Just wanted to let everyone know that all my new posts are now at:
Hill Country Thoughts A Coffee Cup Ministry
Everything from
2004
to
2011
is here!
Look forward to you checking in at
Hill Country Thoughts – A Coffee Cup Ministry!
Later, The Mayor 🙂
Paul
“In 2012 let us share the heart of the Father, to share the hope of the new life that we have in Christ!!”
“Don’t ever think that what you write or share is not important, for it is. There have been a number of times as I have visited or blogged by so many other blogs, that a word shared, a thought expressed, was the very word that I needed at that moment, at that time, that made me to realize that I was indeed hearing from my Father, that I was not alone, for others have walked this path also. So thank you my many friends for sharing, for being real, for allowing the Lord to use you to express His heart so many times.”
“You may never know who you have touched, or brought freedom to. That which you shared might be the key that opens the door of their hearts to the Lord, to received from Him, that which He has for them, as it causes them to open up to Him.”
“Don’t be afraid to write, to share, to speak, allow the Lord to use you as a key to open the hearts of others to receive the healing word, the healing power, the healing touch of the life, that breath from God that will breathe life into their hearts, to the spirit and bring restoration to them.”
“Thank you my friends, for being the hand of God extended, for sharing, for giving, even when you didn’t realize that you have given a word, whether written or spoken, that has rekindle the fire, the passion of the Lord within and causing me, as well as others to pursue the Lord with all that is with in.”
Later,
Paul
aka The Mayor 🙂
“Harsh words can hit and stick like shrapnel in the mind. Tragically a victim might spend the better part of a lifetime trying to get the brain to unload it. Whoever thought up the saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” ought to be drawn and quartered. Nothing could be further from reality. Unfair names and ugly words do harm us, and that harm can be permanent. We need to guard what we say about other people, especially our children and loved ones.” (Getting Through The Tough Stuff by Charles R. Swindoll, Page 27)
The above quote is spot on. It is something we really do need to realize. The power that is in the words we speak, the things that we say. They do effect others. They can do extreme damage to the heart and soul of a person.
Even when we know that these are often said in the heat of the moment and we know in our heart of hearts that they did not mean it, it still hurts, the words cut deeply and often takes time to heal
We all know that the tongue, is an unruly member that can get us into intense trouble. That can destroy others in a second if it is not kept under control.
The words we speak can crush another’s heart, their spirit. Learning to control our tongue, the words that we speak is very important.
I can attest to the fact that many in my youth, relatives, spoke words that utterly destroyed me within. Convinced me that I would never do anything, never accomplish anything and I believed that most of my life.
But my Father has made me realize that nothing in my life was an accident. That everything that has happen has gotten me to the place that He wants me. That He can and will finish that which He has purposed for me to do. That I am a pen in His hand. That He is teaching me to know Him. To know His heart and that He is teaching me to love others with His love.
It is only when we are brought to that place of realization, that the only way we can live, have purpose, is to become utterly and totally dependent upon the Lord.
It is then that the Lord can reach down and take this clay, this broken vessel and begin to shape it into a vessel that will bring honor to Him, that will glorify the Lord.
That we will begin to see ourselves as the Lord sees us. With eyes of love and compassion. That He builds us up in the spirit. He restores hope and lets us see with His eyes.
We are not failures. Oh, we have stumbled and fallen but our Father picks us up and says press on and press in. He gives us hope and He lets us know that we are indeed precious in His sight.
That the words, the things that were spoken, the areas of pain, of despair, of hopelessness, will be deflected as we lift up that shield of faith, as we put on the armour of God.
The Lord is returning the heart of the Father, He is bringing restoration to our whole being if we let Him, as we look upward to the hope that is in Christ and not inward to the failure of man.
We are not a mistake. We are chosen for a time such as this to remind others of the hope that is within, of the life changing power of Christ.
I trust my friends that what I am sharing with you makes sense, for I try to share from the heart of the Father and sometimes I feel like I have fallen so short but yet I know it is the Lord that is responsible for the results and what I often think won’t make sense, is what makes the most sense to others.
Our Father has a sense of humor. He loves it when we come into His presence and chat with Him. To instant message with the Lord. I know, I know, Paul, your stretching it. Am I?
I know that as I go through the day that there are thoughts going back and forth between my Father and me as He leads me through the day.
I am saying all of this to say, what we say, what we speak, what we listen to effects us and it effects others. That the words that we speak will be life or death, hope or despair and it is only as allow the Lord to change us, mold us, that we will be vessels of life to others as we speak and share from the wells of living water, as we share the Lord. As we build up, not tear down one another, but building up one another in the faith, sharing the reality of the Christ within.
Till later,
Paul
aka The Mayor 🙂
This post original shared March 2005
Write upon our hearts Father, write upon our hearts!
Take the pen of the Spirit and
write your words of life within!
Let that which we read, that which we write,
become a reality within!
Let us become living words, reflections of your heart,
living sacrifices, that allow that which you have written within, to be released for a time such as this!
Words of Life, of worship, of praise,
Words of deliverance, Words of healing and
restoration!
Words that will rise within, to be spoken forth.
Words that go forth, that will not return void, but
will be planted within those who have an ear to hear!
Let a sure word be written and spoken in the land, a word that will be fulfilled!
