Abundance and Victory!

Reading from the Book of Psalms 3:1-3

1 Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me. 2 Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah. 3 But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. Although there are "downers" in this life, there are also "lifters." When we are depressed or troubled, it seems everything around us is falling apart. We lose strength. Our heads and our hearts all begin to hang down. Even our eyes and our voices are lowered. We become downcast because we are looking at our problems rather than at the Lord. No matter what is causing us to be downcast, the Lord encourages us thoughout His Word to lift our heads and our hands and look to Him. These instructions are good for us to remember today. When people disappoint us, God wants us, instead of becoming discouraged and depressed, to decide to lift up our heads and eyes and look at the possibilities, not the problems, around us, trusting Him to lead us into an even better situation, because He has one for us. The Lord is constantly exhourting us to lift up our eyes and our heads and hearts to take inventory of our blessings and not our problems, God encourages us to look at Him because He has plans to bless and increase us abundantly. No matter how your life has turned out at this point, you have only two options. One is to give up and quit, the other is to keep going. Choosing to live in hope and joy means you have decided not to let them get you down. You will lift up your eyes and hands and head and heart and look not at your problems, but at the Lord, Who has promised to see you through abundance and victory.

He Sees You

Reading from the Book of Genesis 16:13 She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” Genesis 16:13

We all have a God-given desire to be seen, to be known, to be heard, and to be understood. This desire drives us to share our stories, seek authentic community, and pursue meaningful dialogue. Whether you feel overlooked, invisible, or weary—remember this... "Jesus sees you". He recognizes your struggles and victories, your heartbreak and hopes. And He cares. Jesus perceives you through humble servants who share His heart. Through His faithful followers who mirror His compassion, you encounter love—gentle words, acts of caring, and patient listening. This divine and human care builds a safety net of belonging, where your true self isn’t just accepted but cherished fully. This divine and human care builds a safety net of belonging, where your true self isn’t just accepted but cherished fully. Reject the lie that you don’t matter and embrace your belovedness. Jesus's unwavering gaze pierces your deepest struggles and hidden joys, offering comfort beyond human understanding. In moments of invisibility or exhaustion, His presence reminds you that you're never truly alone. His look of love comforts your heart!

The Eagle and A Crow

For Timothy Letso, May God's blessings always elevate him to his full potential.

 

THE ONLY BIRD THAT DARES TO ATTACK AN EAGLE IS A CROW, BUT THE EAGLE NEVER FIGHTS BACK. HERE IS WHY:

1. The crow is the only bird bold enough to sit on the eagle's back and peck at its neck.

Relentless. Annoying.

But the eagle... stays calm.

2. The eagle doesn't flap. Doesn't fight. Doesn't waste energy. It does one thing: It rises.

3. The higher the eagle soars. The thinner the air becomes. The crow? It can't handle the altitude.

4. Eventually, the crow gasps. Loses strength...And falls off.Not because the eagle attacked

But because the eagle ascended.

5. Let the crows talk. Let them peck. You don't have to respond. Just keep going higher.

6. They can't follow you forever. Your growth will suffocate their noise. So don't engage. Elevate.

How to Launch Your Boat

Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. John 13:17 If you do not cut the moorings, God will have to break them with a storm and send you out. Launch all on God, go out on the swelling tide of his purpose, and you will have your eyes opened. If you believe in Jesus, you are not to spend all your time safe inside the harbor, full of delight. You have to get out into the great deeps of God and begin to know for yourself. You have to develop spiritual discernment. When you know you should do a thing and you do it, God immediately grants you more knowledge. Look at the places where you’ve become stuck spiritually. You’ll find that your entrenchment began when you failed to do something you knew you should. You procrastinated, thinking there was no urgency. Now you have no perception and no discernment. In times of crisis, you are spiritually distracted instead of spiritually self-possessed. Your spiritual destiny is to know and to do the will of God (Romans 12:1–2). Many who ref use to know God’s will practice a counterfeit form of obedience: they manufacture crises in order to play at sacrificing themselves, hoping their passion will be mistaken for discernment. It’s easier to sacrifice yourself than to fulfill your spiritual destiny, but God’s word on the matter is clear: “To obey is better than sacrifice” 1 Samuel 15:22. Never live on memories. Beware of nostalgically pining for the safety of the harbor, for the person you used to be. God wants you to be something you’ve never been. He wants you to find out all you long to know. “Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out . . .” John 7:17.

