Whenever we go on a trip we get so excited, we plan ahead, we make all the arrangements, we talk about it for weeks, sometimes months.  We tell others about it, we pack ahead of time, we might even buy new things to take along.  For those few days leading up to the trip it consumes our time.  When we arrive we enjoy all of it, we take it in because our level of excitement for the going was so high that we want to soak it all up, not miss anything.

We all go different places for different reasons, but we all do this don’t we?  It is true, maybe to a different level or degree depending on where we are going and why, but we do it.  Then that point comes where we say.  "I can’t wait to tell so and so about this".  Why is it that we can be on the most amazing trip and still think of home?  Because regardless of where we are home is where we have emotionally attached ourselves to.  You can be on the most exciting trip to the most exciting place you have ever been, but have you ever noticed that it isn’t complete somehow until you have gone home, sat in your home, reflected on the experience and then shared it with the people who are in your life.  That completes the trip because it connects it to the life you live everyday, it attaches it to the people and the place you are emotionally attached to.

All of our experiences in life are the same way.  When something exciting happens in our life, we want to share it with those closest to us to have someone to celebrate with.  When something not so good happens, we go to those closest to us to get support, help, encouragement, and sometimes just a shoulder to cry on.  The people we think of on those trips and say "I can’t wait to tell so and so about this!" are likely the same people who hear about all the other things in our life every day.  So here is a question-Who is that person in your life?

For every one of us there is someone who is waiting to hear about everything.  About our trips-yes.  About our experiences-yes.  Whether good bad indifferent-yes.  Even if we have bags we packed years ago in our life, and have carried around on this trip, we can unpack them, talk about them, even cry over them if we have to.  Every experience, every moment, He is waiting to listen.  It is just a matter of coming home and desiring to share it.  Even if you haven’t talked to Him in prayer for a while, He is still waiting because like those in your life who want to hear about your trip, He wants to hear about your life and all that is in it.  The Lord is always there, always listening, and always understanding. (Ps 139:7-12 , Heb 4:15-16 )  So, like coming home, go to the Lord in prayer, tell Him what has been happening, what you have been experiencing.  Celebrate with Him, receive the help strength and shelter you need from Him. (Heb 4:16 , Ps 18:31-33, Ps 91:1-2 )

I am packing my luggage today to go on a trip.  I can only fit so much in one bag, and I only have so many bags to put my things in.  Then I will need to be able to carry whatever I take with me.  Then we face the airline, who puts restrictions on what we are allowed to take, and we all know that has only become more restrictive recently, not less.  I do not plan on over packing, stuffing my bags and taking to much along with me, I am go to leave behind what I do not need to take with me.  Of course there is always the opposite of that, leaving something and not realizing it until I get where I am going, and then it is too late to do anything about it.

When we drag our bags around with us from life, we often would like to leave certain things behind, forget them on purpose, leaving them on the side of the road, at our house, work, or in our old town, or even in the taxi.  The problem with that theory however is, they don’t really get left there, they only become stuffed together into the smaller bag we think we are carrying until it becomes too heavy and overstuffed to carry.

With God we start to think He doesn’t want certain parts of our luggage, like the airline who tells us "that bag is too heavy", we think God is going to tell us He doesn’t like certain pieces of luggage from our life, that they won’t fit on His Anvil.   So we leave them there, to sit, unattended to until they become a burden.

The reality is however that God tells us exactly the opposite of this.  In Matthew 11:28-29 Christ says "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."  He wants to take those burdens, He wants to give you rest from that luggage you have been carrying around, that has been burdening your life.

The anvil of God is big enough for whatever luggage you have, unlike the airline, He will not reject whatever burden you bring to Him.  He desires to give you rest from that burden.  Is there a piece of life’s luggage you left somewhere that is burdening you that you thought God didn’t want, that you thought you couldn’t bring to Gods Anvil to be changed?  Bring it to Him, place it on His anvil, so that like the Psalmist you can say "Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. " (Ps 68:19 )

When we swing a hammer and hear that ping ping ping, we know we are hitting the mark.  Those times we hear a thud, a hallow sound, and when it hurts, we know we have missed the mark and need to re-aim the hammer.  Why?  Because the only one who can correct the error is the one swinging the hammer.  When we are swinging a hammer at an object and miss, it is our judgment that has caused the miss to occur.

