See how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in unity! Psalms 133:1 WEBWood, I grew up around it. Often I was carrying it, sawing it, nailing it, or pulling its splinters from my hands. My dad was a carpenter for fifty-five years, so I grew up around woodworking and I have always enjoyed building things. I find that is a valuable skill in our life everyday and I am thankful for those years that I spent working with him.
He always started the project by picking the right lumber. Dad would go through the whole pile to find one piece that was straight. Then he would take that piece and cut it to the perfect size, fit it into place, nail it down, and then smooth the rough edges out with sandpaper. The end result would be beautiful.
The Lord Jesus uses a lot of these same skills that He learned on us. His dad Joseph was a carpenter as well. He will search through thousands of people until He finds the right one. Then He will draw you to Himself (John 6:44), cut away your past baggage (2 Corinthians 5:17), fit you into your place in the body (Colossians 3:15), nail you to your own cross (Galatians 5:24), and then He breaks out the sandpaper. The first part of being drawn to Him is pleasant, much of the rest is not, especially the cutting, nailing, and the sanding.
To accomplish this, He will often place people into our lives that help shape and smooth us. We hate those irritating people and would like to avoid the friction and the scraping, but we also cannot see our own rough edges on our own. It is natural to want to separate from the friction, but if you do you will retain the roughness that God is trying to smooth out, and He may bring coarser sandpaper next time. You can and will get through this, and when He is done you are going to be one smooth work of art, hand crafted by the Master Carpenter.
Prayer: Heavenly Father I pray that You give me the grace to endure the things that I face. Help me love those around me and to be nice. Please set a guard over my mouth and help me reflect You in a positive light, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray.Note: "if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." (2 Chron 7:14). If you have a prayer need, we are here for you! We and the prayer team are ready to lift you up at our private prayer page:
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Amen
Amen!!
This is so very true!!! Praise Jesus!!!
Amen!
Yes Lord, amen
Amen! so true, I dont think he has got to the sanding yet on me.
Amen,God is awesome.
Amen.
Amen!!
TY fpr this very timely message. I'll remember this one for sure since I am a Carpenter
Amen! Thank You Lord!
Hallelujah! Good morning I pray all is well. I pray y’all will have a beautiful blessed day.
Amen!
Amen
Thank you, Pastor Dion, for the perfect prayer for my first day of classes with this year’s students! Help me love those around me and to be nice. Please set a guard over my mouth and help me reflect You in a positive light. Thank you, Lord! Amen
Amen to this prayer. So concise. Praise God.
Amen help me be more patient in jesus name thank you for my blessings everyday
Dear Father I've always count on You to live a life according to Your Will, thank You for molding me oh Lord. Take away the rough parts still in me as an example of Your love and care for us,in Jesus name I pray. AMEN.
Thank you Pastor for this great message, God bless you.
Amen!
You’re in my head again! Thank you!
Amen and Amen and Amen!!! Thank you Pastor Dion, you really spoke to me, I needed to hear that especially today!!! I'm claiming your prayer today and all of the tomorrows! Please hear me Lord, in Jesus name, Amen!
Amen!
AMEN
I read your "Master Carpenter" devotional at my bible study group today (you got the credit). We were talking about how to begin every encounter with love and how hard it can be. We all especially liked your sentence that said God uses irritating people to refine us...ouch!! Thank you for your insights.
Amen!