September 2005
Monthly Archive
Always Give Yourself Fully
Posted by Paul on 25 Sep 2005 | Tagged as: Cancer, Coffee Thoughts, Divorce, Encouragement, Family, Friends, General, Hope, Ponderings, Remembering
For over a week I have been reading I Corinthians 15:58 , over and over. The more I read it, the hungrier I become for the the Word of the Lord. A desire to serve Him more fully with the remaining time that is allotted me.
We are to give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord. To use the gifts and talents that He has given us to to touch others.strong>
Janice Elsheimer in “The Creative Call“, page 3, says “Our gifts are not from God to us, but from God through us to the world” and on page 5 she says “The Creative Call offers Christians a point of view and an approach that is consistant with Christs teaching. Instead of hoping that finding ourselves will result in practicing our art again, we need to realize that only through losing ourselves and becoming reliant on God can we discover how to use those gifts the way He wants us to use them.”
“We will find the artist God intends us to be when we empty ourselves of self and become open to His plan and inspiration of His Holy Spirit. Only then will we experence personal artist revival.”
I had the privilege on September 24th to attend a one day writers conference with the Christian Authors Guild and Janice taught the sessions that I attended and she was a source of inspiration and she illustrated well, The Creative Call, what it means and that in turn brought a sense of hope and excitement to me!
Which brings me to this verse:“Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” I Corinthians 15:58.
What it has been speaking to me, is that we can give ourselves fully, without reservation to the Lord, to be passionate in the gifts and talents He has put within us in order to use us as His living epistles. Walking and living in the reality of His word, of coming into an experimental relationship with our Father, the Master Artist.
He is portraying Himself through us as we give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord, knowing that our labor, that all that we do in the Lord is not in vain. That which He has begun in us, He will fully finish as we give ourselves fully to His creative call in our lives!
Let us respond to the touch of the Holy Spirit as He develops in us the gifts He has given us. That we will be the best in what we are called to.
Don’t you feel an unquenchable fire within? Our Father is wooing us and drawing out of us those seeds that He planted within us, that His Creative Call will bring forth that which He has called us to be!
Poetry In Motion, That’s What We Are!!
Posted by Paul on 23 Sep 2005 | Tagged as: Cancer, Coffee Thoughts, Divorce, Encouragement, Family, Friends, General, Hope, Ponderings, Prayer, Remembering
I have been reading “Harvest” by Chuck Smith and Tal Brooke and in Chapter Two: Drought Before the Harvest, on page 25, Chuck shares the following about Ephesians 2:10:["For we are God's [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].” Amplified Bible.]
“For Ephesians 2:10 tells us we are His “poema;” His workmanship or work of Art. God desires to express Himself in the lives of His people. We become the expression of God to the world, for is through what they observe in us that they get some idea about the nature and character of the one who fashioned us, the Artist. Thus God seeks to reveal Himself through me and through all genuine believers.”
“As I submit to God’s touch, He is able to express His poetry in and through me. This is a staggering thought, and an immense responsibility. And without His grace, it is impossible.”
Recently Donna of By Grace Alone and John M. Kennedy of Passion to Write have given me a new understanding of Poetry, thank you Donna and John!
When I read the above from Harvest, I was in awe of the Lord. That He has chosen us, to be His poema. That in His hands, we are all a work of art, an expression of Him. That He has chosen to reveal Himself through us to others. To reflect His handiwork.
His desire is that others will see in you, in me, the reality of who He is, that they would see the character of Christ within. That we are becoming poetry in motion, molded and shaped in the Hands of a loving Father.
Is it not amazing that my Father, our Father, can take the last three years of my life and use it to reflect the reality of who He is. That indeed beauty can come out of ashes. That which was meant to destroy has brought forth life.
That the Master Artist is using the canvas of my life, of your life, to touch others. He will use all that you and I go through to produce a work of art, to express His heart, to a world that is desperately in need of hope!
As we submit to our Father’s touch, He is able to express His poetry through you, through me. It is a staggering thought and an immense responsibility, but by His grace, we are becoming living epistles, written on by the Hand of God, to become His poetry in motion!
Timing!!
Posted by Paul on 20 Sep 2005 | Tagged as: Cancer, Coffee Thoughts, Divorce, Encouragement, Family, Friends, General, Hope, Ponderings, Remembering
Well, I am finally moved into my own room/study/office and it feels kind of nice to have my own room to hang my hat.
It is kind of nice to have a little quiet place, to relax, to think, write and meditate on the word.
