Hammer Strength!
Hammer Strength!
It was as if the two words leaped off the side of the weight-lift machine in the gym yesterday and arrested my attention. I couldn’t stop thinking about and feeling that, somehow, God was speaking to me through those two words. I mentioned it to my trainer, AJ. Wow! “The voice of the LORD is powerful” (Psalm 29:4) and we must always be attentive to however He chooses to speak to us! He spoke to Moses through a blazing fire in a bush that did not harm the bush. To Jeremiah, His word was like fire in his heart and bones! And when our very foundation and core are in the word of God, we can hear his powerful voice even in simple things, like a weight machine in the gym.
“Is not My word like a fire?” says the LORD, “And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” Jer. 23:29 NKJV).
Fire! 
No matter how holy we appear, each one of us has some impurities within us that work their way to the surface every now and then. We may act un-Christlike at times, say something, or do something we quickly regret. It’s the “trash” that we “accidentally” swept under the rug instead of into the trash can. But thank God for His word! If we hide His word in our hearts, like a fire, it will burn that trash before we get comfortable with it and begin to sin against God (Psalm 119:11). His word is like a fire! “Fix me, Jesus, fix me!”
Hammer Strength! 
At other times, we are confronted with some difficult situations—some issues that are tough and complex, some problems that are not easily resolved, because they are hard like rocks! You may be able to deal gingerly with some mild problems. But other issues are stone-cold and rock-hard! They can make you want to holler and throw up both of your hands! You can’t be gentle with them. You have to break some things up! But your strength indeed is small. It’s like trying to drive a nail into a board with your fist. Nope, that just won’t work. You need hammer strength to do that! Don’t cuss! Don’t throw a literal punch! Put the word on it! Hit it with the hammer strength of God’s word and break that rock into pieces! God said it! “[My word] is like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces.” As our founding pastor has often said, “Get you some God said!” Burn that trash and break up those rocks with the fiery, hammer strength of the word of God! Is this too elementary for you?