The Light

Reading from the Book of Psalm 119:105, 130...

 ¹⁰⁵ Your word is a lamp for my feet,
   a light on my path.

The study of God's Word brings light, which is something we all need.  We do not always know or see what we need to do, and many times we do not recognize our own problems.  We need God's light to understand ourselves and to see how we need to change and how we can cooperate with God to make things better. 

¹³⁰ The unfolding of your words gives light;
   it gives understanding to the simple.

Reading God's Word is like looking in a mirrow.  It enables us to see what needs to be cleaned up in our lives.

Fly Like An Eagle

Reading from the Book of Isaiah 40:28-31...


 
²⁸Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.
 
 Quietly waiting on God encourages us, does more to restore our bodies, minds and emotions than anything else we can do. We need to do this regularly. I urge you to insist on quiet time with God. Do not let anyone take those consecrated moments from you. 
 
 ²⁹He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
 
 God will empower you to face everything you need to do with renewed physical, emotional, mental and spiritual strength.

 ³⁰Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
 ³¹But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

If there is something we are suppossed to be doing, the Lord will give us the ability to do it. He will not lead us into a situation and then leave us there to face it alone in our own weak, human power. He is with us. He is our great God. he will harden us to difficulties, help us, uphold us and give us wings to fly like eagles.

Kettle Of Eagles Introduction

Reading from the Book of Exodus 19:3-4, 7-8...

³ Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: ⁴ ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.

When God calls a leader, He not only annoints that person to do a certain work, but He also places and annoints people around the leader to do part of that work.  That is the great truth Moses discovered when he learned to delegate some of his work to others.

God places certain people in each of our lives to help us.  If we do not recieve their help, we can become frustrated and over-worked.  God has created us to be interdependent on one another, not independent of each other.  We need each other.

 ⁷ So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the LORD had commanded him to speak. ⁸ The people all responded together, “We will do everything the LORD has said.” So Moses brought their answer back to the LORD.

As the Lord has led me to begin this new blog, "Kettle Of Eagles", I ask that my family and friends to please join me in discusssion, comments, ideas, questions, prayer. This gift the Lord has granted me, thus far, has led me to learn many aspects of His Word, and teach what I am learning.  We shall become a Kettle Of Eagles, taking flight into Wisdom, Knowledge and Truth.

The Coming White Horse

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

John 16:33

This world is a hard place to live. Yes, we can get away from the fight for a while. We can find a way to ignore the problem or call it something else for a while. But in the end, we will have to fight. But even when things are hard, we can remind ourselves that we will win. Christ has won! We will be happy for him when he does well. In case you didn't know, the end result has already been decided, and Christians "win big" through Jesus. And this win is a win for life!

His Redemptive Power

It is essential that we give people the opportunity to act on the truth of God. The responsibility must be left with the individual as we cannot act for him. It must be their own deliberate act, but the evangelical message should always lead them to action. Refusing to act leaves a person paralyzed, exactly where he was previously. But once he acts, he is never the same. It is the apparent folly of the truth that stands in the way of hundreds who have been convicted by the Spirit of God. Once I press myself into action, I immediately begin to live. Anything less is merely existing. The moments I truly live are the moments when I act with my entire will.

When a truth of God is brought home to your soul, never allow it to pass without acting on it internally in your will, not necessarily externally in your physical life. Record it with ink and with blood and work it into your life. The weakest saint who transacts business with Jesus Christ is liberated the second he acts and God’s almighty power is available on his behalf. We come up to the truth of God, confess we are wrong, but go back again. Then we approach it again and turn back, until we finally learn we have no business going back. When we are confronted with such a word of truth from our redeeming Lord, we must move directly to transact business with Him. “Come to Me all of you who are tired…” Matthew 11:28. His word come means “to act.” Yet the last thing we want to do is come. But everyone who does come knows that, at that very moment, the supernatural power of the life of God invades him. The dominating power of the world, the flesh, and the devil is now paralyzed; not by your act, but because your act has joined you to God and tapped you in to His redemptive power.

Armor of Light

The angels that fell try to copy God. That's why they had their own children...the Giants, that we never speak of, and the Nephalim. 

I bet Satan told them the same thing he told Adam, "You can be like God."

God had a Son. And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory...

The difference is this...

God was 100% God and 100% man. The angels could only do 50/50. And that is a very long story.

