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!
