11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, … Titus 2
Live our lives in such a way that we can receive God’s greatest blessings. DON’T BLOCK OUR BLESSINGS IN 2023.
God spoke a message to the prophet Jeremiah, warning Israel to reform their lives so that He wouldn’t have to visit them with judgement. He didn’t just speak to Jeremiah, He sent him to the Potter’s House for a working example of the message he was to bring.
3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Jeremiah 18
The vessel was marred but the potter simply put it back on his wheel and formed a new vessel ‘as seemed best to him’. Whatever marred the vessel we’re not told, but the new pot was shaped as he wanted it. The original design was forgotten and SOMETHING WAS COMING FROM HIS WHEEL NOW.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me. 6 He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. 7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned REPENTS of its evil, THEN I WILL RELENT and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.
WHEN WE REPENT GOD WILL RELENT! Selah, pause and consider.
9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, 10 and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.
God doesn’t just speak to Israel, it goes wider than that. God has blessed different nations down the ages (The empires mentioned in Daniel 2, also Great Britain and America) as He chose and they may not even have been aware of His goodness to them. God’s Sovereign Choice may not always make sense to us, but we should yield to His ways in our lives. He’s given us free will and He works with us today to bring out the best in us.
22 The Lord said to Moses, 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:
24 “‘“The Lord bless you
and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.”’
27 “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
God’s Blessing for all in 2023.