Giants and Flood evidence in every country on Earth, and all they ever do is hide the truth, so they can hide the knowledge of God

The only angels that were judged early and locked in hell, were the ones that came and did that with humans.

Book of Jude.... quoting Enoch...

We really don't know much of anything.  We need God daily....I do.

I see we are no match fighting in the fashion of this world.  Resist the devil.  Let God deal with him.

You just shine a light.

Report the truth.

Lift up thy voice like a trumpet.

We are God's watchmen in here.

We are in the army of God.

God has called the frogs again.

God's Paradigm's are for our thick heads and hard hearts. Break up the fallow ground of your hearts. We need a goodly soil for God's Word.

Learn in detail about your armor. This is not a game!

"Put ON the Armor of Light!"

Note: To put on the armor of light is to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the light and life of the world. In connection with this challenge, consider striving to make your living areas places where God's light can shine unobstructed. 

A Tested And True Faith

If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:26 In the Old Testament, a person’s relationship with God was seen by the degree of separation in that person’s life. This separation is exhibited in the life of Abraham by his separation from his country and his family. When we think of separation today, we do not mean to be literally separated from those family members who do not have a personal relationship with God, but to be separated mentally and morally from their viewpoints. This is what Jesus Christ was referring to in Luke 14:26. Living a life of faith means never knowing where you are being led. But it does mean loving and knowing the One who is leading. It is literally a life of faith, not of understanding and reason, but a life of knowing Him who calls us to go. Faith is rooted in the knowledge of a Person, and one of the biggest traps we fall into is the belief that if we have faith, God will surely lead us to success in the world. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31 The final stage in the life of faith is the attainment of character, and we encounter many changes in the process. We feel the presence of God around us when we pray, yet we are only momentarily changed. We tend to keep going back to our everyday ways and the glory vanishes. A life of faith is not a life of one glorious mountaintop experience after another, like soaring on eagles’ wings, but is a life of day-in and day-out consistency, a life of walking without fainting. It is not even a question of the holiness of sanctification, but of something which comes much farther down the road. It is a faith that has been tried and proved and has withstood the test. Abraham is not a type or an example of the holiness of sanctification, but a type of the life of faith. A faith, tested and true, built on the true God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Romans 4:3 Abraham believed God! A tested and true faith!

I Choose To Worship

And the Lord closed the door behind him (Noah). Genesis 7:16

Did you notice in Genesis that it says it was God who locked the door behind Noah and his family? For 370 days and 370 nights in the Ark, Noah's family is locked in. No windows, decks, internet, cell phones, TV, Youtube, Facebook, or Netflix. Mrs. Noah could not go out for walks or go to the store. They could not take the animals for their da ily walk.

All they heard was the sound of rain for forty days and forty nights. They spent their time fellowshipping, praying, loving on one other, and caring for the animals. God provided for them. I wonder if Noah fretted that maybe the amount of food he took with him would not be enough for eight people and hundreds of animals, especially that he did not know how long it would be before they would disembark the Ark.

Can you imagine that Noah did not think of opening the window of the Ark except after 264 days? That is over nine months!! I am not against watching the news, or surfing the internet, but if you are surfing from one channel to another 24/7, you are leaving the window open for far too long. The rain can flood your Ark with anxiety, fear, doubt, and disbelief.

Even though there is an ocean of viruses and life seems chaotic, God is watching over you! God is in control. Do not be afraid! Be faithful to Him and wait patiently. The rain will stop, and the rainbow will shine again.

Don't let the coronavirus shake your Faith. Don't panic, don't fear. Pray and believe that it is God who locked you in to save you from the raging storm of COVID-19. Hold on to Jesus because all your provision comes from the Lamb.

Now is the time to choose. I choose to worship.

Wearied To A Wayside Well

Reading from the Book of Ezekiel 3:22

And the hand of the Lord was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth unto the plain, and I will there talk with thee" Ezekiel 3:22

 

Did you ever hear of any one being much used for Christ who did not have some special waiting time, some complete upset of all his or her plans first; from St. Paul's being sent off into the desert of Arabia for three years, when he must have been boiling over with the glad tidings, down to the present day?

 

You were looking forward to telling about trusting Jesus in Syria; now He says, "I want you to show what it is to trust Me, without waiting for Syria."

 

I laid it down in silence,

This work of mine,

And took what had been sent me--

A resting time.

