Jill Austin, working as an award-winning professional potter, founded Master Potter Ministries over twenty-five years ago. When she was not occupied in her trade, she would visit churches, where she depicted the Master Potter creating His clay vessels on her potter's wheel. Combining music, drama and art, she brought the gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost, as well as deep healing to the broken-hearted.
What began as a performing arts ministry quickly changed as the Manifest Presence of Holy Spirit began to move powerfully in her meetings, bringing renewal and awakening destiny to individuals and churches. God used these years to form this accomplished potter into a fiery preacher and one of the nation's most powerful prophetic voices.
Jill Austin's childlike faith, coupled with her fiery tenacity and resolute commitment to stand for the purposes of God, makes her a much sought after conference speaker. Imparting fresh hunger and passion for God is the hallmark of the powerful anointing she carries both nationally and internationally as she ministers throughout the United States and in nations around the world.
She has appeared on television programs such as the 700 Club, Praise the Lord, and TBN, as well as numerous radio talk shows. Her articles have been published in Last Days Magazine, SpiritLed Woman, and Thomas Nelson's Woman of Destiny Bible. She is the author of Master Potter, a soon to be released Christian allegory targeting both secular and Christian audiences.
WE STRUGGLE WITH FORGIVENESS
Unforgiveness is one of the most influential dream killers in our lives. Its crippling effect can lock us into areas that we are not even aware of. Some of the biggest wounds, those that require the deepest level of forgiveness, come from those who are closest to us.
My parents got divorced when I was twelve years old. Since I was a child of the sixties, we never talked about it. One of my family secrets was that my dad, who was going to medical school at the time, was an alcoholic. Another secret was the adulterous affair he was having with another medical student.
Of his four children, my father seemed to have particular animosity toward me. My mother told me many years later that he hated me because I looked so much like him. And he, too, had dyslexia. I suppose he transferred his self-hatred to me. I only knew at the time that he was physically and verbally abusive, a hard taskmaster whom I could not please. We all had to get good grades and never get dirty while playing or his temper would flare. We had to look the part of the perfect family.
My father became a successful doctor, but he abandoned our family both financially and emotionally. As an adult I forgave him many times with a "blanket prayer" of forgiveness, but I did not realize that the wound went much deeper.
I was in my thirties and in full-time ministry when the Lord ambushed me. He spoke to me about this issue of forgiveness and told me to call my dad, which was the last thing I wanted to do. I had not seen him once in twenty years.
But God set up a divine appointment for both of us. While God was healing areas of my heart, He was simultaneously bringing salvation to my dad. God's timing was perfect.
I was amazed at the extent to which God went to give me the opportunity for deeper forgiveness. It began with the continual prompting to try to reach him by phone. I wrestled with this for days. I finally decided to send up a fleece. I would try information. If they had his number, I would call him. They had his number.
That conversation yielded the news that my dad was in the hospital and dying of bone cancer. I was unaware that he was even sick. The doctor I spoke with at the hospital said that he had only a few months to live.
I was on the road at this time and wondered if I should cancel my ministry commitments for that week and go see him. The doctor assured me that he would be just fine. But the Lord had other ideas. That night He gave me a prophetic dream.
In the dream I was walking through a town with cobblestone streets. Two huge angels were walking on either side of me. They took me to the very edge of the town to a train station. I looked inside and there on a wooden bench sat my dad. I knew that the death train was coming and that he was going to die. I wanted to go to him but the angels barred the way. When I awoke sobbing I knew that it was now or never. The next day I cancelled my ministry trip and got on a plane.
I arrived at the cancer ward and went to the nurses' station. They were glad to see me. His second wife had allowed no visitors for six weeks. He had been dying all alone. When I walked into his room and first saw him, I did not know if he would even recognize me. I was surprised at how old and thin he looked; he was all yellow and riddled with cancer. He was no longer the big angry man I remembered from my childhood.
"Hi, Daddy. Daddy, this is Jill. Do you remember me? I am your number two daughter."
He sat up in bed and started to cry. He said, "Jill, Jill, I'm dying."
"Yes, I know." Then I said, "Daddy, you know we got ripped off. I haven't seen you in all these years. We can't have those lost years, but we can have eternity together. I have a friend that I want you to meet. Do you want to meet my Jesus?"
As tears were falling down his cheeks, he said, "Yes, I would like that."
He could barely talk but he repeated these words after me: "Jesus, forgive me. I'm a sinner. I want You as my Lord and my Savior." So my dad was born into the Kingdom of God.
I looked at him and knew there was more I had to say. "Daddy, you know what? I have hated you. You deserted me. You left me. I needed you. Daddy, would you forgive me for being so angry and so bitter?"
He began to cry and said, "Sweetheart, I forgive you. Will you forgive me? I didn't know how to be a dad to you. I am so sorry that you got hurt."
As we embraced, the wall of separation came down. It was the first time I felt loved by him and connected to him.
The next day I brought a decorated Christmas tree to his room. He was sitting up in bed and now his countenance had changed: There was a glow of the Lord about him. He could barely talk but every once in a while he would say, "Oh, Jill, you are so beautiful."
I would respond, "Oh, Daddy, tell me again!"
On the third day the Lord woke me up at four in the morning to go to the hospital. When I opened the door to his room I could sense a spirit of death. I was horrified to see him gasping for air with blood coming out of his mouth. I ran over to him and as I laid hands on him, I could feel the power of God shoot into him. I said, "Daddy, it's time to go home. It's time to go home to Jesus." I embraced him and said, "I love you. I have come to tell you goodbye." He died in my arms.
The first person to hear this story was my mother. She was shocked to see me and then hear that he had accepted the Lord. She started weeping, because she still loved my dad, and said, "Now I know that Jesus is real!" It was so clearly of God's doing that it witnessed to her of His power and love in a way that nothing else could have.
All of us have been hurt, rejected and disappointed. Every single one of us has a history. We can all look back and think of one or two individuals who have broken our hearts. But Jesus says that we have to forgive. It is a choice. It is out of obedience and loving Jesus that we forgive.
When we forgive, the deep roots of anger, bitterness and resentment are pulled out. Every seed that is not planted by the Father needs to be uprooted. We put it all at the cross of Jesus Christ. We need to be able to say, "Jesus, because this person hurt me, I got angry. I got resentful. I put walls up. Please forgive me for how I have hurt that person and how I protected myself."
Then we need to have mercy and say, "Jesus, not only do I forgive that person, but I extend blessing. I release that person. Lord, I choose to be healthy and no longer feel like a victim. I want to be an overcomer-and a dreamer once more."
Jill Austin
Master Potter Ministries
