Messages of Grace

Sunday 1, November 2015

Bible Passage(s): Jeremiah 18: 1 – 10

Memory Verse: “Then the word of the Lord came to me: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.” Jer 18:5-6 NIV

Jesus Christ makes the most difference in our lives! Just like water makes the difference as an item without which human life can exist, so is Jesus Christ, the source of salvation and life.

The story in the reference Bible passage for this month is about the potter who works with clay to make vessels of all kinds. A particular vessel being made by the potter was found to be marred and thus unsuitable for the purpose it was intended. The potter then remoulds it into an acceptable and unblemished vessel. This symbolises the work of God in our lives. God will reform us into a new vessel fit to be identified with Him, when we get marred and spoiled by sin.

We can only receive a new life through Jesus Christ, who is the living water. God made Jesus Christ the essence of our lives and the source through which our lives are refreshed and renewed. Without Him we cannot do or be anything. Sin damages us and can derail the plan and purpose of God for our lives. But when we come to Jesus in repentance and turn from our sins, God will replace disaster with good in our lives.

The Holy Spirit guides us from threading the path of sin. He is a barometer by which we navigate through life and checks us from falling and entering into sin. However many of us have injured the Spirit of God in our lives and signals of the Holy Spirit have become faint and we can hardly perceive it. But Jesus Christ continues to keep the channel open for us to reconnect and re-establish contact so that we do not get lost, become damaged and made unfit for our Masters use.

Have you gone too far from God and feel there is no way you can reconnect with Him? Jesus Christ provides you with the opportunity today to come back home to your God and Father. All you have to do is to confess and repent of your sins and ask Him to come back into your life. He will accept you back and remould you into a vessel fit for His purpose and use. He will give meaning and direction to your life.

On the other hand, are you one who has never at anytime given Jesus Christ a chance and place in your life? You are no better than the vessel that was marred in the hands of the potter. You run the risk of ‘being uprooted and destroyed’! So why don’t you repent of your sins, turn from your evil ways and ask the Lord to come afresh into your life, so that He will relent and not inflict certain disaster on you but remould you into a vessel fit for His use. The Lord is waiting patiently for you to come to Him. Take a step of faith and declare your need for the Lord and invite Him into your life today. Confess Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour. Ask Him to give you a new life.

If you are in any of the categories described above, please pray the prayers set out below. Our God will answer your prayers and it shall be well with you in Jesus name. Amen

Prayer Points for the month
1. Come to the Lord, confess and repent of your sins. Ask Him to forgive you and promise that, with His help, you will not go back to the sins again.

2. Pray and ask the Lord to remold you into a vessel fit for His use. So that you will fulfill purpose and not live a hopeless life.

3. Ask the Holy Spirit to come into your life and be the barometer by which you navigate through the difficult paths of life. Ask Him to help you always to stand perfect and complete in the will of the Father for your life.

4. If you perceive that the Holy Spirit signal in your life is getting low, pray and ask the Lord to bring you back to the source of grace and find help, so that the signal will be restored strong and complete and you will be able to reconnect.

5. If you have not yet given your life to Jesus Christ, come now to Him and ask Him to come into your life. Confess your sins and declare Him the Lord of your life. Ask the Holy Spirit to come into your life and make you a new vessel fit for His use.

6. Pray for your country and ask the Lord to help your leaders to thread the path of truth, justice and righteousness. Ask the Lord to give them wisdom to handle the affairs of the nation in such a way that the people will rejoice and live a good and wholesome life.

7. Pray that the Lord will breath into the economy of your nation and restore all that the cankerworm and palmerworm has eaten and destroyed, so that your people will be delivered from hunger, poverty and pain.

8. Pray that the Lord will turn back to our world in mercy and help us, inspite of our wicked ways, and stop the disasters bedeviling our world almost on a daily basis.

May the Lord bless and keep you. May He make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace, now and forevermore. Amen. Have a wonderful month.

Bola Olowe,
President, Grace Leadership Foundation.
Sunday 1, November 2015

As you enter into the last phase of the year 2015, the eyes of the Lord will go with you; to guide, protect and see you through. You shall see the end of the year with songs of joy and victory in Jesus name.