The Perfect Sculptor

Sculpture is defined as the art of cutting, carving or otherwise rendering solid material into an ornamental or aesthetically pleasing form. A gifted sculpture can see a work of art within every solid object and have the ability to reveal it. 

God is the Perfect Sculptor.  No matter how hard the world has made us, God can see a spiritual artwork within each of us waiting to be revealed.  Like any good sculptor, He doesn’t instantly go to work with a sledgehammer.  He knows that too much pressure applied too quickly will only cause the artwork to break.  Instead, God patiently chips away at the edges (spiritual maturity usually comes through numerous small steps of rehabilitation).  We shouldn’t be discouraged when our spiritual growth seems slow.  God is patient - we should be patient.  He intends us all to be masterpieces of grace and this takes time.  If we allow God to have His way, bit by bit, the person that God wants us to be will be revealed.  Our sinful parts will be chipped away to reveal a sculpture of Grace - a living artwork that many people will appreciate. 

Our Invisible Friend

As a child, having an invisible friend is usually not considered a good thing.  If the child appears to be continually talking to thin air and responding to unheard questions, most people would soon query the child’s sanity. 

As a Christian, we proclaim to the world that we have an Invisible Friend.  To a world that has become deaf to God’s call and blind to His presence, it is easy to understand that many may think we are crazy.  All they see is a bunch of nutty people talking (praying) and responding (Christian Service) to the demands of their Invisible Friend.
This is where many Christians may be tested to deny God.  Even when we hear His whisper, quiet voice and feel His presence, we ignore our Invisible Friend because we don’t want the world to consider us insane. But we must remember, there is a day coming when we all will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ and our once Invisible Friend will be visible to all.  How will we respond when Christ questions, ‘I have always been a Good Friend to you and faithfully stood by you - but what sort of a friend were you to Me?  Did you stand by Me?’
Will we feebly reply, ‘I’m sorry I didn’t - someone may have thought me mad.’

The Missing Key

A man having lost his keys sat down depressed.  Many hours later his wife returned home and enquired into his problem.
‘I’ve lost my keys and can’t go anywhere without them,’ he roared.
‘OK, calm down - where have you searched?’ she asked, trying to be helpful.
The man looked dumfounded and replied, ‘Well, I haven’t actually looked anywhere!’

God does not force Himself on anyone; yet He always reveals Himself to those who seek Him.  In life, we all sense something very important is missing - a gap that needs to be filled.  We may try to fill this gap with accomplishments, social life, self improvement classes or expensive toys, but these things will never satisfy and will only emphasize our emptiness.   Until we seriously start searching we can’t expect to find the ‘missing key’.   When finally we get off our mental-backside and look in the right place, we quickly discover that God was never hiding – we were just ignoring Him.  Since God created us with free-will, He must respect it.  He patiently waits for any who desire an eternal relationship with Him, and for those who seek, God is honour-bound to reveal.  Only through Him will we be complete and fulfill the purpose for which we are created.

A Responsible Giver

It would be foolish and irresponsible to hand car-keys to a small child to go for a joy-ride.  So would letting a small child play with a circular saw, an electric drill or a nail gun unsupervised.  These items were not designed for children.  A child does not have the ability, strength, common sense or capacity to handle these things safely.  It would only be a matter of time before they injure themselves and those around them. 

Our Heavenly Father is not an irresponsible giver.  He withholds many blessings until we (His children) attain the capacity to handle them without causing injury to ourselves and those around us.  Sometimes success, marriage and prosperity elude us because God is patiently waiting for us to grow up.  If we were given these blessings without the capacity to handle them, it would only be matter of time before a serious accident occurs.

The Perfect Potter

A potter can be simply defined as a maker of earthenware vessels.