When God is the one chiseling at us, and the sound of the hammer hitting our life is not the sound we want to hear, it isn’t God who has to re-aim His hammer.  His judgment is not at fault for causing His hammer to miss its mark.  We must act to change the sound of the hammer, because the sound of the hammer is directly related to where we are standing in our relationship with the Lord.  The different reactions we have to the hammer may be caused by a wide variety of things in our life-according to us-but at the core they are all caused by our need to be in Gods will.  What do I mean by that?  God intends for us to have a relationship with Him that is intimate.  If the hammer is missing its mark we have moved away from the one who is swinging it.  This  relationship requires time, energy, and sacrifice on both ends.  He has given that to us, and is giving that to us, on a constant basis.  God promises us His constant presence (Ps 46:1 ), which means He is giving us His time.  He promises us shelter, strength, comfort, and to be our sufficiency. (Ps 61:34 , Ps 28:6-8 , Ps 23:4 , 2 Cor 12:8-10 )  That requires much energy.  He has already given us the sacrifice of His son so that this relationship with Him is possible. (1 Jn 4:10 )

Time, energy, and sacrifice.  What time energy and sacrifice is He asking in return, for we could never give to Him what He gives to us.  What He asks is that we spend time in prayer and in His word.  If the sound you hear is a thud-softening is required.  A softening only the Lord can give. (Ezek 11:19 )   This can only be gained by spending time in communication with Him in prayer.  The hallow sound can only go away when you are filled with something, filled with the things that the Lord desires for you.  How do you discover those things?  Spending time in His word, reading those things which He has promised, the wisdom He gives to us, and the instructions He imparts.  If the hammer hurts the only way to heal that is to be honest with God in prayer and to allow Him to comfort heal shelter and strengthen you-allowing Him to fulfill the promises He made.

Time-time in prayer and time in Gods word.  It requires energy when sometimes we think we do not have it.  It requires a sacrifice, because when the hammer doesn’t sound right in our life we may not always want to do it, so we give up what we "want" for what we need. When the hammer doesn’t sound right in our life we may not feel like spending that time, but we should want to change how the hammer sounds.  Why?  Because that is how we are molded and changed, and if the hammer isn’t hitting the mark squarely then the molding process isn’t happening in the most effective way.  When the hammer doesn’t sound right and you just don’t "feel like" spending that time ask yourself this question "Is what I am doing in place of praying or reading Gods word going to change the sound of the hammer?"  If the answer is an honest "no" then the next words should be "Lord-help me to do what I need rather then what I want".

Ping ping ping ping THUD.  Over and over the hammer falls, hits its mark, and a sound is heard.  The sound that is heard depends much on what material the hammer is hitting.  Have you ever built anything and listened to the hammer as it hits the nail, then misses?  What sound is heard when the hammer suddenly misses it mark?  Most often a thud is heard, usually because a hammer is used to hit nails into wood.  Now if you happen to hit your thumb, that ensues quite a different response.  If you are hammering a nail into a wall to hang something, you might even hear a slightly hollow sound as the hammer makes a hole in the wall as it sinks into the surface when it hits.  If you take a hammer and pound on brick or stone and you will hear a chip chip chipping sound as pieces come off with each point of contact.

As the hammer does the job it is meant to do-hitting things-it always makes some kind of noise.  It doesn’t do its job silently because it always has a point of contact, that moment when the hammer comes into contact with the object we swing it at.  A hammer cannot do its job when there is no sound because that would mean it made no contact with its intended target.  God uses hammers to mold us: His word and His will.  If we are expecting to have those do their job without having some noise in our life then we are fooling ourselves, because a hammer cannot do its job without some noise.  If Gods hammers are making contact in our lives there is going to be some noise, because that is what happens when a hammer makes contact with its intended target!

