Hammer on Anvil '

A friend of mine and I were talking early this morning about cloud formations as Hurricane Issac makes its way up here to the Midwest. We were both fascinated by how the system was still formed into a sort of circle, even as it begins to dissipate and play itself out. Then my friend said something I'd never thought about before. "They're predicting about 5 inches of rain from this storm-it's been dropping 5 inches of rain all along it's route. How does it pick up THAT much seawater, convert it to fresh, and dump it down on us? And why can't we figure out how to do that? If God can do it, why can't we?"

Most of us, in the course of our lives, will witness, hear about, or be involved in a heated religious discussion. As many different religions as there are (not counting the differing beliefs within the same religion), the odds are that passionate people are going to disagree. When I first became a Christian, my sister had a lot of questions for me-tough questions that I usually didn't have an answer for. Even today, I'm sure there are some of those questions I still don't have an answer for. 'Why does God let bad things happen to good people?' 'Why does the Bible teach inequality between the sexes?' 'How can the God who killed all those people in the Old Testament be the God of love?' 'How do you explain dinosaurs?'

The answer to these hard questions is not easy. Many times, the answer is, "I don't know". It is very easy to get frustrated in the face of these questions. For me, it's times like these that I think of the clouds. How could a big explosion have created the intricate weather patterns that are in storms? How could an accident have created exactly the right mix (made up of more variables than we can count) to sustain human life? How could evolution have played out so perfectly that it created entirely new, completely functioning species?

When asked one of the tough questions, my response is always the same: "I don't know all the answers-I am not God." What I do know is that God shows me something every single day to remind me of who He is, and how He is wholly different from me. If God can do it, why can't we? Because we're not Him.

What has God shown you about His character lately?

One of my most memorable experiences as a child was learning to ride a bike.  I remember the day that my dad took me to Western Auto to pick out my bike.  I knew which one I wanted - the bright yellow one with a black banana seat!  It was a great gift.  I was very excited to learn how to ride it and could not wait to get home, for my dad had promised to teach me to ride that very day!

His process for teaching me to ride was to take me to the top of our yard...  Side note:  our yard slanted down toward the road then across from the road was a fence which protected kids from a creek below.  He said, "Son, here is how you learn, hop on."  With no further instruction, I hopped on trusting he would teach me all the ins and outs of riding a bike....  He proceeded to let the bike go.  I probably set a world record for the longest first bike ride... I hit the fence.  After I was done crying and had my wounds bandaged up, I wanted back on.  This time I had questions:  How do you stop? How do you turn? How do you pedal?  How do you balance?  How do you not hit the fence.

Life is a lot like that.  We fall, we miss the mark, we get off course.  The question becomes, how do we bounce back?  I am convinced that successful people are not those without failure, but those who bounce back.  We should not be defined by our failure, but by how we come back from it.  This is the opposite of how many followers of Jesus live - we fail and then we beat ourselves up for failing.  We condemn and hate ourselves.  It's time to get back on the bike my friends.  Be defined not by your failure, but by how you bound back.

People are hypocrites. Chances are, you know more people than you can count who often say one thing and turn around doing what they claim is wrong.

This week Hammer on Anvil welcomes guest blogger Amanda Pyatt Bush.  Amanda and her family have been going through some difficult times lately.  There have been struggles, but she has remained faithful throughout.  Here, she shares her story to date:

God has been working in my heart for a long time. Purging the pride, trying to make me into a diamond, as I am still very much a piece of coal; and it is not fun (most of the time). When I am living life and all of a sudden God looks down into my little world and says “Amanda, NO, this is not what I have in mind for you” it can be scary, exciting, and I say ok, what now. “God lifts up the humble and opposes the proud.” That is my lesson in life. Pride is the sin of all sin; it is the mother and the cause of the fall of Satan and then man.

Charlie(my husband) and I have talked about living in a RV, maybe traveling the country, going where the work is and maybe living a little cheaper, for about 3 years now. It was just an idea for a long time but after my sweet cousin died we decided that we are tied down to a house, we are living outside of what we make, we are not happy and the stress of no money and lots of bills was just not the way we wanted to live anymore. We prayed about it a lot and decided, we are changing our life, we are going to take steps to make our outcome meet our income and then become mobile so that we can be wherever God wants us to be.

