The truth revealed as we read about Hazael also reminds us of David who became so angry and indignant when he heard about the awful behaviors of a rich person described to him by Nathan. Let me refresh your memory of the Biblical narrative.
The Lord directed Nathan to David at which time Nathan told him the following:
“There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”
David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.” Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!…”
Heart-deception made David quick to condemn another man’s sinful deeds and be totally oblivious to his own. Heart-deception told David all was well when God was in actuality displeased with him. Heart-deception blinded David to the digressive state of his own character. Heart-deception so deadened David’s soul that he did not realize God’s Spirit had departed from him.
The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?
Perhaps you have read or heard the legend told of a man who believed he was being pursued by a monster. His life was one catastrophe after another. Fire wood cut for the winter some how caught fire, the roof of his barn fell in, his cattle were dying and his land was eroding. The man believed the monster he would see in the dark evening shadows lived in a chasm near his farm and was responsible for his problems.
One night upon seeing the monster he cried out in anguish and attacked the form which in turn grabbed him and they began to wrestle. It was a terrible fight. The man was knocked down many times but managed to rise each time and finally with a great rush of adrenaline he slammed the monster down to the ground pinning it down and griping its throat with his hands. Just as the man drew his knife and prepared to kill this dark, ominous creature, clouds which had hidden a full moon moved and allowed light to shine brightly and the man finally beheld the face of his adversary. The face of the monster was his own.
What lucidly emanates from Scripture is that many of us, like David and Hazael, are not aware of the evil that lurks in our hearts. We do not want to admit, that at any given moment we are capable of committing the vilest of crimes. Yet, all around us are individuals who later, would not have believed they could have committed such horrendous acts. There are so many, many beacons who fell into evil, but who would not have thought it possible beforehand.
So what can be done about this seemingly undefeatable foe? What is the remedy? What is the cure? Is there any power to break the delusion; to expel the poison and save the soul?
Of course. God in His loving kindness and mercy provided us with the cure. He sent us a heart specialist; an expert in cardiovascular disease. He is the balm in Gilead. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. His blood is our heart regulator. Nothing can save us from ourselves except the blood of Jesus.
Rev. Saundra L. Washington, D.D., is an ordained clergywoman, veteran social worker, and Founder of AMEN Ministries. She is also the author of two coffee table books: Room Beneath the Snow: Poems that Preach and Negative Disturbances: Homilies that Teach which can be reviewed on her site. Her new book, Out of Deep Waters: My Grief Management Workbook, is expected to be available soon.
You are welcome to visit AMEN Ministries: Your Soul’s Service Station for spiritual refreshing, soul edification, browse our newly expanded mini shopping mall or review our recommended books you may want to add to your personal library.
Blessings to all!
Menopause commonly occurs when a women stops ovulating and her periods ceases. Most women reach menopause between 45 and 55 , with an average age around 50. But some reach it before 40, which is known as premature menopause or premature ovarian failure.
The first thing to note about menopausal symptoms is that there is a surprisingly long list of them, and that no list is really comprehensive, because every woman experiences menopausal symptoms in an individual way. Hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, a decline in libido and changes in the menstrual cycle are very common menopausal symptoms, but there are many others. Some very fortunate women experience these symptoms only mildly, or not at all, while for others the menopause phase can prove a very challenging stage in life
Emotional and mental symptoms are also very common, and can be very distressing. These may include mood swings, depression, irritability, difficulties in concentrating, mental confusion and memory problems.
A decline in libido is another very common menopause symptom. This may be exacerbated by vaginal dryness, and a thinning of the skin around the cervix, which can make intercourse uncomfortable.
Hormone Replacement Therapy HRT has been the standard of care for menopause for women since the 70’s. In fact, there are millions of women every year receive prescriptions for this treatment. However, in recent years this form of treatment has come under attack as it is being thought that it causes an increase in heart disease.
For women who are fearful of HRT as a course of treatment for menopause, there are other means of treatment. The most popular forms of alternative treatment involve the use of plants and vitamins to suppress the symptoms of menopause.
Find out more about alternative menopause treatments. And there benefits. For information and answers to your questions simply go to http://ment2pause.com/.
Robert Emler
Trains are something that British folk think as easy and speedy to use, there is no problems checking in, standing around to see your suitcase and going through complicated security checks when you are trying to get to Amsterdam. It is simply incredible. You just go into the correct station, step onto your rail platform and then you are away.
Trains are also quite carbon footprint friendly kinds of general public transport. This is because public transport may hold massive volumes of clients at any one time. By travelling so many customers compared to the massive number of automobiles it would require to transport them all, the carbon emissions is far smaller as a whole. Public transport is good compared to automobiles.
It is consistently going to be necessary to move from home to work by whichever modes of transport are likely and if this means travelling on public transport since it has a tinier emission than a plane, then this is a tremendous choice to make, some may say its a lovely choice. So it is achievable to enjoy a break by rail and continue to be be carbon footprint friendly. These days it is possible to go by train to the majority of destinations in the world including Spain.
So if you yourself desire to keep your carbon emission to a minimum, there’s no contest, going by train is super compared to by car. Going by public transportation is a pretty eco means of travel, and it is very easy to stay safe on public transport if train travellers use common sense. The next time you yourself want to go on holiday, see if you could use public transport or another sort of transport to reduce and cut down on pollution. A little research has identified that flying between London, Barcelona, and Brussels creates over twelve times more co2 emissions than travelling by the train, assuredly this is reason enough to travel by train, when passengers can. Discover eco travel with Breaks by Train.
Using the train for romantic trips is a nice way to remove some of your co2 emissions, and rail travellers may wish to bring that same green thinking towards your work commute to work establishment. Although travelling by public transport has become more accepted in the last 4 years, there is still a substantial mass of people that take their car to their work establishment.
