July 2004
Monthly Archive
Divine Appointments!
Posted by Paul on 31 Jul 2004 | Tagged as: General
It always amazes how the Lord does things. How He reveals Himself and how He talks and confirms things to us!
This morning while visiting Proverbial Wife Blog, I was totally blessed as she wrote and shared about how the Lord uses divine appointments in our lives. Click on the title above and it will take you to her blog. A very good read!!
We have a tendency to call them “coincidences,” things that just happen, that way we can take it out of the hand of God. I don’t think so!!
I have had too “many conscience’s” in my life to know that they were events or actions in my life that got me to the place where I am now in my walk and relationship with the Lord!
Would I have chosen this path, no! Could there been another way, most likely but I do know because of the present events in my life, I am writing. That I am in the center of God’s will and that He is opening new doors in my life.
Would I be writing now if I hadn’t gone through what I have? Most likely not. It is out of the fire, the dealings in my life, that the Lord is removing the dross, that which is not of Him and that is making me into a vessel that can be used for His glory. As I look back, I see the many doors and opportunities that the Lord has open so that I could share, exhort, lift up others.
The Lord wants us always to be ready for the Divine appointments that He sets up in our lives, that no matter where we are, the Lord will be able to open a door for you to have the opportunity, like Proverbial Wife, to have your own mini-convention with the Lord as share with those that you come into contact with.
Keep those Divine appointments and allow the Lord to open the doors of opportunity for you.
I trust that the things that I share daily are things that are encouraging you in your walk of faith, that it will cause you to pursue the Lord with your whole heart, with your whole being. That you will find strength to walk the path that you are on and that you will have many Divine appointments with the Lord!
Till later,
Paul
Sitting Here, Wondering?
Posted by Paul on 31 Jul 2004 | Tagged as: General
Sitting here on the front porch listening to the sounds of the night, feeling the cool breeze of the wind and just observing the brightness of a full moon and how awesome it is.
I was sitting here wondering, Lord? What do I write, what do I share tonight, what is on your heart?
The thing that comes to mind tonight is how dependent I am on the Lord. How he has become a part of my life, that He sustains me and gives me the strength to walk beyond what I am able.
That He helps me to deal with the heart issues, with the memories that flood my soul and causes me to cry out why, even when I know why. There is a deep groaning within that cries out to my Father, knowing that as each thing is brought to the surface, that it will be expose and dealt with and then healing applied.
There is a cry within that wants to know the Lord face to face, that we can come into that place of truly knowing our Father, knowing Him now.
That is one of the main things that the Lord is impressing me with tonight, is that He truly wants us to know Him, now, in this present world, that we can walk in that which He has accomplished upon the cross. He is not afar, He is here now, ever present to listen as we come before Him.
He bids us to come, to break the bread of life with Him, let it become part of us, let Him write His word on your heart, on your mind, on your spirit. Dwell in the word, ponder and meditate on that which He shows you and let it become part of your walk here and now and allow the Lord to teach us to have a child like faith that simply believes what the Lord has spoken.
He bids us to come into His presence. He will draw you towards Him and reveal Himself to you. Draw close to the Lord and He will draw close to you!!
Till later,
Paul
A Gift From God!!
Posted by Paul on 29 Jul 2004 | Tagged as: General
Sometimes it is in the simple things of the day that the Lord will reveal Himself to us. It is often times in ways that surprise us.
As the storm clouds rolled in, with the thunder, lighting and rain I shut down my computer and a number of other things and then realized how quiet things got. That even in the midst of the storm, there was a stillness, that it was soothing and calming.
The Lord made me realize that this calmness, this peace, this rest was a gift from Him. That I could just enjoy a time of sitting in His presence, sitting here on the porch, allowing the Spirit of the Lord to speak to my spirit and bring a calmness to my inner most being, to enjoy the Lord and allow Him to minister to me, as I minister to Him with a heart of worship, of praise, of adoration, for that which He was doing in my life and in my heart at this moment and time.
The Lord wants to know our heart and He wants that fellowship. To come and sit in His presence and allow Him to speak, to learn to be still and know that He is God.
Someday’s, we just need to respond to the Lord when He woo’s us to that quiet time, that we learn to hear His voice and when He speaks to us in that still small voice, we say, here I am Lord.
It may take a few times, but we will learn to hear His voice, we will learn to be attune to Him so that even in the midst of the storms, we can hear that still small voice and say here I am Lord.
And when we do, He will speak to us, to our hearts, He will open His word and make Himself known.
Be still and know that He is Lord!
Till later,
Paul
What Is Our Delight?
Posted by Paul on 28 Jul 2004 | Tagged as: General
I love the Psalms of David. I think I could dwell in the Book of the Psalms all the days of my life .
David, a man, with a heart after God, who stumbled, who made mistakes, who fell at times, but was quick to repent, to turn to God, to turn to His Father and ask forgiveness and to move on.
He was a man like us. I think that is why we as men and women, young and old can identify with Him because he was like us. He had times of fear, times of joy, times of doubt, times of praise and worship, times of falling on His face before the Creator of Heaven and Earth. He always turned back to God.
In Psalms 1:1-3 in the Amplified Bible David says blessed, happy, fortunate, enviable, prosperous is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly, following their advice. Rather he delights and desires the law, the word of God, he is one who walks in the ways of the Lord.
