Thwack went the ball of clay onto the wheel. I dove in with both hands and a little water. The clay smacked and slurped through my fingers until, out of the muddy chaos, a round form emerged. A round and precocious little bowl.

I was working at the pottery wheel, making a series of mugs for gifts.

I plodded along happily in my work. But when I reached for the last batch of clay, it was hard and difficult to work with. The other batches had been soft and pliable. Not this one.

I added more water. I tried to warm it, massage it, coax it into submission. Nothing worked.

Cracks began to develop in the side of the clay bowl, off of the lip. I cut off the top, just under the cracks, and kept going. This piece was giving me a hard time, but I was determined not to quit. All along, I remained focused on what this little ball of clay could become.

Yet as soon as things seemed smoothed out, I would find another crack. I would make another cut, and uncover another crack. I couldn't believe how tough this clay was.

Obviously, clay cannot understand anything, least of all that I was trying to form it into something so lovely. But if it could, would it remain so resistant?

When I finally finished, I put it on the shelf to dry. My final creation was half the size of the other mugs I'd made, even though I had started each one with the same amount of clay.

Jeremiah 18:6 says, "Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel." I need to remain soft in God's hands, responsive to His direction and shaping. He's forming me into something lovely and useful.

From time to time, God lovingly cuts me down to size, for my own good. He knows that if He doesn't cut away the cracks, they will run through me and destroy me. When I resist Him, I hurt myself and bring grief to my Creator.

And though God's work in my life at times feels painful, it is my life preserver. Remaining pliable isn't a passive act nor is it a simple one. I need to spend time reading the Bible, be diligent in prayer, and seek consistent, authentic fellowship with other believers. God's written Word should be like water to me, prayer like the watertight covering that every clay pot needs, and Christian fellowship like the tool that surfaces my imperfections.

God leaves these things to me as my choice, but—take it from a potter—it's definitely to my advantage to choose well.

During the holidays, you can communicate the gospel to friends, relatives and strangers just by telling them how Christ changed your life. Prepare now by taking some time to write your story down.

1. Describe your life before Christ. Be descriptive as you recount who or what brought you to a turning point.

2.Describe how you became a Christian. Consider an emphasis on God's grace, or undeserved favor, extended to you. Include the steps you took so others also might know how to begin a relationship with God.

3.Describe your life now that you have received Christ. Explain how He meets your needs for forgiveness, peace and significance.

Consider including one or two Bible verses (like Ephesians 2:8,9 or John 3:16). Avoid Christian lingo—you want to be understood. Be interesting, but accurate. And try to condense your story to about three minutes.

Mrs. Buck was almost giddy as she approached my wife and me one December Sunday. She asked the 5-year-olds in her Sunday-school class, including our son, what they wanted for Christmas. And she couldn't wait to tell us what Michael had said.

I panicked. A look of horror flashed across my wife's face.

Our shopping was done. We'd bought gifts we thought our son would enjoy, but we hadn't consulted him. We steered him clear of toy catalogs and advertisements, so he didn't even know of anything for which to ask. And up to that moment, we had been sure the gifts we picked were better than anything he would have known to request.

With trepidation we asked, "What did Michael say?"

"He said," she reported, "'Whatever they give me will be fine.'"

With a sigh of relief we broke into grins matching Mrs. Buck's. What a refreshing answer in light of the way most of us look at Christmas.

Recently I realized my prayer life often looks most like a Christmas wish list. How often do I enter into prayer, only to hand God a list of what I want?

Of course God invites us to ask Him for what we need and desire, but I need to let God have a say in what He gives me. Considering all the blessings God has for me, I need to enter prayer with an attitude like my son answered half a dozen years ago: Whatever You give me will be fine.

David Livingstone was the first Western man to explore much of central Africa 150 years ago. He had a passion for the continent, where the gospel had yet to be taken.

In 1855, while traveling along the Zambezi River, David became the first European to set eyes on Victoria Falls. Those who have seen this natural wonder understand how incredible it is. The massive falls plunge 360 feet to the earth below. What a source of natural power!

But there is a source infinitely more powerful—the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, to most people, the power of the Holy Spirit is as hidden and mysterious as Victoria Falls was in the days before David. The modern world's ignorance of the Holy Spirit is far more pervasive than most of us realize.

A well-known, Bible-believing church recently commissioned Christian pollster George Barna to conduct a survey of their congregation. The church discovered that over half the congregation did not believe the Holy Spirit was a living entity!

