The teacup

I'd like to share a story with you all so sit down, grab a blanket, & sip on some tea while I school ya;) There was this couple who loved to go shopping for antiques & one day they were in this small country store & up on a shelf they saw this BEAUTIFUL teacup. It was magnificient! As they were standing there, The teacup began to talk. It said,"I havn't always looked like this. There was a time where NOBODY wanted me. I wasn't attractive. I was just a hard lump of clay. But then this potter came along and began to shape me and mold me and I said Hey! What are you doing? You're making me uncomfortable!! Leave me alone!  He simply smiled & said NOT YET. Then he put me on a wheel and began to spin me around and around. I got so dizzy but after a while I had taken on a new shape. He formed me into this teacup.I thought he was finished but then he put me into a furnace! It was sooo hot! I didn't think I could stand it. When he came and checked on me and looked through that window of the furnace, He had a sparkle in his eye. I screamed, LET ME OUTTA HERE!! IT'S TOO HOT!!! but he smiled and said, NOT YET. He finally took me out and put me on a shelf so I could cool off. I thought to myself, Thank goodness its over! Now I can go back to being my normal self...BUT then the potter came and got me and began to paint me changing me from this grey to this beautiful blue. The paint was sticky, it was uncomfortable, & I thought I was going to choke. I told him to STOP but he said,NOT YET. He then put me into a second oven twice as hot as the first one! This time I knew it was over. I screamed, I'M NOT KIDDING!, I CAN'T TAKE IT, I'M GOING TO DIE!! Again, he said NOT YET. Finally he opened the oven door & put me on a shelf. A few weeks later, he came by and handed me a mirror & when I looked at myself, I couldn't believe how beautiful I'd become! I couldn't believe how much I'd changed. I didn't look anything like that old lump of clay I used to be. There was a time where nobody wanted me but now I'm this beautiful teacup...valuable, expensive, unique...all because of this potter. He made me into something amazing! That's the way God works in all of our lives. He's changing us little by little from glory to glory but on the way to glory there will be a little bit of suffering that we have to endure. There will be times where we will say, "God get me off of this potter's wheel". "I can't take it anymore". I can't take another heartbreak....I can't take this dead-end job anymore....etc...Just as a pearl is formed through the irritants that sand brings, God uses uncomfortable situations to mold and shape us. Our trials reveal our TRUE CHARACTER. It also brings forth the impurities(selfishness,easily offended,judgmental,etc) of our character that God wants to rid us of. I recently heard in a sermon how God searches our heart daily. This is done because our DAILY habits makes up our WHOLE being. Details make up the whole. There may be some of you who may not understand what this means so I'll break it down further. You can go to church every sunday for years & be involved in every church ministry known to man but if you're quick to curse your brother or sister out, posess a selfish attitude, will step over a homeless man without any concern to walk through the church doors, you've missed the entire point of what Christ wanted his followers to learn. My dear, what you have practiced is religion. Religion emphasizes the outward appearances while spirituality is actually absorbing the principles and having a personal relationship with him. Now, noone walking this earth is perfect but when an individual doesn't practice or posess the fruits of the holy spirit & simply is comfortable with putting on the religous "mask", there's a big problem. As I stated on my fb page, WHO ARE YOU? 

Nata Bee