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ne of the most powerful analogies in the Bible regarding our transformation and sanctification in the Lord has to be the analogy of the potter and the clay. The Bible says that God is the Potter and we are the clay. It is up to God to mold, transform and sanctify us as we journey through this earthly life. Whenever God gives us a specific analogy in the Bible, this means that we have to seek into the revelation of that analogy in order to pick up what God is trying to tell us with the analogy. If we do, then we will see exactly what God is trying to tell us in reference to the actual analogy itself. In other words, we have to find out exactly how pottery is made if we want to fully understand what God is trying to tell us in this most incredible analogy. Here is the key verse from Scripture that will give us this specific revelation that God is the Potter and we are His clay: "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." (Isaiah 64:8) I have never made pottery myself, so I had no idea of how it was actually made. But I always had a feeling that God would somehow bring someone along that would show and demonstrate how this process is actually done so we can see exactly how this analogy fits into what God wants to do with each one of us in our personal growth in Him. I recently received a DVD from a friend who had a pastor by the name of Pat Lazovich come to their church. Pat used to make pottery before God called him into full time ministry work. As a result of his previous experience in actually making pottery, God now has him traveling to different churches, giving real live demonstrations on exactly how pottery is made, and then how this analogy perfectly fits in and lines up with how God wants to mold and transform all of us in our personal growth in Him. I reviewed the entire DVD, and his demonstration and explanation of this analogy was excellent. I cannot recommend this man highly enough with his demonstration on the potter and the clay. If any of you would like to have him come to your church to do this demonstration for you, he is the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel in Sierra Vista, AZ. His website address is http://www.calvarychapel.com. In this article, I will give you the main steps on exactly how pottery is made, and then the appropriate explanations on how all of this fits into the analogy that God is the potter and we are His clay. Grab a hold of this powerful revelation, because it will both visually and dramatically show you not only how God molds and transforms us in this life, but exactly why God does some of the things He does with us in this molding process, as this process can be quite painful and unpleasant at times. I will break down the main steps on how pottery is actually made, along with the appropriate explanations as to how all of this perfectly fits into God's actual sanctification with us under the specific captions below.
1. God Needs the Word in Us Before He Can Start the Sanctification Process
The first thing Pat will show you is the lump of clay that he will actually use to make the piece of pottery with. Before Pat can put this piece of clay on an electric wheel to start the actual molding process to make the kind of pottery he wants to make, he first has to add enough WATER into it in order to make it pliable and soft enough for him to be able to actually use it. If he does not add enough water into the clay, the clay will remain too hard and too rigid for him to be able to actually use. When the water is added into the clay, it makes the clay soft and pliable. If the clay is not soft and pliable enough, the potter cannot begin to use it to make the pottery he wants to make. The analogy for us to pick up on this first step is that the water used in this process represents the Word of God. Here is a good verse giving us the actual revelation that the word "water" in the Bible is symbolic of the Word of God. In other words, the Word of God is like water to our souls. Just like our physical bodies need water in order to be able to live and survive in this world, in the same way our souls need God's Word flowing through us in order to feed us on the inside in our inner man. " ... that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish." (Ephesians 5:26) What this is telling us that God cannot even begin to mold and transform us in this life unless we are first willing do our part. And our part has to be to get into His Word and try to read, understand and assimilate what is in the Bible as best we can, with the Holy Spirit helping us to understand what we are actually reading. The Bible says that we are to grow in the knowledge of God, and one of the main ways that you grow in the knowledge of God is to read from the one Book that will give you this direct knowledge - the Bible! There is no other way into the knowledge of God other than through the Bible. If you do not spend enough reasonable time in this life trying to read from the Bible and assimilate the actual knowledge that is in there as best you can, then God will have very little to work with in your own personal growth process with Him, and you will see very little, if any actual growth in Him in this life. The reason why so many of God's saints are not spiritually growing in this life and being properly sanctified in the Holy Spirit is because they are not spending enough time trying to read and understand the Bible as best they can, and then see how the actual knowledge in this Book can be incorporated into their daily lives. The Holy Spirit needs something to work with in order to get this growth process kicked into full gear - and that something is knowledge - and that knowledge can only be gained by reading the Bible. There is no other way! Just as the potter cannot use the clay unless there is enough water added into it - in the same way God cannot start the molding and transformation process in our lives unless we first start to get enough of the Word in us. The Word cannot start to effectively work in you and your life unless you first start to attempt to get it into you in the first place.
So without question, the first step you have to take, if you really want God to mold and shape you into the kind of person He really wants you to become in Him in this life, is to spend enough reasonable time in the Word - trying to understand, with the help of the Holy Spirit, all of the knowledge that is contained in it, and exactly how all of this knowledge can be incorporated into your personal life and walk with the Lord.