Father, we write, we declare your word, your promises and we say so be it Father, So be it!
Till later,
Paul
Originally shared November 2007
There are days when you wonder, why get up, why bother. Who cares?
Then in your heart you heart you hear “I Care”
You look around to see who just spoke out. To you it sounded like an audio voice. You kind of shake your head and say, “Nah, I just hearing things. I mean who really cares about me, about what is going on in my life and why does it matter”. Again, you hear that voice again saying,
“I care, I really care for you more than you will ever know.”
And then the Lord begins to speak to you and begins to share His heart with you.
“Even before the foundation of the earth I cared. Even in the garden I cared, though the ages I have always cared. I always loved my children. Even when they rejected me, I still loved them.”
“I loved them so much that I gave them my only Son.”
“I cared so much that I allowed Him to be nailed to the cross. He bore it all, He took your sins to the cross and with the blow of the hammer as the nails pierced His Hands, His feet, it all was taken to the cross and that day He bore it all. Every single sin, every betrayal, every hurt, every wound, He bore it to the Cross and the third day He arose and now He sets at my right Hand.”
“I care so much that when you come to me through my son, that I see you through His eyes. I see you as my children, whom I loved, who I yearn for, who I want to fellowship with.”
“I created you to be one with us, to have fellowship with. I created you for me.”
“I cared so much I sent my Son to redeem you and bring you back home to Me. Back to a place of fellowship, to a place of learning to know me as Abba Father!”
Till later,
Paul
Write upon our hearts, Father, write upon our heart, let your words find rest in the soil of our hearts, that the seeds that you plant will come forth and will be words of life, of hope, words that build up and not tear down, that bring hope to others.
Write deep upon our hearts! Go deep and uncover that which needs your touch, that you take the hurts, the wounds, the pains, and you waste them not, but rather you use them to bring glory and honor to your Name Father!
You have written that you have created us to reflect you, your image, that you have called us for a time such as this to be living words, living epistles, that you touch the world through the words we write, the things we speak, the songs we sing, the hope that we have in you, the Author and Finisher of our Faith.
We are never without hope Father, we are never alone, you are always near to us, to make us to be one with you in all things. You write upon our hearts Father, you write words of hope, of love, of what it means to be one.
Write upon our hearts Father, write upon our hearts, and let our stories be told, let the words we speak, the words we write, bring glory and honor, praise and worship to you Father!
Write upon our hearts, stories to be told, songs to be sung, words that will change the hearts of despair, of fear, hearts broken, let these hearts be restored, let hope be given and life brought forth from the words that you have written upon our hearts!
Till later,
Paul
As I was sitting here this morning reading the word I felt impressed to read Zephaniah 3:17 which reads: “The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a Mighty One, a Savior [Who saves]! He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest [in silent satisfaction] and in His love He will be silent and make no mention [of past sins, or even recall them]; He will exult over you with singing.” Zep 3:17 Amplified Bible
What a presence of the Lord I felt this morning, sitting here at the The Rev Coffee Roasters, drinking my coffee, meditating on the word and visiting with friends, old and new, who are wandering in during the course of the morning.
Right here, in the coffee shop, the Lord made His Word, alive, fresh, new to me this morning.
How awesome it is to know that the Lord, that the Creator of heaven and earth, in the midst of us is mighty. That as we go through this day, as we look to Him, He enables us to be strong in the midst of the battles of life, especially those times that we don’t understand the why’s or the how comes of things, He says simple trust.
He wants us to realize that He is mighty, not maybe, or could be, but that He is mighty, that He will save, He will deliver us. He will rejoice over us as we draw towards Him, and He towards us, making us to be one with our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ and allowing the Holy Spirit to work in our inner most being.
He really does take’s joy in us, He loves us, laughs with joy, He is ecstatic, when we come to Him in faith, trusting, knowing He is Father. Do you realize that He delights in you, as an individual, He delights and rejoices when you take time to come into His presence no matter where you are at.
It brings peace to the day, to the week. In the midst of life, in all that is going on, He is here. Allow Him to hear your hearts cry. He woo’s us, draws us to Himself and in that time, we truly have a time of fellowship, a time of laying our head as it where on His shoulder and hearing the heartbeat of the Father. It is during these times that we learn to communicate with Him
Take a moment today, to meditate on Zep 3:17. Can’t you hear Him at this moment, saying Alan, Rob, Stacy, Chuck, Loary, Chris, Joe, Anita and you, saying “I rejoice over you all this day. I love you with an everlasting love, an unchanging love and I take joy this day to call you my children. I will sing over you this day. I call you my own, my loved ones.”
What a way to begin the day!
May we in turn learn to rejoice in Him, to love as He loves, to rejoice over those who He has given us. He is teaching me to rejoice over my son Joshua, my daughters Gloria and Elise, my grand-children, Rebekah, Jordan and Keian, over those that He has brought into my life over the years, those at Cumberland Community, at The Rev Coffee Roasters, etc!
How about you, are you rejoicing over those whom the Lord has given you? He truly is teaching us to love with His love, to love Him, to love our families, our friends, to take joy in them.
Rejoice this day my friends! Rejoice in the everlasting love of the Father!!
For He rejoices over you!!
Till later,
Paul
Hill Country Thoughts 