This Is An Addition To This Lesson
This is a continuation of a lesson I wrote about a black purse I bought for .25 at a garage sale. I have used this purse for so many things. I have used this purse to carry my camera in. I have used this purse to hold baby dolls I made to give children. I have used this purse to carry my Bible and curriculum, for my Sunday School class, I have used this purse to carry my yarn in for "Grandma's Blankets". I have used this purse to carry while travelling to hold my writing journals and books. When I bought this purse, I thought I would probably never use it. It smelt like smoke when I bought it...it doesn't smell like smoke anymore. It smells like a new purse, a totally different purse. It took time to clean it, it had to go through a lot of cleaning. It has become the most useful purse that I have ... it doesn't just help me in one way, it helps me in many ways. What I thought was useless has become the most useful, the most helpful.
This purse is something I've been able to use as an object lesson..to tell others about what Jesus has done in my own life.
God Has A Purpose For You
Today I have an object I brought to teach you how God sometimes works with us as His children.
God loves us very much and He has a purpose and a plan for our lives.
I recently bought a couple of purses from a garage sale. I was reluctant to buy them because the lady selling it smoked. Smoke tends to get down into things and it's sometimes hard to get the smell out of things that have been in an atmosphere of smoking. If anything has been exposed to cigarette smoke for a very long time it is especially difficult to remove the smell.
The lady there told me she was going through dialysis and was selling things to make a little money. I decided to go ahead and buy a couple of things even if they smelled like smoke. Well, I bought the purses and brought them home knowing I might not be able to salvage the purses but, I decided to try. One purse was good after two washes but, the other one needed more attention. I put it in the washing machine after applying some cleansers. I washed it down a few times then applied a bleach cleanser and let it soak in. Then I rinsed it off with a wet paper towel. It doesn't look any different than when I brought it home but, it doesn't smell like smoke anymore. I may not use the purses for their original use but, I can use them because they are usable. I would never have used them if they smelt like smoke.
God works that way sometimes with His children, not putting them in the washing machine like I did the purses, but with His special care and attention. When we come to Christ, He takes us just as we are and He works with us as His dear children to clean us up, so to speak. He sometimes does this through gentle persuasion or sometimes through difficulties.
On the acceptance of Christ and what He did at the cross for you, the bible tells us that Christ comes in our hearts to abide with us. We become dear children of God.
The very first thing He will use to clean us up is with the water of the Word. We need to learn the Word and meditate upon it and follow its teachings.. (It is our washing machine. ) God wants us under the preaching of the Word... God has always used a preacher to lead like a shepherd over his flock. The Bible teaches us to respect him and to love Him. He is there to protect us from danger and guide us in the things of God. We should always listen to the scripture over a person teaching contrary to what the Word of God says, There's a verse in the bible that says it like this... Let God be true and every man a liar. (Meaning men or women.) The bible has the final say so as to what is right and what is wrong.
God also chastens his children, He corrects us sometimes just by showing us so much love it shames us, or sometimes through hardships to steer us in the right direction when we've become stubborn. The Bible says, He chastens those He loves, and if He doesn't chasten us we are bastards and not sons.
God has a purpose for us and is molding our lives to get us ready for the purpose He has for us. That's why we should take the chastening of the Lord with patience, knowing He is cleaning us up and making us usable for righteousness sake.
The only time a Christian can lose His or Her original purpose is when God says, "I may not be able to use you for your original purpose." That most likely happens when somebody has made sinful choices that have changed their usability. God wants to use a clean vessel, not a dirty one. Just as I didn't want to use a purse that smells like smoke. I may not be able to use these purses for their original use but, I can still use them for something else. Sometimes God gives us a new purpose.
God's desire for us is to come to Him just as we are, confessing that we are sinners in need of His help, his love, his care, his salvation through Christ. He will mold your life into something that can be used by him. Dedicate and surrender to Christ, make Him the passion of your heart and life.
Susan Y Nikitenko
Object Lesson
September 20th, 2015
Just want to let you know I have a very bad cold today, but I was able to think about a couple of object lessons while laying in bed.
Romans 3:23
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Romans 5:8
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Matthew 11:28
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Romans 10:9
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Romans 10:14
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
Hebrews 12:8
But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
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