[Wednesday's Devotional] - We are “Cracked Pots”

We are "Cracked Pots" "We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure.  This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.  We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.  Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies." 2 Corinthians 4: 7-10 [NLT] Learning to be happy with ourselves is a very important key to enjoying life.  If we know that God wants us to enjoy life, why does it sometimes seem impossible? Could it be that we're unhappy with ourselves because we're not perfect? God doesn't require us to be perfect, he made us and He knows we're human and will make mistakes.  Our job is to get up every day and do our best to use the keys He has provided for us and when we fail, we must get right with God, receive His forgiveness and go on. We need to quit being so hard on ourselves. Many people feel that God can't use them because they're not perfect, this is a lie. God (the Potter) uses cracked pots (that's you) and crackpots (that's me!) to do His work. As a recovering perfectionist I sometimes see into the warped image of the judge-God from my childhood, someone ready to pick out my flaws and whack me for them.  To some extent I can live into that image and I can pick out the flaws of others and whack them too!  When I list my imperfections to God and confess my shortcomings his response is … I LOVE YOU, …..I LOVE YOU,….… I LOVE YOU x xx As Christians, we are containers that God wants to fill with His goodness and light. Then we carry that goodness and light to a dark world, sharing it with people everywhere we go.  Don't be afraid of your flaws; acknowledge them and allow God to use you anyway.   Quit worrying about what you're not and give God what you are!   Dawn Milward   Twitter Website Copyright © 2017 St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email as a subscriber to the Daily Devotionals Our mailing address is: St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church 1a New Street Rugby, Warwickshire CV22 7BE United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list Want to be added to our mailing list? - sign up here!