absolutely nothing in this life - and that if we try to build our own houses in this life without His guidance and direction - that we will be laboring "in vain" if we try to do it all through our own efforts and wisdom. Here is the verse that will give us this specific piece of revelation: "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it." (Psalm 127:1)
What he first does as the lump of clay is spinning on the wheel is to take his hand and push it down on the top of the clay to create an opening in it. Once this opening has been made at the top of the clay, Pat's hand then goes down deep inside the middle of the clay as it is forming out, and he uses his hands to properly shape the piece of clay as it is building up during this spinning process on the wheel. Pat's hands are thus working on both the inside and outside of the clay to mold, shape and transform it into the pot he wants to make as it continues to spin on the wheel. His hands are literally making and forming all of this out with this original, shapeless lump of clay. Pat says that he cannot make a pot unless his hands go down deep in the middle of that pot as it is forming out. In the same way, God's own hand literally goes down deep in the middle of us - right down in the middle of our souls and spirits - where the inner sanctification work is actually done - to mold and transform us into the saints He wants us to become in Him. That is why we have to give God the green light to do this type of inner sanctification work in us, as he needs our full cooperation in order to be able to get that deep down on the inside of us. Since God is doing the actual supernatural work on the inside of us, it can become rather painful and unpleasant at times, since God will be removing all of the bad and negative qualities that He does not want us to have operating in our personalities, and at the same time, instilling and imparting all of the good, positive and godly qualities that He will want us to have. Pat also has to apply a good amount of pressure with his hands as he is molding and shaping this lump of clay. In the same way, God has to apply some serious pressure on all of us from time to time in order to get us to change to become the kind of person He wants us to become in Him. Removing toxic qualities such as pride, self-centeredness, bad tempers and lust can all be very painful due to our flesh wanting to keep these negative qualities operating in our personalities. But let God do this inner surgery work in you through the Holy Spirit, and you will eventually be molded and shaped into the godly saint that God is calling you to become in Him - and true joy, happiness and fulfillment will be all yours in this life.
You only have one chance in the eternal scheme of things to leave your mark in this world in the calling that God has placed on your life. Let God take you as far as He wants to go with you in this life - and you won't ever have to worry about having any second regrets once you leave and depart from this life and enter into heaven for all of eternity. You can leave this life knowing that you have fully accomplished everything that the Lord was wanting you to accomplish for Him if you just stay the course with Him and do not bail out due to fear or laziness.
7. Don't Stretch Beyond the Boundary Lines That God Has Set Up For Your Life
The next thing Pat will show you is that even though you want to make this pot into what you had originally designed it to be, you need to be very careful that you do not make this pot too tall or too wide and go beyond what your original plan for the pot was. If you do, it will tear apart and completely unravel, thereby completely destroying what you were originally wanting to do with the pot in the first place. In the same way with the Lord - though we are to press on and go as far as God will be wanting to take us in this life in our specific callings in Him, we also have to realize that there is another side to this two-sided coin. We also have to make sure that we do not stretch beyond what God is actually calling us to do or stretch into positions that He does not want us going into. If God is calling you to be an attorney, a pastor, or a doctor, do not try and stretch into other callings that He does not want you going into. If God is calling you to play third base on His team, do not try and stretch into the shortstop or left-fielder's positions. Stay in the boundary lines that God will be setting up in your life. If you stretch beyond those boundary lines, you will stretch beyond your calling, and there will be no anointing, no protection and no fruit for you in those other endeavors. God knows exactly how far He wants to take us in this life and we need to respect the boundary lines that He will be setting up in our lives. Billy Graham was called to be an evangelist and he perfectly stayed in that calling during his entire life. He did not try to be a musician or a pastor. He stayed within the boundary lines that God had initially set up for his life and as a result, he will end up going down as one of the greatest evangelists of all time because of all of the good fruit he has produced for the Lord in that specific calling.
10. Let God Mold You Into the Specific Person He Wants You to Become
After Pat completes the process of turning this lump of clay into a beautiful piece of pottery, he then makes the comment to let God mold and shape you into the specific person He wants you to become, not what other people want you to become. You have been created by God to be an unique person - unlike any other person that has ever been created and born into this world. Realize that only God can mold and shape you into the finished person that He wants you to become in Him. You can't do it for yourself, your family members can't do it for you, and your best friends can't do it for you - only God can! God, as our Father and Potter, is the only One who has the full knowledge, the full power and the full means to be able to truly sanctify us to become the beautiful, godly, and righteous saints He is calling all of us to become in Him in this life.
Conclusion
Watching Pat give a live demonstration on how pottery as actually made leaves you with a very good visual image in your mind's eye on the analogy of the Potter and the clay. Watching Pat's hands literally take a hard, rigid, and shapeless piece of clay, and then turn it into a beautiful piece of pottery, perfectly lines up with what God wants to do with each one of us in this life in our personal growth and sanctification in Him. Due to the fallen, sinful and corrupt state that we have all been born into this world with, only God mold, shape and transform us into beautiful vessels of honor that will be fit for His use. Sanctification, when truly done by the Lord, is the highest state we should all be striving for in our personal relationship with the Lord. The Holy Spirit is already on the inside of us waiting and willing to do this type of inner work on us. In the Sanctification Section of our site, we have plenty of good articles giving you more information on what true sanctification in the Lord is all about and how to get this kind of show going with the Lord. I will end this article by bullet pointing all of the above main pieces of revelation on the Potter and the clay so you can see how powerful and how beautiful this analogy really is:
God Needs the Word in Us Before He Can Start the Sanctification Process You Have to be Properly Centered in Jesus Christ (The Full Surrender) Sanctification is a Slow, Steady and Progressive Process God's Hand Will Personally Mold, Shape and Transform You Let God Develop You to Your Fullest Potential in This Life God Knows Exactly What He Wants to Do With Your Life Do Not Stretch Beyond the Boundary Lines that God Has Set Up For Your Life God's Eyes and Attention Are Always on You God Will Always Be Doing Major Pruning in Your Life Let God Mold You Into the Specific Person He Wants You to Become
Once again, God the Father is giving all of us an incredible piece of revelation in His Word on this analogy of Him being the Potter and we being His clay.