"Remember now, that You have made me as clay; And would You turn me into dust again?" - Job 10;9

     The "single determinant" for transforming us from "a smattering of disconnected dust particles" into what "cohesively becomes man" is entirely dependent upon the contributing addition of the Spirit of God. Only by adding "the Spirit of God" to the assembly of dust that "forms our exoskeleton", do we become something substantially and infinitely more than plain dust. "If He should determine to do so, If He should gather to Himself His spirit and His breath, All flesh would perish together, And man would return to dust." (Job 34:14-15). To put this another way, until the Spirit of God is conspicuously united with the collection of dust we are formed out of, we remain a lifeless, functionless form. We remain an empty shell. A hollow vessel. Only at that prominent moment do we become a living, breathing, prevailing and communicating man. It is only THEN that we become something of SUBSTANCE. Only THEN do we become a living soul. "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and BREATHED into his nostrils "the breath of life"; and man became a living soul." (Genesis 2:7).

     It is conspicuously clear, then, that only "the Spirit of God" adds function to form, life to matter. Without this vital and prominent ingredient, we don't even yet exist. We are not yet called into existence. It is God "who gives life to the dead and calls into existence things that don't exist." (Romans 4:7). So until that precisely defining moment, when His Spirit animates the shapeless and functionless powder of dust, we are entirely incapable of life, devoid of function, and powerless to be, or helpless to even communicate. It is only when we mix "the living water of the Spirit of God" to the dry dust we are all eked out of, do we then become "the living clay" that the Potter's hand so lovingly produces His many vessels of honour from. "Remember now, that You have made me as clay; And would You turn me into dust again?" (Job 10;9). It is only then that we advance from the insignificance and futility of barren husks into the "privileged abode" and "glory-manifesting dwelling" referred to as the "temple of the living God". “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?" (I Corinthians 6:19). Until such time, we are as lifeless and useless as the coating of worthless dust on a priceless ornament.

     So, if the only ingredient that definitively bestows any measure of substance, or confers any potential of capability, or which endows any qualities of any kind, or that imparts any function at all, is the specific component that is "God's Spirit in us", then it is fairly straightforward and indisputable to acknowledge that only THAT PART (which pertains to and belongs to God) is that which produces what we are able to express, and that allows what we are permitted to accomplish. In that we are able to achieve anything at all, or that we ever amount to anything at all, or that we produce anything in this life, it is, therefore, only the "God-particle" in us that equips and enables any of this in us. The distinctive and differentiating constant that allows for anything to stand up out of the vapour of our lives is none other than the very Spirit and breath of life from God. "For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36)

     So then, if that be the case, how then can we ever lay any claim to the glory for anything we uniquely are, or for what we personally accomplish, or for what we are all individually capable of? In ALL THINGS we ARE to give thanks to God. "In ALL THINGS give thanks to God; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:18). "Always giving thanks to God the Father for EVERYTHING, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Ephesians 5:20). And if we DO take the glory, if we so much as claim it to be our own, in effect, we become synonymous with he who hung on the cross alongside Jesus. In other words, when we take what is not ours to take, we become nothing more than a grievous and lowly THIEF. And our spectacular distinction is not that we steal from our neighbour, but that we transgress against the person and the title of GOD HIMSELF. We are to give ALL THE GLORY to God. Always. Forever. Consistently. For BOTH our natural talents and abilities, and our spiritual gifts and blessings. For they are BOTH God's. "...therefore glorify God in your body AND in your spirit, which ARE God’s.”(I Corinthians 6:20).

     "And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water." (Numbers 5:17). Jesus is our High Priest. Out of the dust from the floor of the tabernacle, it is He who adds the holy water of His Spirit to create this earthen vessel "of glory and honour" we are all made and called to be. When it comes to the tabernacle, God was creating "a home" for Himself on earth. When God's Spirit meets and unites with the earthen dust of man, God is creating "a home" for Himself on earth. In us. As earthen vessels. Vessels bearing holy water. We become His very tabernacle. "He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, and he hath set the world upon them." (1 Samuel 2:8). We are His TEMPLE. "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God" (I Corinthians 6:19).

     “When he (the priest) has made her (the bride) drink the water, then it shall be, if she has defiled herself (attributed glory to oneself) and behaved unfaithfully toward her husband (stolen God's personal glory) that the water that brings a curse will enter her (sin enters her heart) and become bitter (a different spirit infects her) and her belly will swell (puff up with pride), her thigh will rot (sink deep into corruption - Hosea 9:9), and the woman will become a curse among her people (God will remember her wickedness and punish them for their sins- Hosea 9:9).” (Numbers 5:27). As God's faithful bride, if we steal any of God's glory from Him, we have defiled ourselves and have behaved unfaithfully to our husband Christ Jesus. "Like a muddied spring or polluted well are the righteous who give way to the wicked." (Proverbs 25:26). We have contaminated and polluted the precious holy water our earthen vessels carry. We offend and grieve the Spirit. We defile His tabernacle. How do we know this? "This is the law of jealousy, when a wife, while under her husband’s authority, goes astray and defiles herself,” (Numbers 5:29). In other words, God is very jealous over His glory. When we steal glory for anything from God, we defile ourselves. And, then, instead of being "vessels of honour", we become "vessels of shame". And we are dismayed. And return to dust. "You hide Your face, they are dismayed; You take away their spirit, they expire And return to their dust." (Psalm 104:29). When we take God's glory, which effectively means when we take the glory for ANYTHING at all in our lives, because we are told that in EVERYTHING we are to give thanks, we curse ourselves. And if unrepented, we rightfully and deservedly join the ranks of the thieves of the cross. But His grace is sufficient enough that should we repent, God will say, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise." (Luke 23:43).

     So let us never puff ourselves up. Let not the voice of pride deceive us. For, as with Lucifer and Adam, that voice produces only a monumental fall. Let us remain forever humble, remembering at all times that we are but dust. And how do we trust that we are but dust? The Word tells us so. And how do we trust the Word? “I know that whatever God does, It shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, And nothing taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before Him.”(Ecclesiastes 3:14). Trust is a chain that behaves like an ecosystem. And with every chain, it has to begin somewhere. So what is the primary trust anchor from which all trust follows? It's the integrity and infallibility of God's Word. Creation's trust anchor is the Word. That we are dust, this we can trust. And that we are to give all the glory unto God, this we too can trust. And when we trust it, and when we live it, it is then, and only then, that we become "VESSELS OF HONOUR".

- To God be the glory and honour. Forever and ever. Amen.

- Blessings, Wayne Biehn