Now a physical hammer may go ping, or even thud, when it hits its target, but what kind of noise will God’s hammers make?  First we must look at what God is using His hammers to do.  God intends to mold us into who He desires us to be, transforming us into a new creation intended for His glory.  (Eph 4:22-24 , 2 Cor 3:17-18 )  For this process to take place He must remove the things that are not like Him, and replace them with the things that are like Him.  1 Peter 2:9 tells us "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."  We are called out  darkness!  Verse 1-3 says "Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good."So what is that hammer being used for?  To replace our nature with the things of the spirit.  Looking at this we can only do that if crave spiritual milk-if we seek God, if we are craving spiritual milk we are allowing Him to mold us, to use His hammer to shape us.

So what does Gods hammer sound like?  That depend on us really.  If we are avoiding the hammer, God is still going to use His will and His Word as His tools, however the noise it makes in our lives is going to be much different then that of a hammer hitting its mark!  Think of not only the sound of an actual hammer missing its mark, but the feeling made in your body- rhythmic when it hits its mark, but when missing the mark the vibration of the hammer feels completely different, even hard, harsh or painful.  When we are avoiding God’s hammer that is what happens in our lives.  The molding process still occurs, but it will begin to feel harsh, hard, or even painful.

If you are hard, like a piece of wood, then you are going to hear and feel a hard thud in your life.  The molding process is going to feel like a constant pushing, banging, and pounding.  This is when you need to allow God to soften you through time in prayer asking Him to help you realize His will for your life.  If you are empty you are going to hear and feel a hollow sound.  The molding process may seem useless, like it is taking you nowhere because you do not understand the hope of His calling.  This is when you need to pour your time into Gods word allowing it to fill your mind and soul with His promises.  If the molding process hurts like the hammer hitting your thumb, that is when it is time to remember Gods promises by reading them, and by going to Him asking Him to be your strength, shelter, comfort, and healer.  As the molding process goes on in our lives we will feel a chip chip chipping away in our lives, at the same time those things will be replaced with the things God desires us to become, and He will complete the process to the end.

God is going to mold us, change us, and make us new, what that sounds like in our lives will depend on how we respond to the hammer.  Ask yourself what sounds you are hearing in your life through the molding process.  Does what God is doing sound like a thud,  does it sound hallow, feel painful?  If you are avoiding the hammer in any way,  go to God and ask Him to help you change the sound it is making in your life so that the molding process can become one of joy.  That is the sound God wants the molding process to make in our lives, the sound of joy! For there is no better model for our molding process than Christ!  Being molded by God’s hammer can be a joyful process if we are not avoiding it and we allow God to do what He desires in our life.

For us "When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left." (Luke 23:33 )  Next "Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."" (Luke 23:34 )  Those around despised him "The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One." The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself." There was a written notice above him, which read:|sc THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS." (Luke 23:35-38 )  Except for one man, who realized what was happening, one of the thieves next to him being crucified for his crimes.  "Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." (Luke 23:42-43 )

For us Jesus Died.  "It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last." (Luke 23:44-46 )  He was dead.  The sinless Lord had taken on the sins of all of us and died on a cross like a common thief.  For us he was buried, "Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid." (Luke 23:52-53 )

"On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus" (Luke 24:1-3 )  Where has he gone, what has happened?  He has already done so much for us-it cannot have ended like this-with him being gone!  Now two messengers appear "suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground" (Luke 24:4 ) and they deliver the best words we could hear:

""Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!" (Luke 24:5-6 )

For us He was crucified buried and rose again.  For us.  On that day when He rose and defeated death he gave us the ability to do the same by spending eternity with Him.  That is the purpose of why He did this for us.  Eternity with Him is the outcome of what He did in those days.  And all of it was done for us because of grace and mercy out of a Love we can not comprehend.  To not recognize that God wants a relationship with us when He did this for us is simply denying the obvious.  If you have never cried out to God, like the thief on the cross recognizing who Christ was, and believed that Christ did this for you don’t deny the obvious any longer.  He did this for you.

