One Minute with God: Dress yourselves

One Minute with God: The Potter, and the Clay

If you ever walked into a Potter’s room, you would find several interesting instruments that help the artist fulfill his/her final handiwork. Like a surgical room, you will find a kiln for fire, a wheel for revolutions, and a pug mixer that preps the clay before use. All this equipment and others are important in the “process” of making a useful vessel, but nothing is more important than the clay.

In Potter’s shop, you and I will also find that there are clay substances which are easier to work, than others. Some require more time, and others more effort. But, by simply adding a little “water” to its parched nature the clay will begin to hydrate until it melts in the hands of its craftsmen. The water, in Scripture, has always represented the living Word of God.  And, when that Word reaches the crevices of the human heart it will enrich the soil making it useful.

No matter how hard things may look, how tense we may become, or how resentful our hearts may be. God continues to work and massage His hands in our lives. Like a good Potter, He will not stop until He has completed His handiwork.

God is the Potter, and we are the Clay!

Jeremiah 18:1-6

1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

5 Then the word of the Lord came to me. 6 He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.

One Minute with God: Salted Insult

An insult can become as bitter as salt.   Many of us may struggle and even live in the world of offense because of what someone has done or said to us days or even years ago. The famous saying; “stick and stones may break my bones but words will never break me” may be a good way to conceal an offense but it doesn’t necessarily heal the offense.

One Minute with God: Miracle of Thanks

As we approach the holidays, and the sounds of festivities are beginning to ring through the streets, and the malls are preparing for big days ahead - it would seem like a dichotomy that all of this is going on while we are still navigating through a historical year marked with challenges. If you are like many it doesn’t take holidays, historical elections, or a pandemic to grant us permission to be melancholy or simply unhappy. It would seem that this soulish condition may be a reflection of something deeper working in the sinews of our hearts excusing us from being thankful.

One Minute with God: Praise of Men or God

What would you do to get a pat on the back? Or, what will prompt you to get your name listed on the top 10 list of any headlines? Fame among men may cause you and I to compromise some of our most important values in life so that others may come to recognize us. But, what does it gain a man to be applauded by a thousand colleagues for his accolades, yet displease the living God? Wouldn’t it be better to have the approval of Him who reigns above then to have the praise of a multitude of men?

So many times in ministry I’ve witnessed both men and women reach the heights of their careers only to jeopardize their families, marriages, and health. Like many, I know what it is to face the challenge of making life-altering decisions in order to honor God - all while losing everything that seems to matter. But, the ultimate plan of God for humanity has always been to mold us into the image, and likeness of His Son so that we may possess that which is eternal while still being effective on this earth.

You and I may never be given the privilege of seeing our names on the “Forbes Top 100 Executives” list. But, at-least our names are written in the archives of heaven called the Book of Life.

Praise of Men or God?

John 12:42-43

42 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees, they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved human praise more than praise from God.

#oneminutewithgod #soundsofmywritings #andyfernandez #iamministries

One Minute with God: Well Pleased

When the windows of heaven are wide open, and the radiance of the sun shines upon the earth there is hope for another day. Nothing replaces the feeling that you and I can have when we know we have kept the faith, and have loved with a clear conscience as we pursued to do the will of God. It is similar to an autumn breeze wisping through the trees - when the heart of a man is at peace with his maker.

Many of us look up into the heavens as we pray for a blessing to come down, and yet others kneel down in reverence to the one who can hear their tearful cries. But, how about when heaven is looking down at us and is smiling? When the one God who is seated on the throne rejoices because goodness has prevailed over evil in the center of a man’s soul.

You and I do not need to give endless testimonies, nor do we need the testimony of men to justify our faith. But, the one God who bears witness to His servants echos these words “this is my son in who I am well pleased." God knows the hearts of those who belong to him.

Matthew 3:16-17

16As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him, I am well pleased.”

One Minute with God: Overcoming Regret

Living in the past, and always focusing our attention on missed opportunities can cause us to lose every bit of momentum that has taken us so much effort to produce. Like driving a vehicle you and I should not think that we will arrive at our desired destination safely if our eyes are continually fixated on the rearview mirror. As a matter of fact, doing so repeatedly can even become lethal.

I am of the belief that every experience in life has a lesson and a blessing. Failing to learn and make the necessary adjustments to achieve the desired results is where most of us fall short - always leaving us feeling frustrated and defeated. It has been said that “repetition” may have its advantages when learning a new skill, but when “repetition” negatively impacts our advancement or spiritual growth you and I have to be willing to break the patterns that have produced these inglorious cycles.

God encourages us to stop pressing the rewind button on our life’s remote, and press play to let the story play on. Make sure to allow him to be part of your journey - he may just write a new chapter.

Overcoming regret.

Philippians 3:13-14

13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

One Minute with God: Permission

Hebrews 10:22-23

One Minute with God: Where's Conscience

2 Corinthians 1:12-14

12 Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on God’s grace. 13 For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. And I hope that 14 as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus.