May 2005
Monthly Archive
Are You Willing?
Posted by Paul on 28 May 2005 | Tagged as: General
Are you willing to lay it all down?
Are you willing to give back, that which is not yours in the first place?
Are you willing to give it all back? Ministry, relationships, family, friends?
Are you willing to say Lord, here I am?
Are you willing to say Lord, without you I am nothing?
Without you, I am not the father, the husband, the wife, the friend, or the minister, or the writer, that I should be
Without You, I am nothing at all
But With You Lord:
We can be the father, the husband, the wife, the minister, the messenger, the servant, the friend, the brother, the writer that we should be.
Recently a dear friend shared with me what I already knew, that I needed to give it all back to the Lord, especially that which I called ministry, for it was not mine in the first place.
I sought the acknowledgement of man, I sought acceptance in a title, that was not really mine. I tried to fill a void in my life that only God could fill. I had the title but not the power that went with it. My life up till three years ago did not really reflect it.
I did not have the intimate relationship with the Lord that I should have had. Oh I knew the Lord, He blessed me many times but I still was not living in the fullness of what I was sharing.
Sometimes, things happen in our lives, to help us to see. The Lord gives us friends who are willing to speak the heart of God, even when it isn’t easy to do so.
I have come to a place, where I must laid it all down and give it back to the Lord. I have come to a place of letting go and letting God have total and complete control. It all had to be laid on the altar, not to be picked up, but given to Him with no strings attached.
For it is when we are stripped, of all that we are, all that we ever knew, that we can be pliable in the hands of a loving God, a Heavenly Father, who wants to mold us and shape us into instruments that can be used in His hands.
That will share from the heart, not from the mind, from the spirit, from a relationship, from a knowledge of Him, not just about Him. As we go through the crucible of life, as we go through the fires, the trials, we are made stronger, not weaker. He brings us to a place where we can say, not my will, but Thy will be done.
As the heat is applied, the dross, the impurities, are brought to the surface and removed and it is then that we begin to walk in the ways of the Lord. Being conformed to Him, molded and shaped, ready to be poured out.
It is as we yield to Him, as we give Him a heart of worship, of praise, that we will enter into His purposes.
We need to give it back, give it all back!
Till later,
Paul
First Love Lost?
Posted by Paul on 25 May 2005 | Tagged as: General
To abandon, to dissert, to forsake, to remove, to give up, resign, relinquish, forsake, one who quits the service without permission and in violation of his engagement!
What does this have to do with love, especially first love? Jesus makes the following statement in the book of Revelation: “But I have this [one charge to make] against you: that you have left (abandoned) the love you had at first [you have deserted me, your first love.]“ (Revelation 2:4 – The Amplified Bible)
Charles “Chuck” Swindoll makes the following statement “…Jesus said, in effect. You left that love. You once had a love that was incorruptible, but you abandoned it. You once enjoyed a devotion that was constant, meaningful, satisfying. In fact, the warmth of your love transformed your thinking and your attitudes; it revolutionized the way you related to me, to your heavenly Father and to your brothers and sisters. But you cooled off.” (So You Want To Be Like Christ – Chapter 1 Page 7)
Sometimes it so easy to be sidetracked by the things of life, the things that we go through, that we lose sight of what it means to be in love with the Lord. We lose that passion, that hunger for the word, for the presence of the Lord. The zeal is gone and and the sad thing is, we don’t even realized it until it is almost too late.
As I look back now. I don’t regret what I have gone through in the last three years because it has brought be back to the center of God’s will for my life. He has and is restoring my first love for Him. Oh, I am sure that there was a much easier path for me to have taken, but what has happen in my life, is what it took to get my attention.
That in loosing all, I have gained much. Through the trials, the surgeries, the divorce, the Lord reached out and drew me back to that first love relationship with Him, to begin to see things through His eyes. To have a new appreciation of my children, grand children, of all those in my life past and present.
As I began to focus on Him I began to see more clearly. He began to open my heart and life again, to reveal things that needed to be changed, removed. Things that hinder my relationship with Him, as well as with others.
It is so easy to take things for granted, whether it be people, things or the Lord. We become complacent in our relationships. We forget the “little” things in our relationships. The importance of the word love, or a hug or the encouragement that we give one another and then one day we wake up and wonder, what happen, how can this be?
In Revelation 2:5 we are told to remember. Think back, repent, change the inner man to meet God’s will. We are are told to remember the love, the passion that we had for the Lord. Allow the Holy Spirit to rekindle that fire, the passion for Him. To hunger after the word, the presence of the Lord.
Let us learn to dwell in that presence of the Lord. To abide in Him. That we can have an attitude of worship, of praise. That we can walk with the Lord daily in this present world. He is not a Father who is afar off. He is as close as we want Him to be. He desires our fellowship, our communion with Him. He delights, takes joy in us. He has chosen us, called us for a day such as this, that others might see the reality of the Christ within.
The Lord is calling us back, calling you, calling me, back to a place of intimacy, of a place of knowing Him, not just about Him. He is calling us back to a relationship, where He will reveal Himself to us!
He is calling us back to that First Love!
Till later,
Paul
In The Midst Of Battle, Joy Unspeakable!!