The Master's voice had called me

To rest apart;

"Apart with Jesus only,"

Echoed my heart.

I took the rest and stillness

From His own Hand,

And felt this present illness

Was what He planned.

How often we choose labor,

When He says "Rest"--

Our ways are blind and crooked;

His way is best.

The work Himself has given,

He will complete.

There may be other errands

For tired feet;

There may be other duties

For tired hands,

The present, is obedience

To His commands.

There is a blessed resting

In lying still,

In letting His hand mould us,

Just as He will.

His work must be completed.

His lesson set;

He is the higher Workman:

Do not forget!

It is not only "working."

We must be trained;

And Jesus "learnt" obedience,

Through suffering gained.

For us, His yoke is easy,

His burden light.

His discipline most needful,

And all is right.

We are but under-workmen;

They never choose

If this tool or if that one

Their hands shall use.

In working or in waiting

May we fulfill

Not ours at all, but only

The Master's will!

--Selected

 

God provides resting places as well as working places. Rest, then, and be thankful when He brings you, wearied to a wayside well.

Woe, to the Rebellious Children

Reading from the Book of Isaiah 30:1-2, 9-13

Isaiah 30:1 Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:
² That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!

Isaiah 30:1 is another of those "woe" passages we see from time to time in the Bible. In it the Lord pronounces a curse upon those rebellious children who turn from trusting in Him to take counsel of themselves, carry out their own plans, and flee to "the shadow of Egypt," rather than resting under the "shadow of the Almighty."

Isaiah 30:2, in this case, fleeing to "the shadow of Egypt" refers to turning to the arm of the flesh rather than leaning on the arm of the Lord. In other words we are not to trust others, in ourselves, or in the world, but only in the Lord. We are to acknowledge Him in all our ways so that He may direct our paths. We are to find our strength in Him alone.

Isaiah 30:9 That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord: ¹⁰ Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: ¹¹ Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us. ¹² Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon: ¹³ Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.

When you and I make our plans or run to other people instead of trusting in the Lord, we leave a weak spot in our wall of divine protection. At a time when we least expect it, the enemy will break through that weak spot. When that happens, we will indeed be like the "broken section of a high wall" mentioned in Isaiah 30:13.

God does not want us to have weak spots in our lives. He wants us to rely on Him and be obedient to Him so our "walls" will remain strong and thick and our lives will be blessed and full. The more we depend on God, the more He can do through us. Sometimes we may have to go through brokenness before we enter His blessings. Sometimes before God can promote us, He has to remind us of our place.

He is the answer to all of our problems, especially when we are broken. And our children, who have forsaken the Lord, who have taken the path of destruction, are coming upon a time where meeting the Lord face to face will be their final rebellious act.

Showers Of Blessings

Reading from the Book of Ezekiel 34:26

Ezekiel  34:26 And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.

"I will send... showers of blessing." Notice that the word 'showers' is plural. God will send all kinds of blessings. And all His blessings go together like links in a golden chain. If He gives you saving grace, He will also give you comforting grace. God will send "showers of blessings."

What is your season today? Are you experiencing a season of drought? If so then it is the season for showers.

Are you going through a season of great heaviness with dark clouds? Then that too is the season for showers.

Look up today, you who are dried and withered plants. Open your leaves and flowers and receive God's heavenly watering.

Laying of Hands Upon You

Reading from the Book of Acts 8:14-18, 10:44-46

^{Acts 8:14} Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:
¹⁵ Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost:
¹⁶ (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)
¹⁷ Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.
¹⁸ And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given.

The Holy Spirit is the seed of eternal life that leads us to salvation. God gives His Holy Spirit to the truly repentant person after baptism by the laying on of hands by His true servants. Then, through the gift of the True Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ begins to live His life in us.

 ^{Acts 10:44} While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.
⁴⁵ And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
⁴⁶ For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God.
The Word of God teaches that though some people received the holy Spirit through the laying of hands, other times the Spirit was simply poured out upon people. The believers who came with Peter were amazed because they witnessed how freely the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out on the crowd as evidenced by their talking in unknown tongues.

You can ask God to fill you and baptize you in the Holy Spirit right now, right where you are, by simply praying. Then wait on God quietly and believe you have received that for which you asked.