As Christians, we are lumps of clay ready for moulding, but the question is: by whom? If the World shapes us, we will end up as useless broken vessels.  However, there is a Perfect Potter (God) and He is always ready to start His miraculous work.  He starts the moment we choose to put ourselves into His capable hands.  If we let this Perfect Potter have His way, He will gently pick us up and wet us with the ‘Water of Grace’.  Then, He will place us on the ‘Wheel of Life’ and start spinning.  True, we may become dizzy, but life is where He moulds us into shape.  When we are the form He intends (vase, cup, pot, etc – no vessel is ever the same), He places us in the ‘Kiln of Testing’.  To a newly shaped lump of clay, this is a most frightening time.  If the vessel is not properly prepared, the hot furnace will break it.
But we do not need to fear; we are in the hands of a Perfect Potter.  He knows the exact time to place us in the kiln. He moulded us perfectly to withstand the heat (God has promised never to test us beyond what we are able to bare).  The heat in the kiln can be extreme, but it has a purpose - to harden us (lumps of clay) into the exact shape that the Perfect Potter intends (Christ-like).  Soon, we will be earthenware vessel that God can pour His divine purpose and many blessings into, which we in turn can pour out onto others. 

Staying on Track

A train is a powerful locomotive yet it can not move freely about.  A train moves only in the direction that the tracks are laid.  When a moving train derails the result is always disastrous.

God is the engine that powers all of Existence.  He has been described as the Unmovable-Mover.  God is absolute perfection - He is all powerful, all knowing and is simultaneously in the present, past and future.  Does this mean God can do anything He wants?  No, like a train God is very restricted in which direction He can go.  He must always remain perfect.  This means He can never make a mistake, can never lie or be wrong - God must always maintain His perfect standard of righteousness, justice, fairness and love. 
God can never compromise His perfect character (no matter how we pray He would concede for our own personal circumstances).  God must always stay perfectly on track - if He ever derailed (compromised, erred, sinned or failed), even once, He would cease to be perfect and that would cause the biggest disaster in the universe.

Not a Crime-lord

Crime-lords, Godfathers and Kingpins sending out their thugs to shake down local businesses for a percentage of their takings have sadly been a re-occurring theme throughout history.  The victims usually pay through fear of attracting the local Crime-lord personal attention - they know if they don’t voluntarily ‘cough-up’ the money bad things would invariably happen to them and their business. 

Sadly, too many Christians view God as a Godfather, our Lord as a Crime-lord and the King of Kings as a Kingpin.  They fear God will cause misfortune and maladies to happen in their lives if they don’t voluntarily ‘cough-up’ a percentage of our earnings.  However, if we believe God is trying to shake-us-down, we actually believe God is a criminal. No wonder many people are trying to pay God off to leave them alone - who wants a personal relationship with a thug! 
Yet, God is no gangster and paying Him off is one of the greatest insults we can unconsciously do to our loving Father.  God doesn’t need our meager money; He has the riches of the universe at His disposal - He can not be bought, bullied or blackmailed.  What He desires is for us to freely enter into a personal relationship with Him so He can bless, protect and guide us.  Ironically, when we treat God like a thug by coughing-up money and enduring church once a week as to be left alone, God must respect our free will and leave us to fend for ourselves in the Devil’s Kingdom.     

The Infinite Imagination

Imagination is defined as the act or power of forming mental images not actually present.

Before creation came imagination.  Before God created the universe He had to imagine it.  What an imagination God must have!  He created the world and everything within, (except sin - that was our addition).  He created animals with all their strange and unique habits.  He created land, seas, skies, rivers and forests as living playgrounds for the enjoyment of His creatures.  He created a variety of seasons and foods for all tastes.  However, this earth and all its wonders are just preludes for what is yet to come.  The universe is where God has poured His infinite imagination. 
I wonder, in our new resurrection bodies, will we be able to ride the cosmic clouds as a surfer rides a wave?  Will a planet bubbling with lava be a universal spa and sauna?   What sights and experiences does God have in store for us?  It will be a pure delight to discover the fruits of God’s imagination.  Whatever our legitimate interests may be, God has catered for them in eternity.
If we spent a billion years touring God’s “Universal Exhibition”, we will be no closer to exhausting His infinite imagination than when we first began.  It is a show not to be missed.  The good news is - God has paid for our tickets and reserved a seat for all who know Him.

