With summer just around the corner, it’s a good time use our more relaxed times to reflect on what God has been and is doing in our lives. We’ll focus this summer on understanding God as Artist and His goals for shaping us into His masterpieces. Here is the third devotion that helps us understand God’s continued work in our lives:

IN WORD – The Potter is focused on outcomes. While He is spinning the wheel, softening the clay, cutting the design, and firing the kiln, He is preoccupied with one thing: what the piece will look like in the end. He may enjoy the process with some lumps of clay and find others tedious, but the process is insignificant in light of the value of the final image. The beauty of the art is in His mind the whole time.
In verses 7 to 10 of Jeremiah 18, God is focused on how His people finish. Not where we start, but where we end. If we start with apathy or rebellion but respond to His warnings, He blesses. If we start with responsiveness and end with rebellion or apathy, He reconsiders His blessings. Jesus made that clear in His parable of the two sons: one said he wouldn’t work in the father’s vineyard, then did; the other said he would, then didn’t (see Matthew 21:28-32). Only one, Jesus said, fulfilled his father’s plan.
That principle applies to nations—as in the books of Jeremiah and Isaiah—and to individuals, as in every biblical call to obedience. Our Potter is known for His extravagant mercy toward His clay. But clay meant for glory can end up in the trash. Extravagant mercy can be taken for granted and squandered.
IN DEED – There’s a difference between faith and presumption, but Christians confuse them often. We take God’s promises for granted. True faith leads to gratitude and service; presumption leads to complacency. And God’s mercy is rarely grasped by the complacent.
Don’t presume on grace. If God has promised you blessing—and He has, you know—meet the conditions of the promise. Love Him, comply with Him, trust Him. In every detail of your life, follow His heart. In His integrity, the Potter will shape you not only according to His will, but also according to yours. Finish well. “Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth.” —A. W. Tozer (in “Worship the King” by Chris Tiegreen)

It is all too easy to become complacent in our relationship with Jesus. We think that a “decision” is enough – and it is when it comes to justification, for Christ has paid the debt of sin for us. But to live and enjoy an authentic Christian life involves the work of transformation (sanctification) by the Holy Spirit to become like Christ.
Salvation is free, but God’s blessings are conditioned on transformation. This has been a principle that spans the Old and New Testaments. If you don’t believe this, take time to read the letters to the seven churches in Revelation 1-3. Reflect on one church each day and meditate on the consequences of having a dead faith, being lukewarm, and continuing to live in sin. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you see the areas where you’ve become complacent and call on Him to transform you so that you may finish well. You will find that you will be even more blessed, oftentimes beyond your imagination. He who has an ear, let him/her hear. Have a blessed week! From Taipei, Pastor Sam