The Potter and the Clay

Hi!

Welcome to my blog: I am the Clay. I am super excited to start this blog! My desire for this blog is for it to be my missions journal. Not necessarily out-of-the-state or out-of-the-country mission trips, although that will play a part of it, or missions that I am specifically a part of. In this blog, you will not only embark on my mission trips to other countries or cities, nor journey on my mission trips to the next block over; you will read about and hopefully learn and grow with me as I experience the wonder-working power of God's mission trips to me and my heart, mind, and soul. 

This brings me to the name of my blog. I am the Clay. I spent days brainstorming different ideas for blog names that would reflect my intentions for my blog. I finally chose I am the Clay. I based this off of two different Bible verses. The first one says,
"So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 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. Then the word of the Lord came to me. 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.'"   ~Jeremiah 18:3-6 (NIV)
The second verse states,
"Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand." ~Isaiah 64:8 (NIV)
Those two verses are the inspiration for my blog's name. Now, how do these verses portray my intentions behind this blog?

In the first verse (Jeremiah 18:3-6), what I highlighted in blue, it explains that the pot in which the potter was creating was marred or disfigured. Instead of giving up on the clay in his hand, the potter turned it into something else, something better. Later in the verse (highlighted in purple), the Lord tells His people that they are like the clay in the hand of the potter, being shaped and molded to fit the purpose that God has planned for them.

The second verse (Isaiah 64:8) reiterates that fact. It says (in blue) that we (God's children) are simply clay while God is the potter. And then (in purple), we are the work of God's hand...He created us and shaped us in His image. He created us and planned out our lives before we were even in the mother's womb. He created us for a specific purpose that only we can fulfill.

This is the inspiration for my blog. Our purpose as Christians is to courageously go out into the world and share the truth of the Gospel with others. Whether it be through words or actions, we are required to portray the Truth as we are going throughout our daily lives. The only way this task can be accomplished is if we act as clay.

As humans, our nature is for us to control our own lives. Do the things we want to do, say the things we want to say, go where we want to go, and the list goes on in a never-ending list of we wants. It is not in our human nature to want to submit to another authority, to want to be clay. We as humans are perfectly content doing things our way and shaping our lives based off of our own dreams and desires. But that is not what we as Christians are called to do. It is not what we were created to do. We were called to be clay. To be shaped and molded by God so that we can accomplish the task He has for us.

Once we learn to be clay, that is when our lives truly begin. When we learn to be clay and fully submit ourselves to God - our hearts, our minds, our souls, our everything - that is when we allow God to take control. That is when the potter will form us into another "pot," shaping us as it seems best to Him. Shaping us so that we will be able to complete the purpose our God has for us.
WOW!
I can't think of anything better than that - being in the dead center of God's will for my life. 
This blog is not just a missions blog. It is the story of a teenage girl who loves the Lord with all her heart. A girl who wants to tell everyone about a man who saved her life with more love and grace and mercy than she ever could have deserved. A man who sacrificed himself to win her heart and the hearts of any and every man, woman, girl, and boy who accepts Him. It is the story of a girl who is in the midst of many trials and is wrestling with hundreds of questions but, with the help of her Savior, knows that she will survive. The story of me, Ashlee Murphy, and God's mission trip to win my heart and to save me from myself

This is the story of me and God's mission trip to my heart.

I hope you will embark on this journey with me and learn as much as I do about God, faith, life's questions, and much more! I hope you will laugh when I laugh, cry when I cry, learn when I learn, and grow when I grow. I hope you will live as I live.
Enjoy!

With much love,
Ashlee 


 
 
 

Comments

Popular Posts