The Omniscient Chess Player

Satan considers himself unbeatable at the game of chess.  To give the devil his due, there is no other creature that can play like him.  To Satan, we humans are pieces on a chessboard to be sacrificed without a second thought.  Since humanity began, Satan has been maneuvering so he can yell ‘CHECKMATE’ to God.  At times it seemed he had the game nearly in the bag (the Garden of Eden, the Flood, the Exodus, etc).  So many times Satan has yelled, ‘CHECK’, but at the last minute God has always blocked him.  Throughout human history Satan has tried to secure his win with a ‘CHECKMATE’.  However, much to his annoyance, God is an all-knowing, omniscient chess-player and is always one step ahead to block that anticipated final move. 
At the cross, God turned the game around and said ‘CHECK’ to Satan.  Since then, the devil has tried desperate moves, callously sacrificing his pieces to get out of God’s ‘CHECK’.  Now, it is plainly evident to all that Satan is playing a loosing game.  At the end of time, God will say to Satan, ‘CHECKMATE’, and all Satan’s pieces will be removed from the board.

Human history is like the chessboard and we humans are the chess pieces; however, unlike normal chess pieces, we humans have freewill and decide in which direction we move.  The game is winding up.  Satan is desperate.  He is frantically trying to recruit new pieces to sacrifice.  If he can, Satan will employ God’s pieces to use against Him. 
We must question as to whose side of the board we are on.  Just because we are Christians doesn’t mean God is moving us.  We mustn’t fool ourselves - if we are not allowing God to work freely in our lives and move us where He will, we are Satan’s pawns - there is no middle ground.  We must continuously resist the devil by giving ourselves, as a living sacrifice, to God to use wisely and graciously.

The Source of Light

The sun is the source of all light.  The moon illuminates the night only with reflected light from the sun.

Jesus Christ is like the sun - the source of light.  Without the light from the sun (Son) we would all be in complete darkness.  Our purpose, as Christians, is to be like the moon and reflect Christ’s light in places of darkness.
At first, we are like a crescent moon.  We reflect very little light because the world casts a great shadow over us.  As we grow in grace we reflect more of Christ’s light over the world.  Then, like the full moon (a mature Christian), we will light the path for those walking in darkness. 

The Perfect Hairdresser

A hairdresser is a person who cuts and styles hair.  We all want to find a professional hairdresser that is reliable, gives sound advice, knows our needs and can provide a great ‘do’ for every occasion.

God is the Perfect Hairdresser.  He can see us from all angles and knows the best style for each of us.  The problem is we keep snatching the scissors from Him thinking we can do a better job - but what a mess we make!

The Ghost Writer

A ghost-writer is a person who writes speeches, books or articles for another individual who then claims authorship.  National leaders use them to prepare inspiring speeches and famous people use them to write their autobiographies.  Ghost-writers work quietly behind the scenes and the praise for their accomplishments usually goes to another.

It is up to us to whom we choose to write our life story.  As a Christian we have the greatest ghost-writer of all time at our disposal.  Our personnel Ghost-Writer is the Holy Spirit - on call 24 hrs per day.  He is the Inspirer of the inspirers.  He gives us the words to say when we need them most.  He has a way of writing up life’s confusing moments so they make complete sense. 
However, we may choose not to use our divine Ghost-Writer and try to write it ourselves.  We may think we are professional but it will soon become evident to those correctly reading our life  that it is filled with mistakes and makes little sense. 
When finally we hand the pen to God, the Holy Spirit will start writing and every sentence (day) will be meaningful, and our life will be an inspirational story to encourage others.  True, we may get the credit for our extraordinary Christian life, but in reality all credit must go to our divine Ghost-Writer who has done all the work.