If you need to do this the first step is admitting to yourself that you are a sinner and that trusting in yourself or anything you can do is not sufficient.   Then you need to trust in Christ and what He did do on the cross when He died for your sins.  To affirm your decision say this prayer “Lord I know that I am a sinner incapable of doing anything that would allow me into heaven on my own.  I believe that Jesus died on the cross, and that His death paid for my sins.  Thank you for giving me a way.  Amen.”

Praise-The act of giving God thanks and worship for who He is and what He has done and will do.  When we personally Praise God we recognize who He is and what He is doing in our lives and will do in our lives because we know we can rely on His promises.  We have already seen many of those promises fulfilled, and we know they are currently being fulfilled in our lives.  Ephesians 1 reveals to us that Gods plan has been laid out in such a way as to bring Him Praise.  In this we can have confidence-that no matter what we are experiencing it is going to bring Him praise because that is the ultimate plan.

Lets look specifically at verses 11-12  "In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, ¹² in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory." (Eph 1:11-12 ) We were chosen!  God knew what you-in your free will-would choose to do with the gospel of Christ.  This choice and us are, as it states in verse 12 "for the praise of His glory".  The very act of you choosing to trust Christ glorifies Him!  So you have already praised God with your life.

Then when we look at verses 13-14 we see the fulfillment of promises that glorify God.  "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory." (Eph 1:13-14 )  So we see here the fulfillment of the promise.  When we hear the truth and believe we receive a seal-the Holy spirit.  The Holy spirit guarantees our inheritance.  That inheritance is our eternal life with Christ-the fulfillment of the promise.  This is all to the praise of his glory.  The very plan of redemption has all been put into place in order that the Lord would receive Praise.

If we know that we are marked with the seal, the Holy spirit, and have been promised eternal life with Chirst that comes with that seal, shouldn’t that be reason enough to praise God for who He is, what He has done, and what He will do in our lives!  No matter what our circumstance now-we know that it is all to the praise of His Glory because that is the ultimate plan.

Have you ever watched a child start a project and asked them what they are making and gotten an answer like "I don’t know yet".  My son does that, he will start building something, or doing a craft, with no particular thought in mind as to what it will look like in the end, but he knows it will be something when he gets to the end.  Then he reaches that point and he will proclaim something to the effect of "Look it’s a cat!" and I will be fascinated that he spent an hour building it and got there not knowing that is where he was going when he started.

As adults we don’t operate that way.  We would never start a project without knowing what we intended it to look like when we were done.  Artists are the only ones who operate with a different mindset sometimes, and even they usually have some idea of what the end result should be like.  God has an end result in mind for us, a very specific end result in mind.  2 Corinthians 3:18 says "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."  We are being transformed, changed into His likeness, that is what God’s end result is for us, we just don’t know exactly what that looks like.  As adults we don’t operate that way, so we will say "wait, hold on, I don’t understand!"  When we can’t see how what is happening fits into the end result of what God is doing it is not because God is hiding it from us, it is because we are not always looking to what He tells us our future is.  We often concentrate on the moment, rather then His promise, that we "are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory".

What better end result!  To be like Him!  If what we are experiencing or being asked to do is going to transform us into His likeness then even when we do not understand it should matter not, because we know He is faithful to His promises.  Unlike the child who starts the project and and doesn’t know the end result, God knows the end result He is taking you to and He is faithful to fulfill the promise and complete the task.  He asks that we place ourselves on His Anvil and allow Him to transform us because we trust Him.

Weighed down by stress, burden, trial, or decision, we began to feel anxious.  Many questions may come to our mind "am I doing the right thing?" "what should I do?" "whats going to happen?" "how am going to handle this?" "why is this happening?".  Anxiousness is part of the package, or so it seems.   There is something to be said on that subject in Philippians 4:6-7 . "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."  A clear promise of God to give peace to those who make their requests known to God.

Now this does not come without a request on Gods part.  He asks that we make our requests "by prayer and thanksgiving".    We must first make our request known to God.  Yes He knows our need, but requesting it shows humility and a lifestyle of prayer and communication with God.  We must also go to God with thanks because we believe He is faithful to His promises.  Once we have made our request in prayer and thanksgiving we receive a peace "which transcends all understanding".  In John 14:27 Christ says "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."  The peace we receive from the Lord is not a peace that is like that of the world.  It is a peace beyond that which we can gain from any other source.  It transcends understanding because it is beyond that of this world, it is from God himself.  There is no other peace that compares to the peace that comes from the Lord.