Posted by Paul on 20 May 2005 | Tagged as: General
Today was an extremely tough day. A day that I felt like I was fighting for my very life. A spiritual warfare was taken place. I felt as if I was at the very bottom and I couldn’t reach up. That I was slipping and just hanging on by the tips of my fingers. I was an emotional wreck!
But in the midst of this, the Lord revealed Himself to me. He spoke to me through the pen of another!
My friend, Vicki at Window To My Soul in her post Those Brushstrokes of Joy said: “Whatever you face, I say YES. God will be real. The God of all hope will do just as He promised. He will wipe away every tear, and hold you close until there are no more tears. He will see you through. For the soul who believes In Him, He will open the window of your heart and begin to paint it with soft, breathtaking, brushstrokes of joy. A hush will fall over your heart. You may not understand it, you may not be able to describe it, but you’ll definitely know the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
As I read that I began to hear the Lord speak to my heart: “Paul, whatever you face, I say to you, I am real. I am the God of hope and I will do as I promised Paul. I will wipe away every tear and Paul, I will hold you close till there are no more tears. I will see you through because you believe in Me. I will open the window of your heart and I will paint it with soft, breathtaking brushstrokes of joy. A hush and a peace will fall over your heart. Even though you don’t understand it and you may not be able to describe it Paul, you will know definitely that my joy is your strength.”
As I read that over and over, tears began to flow and I know that my Father choose to speak to me through Vicki’s post. She was obedient to share that which the Lord put on her heart and in doing so she touched my heart with the Spirit of the Lord and I know that it touched others.
As I did, read it again my friends, put your name in my place and allow the Lord to touch your heart. You will know that the joy of the Lord is your strength in the midst of whatever it is your going through. That in the midst of the battles, in the trials of life, the joy of the Lord will be your strength.
Thank you Vicki for opening the Window To My Soul and sharing that which touched others!
Till later,
Paul
In Worship, Release!
Posted by Paul on 18 May 2005 | Tagged as: General
Tonight at our Life Group, The Boomers, there was a real sense of the presence of the Lord. As we began our study of Luke.
As Gregg shared, I sensed a stirring in my spirit, that tonights study was going to challenge us. That it would take us out of our comfort zone and that it would require something from each of us.
As we began to interact, to study, to share, I sensed a revelation of the word, of the Lord, that each of us were seeing different aspects of the verses that we were studying in Luke Chapter four concerning the temptation of the Lord in the wilderness.
One of the things that satan was trying to do was to get Jesus to worship him, because he knew that in going to the cross, Jesus would fulfill the word and satan’s fate would be eternally sealed.
As we studied this, Gregg tied this in with the thought concerning worship. How satan wants to do the same with us, to get us to worship him, rather then the Lord.
What does it mean to worship God, to worship the Lord? What is accomplished, what is the Purpose, why are we doing it and what is our motivation? Is it to be a servant or to get what we want, rather than what the Lord wants in our lives.
Why do we go through all that we go through? Is it not to help us to grow in the Lord? That we endure the battles, the trials so that the character of Christ is revealed in us, as we go from the realm of theory, to the realm of reality, that we truly can walk in the ways of the Lord.
Satan tries to trivialize worship because he knows the power that is in worship and he desires that worship. As we begin to worship the Lord, as we enter into praise, we are released from the bondages, the fears, the anxiety and it sets us free to allow the Holy Spirit to work in us, to remove things, to heal wounds, to show us how to walk in the fullness of the Lord.
In worship, the bonds of the enemy, the shackles are broken!
Let us worship Him my friends. Acknowledge His presence in your life and celibate the peace that comes from knowing we can dwell daily in His presence. That we can abide in the presence of the Lord. He wants us to realize that we can have that attitude of worship, praise, and prayer as we go about our day.
In His presence, in worship, comes freedom to be a servant to all,
Till later,
Paul
Whose Driving?
Posted by Paul on 17 May 2005 | Tagged as: General
It is so hard to take out hands off the steering wheel of our lives and allow the Lord to do the driving.
Often we want to say, “Lord, don’t you think we should take this road, instead of the other one? You know the other road seems pretty bumpy to me and I am not so sure I want to go that way. Are you really sure Lord?”
And the thing is, that in our heart of hearts we know that He would not lead us down any road or path that we could not travel because He has already prepared the way before us and we know that we will be made stronger by the things that we endure, that we go through, that they are just for a season.
We know that as we go through them, that the character of Christ is being formed in us. That He has made us to be overcomers. That we can and will prevail in Him.
Since last Monday, May 9th, I have not picked up a pen. I left it lay there as I went through things in my life, things that the Lord was touching, healing, closing wounds and revealing others that needed His touch.
I told the Lord that I didn’t want to write for the sake of writing. I want to write because that is what He wants. He knows my heart is to be a ready writer, a pen in His hands.
He has put me in a place where my dependency is totally on Him. That I am to look to Him and that is a very scary but hopeful place to be. To know that He is the all sufficient one. He is my provider.
I ask my friends that you would pray for open doors of ministry, of provision, of guidance for Hill Country Thoughts.
I know that my father’s plans are good plans and He has given me a new passion, an unquenchable hunger for His Word, His presence and He is giving me a passion to write.
It is only when we are consumed of Him that we find the strength to walk in His ways. He wants us to share that which will strengthen others in their walk with Him.
Let us share the bread of life, let us share the Lord Jesus Christ and let us follow the road that He has set before us.
Till later,
Paul