He goes on to say that we are to meditate on the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God, that we are to ponder (my favorite word) and study the word habitually, that we are to dwell in the word, in His presence, that the word becomes a reality in us, that in the word of the Lord we find freedom, understanding, knowledge.
That as we come to the Lord with an open heart, as we yield to the Spirit of the Lord, that He will reveal Himself to us, often times in simplicity so that we can apply the word of God to our lives. That it is our operating manual.
He goes on to say, that we shall be like trees, planted and tended by the streams of water, the presence of the Lord, that which will refresh us, will give us understanding, that our minds, our hearts, our soul and spirit will be refreshed by the water of the word.
As we spend that time with the Lord, as we ponder His word, it will bring forth fruit in due season, and it will be life to others as we share those things that the Lord has made real in our lives as we walk with Him, as we go through the trials of life, the dealings, as we mature little by little, we will be able to share with others that which has been made real in our life, not theory but the life changing power of the word of God.
His word will not fail, and we will be brought to maturity, but that comes by delighting ourselves in the Lord, in His Word and in His presence and learning to be real in the Lord and to share that reality with others.
Let us take time to delight in the Lord, to delight in His Word. Let us exhort, lift up and encourage one another, let us ponder what it means to know Him, to know the Lord, to come to a place of intimacy, of allowing the Lord to reveal Himself daily to us as we come into His presence.
Let His Word be as a seed planted by God and watered by the Holy Spirit, that it will come forth in power and strength and as a sweet fragrance in our lives, that will draw others to want to know what it is in us that gives us the strength to walk the path that we are on.
Till later,
Paul
Gifts and Talents!
Posted by Paul on 27 Jul 2004 | Tagged as: General
I am in the process of reading “The Pursuit of God” by A.W. Tozer.
In Chapter Two, page 28, he makes the following remark concerning our gifts and talents. He says, “Our gifts and talents should also be turned over to Him. they should be recognized for what they are, God’s loan to us, and should never be considered in any sense our own. We have no more right to claim credit for special abilities than for blue eyes or strong muscles.” “For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive” ( I Cor 4:7)
To realize that all we are and all that we ever will be, comes from the Hand of God. That the gifts and talents that He has given us are to be given back to Him, to allow Him to teach us to use what He has given us to bring glory to His name.
That if we sing, let us sing unto Him, let us raise our voices in praise, in worship, in adoration of the Most High, that no matter what kind of music we are into, that we are into it for Him and Him alone.
If we write, let us write to lift up the name of the Lord, to share the heart of God, to allow Him to use us in whatever genre He wants us to write, let us to it to the best of the abilities that the Lord has given us. Let us be the best in whatever He sets before us to do.
If we play instruments, again, let us do it as unto the Lord, no matter what kind of music it is, are we doing it as unto the Lord. Are we given Him the credit and the glory and the praise for the gifts and talents that He has given us?
We are not to bury the talents and the gifts. We are to give them back to Him, so that He can give it back to us, as we realize, that they are His in the first place. We are to give out of what has been given us.
In whatever gifts we are given, let us use them to the fullest. We are not all called to write, to sing, to play musical instruments. We might be carpenters, doctors, lawyers, a mother, a father, wherever we are and whatever we are doing, let us do it for the Lord, knowing that He will bring forth that which He has put within and that He will continue to work in you His purpose.
We are to dream dreams, to believe God and trust that which He has begun in us, He will finish, so press in and lay hold of those things that God has spoken to you. Allow faith to rise up within and believe. He knows the desires of your heart. He wants us to come to Him, to seek Him, to know Him and to be one with Him, so that He can develope the gifts and talents that He has planted within us.
We are all called to be His disciples, His ministers. He said we are a royal priesthood, a chosen generation, that we are to follow Him, to allow His gifts and His talents to be seen in us as He molds and shapes us into whatever instrument He wants us to be in His Hands. That we will be conformed to Him!
Till later,
Paul
Pondering Again
Posted by Paul on 27 Jul 2004 | Tagged as: General
As I was rambling through blogland today, I stopped at one of my favorite reads, Mr. Standfast and his theme of The Spacious Place got me to thinking and also got me to think about that word ponder again.
Bob said at the end of his blog, in reference to the theme of The Spacious Place that recurs in Psalms 18, 31 and 118. He says, “ I ‘m going to be thinking about this for awhile. I ‘am going to to be blogging about it, about Life “outside ourselves” and about how the Kingdom of God is that spacious place.” As he says, this is for him an investigation, a pondering. He says come along with me, if you like and we will ponder together.
Being a good Texan, though a transplanted one, the word ponder caught my attention all over again and I plan to follow along with Bob and see where it goes, what insights the Lord might give us as we ponder His word together.
So just what does it mean to ponder? Back in May I looked up this word ponder and made some comments about it. It means to consider deeply, thoroughly, to weigh carefully with the mind, to meditate and to consider and not only that, but to apply the word to our heart, our mind, our spirit, allowing the Lord to write His word, His thoughts upon our hearts and giving us understanding as we seek to know Him even more through the study of His word.
So if you like, you are invited to join me as I join Bob in what seems like an adventure with the Lord, for there is nothing more the Lord loves to do, than to reveal Himself to us as we come into His word and into His presence, so that we can draw closer together in Him.
I want to thank Bob, Mr. Standfast for inviting us along.
Till later,
Paul
