The Teacup

A couple vacationing in Europe went strolling down a little street and saw a quaint little gift shop with a beautiful teacup in the window. The lady collected teacups and she wanted this one for her collection, so she went inside to buy the teacup, and as the story goes the teacup spoke and said:

"I want you to know that I have not always looked like this. It took the process of pain to bring me to this point. You see, there was a time when I was just clay and the Master came and he pounded me and he squeezed me and he kneaded me and I screamed: "STOP THAT!". But he just smiled and said, "Not yet".

Then he took me and put me on the shelf and I went round and round and round and round... and while I was spinning and getting dizzier and dizzier I screamed again and I said, "Please get me off this thing... please get me off!!!" And the Master was looking at me and he was smiling, as he said, "Not yet".

Then he took me and walked toward the oven and shut the door and turned up the heat and I could see him through the window of the oven and it was getting hotter and hotter and I thought, "He's going to burn me to death!".

And I started pounding on the inside of the oven and I said, "Master, let me out, let me out, let me out!", and I could see that he was smiling as he said "Not yet". Then he opened the door and I was fresh and free and he took me out of the oven and he put me on the table and then he got some paint and a paintbrush.

He started dabbing me and making swirls all over me and I started to gag and I said: "Master, stop it... stop it... stop it please... you're making me gag". He just smiled as he said "not yet".

Then very gently he picked me up again and he started walking toward the oven and I said, "Master, NO!! Not again, pleeeease!!". He opened the oven door and he slipped me inside and he shut the door and this time he turned the heat up twice as hot as before and I thought, "He's going to kill me!!", and I looked through the window of the oven and I started to pound on it, saying, "Master... Master, please let me out... please let me out... let me out!".

I could see that he was smiling but I also noticed a tear trickle down his cheek as I watched him mouth the words, "Not yet!"

Just as I thought I was about to die, the door opened and he reached in ever so gently and took me out, fresh and free and he went and placed me on a high shelf and he said: "There, I have created what I intended. Would you like to see your yourself?" I said, "Yes". He handed me a mirror and I looked and I looked again and I said, "That's not me, I'm just a lump of clay".

He said, "Yes, that IS you, but it took the process of pain to bring you to this place. You see, had I not worked you when you were clay, then you would have dried up.

If I had not subjected you to the stress of the wheel you would have crumbled. If I had not put you into the heat of the oven you would have cracked. If I had not painted you there would be no color in your life. But, it was the second oven that gave you the strength to endure. Now you are everything I intended you to be - from the beginning." And I, the teacup, heard myself saying something I never thought I would hear myself saying, "Master, forgive me, I did not trust you. I thought you were going to harm me, I did not know you had a glorious future and a hope for me. I was too shortsighted, but I want to thank you.

I want to thank you for the suffering. I want to thank you for the process of pain. Here I am! I give you myself - fill me; pour from me, use me as you see fit. I really want to be a vessel that brings you glory within my life."

Author Unknown

1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2

Fiction Friday: We all need a little help now and then

Hop on Over, I'll Be There for You

Bunny Hop
Bunny Go
Along the trail
Off to the show

He hears a sound
Stops on the trail
He hops some more
Into a pail

He is so fat
And round you see
He can't get out
Needs help from me

I gently push
the bucket over
He hops right out
Into the clover

He looks once more
As if to say
Thanks my friend
You made my day

I sit and think
He's fat like me
Glad for friends
To set him free

Friends give me hope
Support my goal
To lose the weight
And make me whole

Like my friends
You make me think
To eat healthy
Watch what I drink

Bunny hop
Bunny go
Thanks my friend
Enjoy the show

~ Brian Russell ~
©Copyright 2009 Oldman's Poetry Corner ~ All rights reserved

Fiction Friday is being hosted today by Cat over at A work in progress. Please take the time to visit her blog and the other links to Fiction Friday.

Confidence in Christ

Many times in life we feel lost, alone or frightened. It is during those times I lean on my Lord for protection and confidence to overcome my fears and to walk beside me and guide me.

I can do all things
through Christ who
strengthens me.

Philippians 4:13

Keeping a Joyful Song in Your Heart

You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.

Isaiah 55:12

Word Filled Wednesday is hosted this week by Lori at all you have to give. Visit her blog for more visual inspiration!!

Prayer for Hearing God's Word

Dear Heavenly Father, I'm praying for all of those in my circle of family and friends who need Christ...

You are the God who gives life to the spiritually dead. (Romans 4:17b)

I thank You that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But Scripture asks, How can these I'm praying for call on Jesus if they have not believed in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they've not heard about Him? And how can they hear without someone bringing the truth to them? And how can they hear unless that person is sent? (Romans 10:13–15a)

I ask You to send someone into each of their lives, someone with the message of life, the Word of Christ—for Your Word does not return empty; it accomplishes what You desire and achieves the purpose for which it is sent. (Romans 10:17; Isaiah 55:11)

May they hear the words of Christ, for His words are spirit and they are life. May the words that they hear not be stolen from their hearts. ( John 6:63; Luke 8:12)

Send someone they can respect to bring them the truth. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Tamara Lowe at Christ Fellowship