What is the source of your anxiousness?  Take it to the Lord in prayer, with thanksgiving because you know He is faithful to fulfill His promises.  One of these promises is to relieve your anxiousness.

The author of Hebrews writes in chapter 10 verses 19-25:

"Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Heb 10:19-25 )

Holding onto Christ and others believers seems so easy when our lives our easy, but when our lives are not easy, when the path is rough, it becomes more difficult for us to see why we would do so.  What we need is to be assured that regardless of the condition of our path, drawing near to God is still possible.  This passage tells us that we have a "new and living way" opened for us.  Christs death on the cross made it possible for us to do draw near to God because it removed the veil between us and God.  We have the ability to be washed with a pure water, the water of life that Christ gives. (John 4:13-14 )  When we have confidence in this we can draw near to God at all times, regardless of our circumstance, regardless of what is on our path.

If we are pulling away from other believers in the midst of something rocky on our path, then we are missing out on the opportunity to encourage others believers.  How is it possible to encourage others believers when you are going through a rough journey?  The Lord is faithful to that which He promises, and one of His promises is found in Psalm 145:14 "The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down." (Ps 145:14 )  When we are drawing near to God and He is lifting us up and other believers  see how the Lord is working in our life that is the most powerful way we can encourage them towards love and good deeds.  When we pull away from other believers in the midst of our rough journey we remove an opportunity for them to be encouraged by the Lords work in our life.

If you find yourself pulling away from the Lord because of your circumstance, remember our hope is firm in what Christ did.  A promise firm in the One who is always faithful, who wants you to remain unswirvingly attached to that hope regardless of your circumstance.  He will lift you up, cry out to Him.

Boxes are good for everything from cereal and crackers, to tissues and televisions.  They come in all kinds of sizes to fit just about anything you might want to send or store.  People ship the strangest things sometimes.  Go online and you can get anything you want shipped to you, and it will most likely arrive in a box.  My guess is you have more than one thing in your house that is contained in a box right now.

As people we are so use to everything fitting into boxes, having a certain size and shape.  This is a great principle when it comes to shipping something, but gets us into trouble when we start applying that principle to God’s kingdom.  Why?  God doesn’t work in boxes!  He doesn’t ship things in neat packages, He doesn’t have them show up on our doorstep or in our mailbox.  His plans don’t fit the constraints of a 6 sided cube like shape we have designed.  No box can contain God.  (1 Kings 8:27 )

Then we look at God’s creation.  Have you ever seen a box in the shape of Gods image? No?  Why not?  We don’t fit into boxes either!  We were created in God’s image and that most certainly does not fit into a box. (Gen 1:27 )  Realizing this makes living the christian life much easier.  These boxes can be anything from simple things like fashion, to issues like what your gifts "should" be.  They are all boxes that man has decided make you "look like a christian".   When we stop trying to put ourselves into a man made box labeled "christian", or a box someone has labeled for us, we break down artificial man made barriers.  These barriers prevent us from allowing God to do what He wants to do in our lives.  We need to be people that let God mold us into who He desires us to be, not allowing people to force us into the shape of a box they erect for us.

Once these boxes have been put around you it can become difficult to determine what is a box and what is God molding you.  There is only one way to figure this out, and that is by going to the one who wants to mold you into His image, the one we should want to be like, Christ.  If our desire is to be like Him, we should be asking Him to help us get out of those boxes that have been falsely put around us, and look to Him for who we are to be.  By doing that we will become more Christ like, but not through man made boxes.  There is no box that is just right for us, because the image of God doesn’t fit in a box.  Where we fit best is in the hand of God, where He can mold us the way he desires.  "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time." (1 Pet 5:6 )  In order for us to truly be in the hand of God we must humble ourselves, ask Him to take us out of the boxes, and trust Him because we know His plan is best. (Jer 29:11 )

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