The first thing we did was change our lifestyle, this was before we even decided to rent the house and live in an RV. We decided to home school our children, so they could get God’s word in their little hearts, read better and have more family time. We sold my van and I started to ride a bike, we started to take processed food, sugars, carbs, and other toxic foods from our diet. We cut back on our meat intake and charged up the veggie and fruits. I personally lost 30 lbs in a few short months (and I am still losing weight today). My blood pressure regulated and I started to feel the pain in my body go away. We began looking at things in life, like how much TV we watched versus outside time and time just playing. We began to notice when we focus on God all day with praise music and reading His word we were more like the things we kept striving to be. Patience, kindness, slow to anger, loving the unlovable, and forgiveness comes so much quicker. We were starting to really see God’s blessing in a personal way.

When we decided to rent our home and buy an RV we sold every piece of furniture we owned; there were a few days we had nothing to sit on. It was the first real feeling of "We are really doing this!". We looked for a long time for something we could pay payments on that would be nice with 2 bedrooms and lots of room. God didn’t want that for us and we were not able to get a loan, after all we didn’t have a whole lot of income in the first place. We then decided that we needed to go with something we can buy with cash, honestly that was hard, God taught me a lot in those days. HE taught me to walk in his light, as a path I can only see a few steps at a time. We were disappointed a lot, had some hard cries even as a couple, a few fights from stress and God always centered us back up and reminded us to take one step at a time and not worry or fret over tomorrow. We finally got to the point that we just would walk it out everyday and just trust. Honestly, after the trust on our side started to kick in, God’s wisdom came too, we began to see things a little differently. We realized he was going to take care of everything and then the real blessing came in droves. We had lots of hiccups, lots of moments of breakdown but they never lasted more than 24-48 hours, and honestly were often hormone-induced rather than not trusting.

The blessings, oh the blessing!!!! They came almost once a week, crazy stuff one right after another, bam, bam, bam. I often felt bad because my Aunt was still struggling hardcore over the loss of her son, but I prayed everyday asking for peace and joy in her heart, I still do. I knew God had a plan there too and I had to trust that He would take care of her and her family. While I am getting good news on a daily basis, I trust God would bring her peace. It was very difficult, but I had to trust HE knew what He was doing and I was just supposed to keep posting and praising my God for His good works in my life.

Some of the blessings were crazy, some small and some so big God put me in shock. We found our renters two days after we decided to rent, good people with children who want to buy the house when the market turns around. We found an RV perfect for us, for $4500.00. We had made $3600.00 on our garage sale and the guy who sold it to us who was also a Christian, pretty hard core, told us he would sell it to *us* for $3500.00, so we had $100.00 to put gas in it to get it home. Then we thought we were going to pay $300.00 for a renter to stay at our home, (which was better than us paying the full $1500.00 every month), but God has a better plan in that too; after me trying to modify our loan for almost a year I talked to HOPE a government program and three weeks later the papers came in the mail and the payment was lowered with just signatures by $400.00. We no longer had to worry about paying extra to rent our home. Soon after that, God worked in that same situation again. The payment was dropped another $400.00; we now make a profit from renting our home. I was blown away, and I personally did nothing to make that happen. I had truly given up at that point. We just signed papers, no more documents needed, no more finding, coping, filing, or them losing every piece of paper I sent to them. God just fixed it! I used to work in the loan business and I know from personal experience that mortgage companies are not just nice. WOW! Yes, God made Himself very real to me in those moments. It felt like God was saying “Hey I am real and I am going to take care of you, my child who chooses to follow Me, even when everyone else tells you, you are crazy.” It was about His glory, it was about Him becoming real to anyone who knows us well. It wasn’t about me or our family so much as it was about us following and God being God and showing others who He is through our story.

The blessing didn’t stop there, people gave us money out of nowhere, we were blessed by people feeding us when money was tight (they didn’t know it). We were criticized by our decision and we were lifted up and blessed by people’s words, at the same time. No matter how much the enemy tried to dismantle and discourage us, confuse us, God stepped in and made His holy self very clear!

God is now showing me that this whole move is just beginning; we are just now starting to see there is a much bigger plan in all this. We have only seen the surface of this mighty GOD we serve. It is bringing out more of us, purging more pride, more sin, more selfishness, pushing us mentally, physically, and spiritually more than we have ever been pushed before. We have had to control our tempers, when we are so tired we can hardly see straight, we have had to have patience when we are ready to just lie down and quit, God is calling out the “Champion in our family” as a great friend of mine would say. I believe Satan is trying to push us, bring stuff up against us and he is getting more sneaky about it, hitting me when I am most vulnerable, when I am sad, emotional, hormonal. He knows my weaknesses and he is getting good and finding them and attacking at the right times. God, is teaching me when I am most vulnerable and He is holding me in His righteous right hand, in the quite still voice, telling me, “Hey… calm down, you are being attacked and you need to spend some time with Me right now, stop what you are doing and worship Me, sit with Me, and let Me help you sort this out.”

