"What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured
with much long suffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, and that
He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He
had prepared beforehand for glory."
Sunday through Wednesday of this week our church had our January Bible study. This was my first year to be able to attend the adult class and it was wonderful! We went through a book called Amazing Grace and it was a study through Romans. Our Music Minister/Ed.Minister, Brian was the teacher.
While I got a lot from this study, the above verses...Romans 9:22-23, where my favorite. Several thoughts came to my mind.
One is the importance of reading through books of the Bible as you grow in your walk. It has been a long time since I've read through Romans straight, and reading it now, with a different perspective and the growth I have experienced in my life was really amazing! In Sunday School we have been in Ephesians, and I have been thinking the same thing there too. It's like verses that I read before, are more alive to me now. I love that!
Two, these verses about the potter and the clay. It is a humbling and amazing thought that I am God's vessel of mercy. That He prepared this vessel for His glory. I love that Christ is the only thing Glorious about me. It's not even me that's glorious...it's Christ in me! I love that the angels, upon my acceptance of Christ call on my life, were in awe of His power to save me. I love that the gospel has the power to not only save, but to daily sanctify. What if I had only heard the gospel once...believed...and then never heard it again? What a sad an unfulfilled life I would lead. It is only by the power of the Gospel in my life daily, through the spirits working in this vessel that God has in His sovereignty poured mercy out on, that I am afforded the honor of glorifying Christ. How amazing that God through mercifully saving this vessel, glorifies Himself and show His supremacy. If the angels never tire, never cease to be in awe of this merciful act, how dare I go through a day without praising Him for my salvation.
I am thankful for this study through Romans, and for Brian's insights as he lead us through it. I am thankful for our pastors that are rightly dividing the Word of the Lord and that the bottom line always comes back to the Glorification of Christ! I am thankful that God is making known the riches of His glory, through unworthy vessels of mercy!
5 comments:
I love this post Missy! You should think about joining the Thankful Thursday group I'm in.
Love you!
PS I'm calling La at midnight. I hadn't talked to her since Sunday and that was brief.
Very cool DW! I love to see your passion for Christ grow more and more everday and am thankful for you being in my life.
I love you!
I love it, Missy. I remember how I used to think about the word "gospel" (although I really didn't think that much about it at all... I thought of it mostly as a style of music!) As you said, I thought it was a message you needed to hear and respond to, and be saved, then you were ready to move on to the "meat."
But how thankful I am that God opened my eyes to see the beauty and the power of that gospel that, as you said, is daily the wondrous truth that He would choose and save us, and daily is the power we must have to overcome sin in our lives. Thanks for a great post.
You're a smarty pants, that is for sure. Great post!!
oh girl, I am SO glad that you are finally able to go and be fed and still have time to feed us a little wisdom. Yay!
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