The Makeover Read Online Free PDF

his not out of fear
or even shyness, but a self-loathing that was so powerful, Paulo could almost
see it wrapped around her like a cloak.  So he’d pulled her to her feet,
smiled, and asked to help with her bags.  Paulo sensed she wouldn’t accept
because she couldn’t bear to be close to someone that was looking at her.
    Paulo wondered
about the girl as he left the building.  Even as he did, he marveled at
the Lord’s power. 
    “God, You are something
else.  I know You caused Cara to leave her bag at my house for such a time
as this, didn’t You?”  The night before, after the weekly group Bible
study Paulo hosted each Wednesday night, his friend had left a bag filled with
important papers at his home office.  Cara, his friend from his church,
had told him several times that she would simply drop by to retrieve her
belongings, but Paulo had felt compelled to offer to take the bag to her
instead.  Cara had told him to bring the bag by at eight-fifteen and Paulo
had agreed.
    Paulo didn’t
mind helping out friends, of course, but even he couldn’t figure out why it was
so important that he bring the bag to Cara rather than have her simply pick it
up.  He did live around the corner after all. 
    But he finally
understood.
    Paulo sang “How
Great is Our God,” softly, rejoicing in the Lord as he walked around the corner
to his brownstone.  Looking around the neighborhood, he saw a group of
young teenaged boys huddled by a bodega smoking
marijuana and loudly rapping to each other.  Sighing, Paulo inwardly
petitioned the Lord for these young men to one day hear the Gospel and accept
Christ into their hearts.  Outwardly, he smiled at the boys, nodded, and
said, “Hey guys, be careful out here.  Cops are roaming.  God bless
you.”
    “Good lookin ’ out, yo !” one of the
young men called out before taking a hit on the marijuana-filled cigar. 
    Paulo rounded
the corner.  “God, please protect them and forgive them.  They’re a
product of their environment.  Lead them to Yourself, Jesus.  Save
them all.  Let not one of them perish, before knowing and accepting, You,
Lord Jesus.  I ask for this in Your Name.  Amen.”
    He stopped at
Mexican restaurant to get his favorite veggie burrito and taco salad before
heading to his brownstone.  As soon as he got home, he washed up, turned
on 1170 AM to hear some praise music as he enjoyed his dinner.  He then
watched the news on CNN for about an hour.  Following that, he did his
forty-five minute evening workout consisting of three hundred pushups, three
hundred crunches, one hundred chin-ups, and twenty minutes on his elliptical
machine.  He took a shower and threw on a pair of shorts.
    As soon as
Paulo was done, he sat down in his prayer closet—the second-largest bedroom in
his duplex apartment—to spend his nightly prayer time with the Lord.
    The minute he
entered the consecrated room, Paulo felt himself in the presence of his
Savior.  He began to worship and praise the Lord for several minutes,
singing songs, and glorifying his God. 
    “Father, I
thank You for being You in my life.  Please forgive me for all of my
sins.  I ask You to lead me now in the Word.  What do You want to
show me?  Please confirm for me, Father, that what I think about that girl
is true.  Please confirm that You caused us to cross paths for Your divine
purpose.”
    And the Spirit
chose to speak to Paulo at that moment.  He led Paulo to Matthew 4:19 to
confirm what Paulo had felt the Lord speak to him when he saw the girl. 
“Follow me and I make you fishers of men.”  
    “Okay, God, so
You want me to minister to her?  Of course I am grateful that You would
use me, Your broken vessel, to stand in the gap.   Is that what You
want?  For me to stand and fight for this girl?”
    Paulo waited
until he felt led to turn to Ezekiel.  His eyes searched passage after
passage until the words in Ezekiel 22:30 seemed to jump off the page. 
 Paulo read, “I looked