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Archive for May, 2008

» In the bath room of an hotel: wc

May 24th, 2008 | Category: Uncategorized

© Photographer: Jeancliclac | Agency: Dreamstime.comIn the bath room of an hotel: wc

© Photographer: Jeancliclac | Agency: Dreamstime.comDescription:
In the bath room , washing hands

© Photographer: Jeancliclac | Agency: Dreamstime.com

© Photographer: Jeancliclac | Agency: Dreamstime.com

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» Aerosole Shoes

May 24th, 2008 | Category: Uncategorized

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» Caveman Living!

May 24th, 2008 | Category: Uncategorized

A spear whirls by his head with such force it created wind as it landed deep inside the palace wall. As the young man realized the spear was meant for him, he jumped up and ran out of the palace without saying anything. Sweat drenching his body, dust swirling up behind him, his heart pumping so fast he could see it pounding through his closes, the young man continues to run for the mountain area outside of town. As he begins to slow down, still exhausted from the threat to his life and the vigorous run he just made a young David comes to a cave to hide out for a while until the threat on his life has subsided.

Upon entering the dark cold depths of the cave, David finds a place to fall to his knees. Still weeping, confused as to why the King was trying to kill him and trying to catch his breath n between his thoughts David cries out,

“Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me. It is in You my soul take refuge. It is here I will take my refuge in the shadow of Your wings until the disaster has passed. I am here crying out to You, my God Most High, to my God who fulfills His purpose for me. It is You, Lord, who reaches down from heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me. You, my Lord, send Your love and faithfulness. I am in the midst of lions here. I am among ravenous beasts. These men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords with lies about me.

Be exalted, Elohim, above the heavens, let Your glory be over all the earth. When these liars spread a net for my feet, I was bent over in distress. These beast dug a pit in my path for me, but they ended up in the pit themselves.

Jehovah, my heart is steadfast towards You. I will sing and make beautiful music. Awake my soul, Awake you harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn with my praise in music to my God. I will praise You, O Lord, among the nations. I will sing of you among the people. Great is Your love, reaching to the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

Be exalted, Elohim, my Adonai. Above the heavens, let Your glory be over all the earth.”

At this point, I am sure a young and totally spent David, fell further to the ground to rest. Men, we find ourselves on run sometimes. Hopefully not literally as David did, but in our lives we will find ourselves in the middle of being on the run within ourselves. People accusing us falsely. Other after us. Bill collectors calling because we have found ourselves in a financial disaster with no vision of a way out. Guys, we can find ourselves in different corners of this life with spears hurling at our heads, but what will we do?

If we are truthful about our situations, we will understand that God is leading us to a special cave he has designed just for us. It is there we find refuge and security. It is in this quiet cave that we are able to gather our thoughts again and the ability to set quietly and her God speak. It is in this cave that some decisions are made about our situation. Will we retreat further into self-pity and allow ourselves to become depressed over it? Will we become so angry about our enemies attacks or it could even be anger with God for allowing us to be in that situation? In this case we might even try to get revenge upon our assailant. This usually only leads further down into a dark hole and sin that crushes all of our hopes and dreams. However, there is a third approach we can take to our time as a caveman. Stop and think for a moment who it is who lead us into the cave? God was the orchestrator of this entire event. In this cave He has a purpose for us there. Something we are to learn that we would not learn in posh, easy living, so, by allowing circumstance to evolve in our lives that pushes us directly towards a downfall and ultimately into a cave for refuge, where we find our God waiting.

This third approach is found in Psalm 57. As we read the account, which is the crying out to God that David did earlier in this article, although David was in distress and rightly so, he simply would not let himself get angry or depressed…he praised and worshipped God. David was thankful to God for His deliverance of him. He thanked God for reaching down out of heaven to save him. He praised Elohim, our Supreme Faithful Master, for His faithful, loyal love to him. This kind of reaction to such a dire situation is the healing we men need. It is the encouragement that spring forth new life to our weary souls. It is in taking a situation that was so near death and glorifying our God with it that helps us to catch a glimpse of how huge our God really is and little we really are. Yet, in our tininess, God still stoops down to save His chosen ones.

Guys, throughout this life, we will find all shapes and sizes of spears hurled at us. How are we going to react to it? I have a small tin plaque on my wall in the closet at my home. On it is a quote from John Wayne “Courage is when you are scared to death you still saddle up anyway”. In this cave, gentlemen, we may be scared sometimes. We may find ourselves trembling a bit from fear. However, we must force ourselves with the power of the Holy Spirit to turn towards our heavenly Father, cry out to Him for fresh new mercies each morning, and saddle back up to ride another day. This cave is not our home, guys. This cave is our university…it is our special place of learning from God Himself through His word. The cave experience is a place that we can bounce back from in order to face the enemy that would like to destroy us on a daily basis. Our families deserve for us to become a caveman for a while. It is to their benefit we go through these times. Is it easy? I should say with a resounding “NO” it is not easy. I would not pray to go through it again, however, I would not take a million dollars for the education received while in that cave either.

As David was in the middle of one of his most life changing, distressing times of his life, he chose to honor, praise and glorify God. I want to point out 10 ways David reacted to his disastrous situation.

1. He asked for mercy from God.

2. He took refuge in the shadow of God.

3. He cried out for God to fulfill His purpose in him even in the midst of his trial.

4. He recognized that his salvation comes from God.

5. He praised God for His steadfast and faithful love to him.

6. He puts the attackers and accusers on God’s shoulders.

7. David breaks out in praise and worship to God rather than self-pity or revenge.

8. He sets his mind on the things of God rather than his distressing situation.

9. David stresses the faithfulness and loyal love of God upon him even in this dire event in his life.

10. David trusted in his God-Elohim rather than in his own strengths and ability.

Men, we need to remember something about this entire event…it is not forever. David did not dwell in this cave forever. His become one of the greatest kings ever. He was a man after God’s own heart. He was a fierce warrior in times of war. He was a great leader for the Israel. However, his caveman experience was necessary so that he would lean hard upon God rather than himself. We need to learn to do the same. In our times of horrible distress, we must lean hard upon God, take refuge in the shadow of His wings. Be eager to grow spiritually in the faith through the word of God. Be still and know that He is God. Rather than fighting our situations, whatever they may be, we need to embrace it and seek the light of the glory of God’s face.

As we are able to see the light at the end of the cave we are in, we will find our lives forever changed. Hopefully, the change will be a good one. We are men in trenches everyday. We have to fight it seems to provide for our families sometimes at a great sacrifice, but take courage in our Lord, saddle up and face our lives with the assurance that God is with us. Ride out with praise and honor to our Almighty God and know that no matter the outcome of the situation, God is still great…God is still Almighty…God is still Sovereign…God is still reigning upon His throne. Nothing we do and nothing we say changes our Adonai.

-Scott Bailey 2008

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