I am excited to see what else God has in store for this family. We are ready and willing, our deepest desire is to follow, and we are addicted to the ways of God, we want what HE wants, even when we can’t figure out what that looks like in reality.

We are ready, God send us.

Amanda Pyatt Bush

Good morning everyone!
It is another beautiful day that the Lord has blessed us with!
Have you ever taken the time to reflect back over your life and wondered about those times that you didn't know how you were going to make it through your circumstances? Well, I have been doing a lot of that lately and the only answer I have found is, God brought me through! He was right there in every situation that I found myself in. I may not have realized it at the time, but in retrospect, He is the only answer.

With that being said, I have to give Him my unfailing love and gratitude for keeping me through many things that I could not have made it through without Him on my side. He has been my doctor, lawyer, father, mother, friend and companion when I needed Him the most. So, I love You Lord and I thank You Lord for ALL You have done for me!!! There is none like You, never has been and never will be. You are One of a knid!!! Hallelujah!!!! Praise Your Holy Name!!!!

Have a very blessed day everybody!!!
Cheryl

A work of fiction (see Chapter 1: Wealth and Chapter 2:Relevancy)
This is neither an endorsement of the issue nor a stand against it.  It is a simple reminder that Christ has entrusted you with far greater priorities than the policies of a nation.  Your priorities have eternal significance.  Look to your example, Jesus Christ.  He did not concern himself with the policies of the Roman government even though many of those policies undoubtedly contradicted God’s will.  He made His priority doing God’s work on Earth.  Follow His example.

(See also Chapter 4: Love)

Good afternoon everyone!
One of my favorite church songs from my childhood says, 'I will trust in the Lord, I will trust in the Lord, I will trust in the Lord, til I die!' When the old saints of my church would lift their voices and sing that song, it felt like the whole church would move. When I was young, I liked the feeling that those songs would give me. It wasn't until I grewer older that I learned that those songs had powerful meaning in the words.

In the past two years, I have grown to truly understand what it means to trust in God. Not only to just trust Him, but to put ALL my trust in Him. As you all know, I have stated before that I am a worrier, I always like to know what is coming next. If I don't know, it weighs on my mind. I wonder how things are going to turn out. But, during this time of transition for me God has shown me where He has been taking care of me all of my life and I have nothing to worry about.

He says in His word, 'Cast all you cares upon me,' don't fret about anything. God has got it all under control. So, I am beginning to let go of my worries and let God carry my burdens. I must say, I am a much happier person because of it and I am enjoying that everlasting peace that only He can give.

Try giving it ALL to God. Everything! Anything you worry about, ask Him to take it and leave it with Him. I promise you, He will take care of it!!!

Have a very  blessed evening everybody!
Cheryl

At times I the smallest things stick out to me in the Word.

I saw this comic yesterday and I thought of the authority that personal experience has for some people. Anything outside of it is dismissed or suspected. You may be sharing a story and be told "Well, in my personal experience..." Is personal experience the final authority?

Over the past several months I have become increasingly aware of the growing loss of community in our society. When I was a little girl, I lived on a square block with a park in the middle. If I stand in my parents' old front yard, I can still point out 90% of the houses on the block and tell you who had lived there. Above that, I could recite at least one story of how each family touched mine. Now, having moved back very close to my old neighborhood, I know the names of only one of the neighbors on my block.

It has been said that it takes a community to raise a child, and that was certainly put into play when I was a kid. All of us living in that square block knew that if any of our neighbors saw us behaving badly, our parents would hear about it before we got home. Likewise, if we were ever in need, we could knock on any door and request help, whether if it was for a band-aid or a glass of water. So much of our time was spent in the company of others living near us, and families were connected by much more than proximity to each other.

As I drive through my neighborhood these days, I rarely see a person outside of their house. Some of my neighbors have lived in these houses for decades, but no one on the block knows who they are. I have never seen the inside of any of the homes on my street, nor invited any of them inside mine.

This isolation is not only happening in our communities; it is also a problem in our churches. Hebrews 10:24 & 25 reminds us: "let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near." Followers of Christ need each other to stay strong in the faith. There is so much evil in the world, and so little refreshment. Out of  168 hours in a week, one hour on Sunday morning is not enough to power us for the other 167. 

