VESSELS
FOR HIS GLORY
BREAD
8 Yet, O
Lord, you are our Father. We are
the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. Isaiah 64:8 (NIV)
7 He
said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or
dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But
you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my
witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the
earth.” Acts 1:7-8 (NIV)
9 You,
however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the
Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ,
he does not belong to Christ. Romans
8:9 (NIV)
7 But we
have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is
from God and not from us. 2 Corinthians 4:7 (NIV)
3 I came
to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4 My message and my preaching
were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the
Spirit's power, 5 so
that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power. 1 Corinthians 2:3-5 (NIV)
17 Therefore
I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. 18 I will not venture to speak of
anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles
to obey God by what I have said and done-- 19 by the power of signs and
miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around
to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. Romans 15:17-19 (NIV)
20 Now to
him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according
to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus
throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV)
13 May
the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that
you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans
15:13 (NIV)
BUTTER
“The
message of salvation and the results it produces are glorious and divine. By
contrast the bearer of the message is a mere mortal person. The contrast is
like a great treasure contained
in common jars of clay. A
deepening sense of his own unworthiness, compared with the grandeur of his
message, characterized Paul's life. God intended this sharp contrast so that no
one would question the source of the gospel and its all-surpassing power. Salvation is the work of God not men. Anything Paul achieved
that was worthy of praise had God's grace as its source, Jesus Christ as its
motivation and goal, and the Holy Spirit as its energy.” Bible Knowledge
Commentary
“When we can do nothing Jesus can do all things; let us enlist His powerful aid upon our side, and all will be well.” Charles Spurgeon
“The true secret to all ministry is spiritual power. It is not man’s genius, or man’s intellect, or man’s energy; but simply the power of the Spirit of the God of the Gospel. ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts (Zech.iv.6). It is well for all ministers (and believers) to bear this ever in mind. It will sustain the heart and give constant freshness to their ministry (and lives). A ministry which flows from abiding dependence upon the Holy Spirit can never become barren. If a man is drawing on his own resources, he will soon run dry. It matters not what his powers may be, or how extensive his reading, or how vast his stores of information; if the Holy Spirit be not the spring and power of his ministry, it must, sooner or later, lose its freshness and its effectiveness. How important then, that all who minister (and live) in the gospel…should lean continually and exclusively on the power of the Holy Spirit. He knows what souls need, and He can supply it. But he must be trusted and used. It will not do to lean partly on self and partly on the Spirit.” C H Macintosh
“When
a man has not strength, if he leans on God, he becomes powerful.” D.L.
Moody
“Sometimes the enemy seems to get an
advantage over us; but the battle is not over yet. At last thou shalt
have the victory, and carry the day for all that. In hard struggles
remember the power of Christ, who, in his resurrection, broke through
everything. With him thou canst also break through, and be more than
conqueror. Yea, in every conflict, if thy faith be firm, thou canst be
sure of victory beforehand; for faith engages Christ’s power, and his power
ensureth victory; it is as impossible for thine enemies to keep thee always in
bonds, as it was impossible that Christ could be kept in the grave by the
stone, seal, and keepers. Nay, the greater their force is, the more
glorious will be the victory of Christ over them.” K. H.
Von Bogatzky
“What is needed is
not mere present professions, but perseverance to the end in the power of
faith.” Ignatius
of Antioch
“All
these difficulties are only platforms for the manifestation of His grace, power
and love.” Hudson Taylor
“It
is important to understand that fruitfulness and growth are the results of
focusing on Christ and desiring to honor Him.
When growth and change are our primary goals, we tend to be preoccupied
with ourselves instead of with Christ.
‘Am I growing? Am I getting any
better? Am I more like Christ today?
What am I learning?’ This
inordinate preoccupation with self-improvement parallels our culture’s
self-help and personal enhancement movement in many ways. Personal development is certainly not wrong,
but it is misleading—and it can be very disappointing—to make it our preeminent
goal. If it is our goal at all, it
should be secondary. As we grasp the
unconditional love, grace, and power of God, then honoring Christ will
increasingly be our consuming passion…The only One worthy of our preoccupation
is Christ, our sovereign Lord, who told Paul, ‘My grace is sufficient for you,
for My power is perfected in weakness’”. Robert McGee
“The fact
that Jesus Christ is to come again is not a reason for star-gazing, but for
working in the power of the Holy Ghost.”
Charles Spurgeon
HEART SAVOR
- · I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
- · This all surpassing power is from God not from what mere man can muster.
- · All believers in Jesus have the indwelling achieving power of the Holy Spirit.
