Posts Tagged ‘mud’

No Longer Afraid to Show My Cracks

Posted: March 24, 2009 in In Christ, Jesus Christ, mudpreacher, Power of God
Tags: , , , , , ,
1

God’s Power Shows Through the Cracks

1973spiritboostersWhen I was in Bible College I thought Christians were supposed to be happy all the time. I thought we should always be filled with joy, after all, we are indwelt with the Holy Spirit. My concept of true Christians was that they smile 24/7. If they cry or frown they are not living a victorious life in Christ. They should never worry or fear, for these are emotions that signal a lack of trust in Jesus Christ.

Tompkins Clan circa 1985Bible College gave way to real life, real problems, real babies (6), real sickness, real struggles. I discovered the Real Christian walk is actually very different. It is a display of power in weakness, joy amid pain, faith in the presence of doubt. I discovered that when I thought I was strong in the Lord, I was very conscious of my inabilities and inadequacies. When troubles came thundering upon me I was on the one hand confident of God’s purpose and power but on the other filled with fear and doubt. Even those moments of joy came with a realization that stress and worry were lurking behind the door. I have since learned to rejoice and even praise God for my weaknesses. God brought the power of 2 Corinthians 4:7-10 to bear on my life.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed– always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 2 Corinthians 4:7-10 (NKJV)

hunk-of-mudI now realize that Christians are just hunks of mud blessed with the indwelling of the most amazing Treasure. We are filled with God Himself. God can only reveal His EXCELLENT Power through the cracks and broken pieces of my life. When I am weak He is strong. Every day my Christian walk is a quest to discover and experience the “exceeding greatness of HIS POWER! (Eph 1:19)

It is OK to cry, to feel stressed, to worry, to get down, but only as long as it reveals less of me and more of God. God wants me to realize how powerful He is, and how weak I really am.we-are-hunks-of-mud-in-gods-hands

Prayer: Father, thank you for breaking me and showing me how weak I really am. May You reveal Your Power through my life. Keep me very aware that I am just a hunk of mud being shaped by Your masterful and loving hands.

From PathwayofBlessing

Advertisement

Jeremiah Was the First Mud Preacher

Posted: January 11, 2008 in Jeremiah, Preaching
Tags: , , , , , ,
0

Jeremiah is not my idol.

In fact, not too many preachers aspire to be like Jeremiah. Too many bad things happened to him. Like the time in chapter 38 that the princes of Judea had had enough of Jeremiah’s ramblings. They cried to the King, “please let this man be put to death, because he is discouraging everyone. He is not helping us, he is hurting us with the things he says”. So the King said “whatever you guys want to do, I won’t stop you”.

Jeremiah in the Mud So these princes threw him into the cistern or well in the middle of the prison court. At the bottom was mud which was probably as deep as three or four feet. It was so deep that Jeremiah became hopelessly stuck. They left him there to die, with no food or water. That was a mud bath no one wants to take.

Some eunuch named Ebed-Melech had pity on Jeremiah and went to King Zedikiah to appeal to his sense of reason. The King repented of his decision and commanded Ebed-Melech to take 30 men with ropes to pull Jeremiah out. After much work, they were able to pull him out, and Jeremiah stayed in the court of the prison.

What do you say when you are stuck in the mud? Did Jeremiah say “I’m Sorry, Get me out?” No, I think he kept on proclaiming God’s Message. In fact, I think his message became even louder because of the acoustics of the well.

So this blog is dedicated to the message of Jeremiah, who declared the message of God no matter where he was. Even when he was stuck in the mud. Here’s to you Jeremiah, the first “Mud Preacher”