A Choice To Be Humble

Reading from the Book of Matthew 23:12, 1 Peter 5:6

And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Matthew 23:12

Humility is a quality that is greatly underemphasized in today’s standards. The world today does not know what humility means, and they do not know how to appreciate it. More importantly, they do not know how to do it. The sad fact is they’re not all that sure they even want to have it.

Culturally, we're much more drawn to the energetic, dynamic, charismatic, crowd-drawing people. That's who gets the headlines and the attention. But if we listen closely and watch carefully, we can see in Jesus someone who is humble, but strong; humble, but charismatic; humble, but crowd-drawing; humble, but dynamic.

The same Jesus who stilled the storm and spoke to the crowds is the same Jesus who washed feet and died on a cross and held babies in His arms when it wasn't politically correct.

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time. 1 Peter 5:6

Humility is a choice. We’re never told in the Bible to pray for God to make us humble. It’s something you choose for yourself.

Humility doesn’t mean thinking of yourself less. It means thinking of others and God more. If you have experienced some success and are beginning to get prideful, then ask God to teach you how you can be humble. Make a conscious effort to change your perspective about who you are and where your success comes from.

Make a choice to be humble. Making a choice means you change your mind. You go from thinking one way about your life to thinking another way.

Believe And Praise

Reading from the Book of Hebrews 11:3, Psalm 33:8

Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

Many is the modern-day evangelical who has attempted to harmonize the plain sense of the Scriptures with Big Bang concepts of stellar evolution, and a uniformitarian framework for Earth history. This exercise seldom results in a tempering of secular thought but rather in a compromising reinterpretation of Scripture, making it say something it clearly does not say.

The Bible says that “the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear” (Hebrews 11:3), that all things that now exist were simply called into existence at God’s spoken command.

Creation was a true miracle. It was not (as some insist) merely a godly oversight of cosmic processes acting on eternal matter, nor was it the gradual appearance and disappearance of matter in a steady-state transformation. Only a poor regard for Scripture, coupled with an overly high regard for current astronomical theory, could interpret Hebrews 11:3 as the explosion of a tiny, super-dense “cosmic egg” (that did not “appear,” i.e., too small to see), itself the result of a “quantum fluctuation in a vacuum” in a Big Bang which produced the entire universe.

Our response should not be to disbelieve and twist but to believe and praise. 

“Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him” Psalm 33:8

The "One Thing"

Reading from the Book of Psalm 27:4

^{Psalm 27:4} One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.
 

If you could ask for only one thing, what would it be? David said there was only one thing that he sought after...to dwell in God's presence. More than anything else, David wanted to now God, to see God as He really is and to be with Him. Truly to know God is the highest calling that we have.

We can get so distracted with busy details of our lives that we neglect the most important thing...spending time with God. How foolish we are to spend our lives seeking those things that cannot satisfy while we ignore God, the "One Thing" Who can give us great joy, peace, satisfaction and contentment.

The world is filled with empty people who are trying to satisfy the void in their lives with the latest-model car, a promotion at work, a human relationship, vacation, or some other thing. Their efforts to find fulfillment in those things never work. It is sad that so many people waste their entire lives and never realize it. They never know the joy of seeking the "One Thing" they really need.

Each one of us has a God-shaped hole inside, and nothing can fill it except God Himself. No matter what else we try to fill it with, we will remain empty and frustrated.

If God is on your list of things to seek, but not at the top, I encourage you to move everything around and put it all after Him. If you will put Him first in everything you do, you will reap the harvest and be blessed. Investing your life in God is the very best thing you can do. Seek the "One Thing." 

 

Cracked Pots

Reading from the Book of Isaiah 6:1-9

Isaiah 6:1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.² Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.³ And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.⁴ And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.⁵ Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.⁶ Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:⁷ And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.⁸ Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.⁹ And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

Before God can use us, He needs to cleanse us. Isaiah realized he had a sinful, unclean mouth that needed to be dealt with. Isaiah's heart cried for change and God sent help.

The coming forward of the seraphim with a coal of fire is recorded in verse 6 as an instantaneous happening, but answers may not always come so quickly to us. We would all prefer miraculous deliverance, but most of the time the Lord puts us through a cleansing process.

God will always look for someone who has a perfect heart toward Him, not necessarily someone who has a perfect "performance" before Him. When the Lord has the heart, He can always change the behavior. This truth should encourage those of us who want to be used by God, but who often feel that we just have too many flaws. We come to Him as we are, and He molds and makes us into vessels fit for His use. God uses "cracked pots."