Living in community in our church leads to greater compassion for the lost in our neighborhoods. As we get encouragement from our brothers and sisters in Christ, we begin to see (and feel) the great need of unbelievers. When we truly empathize with our neighbors, we begin to repair the overwhelming damage that isolation has done to our country and our world. Consider how you can stimulate your church family to love and good deeds, and what impact those deeds will have on your neighbors. It could be a world-changing activity.

Good day all!
I pray everyone is having a great weekend. Throughout the course of our lives we learn to be afraid of many things. When I was young I was afraid of the dark and of dogs. Both of those fears came from my sisters. Some people are afraid of heights, flying, closed in spaces and countless other phobias. All are learn from others or first hand experience.
But God told us not to be afraid because He is with us always, even unto the end! I heard a preacher say once, 'That God has already lived our life, He's been at the beginning, in the middle and at the end. He already knows what is going to happen.' I thought about that and it is true, so, if we trust in Him and follow His lead, we have nothing to be afraid of, He's already been there, done that. He knows how our story ends and so do we, VICTORY!!!
So, No Fear, No Worries! Thank You Jesus!!!
Have a very blessed day everybody!!!
Cheryl

God is merciful, just, great and mighty. He is omnipotent (all-knowing) and omnipresent (with us always). There is one thing, though, that God is not: He is not a safety bubble. Difficult times will come to many of God's faithful followers. I have often asked "Why?", and knowing what I know about my Lord, I have more often asked "When?". In my Bible reading this week, I received a hint of the answer to "Why?", and I wanted to share it with you.

In Romans 8, Paul writes about the suffering of the Christian, and how we are called to handle trials. He assures us that the Holy Spirit sends up our deepest hopes and fears on our behalf-ones that are too deep for us to have the words to express. He speaks of the strong hold God has on us; one that nothing can break. Then, in Romans 9, he humbles us to show us the way:

 You are only a human being. Who do you think you are to talk back to God? Does the clay say to the potter, “Why did you make me like this?” Doesn’t the potter have the power over the clay to make one pot for special purposes and another for garbage from the same lump of clay?  --vv.20-21

God has created us for a purpose, and He is the only one with the authority to define us. This truth applies to hard times we face. When tragedies happen in our lives, our role is not to question why, as hard as that may be. We are called to ask "How should I respond to this?".  The answer to "Why?" is, in short, "for God's glory". When we respond to tragedies with peace and steadfast faith, that behavior becomes a powerful witness for God. 


Perhaps this is not the answer we are looking for. Certainly, it's not the answer that solves all our problems. What's important is that it's the answer that helps us cope. We will still grieve, and feel sad, but we know that God will always be with us and will always give us what we need to conquer whatever is before us. All we have to do is trust Him.

I was reading in Galatians 4 this morning.
I am challenged by a phrase in verses 8-9.  I will paraphrase it like this:  In the past you when you did not know God, you were enslaved by all sorts of things that are make a very poor God. But now you have come to know God, or rather be known by God... how can you turn your back on Him and chase after those poor substitutes?

The phrase is "known by God."  What is the difference in knowing and being known?
I mean, I think often about knowing God.  There are many situations in the day where we consider who we know.  In times of temptation, times of doubt, times of joy, times of struggle... we think of who we know - in fact we lean and rely on God during such times.

How much more would we stay connected to God if we recognized and applied those few words?  The fact that you are known by God.  What does the weight of being known do for you?  How might that affect your tendency to sin?

Walk today knowing you are known!

"In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation." Psalm 5:3

When I last read that verse, especially the line "wait in expectation," I recalled a story of George Muller on a trans-Atlantic voyage. In the middle of the voyage the captain of the ship slowed the speed because of the thickness of the fog. Muller went to the captain to say that he needed to be in Toronto (or someplace) by Saturday and he had never missed an appointment in 50some years. The captain began to explain the foggy conditions, but Muller confidently replies that his eyes are not on the fog but on the God, his God, that can control the fog. He then requests that they go below to the chart room to pray. Muller prays a short simple prayer and as the captain is about to pray stops him saying, "Firstly, you do not believe that God will answer and secondly, I know that my God has already removed the fog. They go above and sure enough the fog has lifted.

You do not believe he will answer--that struck me hard and weighed on my mind for awhile. Through much of June and especially when the Waldo Canyon fire was ongoing, we were praying everyday for rain. Throughout it I thought, why the delay? Why no answer? Was it because I didn't really believe God would answer?  Eventually he did, but how do you cope when there seems no answer? Is your prayer merely words or is faith behind it? Questions I must ask myself often.