My "Way"...or "His Way"?...Which Will It Be? Repost 10-14-15

This was originally posted back in July of 2010.  As I re-read it yesterday, I realized that it is still a message that I needed to read again...and I thought perhaps you might appreciate it as well.

Sing along with this old familiar hymn "Have Thine Own Way", as sung by Jim Reeves 

I still love the old hymns...there is so much meaning in these words.

Jeremiah 18:6...."Can I not do with you as this potter?" says the Lord, "Look, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand..."

Those of us who are familiar with the old hymns will remember one of my favorites..."Have Thine Own Way, Lord, Have Thine own way! Thou art the Potter, I am the clay.  Mold me and make me after Thy will, while I am waiting yielded and still."  If I could have a nickel for every time I've sung that song over the past __ years, I might be able to retire...  I can remember singing it as a child, and not fully comprehending what I was singing, but I liked to play with clay, so it made me think about shaping things and playing with them.  Then again as a teen-ager we used to sing this in our youth group as a song of commitment...and I began to have an inkling of what it meant to be "yielded and still", waiting for God to show me what I was supposed to do with my life. 

As I became an adult, I found myself still singing this song, as I asked the Master to "search me and try me..and to wash me whiter than snow...as I humbly knelt in His presence...and I kept asking Him to "mold me and make me" after His will. I knew that I was not yet complete...I was still in need of more reshaping...of my mind, my heart, and my spirit.  It's still an ongoing activity...still incomplete...

Now in my later years I sing, "Have Thine own way, Lord, have Thine own way...Wounded and weary, help me I pray! Power - all -power-surely is Thine! Touch me and heal me, Savior Divine!...and as I yield myself to Him and wait on His leading, He heals and restores my weary and wounded mind, heart, and spirit. 

My prayer now as I approach these "golden years" is that God will still have His own way in my life...that He will "hold o'er my being absolute sway!" I pray that He will fill me with His Spirit..."till ALL shall see -- Christ only, always, living in me!"

You know, if we could make this little song our prayer every day...and truly mean what we say... what a difference it could make in how we approach life...and how we respond to the approach of others who may come into our lives... WOW!  "Have Thine Own Way, Lord!"  (Adelaide A. Pollard, 1862-1934)

Pots of Clay-EXTREME MAKEOVER EDITION!

Jeremiah 18: 3-4  "Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, making something at the wheel.  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make."

Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror and said, "I wish I could have an 'extreme make-over?'" I know I probably think that every day!  My hair is getting gray, my face is getting wrinkled, and my body, well, we just won't go there.  You get the picture.  As our bodies age we begin to sag and droop, or worse yet, we become flabby and lumpy in all the wrong places. No matter what we do to eat properly and exercise, some things just can't be changed.  Oh, I know they could be changed if one has enough money for surgery, face lifts, or frequent applications of hair dye, but even those extreme measures are only temporary.  Sooner or later we must all accept the fact that our bodies are literally dying and all the face creams, body lotions and health spas in the world cannot change that.

However, today I am thinking about the internal body of clay; my inner soul and spirit.  Every day I look into the mirror of my heart and realize that I need a makeover.  I see parts of my spirit that are sagging and drooping.  My soul has become flabby and lumpy with the cares of this world and the anxieties and fears lurking in the recesses of my mind. I keep trying to cover up these flaws by pretending they don't exist or by applying the world's ointments of working harder to make them go away.
Dear Lord, Master Potter, Take this clay pot that is my heart, soul, and spirit.  Break it down and reshape it into the vessel that is most useful for the work that You desire me to do. As the Psalmist pleads in Psalm 51:10 ~

Isaiah 64:8 says: 'But now, O Lord, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; and all we are the work of Your hand."

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."  Amen.

How about you?  Do you need an "extreme makeover?"  Why not ask the Master Potter to reshape your clay pot into a vessel of beauty today. I know you'll love the results!