ARE YOU A BROKEN VESSEL?

[GLORIA NEWSOME]

"I am a broken vessel. My life has been broken with tragedy, with sorrow , and with pain. But God used me in a way I could share my life with
others. God took me, a
broken vessel and repaired my brokenness and gave me the talent to write.
He gave me the ability to share my thoughts and words with
others. I am blessed
to be one of God's many “Broken Vessels” and to be able to share what He
instills in my heart and soul daily."

A broken vessel is someone who has literally been broken down in body, mind, heart, and spirit. Just because a vessel is broken doesn’t mean it does not have
any value. God chooses us to be His vessels, yet He will never force us to be
used. Our God loves us so much that He gave us the thing called choice. We can
even choose whether or not to believe in Him. . . The One who made us! We can
choose to allow Him to use us. Once you make the decision to be used by God,
then hang on because you are in for the ride of your life. As God’s vessels we
are designed to contain God. We are to fill ourselves with Him. All our
thoughts, opinions, feelings, past hurts, attitudes, and everything that has
happened to us throughout our lives become part and parcel of our actions and
words. All those things make us unique individuals.

The things that the Lord fills us with are not for our own use. They are meant to be poured out on people. It is imperative that we have love. Without love we are
useless. Without love we can do nothing for the Lord. Without love the things we
do are for the wrong reasons. There has to be love! God knows the difficulties
we have in loving others. Humanly, it is impossible to love anyone as much as we
love ourselves. God gives us that love. Ask for it. Remind yourself that God
loves everyone with the same wonderful unconditional love with which He loves
you. Renew and refresh yourself with continuous prayer and continuous praise.
Bathe yourself in God’s love.

God will use any imperfect vessels, like you and me. No matter who you are, if you will yield your spirit and life to the Lord, you will become a vessel that God
will delightfully use. God looks at the heart of a person. He is not concerned
with what's on the outside of you. He is more interested with the inside of
you...your heart and soul. If that heart and soul wants to do those things which
are good, then God will use you. But, there will be requirements. Being a
"willing" vessel is the first step of all of the requirements. Is to accept the
way God made you. When you are willing to do what God has for you to do, then
the rest will be common ground for you. Letting go of any pain from the past
that you may have is a big Requirement. Remove all Selfishness and make room
for God. Let go of all the things that YOU want to do, and fill yourself with
what God wants you to do. Pray over all those things that you want and ask God
to replace those things with things that He wants you to do. Let God show you
what you need to let go of. Embrace God's will for your life and then wait on
HIS timing. Waiting on His timing is the key.

Cleansing comes with confessing our sins to God. Don't allow unconfessed sin to rot inside you. Most always there are consequences which come with wallowing in Unconfessed
sin. Don't be caught with unconfessed sin in your heart. Pray and give in to the
Holy Spirit. Give it all to God so He may cleanse you. We must also be filled
with Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness
and self-control. Be responsive to God's directions. Pour yourself into
other peoples needs. Be willing to minister to others as God directs you to.
Don't let anything be a motive for yourself. Don't witness to others, because of
pride. Don't serve others because someone will admire you. Don't go to church
just out of habit. And please, don't pray, just to get what you want. We are
leaving God out of our lives when we are doing things out of the wrong motive.
Always listen to what God is telling you before you go and do. Make sure it's
God telling you to do something, and just because YOU want to something.

What does it mean to be fearfully and wonderfully made? God recently gave me insight into what this means. It means to be made as God’s vessels – “in His image.” We
are to be vessels of truth, love, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, and
self-control, filled with the Holy Spirit. When we finally accept that we are
God’s and the God is one who is in complete control will allow Him to fill us
with these characteristics, then, and only then, do we find our perfection but
we have to realize that God’s molding of us is not always a pleasant
experience.

God has a plan and a purpose for every each and every one if us. But you must allow Him to do what He wants in you so that he can use you. God wants to make us a
"vessel unto honor" for His use. We must remember that we are all valuable in
the kingdom of God no matter who we are or what is in our past. The devil is a
liar and a defeated foe! We should make ourselves available for God’s good
pleasure and become vessels in the name of Christ Jesus. Amen.