gifts, gifts that you would give to a King, not to a baby. Mary thanked them for bringing the gifts for Jesus, and the wise men went to find a place to sleep for the night.

As the wise men were sleeping, they each had the same dream. They were not to go back and tell King Herod where they found Jesus. King Herod didn’t want to find Jesus to worship him, he wanted to kill him because he was jealous that this baby would someday be better than him.

So the wise men went home another way so that Herod would not know where they had come from. They also decided that they would not tell King Herod anything about what they had seen.

When the wise men had left, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” the angel said, “take Jesus and Mary and run away to Egypt. Stay there until I come to you again, because Herod is going to search for Jesus to kill him.”

Joseph immediately got up and woke up Mary, and she gently picked up Jesus so he wouldn’t wake from his sleep. They left in the middle of the night for Egypt, so no one would see them.

They were safe in Egypt, and after King Herod died an angel appeared to Joseph and told him could go to a place called Nazareth. And that’s where Jesus grew up.

The Christmas Story – Part 1
The Christmas Story – Part 2
The Christmas Story – Part 4

The Christmas Story (Part 2)

By Lori Bakker | December 5, 2012 | Filed in Teaching | Tags: Christmas, jesus' birthday, virgin birth

The Angels Visit the Shepherds