The Spirit Of Truth:

Sometimes, I sing a song named, “I’ve Been to the Potter’s House.” Yet, at times, it seems a little misleading to me where the words say, “He made me over again” - patched me up, filled the cracks and broken places.

In Jeremiah 18, God sent him to the potter’s house where he observed the craftsman making various vessels out of clay. God was giving Jeremiah a lesson concerning the nation of Judah.

Jer. 18:4. “And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again, another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.”

Here’s a lesson: God mends what man mars. We attempt to mend our broken vessel with rehabilitation, a new diet, new marriage, a new job, new location. Some of us run away from circumstances, as did Elijah in

1 Kings 19:3 because he was afraid.

1 Kings 19:3. “And when he heard Jezebel say she would kill him, he arose, and ran for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belonged to Ju-

Rev. Madeline Montez Duffany

dah, and left his servantthere.”

This came right after he had witnessed a victory in the Lord! FEAR allows Satan to attack with great success: Discouragement. Depression. Failure.

God says in His Word, Revelation 21:5, “…Behold, I make all things new,” concerning a new heaven and a new earth.

In this lesson of the potter and the clay, I learn that He doesn’t patch us up! He changes our condition and makes us new - a new vessel of honor!

Mark 2:2. “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.” God does not put new wine into old wineskins…His Holy Spirit into our old sinful selves.

He places us onto His “potter’s wheel” and Mercy makes us into new, born-again, beautiful vessels to carry new life - the Gospel - to other broken vessels.

I was like the woman at the well in John 4:7. She was a Samaritan, a woman in a society where women were demeaned, disregarded, and despised - living in shame as a social outcast. Now, doesn’t that sound like Jesus, Himself, being a social outcast? Jesus knew no sin, but He was despised and rejected.

I have never fit in with the ‘society girls.’ When I was young, I didn’t know that I could be a new person, that salvation could mend - could CHANGE - all the wrong things in my life.

My Mom’s Mennonite Pastor Bob Rowe met me one time as I was running into a Woolworth store. He said to me, “You had better ask God into your life before it’s too late.” He knew all about our family: he watched us grow up. He took me to the Rescue Mission in Baltimore, Maryland, when I was about fourteen years old. I felt special, riding in the back seat next to my Mom. The cross on the building stated in red letters, “JESUS SAVES”. It became engraved in my mind, and I still see that cross today. It is an indelible mark that can’t be removed. God knew exactly what He was doing with me way back then. Inside that mission, the Bishop gave the salvation message to men seated at tables where they were served food by volunteers.

I was a prodigal daughter, running away from home, behaving recklessly, and living a sinful life.

My Mother never stopped praying for me, although she had a very hard life herself. She was never overly affectionate, but once when we were walking together in Riverdale, Maryland, she looked at me and said, “I’m proud of you. I love all of you children.” It meant so much to me. You do not have to be a great pastor, prophet, or teacher. Just a simple act of kindness, a word spoken in a timely manner, and a cup of cold water can witness in so many ways. We had better get over feeling superior to or looking down on, others in unforgiveness and criticism.

There is a revival going on across the land, and GOD is doing it…not man! He uses the most unlikely people. Ordinary people like you and me.

On His “wheel of grace and mercy”, He is willing to make the lowest sinner into something new and strong for all the world to see! Have YOU experienced His hands as you yielded to Him on that wheel?

This is God’s Truth!

Reverend Madeline Montez Duffany

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