Much of the mystery and ignorance is because God's Spirit transcends our five senses. He can only be perceived by our spirit—that unseen part of us that is renewed at salvation. We cannot touch Him physically, though He can touch us emotionally. We cannot see Him, yet He refines our vision and understanding of our Creator and Savior. We cannot hear His voice, but we can listen for His guidance.

There are many misconceptions about the Holy Spirit, perhaps because He is impossible to picture in our minds. We can form mental images of God the Father and God the Son. We can read about God's dealings with His people in the Old Testament and about Jesus in the New Testament. We can understand their relationship by watching how earthly fathers and sons relate.

It is considerably more difficult to understand the Holy Spirit. We have no earthly models to help us comprehend Him, and He never speaks of Himself—His role is to glorify the Father and the Son.

So how do we grasp the identity of the Holy Spirit? Let us examine three essential truths.

1. The Holy Spirit is a person. Many make the mistake of depersonalizing God's Holy Spirit. They think of Him as some kind of force within them, not a He but an It. They confuse Him with the vague idea of conscience or pick up false ideas from Eastern religions about some small "spark" of God within mankind.

But the Bible is clear that none of these accurately describe who the Holy Spirit is and how He relates to us. God's Spirit is fully a person with all His own individual traits. He speaks, inspires, guides, convicts, comforts and encourages. Jesus used the personal pronoun He and never the impersonal It.

Jesus said, "When the Father sends the Counselor as my representative—and by Counselor I mean the Holy Spirit—He will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I myself have told you" (John 14:26, New Living Translation).

2. The Holy Spirit is God. The Holy Spirit is co-equal with God the Father and God the Son. He possesses all the attributes of God. He was present at Creation. God declared, "Let Us make people in Our image, to be like Ourselves" (Genesis 1:26, NLT).

He is not a servant of God or a lesser expression of the Lord. He is in every sense the living God.

3. The Holy Spirit has a mission. The Holy Spirit has been at work in the world since Creation. He temporarily indwelt certain individuals in the Old Testament for specific purposes. When He came at Pentecost, however, it was to permanently indwell all believers and accomplish a network of missions and ministries.

Jesus proclaimed, "The truth is, anyone who believes in Me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father" (John 14:12, NLT). The disciples were powerless even with the constant presence of Jesus among them. But the entrance of the Holy Spirit into their lives was like turning on a power transformer. The Holy Spirit can transform us the same way.

Some in David's party might have thought they had discovered the greatest untapped source of natural power. But David knew they had done no such thing. When you discover what it means for the Holy Spirit to be active in your life, you experience a power greater than anything on earth. The power from a hydroelectric dam can light up a city. But the power of the Holy Spirit touches eternity itself.

Adapted from His Intimate Presence, ©2003, by Bill Bright, New Life Publications, Campus Crusade for Christ. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Omigosh!" my wife gasped as a Suburban, attempting a left-hand turn, pulled out in front of us. Swerving right, I missed the truck—only to smash his 5-by-8 trailer in tow.

I coaxed our wrecked Bonneville into the 7-Eleven parking lot. Surprisingly, things started looking up: Nobody was injured, three eyewitnesses stood at the scene of the accident, and a policeman stepped out of the store.

Within hours, however, everything went sour. The driver turned out to be an illegal alien, the owner of the vehicle had cancelled the insurance policy two days prior, and I carried only liability insurance. Did I mention that in two weeks we were moving 1,500 miles cross-country?

After hitching a ride home in the tow truck, I called the police department and insurance companies. Exhausted, I slumped to the couch: How will we move our stuff? Can we afford a moving truck? Should I sell the car to a junkyard?

As these questions boiled inside, I sensed an underlying attitude of entitlement.

I have given up a prestigious career as a U.S. marshal to become a missionary (try that on for size at your next high-school reunion); missionary work has meant a transient lifestyle; and I raise money to provide for our salary, insurance and retirement.

So when things don't go my way, I find myself inquiring of the Lord, "Have I not walked away from a cushy lifestyle in order to serve You? Don't I deserve better?"

A few weeks back, God revealed to me that this belief often displays itself as anger, other times as pride. My sense of entitlement is false humility. I can't peg it on my childhood or some elusive psychological mystery. The diagnosis of my heart's anger and haughtiness is rooted in what I think I deserve.

God prescribed a strong dose of medicine on the day of the accident, reminding me that life is short and that He is far more concerned with my character than He is with my contribution. Thankfully, He has my best interest at heart, regardless of what I do for Him.

I can trust Him to get us home.