Clay. Synonym: Earth, Dirt, Mud

                Qualities: kneaded, squeezed, unglamorous.

Jars. Synonym: Container, Pot, Receptacle, Drum

                Qualities: Reservoir, Transitional

Kneaded, squeezed and unglamorous containers filled to overflow with glorious living waters. Sounds like a paradox!

This partnership of the glorious with the inglorious reflects the great mercy and grace of God when He called us to partner with His son. It’s purely based on what the glorious has done and has nothing to do with what the inglorious has done (or will do).

The fragility and vulnerability of the clay jars, the thorn in the flesh, is the constant reminder that our help, identity, healing, peace, nourishing comes from the father.

Our father is so liberal with His goodness that He has molded us into welly containers. He prepares the well/jar, fills the well/jar and causes the well/jar to overflow. Paraphrasing 1 Cor 1, God has:

·         Prepared the jars by making them holy through Christ,

·         Filled the jars with all spiritual gifts

·         Overflowed the jars by commissioning them to partner with Christ in the ministry of reconciliation.

 

The imagery here is of a kingdom that’s full of

·         power in action

·         brooding power at rest that’s so deep and inexhaustible.

 

What can we say about all these?

Since it’s the father who prepares, fills and overflows, let our focus be on Him. And may God grant us the grace to bear with the fragility and disappointments of the flesh. They are common and meant to keep us in check without breaking us. At times, the greater the revelations and anointing, the constant the thorn…

 

Praying empty: Just availing ourselves for the Spirit to pray. Yes, we have no idea of what or how to pray. However, the Spirit does and He lives in us! He searches, He scans, He zooms in, He executes based on the incorruptible heavenly blue prints.

Prayer: God anoint our vision, that with unveiled eyes, we shall see well.

And having been to the mountain top and received incredible revelations, may we grow even more reliant on God.

 

Prayer: God, please establish back the humility in the calling. You nourish the whole body and the members interdependently edify each other through Christ the head. We cry out for greater interdependency through Christ, apostles’ prayers for the church and the church’s prayer for the apostles – all being effective to your glory.

 

Encouragements and wrapping up.