Honoring Mothers

A Day of Prayer

Father, we Your people come humbly before You on this another day that You have allowed us to be a part of. We humbly submit our will to You, and say thank you for Your grace and mercy, that through the blood of Your precious Son, Jesus Christ, have been extended to us. We thank you for His obedience and love for You and that He willingly took on the cross that we would not have to endure it. We thank you for our president and all those that work faithfully beside him. Let them run our nation under Your leadership, not man's. Let every decision made be brought before You before anything is finalized. Let prayer be first and foremost in their lives, any that cannot submit to Your will remove them. Bless their families. Father bless every leader throughout this great nation and all the people that we may submit to Your will as we go about our daily adventures, giving all the praise to You for all things. Let our decisions be Your decisions. Let us love and honor everyone, as You Father are love, let us show that love by the way we treat our fellowman. Your word says "With love and kindness have I drawn thee" let this be our daily goal to love and draw someone that is lost, hurting, not knowing which direction to take to You Father. Let Your people that are called by Your name, humble themselves and pray, seek Your face and turn from their wicked ways so that You can forgive their sins and heal our land. Your word is true and will not come back void. You are a light unto our path, let us be a light for others, and we will always give all the glory to You. We give You the highest praise "Hallelujah" to You Father. Bless all that took the time to say thank you and offer partitions in Your Son, Jesus Christ's name. I praise you and I love you. Amen

My God is Truly an Awesome God: Psalm 68:35

You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary;
the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people.
Praise be to God!
Psalm 68:35

Word Filled Wednesday is hosted this week by PennyRaine. Visit her blog for more visual inspiration!!

Do You Know How The Apostles Died?

The only apostle whose death the Bible records is James (Acts 12:2). King Herod had James “put to death with the sword,” likely a reference to beheading. The circumstances of the deaths of the other apostles are related through church tradition. The most commonly accepted church tradition in regard to the death of an apostle is that the apostle Peter was crucified upside-down on an x-shaped cross in Rome in fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy (John 21:18). The following are the most popular “traditions” concerning the deaths of the other apostles:

Matthew suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia, killed by a sword wound.

Mark died in Alexandria, Egypt, after being dragged by horses through the streets until he was dead.

Luke was hanged in Greece as a result of his tremendous preaching to the lost.

John faced martyrdom when he was boiled in huge basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution in Rome. However, he was miraculously delivered from death. John was then sentenced to the mines on the prison island of Patmos . He wrote his prophetic Book of Revelation on Patmos. The apostle John was later freed and returned to serve as Bishop of Edessa in modern Turkey. He died as an old man, the only apostle to die peacefully.

Peter was crucified upside down on an x-shaped cross. According to church tradition it was because he told his tormentors that he felt unworthy to die in the same way that Jesus Christ had died.

James, just The leader of the church in Jerusalem, was thrown over a hundred feet down from the southeast pinnacle of the Temple when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. When they discovered that he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a fuller's club. This was the same pinnacle where Satan had taken Jesus during the Temptation.

James the Great, son of Zebedee, was a fisherman by trade when Jesus called him to a lifetime of ministry. As a strong leader of the church, James was ultimately beheaded at Jerusalem. The Roman officer who guarded James watched amazed as James defended his faith at his trial. Later, the officer walked beside James to the place of execution. Overcome by conviction, he declared his new faith to the judge and knelt beside James to accept beheading as a Christian.

Bartholomew, also known as Nathaniel, was a missionary to Asia. He witnessed for our Lord in present day Turkey. Bartholomew was martyred for his preaching in Armenia where he was flayed to death by a whip.

Andrew was crucified on an x-shaped cross in Patras, Greece. After being whipped severely by seven soldiers they tied his body to the cross with cords to prolong his agony. His followers reported that, when he was led toward the cross, Andrew saluted it in these words: "I have long desired and expected this happy hour. The cross has been consecrated by the body of Christ hanging on it." He continued to preach to his tormentors for two days until he expired.

Thomas was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to establish the church in the sub-continent.

Jude, the brother of Jesus, was killed with arrows when he refused to deny his faith in Christ.

Matthias, the apostle chosen to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot, was stoned and then beheaded.

Barnabas, one of the group of seventy disciples, wrote the Epistle of Barnabas. He preached throughout Italy and Cyprus. Barnabas was stoned to death at Salonica.

Paul was tortured and then beheaded by the evil Emperor Nero at Rome in A.D. 67. Paul endured a lengthy imprisonment which allowed him to write his many epistles to the churches he had formed throughout the Roman Empire. These letters, which taught many of the foundational doctrines of Christianity, form a large portion of the New Testament.

Perhaps this is a reminder to us that our sufferings here are indeed minor compared to the intense persecution and cold cruelty faced by the apostles disciples during their times for the sake of the Faith. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake:

But he that endureth to the end shall be saved. Matthew 10:22.

It is not so important how the apostles died. What is important is the fact that they were all willing to die for their faith. If Jesus had not been resurrected, the disciples would have known it. People will not die for something they know to be a lie. The fact that all of the apostles were willing to die horrible deaths, refusing to renounce their faith in Christ, is tremendous evidence that they had truly witnessed the resurrection of Jesus Christ.