I will have much to share over the next week or so, little things that the Lord has done and is doing and for that I am so very thankful.
If there is one thing that I have learned over the last three plus years is that timing is in the hands of the Lord. If we will but trust Him and allow Him to lead us and guide us through the valleys, we will see, that indeed, His plans are good plans.
Over the last three years I have gone through some real valleys in my life and some mountain tops and I have come to a place of realizing how precious those times with the Lord are, the times of intimacy, that enable us to walk with Him, for without that relationship, that intimacy and communion with the Lord, I would have perished a long time ago.
Learning to see with the eyes of the Lord, to allow the Holy Spirit to teach us through the things we go through prepares us for the walk that is set before us.
Then we become living epistles, written on by the Lord, that what was once theory becomes reality as it is written in our hearts and we are made pliable in the Hands of the Master Craftsman, who is molding and shaping us into those vessels that will truly reflect the Christ within, that our hope, our trust, our faith is in the finished work of the Cross!!
Rejoice my friends and know that the Lord has called us for a time such as this, to stand and be strong in the might and power of the Lord, that the life we live, we live in Him and the greatest mystery, is that in serving Him, we are set free indeed, to walk in all that He has for us.
Father, Your Are Here, Always!
Posted by Paul on 15 Sep 2005 | Tagged as: Coffee Thoughts, Divorce, Encouragement, Family, Friends, General, Hope, Ponderings
One of the things that I have learned this day, is He is here, always!
In the midst of the battle of the day, when it feels as if our strength, our hopes, our dreams are ebbing away, that our heart crie’s out, “Father, Father, I need you, I want you.”
We cry out, “Lord, I feel so alone, I feel as one cast away but yet I know in my heart, that you here, always here.”
“Lord, it does not matter what my mind says or what my heart feels, you at all time are always here, just a breath away.”
That gives such peace and rest to our heart, to our soul, to our spirit, to realize He is always here!
We all have days we want to pack it in, give it up, let go but we are not our own. We are His and our Father watches over us at all times. He is but a heartbeat away, waiting on us to call Him!
If you this day feel like you are at the end, look up, draw strength from the Lord, from the Father.
Allow the Spirit of the Lord to work in you and know that He, at all times, is here!!
Just To Let You Know
Posted by Paul on 13 Sep 2005 | Tagged as: Coffee Thoughts, Encouragement, Family, General, Hope, Ponderings, Remembering
Howdy Everyone,
Just thought I would let you know that rather than having two blogs, Hill Country Thoughts and Coffee Cup Ministry.
I thought, pardon the pun, I would just blend them together here at Hill Country Thoughts.
Better to keep it all under one roof!
“Ya Never Know!!”
Posted by Paul on 12 Sep 2005 | Tagged as: Coffee Thoughts, Encouragement, Friends, General, Hope, Ponderings
Last Saturday morning was a very interesting morning for me!
Got up early and headed to Starbucks for the Saturday morning fellowship with Mario, Andre, Jonathan and myself. As always it was a blessed time of sharing, exhorting and encouraging one another and sharing some laughs.
But what really made this morning special was that as I was getting up to get a refill, a couple of young girls, sisters, got real excited and said, “Mommy, Daddy, look a cowboy!” I nodded my head and said, “Yep, I am a cowboy, that I really was from Texas! They were excited because it reminded them of Texas where they have family members.
But that was not what made my day, it was when I was heading for my refill when a women said, “Hi Paul!” I said “Hi,” having no clue who she was or why she would know my name. So, I had a very puzzled look on my face until she said I am Yellow Rose. Right then and there I knew who she was.
She was one of my fellow blogger’s and writers. She and her family where heading out of town to a meeting and stopped here at Starbucks to get a cup of coffee and she saw me sitting over in the corner where I normally sit, fellowshipping with my friends and figured that there are not to many men, in Kennesaw, in Starbucks and of course I am pretty sure knew it was me because of my picture that is posted on Hill Country Thoughts.
So I was blessed to meet a fellow blogger, make a new friend and also had the honor of meeting Big Daddy, her husband and Bubba, her son. It was a joy to meet them all.
Thank you Yellow Rose for making my day and introducing yourself. Isn’t it just like the Lord to allow people to meet. We call them divine appointments!
So, if your ever in Kennesaw, Georgia and you pull into Starbucks off Highway 41, near Wal-Mart and see someone that reminds you of Friar Tuck, you know, from Robin Hood, wearing a cowboy hat, it’s most likely me. So make sure ya say howdy!
Till later,
Paul
