The Makeover Page 3

  “So this is about looks?” Phoenix heart began disintegrating in her chest.

  Cedric froze. “No, I mean…”

  “What did you mean?” Phoenix came even closer.

  “Well, I—”

  “Just tell me the truth!” Phoenix slapped his face.

  Cedric pushed her hard. “Look, I told you about that hitting mess. I’m out of here!”

  Phoenix grabbed his arm. “Don’t you walk away from me! You’re the one who hurt me. How dare you walk away from me? Stop being a punk and tell the truth, for once. Why did you cheat on me? Why did you do this? Because of how she looked?” Phoenix was screaming again so close that her nose bumped his. “Tell me, you punk!”

  “Yes!” Cedric bellowed into Phoenix’s face. “Yes! Alright? Yes! I got tired of looking at your ugly, fat behind! Happy now?”

  And as they squared off, Satan watched, gleefully, as the events unfolded. He was glad that he had caused Cedric to speak such hurtful words to Phoenix. Frankly, he was annoyed that Cedric had taken so long to destroy what little confidence Phoenix had left. It was only fair that he help Cedric along. Surely, after Cedric had spoken those hateful words, this Phoenix, would be pushed over the edge. But Satan knew it would take much more than that to destroy the girl. Satan commanded his minions to begin their work. The minions surrounded Cedric and Phoenix, cackling and pointing at Cedric’s bewildered expression and Phoenix’s glazed shock. Upon Satan’s command, each minion took their places within Cedric and Phoenix.

  It would not be enough for their relationship to merely end, Satan mused. No, he had to destroy their relationship and destroy Phoenix along with it. This was the most important part of his plans. And he had to do it now because God was always lurking and interfering with his plans.

  And it was Satan’s plan to get to Phoenix before God did.

  Chapter 2

  In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father

  (Matthew 5:16)

  Paulo saw the girl and knew that the Lord God had placed her in his path. The minute he looked into her eyes, it felt as though he had known the woman his entire life.

  Paulo, a man who had been walking fully with Jesus for the past ten years, had learned to recognize the Lord’s voice. By God’s grace, Paulo had survived the hard truths and lessons needed to mature him in his faith. And he was still growing in that faith. The Lord had trained Paulo, over the years, to use the gifts he had received as a prayer warrior and intercessor for God’s people. Serving for many years in his church’s Intercessory Prayer Ministry, he’d learned to stay in constant communication with the Lord. As a result, Paulo had learned to listen for the many ways the Holy Spirit of God chose to speak to him. He had also come to identify the Spirit’s promptings, nudges, and violent churnings –reserved for when he had stepped into a trap, was in the middle of a spiritual battle, or was being convicted of sin by the Lord. Paulo had grown to enjoy the electric tingles he felt whenever God allowed him into His presence. He had also learned to listen for God in His Word, as he searched the scriptures for revelations from Him each day.

  Most of all, Paulo had learned to obey God’s voice, no matter how the Spirit spoke to him.

  The moment Paulo looked at the disheveled woman with the beautiful, sorrowful eyes, he felt the Spirit speak His Word into his heart. Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.

  Paulo knew it wasn’t time to start sharing tracts from his church or telling the woman about the wonderful gift of salvation. Paulo had learned the hard way to wait on the Spirit to lead as he began an assignment from the Lord. His job was to extend kindness to the woman who looked like she wore the weight of world on her shoulders.

  Paulo’s heart churned as he tried to make eye contact with the woman, when he’d helped her to her feet. He discerned that her eyes refused to meet 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 for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn't have to destroy the land, but I found no one.”

  Paulo waited as the Spirit of God gave him revelation as to how this Word applied to the girl’s unique situation. Paulo felt the Spirit telling him that God would be using him to fight for the girl, to restore her to righteousness…that
there was no one else in the girl’s life that would stand up and fight for her in the spiritual realm. The girl was alone, spiritually and socially, and needed someone to help her. Paulo understood that the Lord was commissioning him to pray for the girl that she would receive salvation, but would also use him to help the girl in some other ways.

  “Is that all You want, Lord? For me to pray for her? I don’t want to run ahead of You. We both know what happened before when…”

  But the Spirit wouldn’t allow Paulo to bring up the past. Paulo had already been forgiven for his mistakes and the Lord had already cast his failures into the sea of forgetfulness. God confirmed this fact by leading Paulo to read a scripture he had been reminded of time and time again. His eyes fell on Romans 8:1-2 that stated, “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.”

  Paulo chuckled ruefully as his heart swelled with love for his Savior. “Thank You, again, Jesus. Now about the girl…?”

  The Lord confirmed for Paulo that He was leading Paulo into battle for the girl’s soul as he read the passage in Ephesians 6 that discusses spiritual warfare. But the Lord also confirmed at some point, Paulo would be called to minister to the girl. Paulo read out loud from 2 Timothy 2:24-26, “A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people. Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth. Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants.”

  Paulo was humbled this time as he reread the words three more times. Although the Lord had kept him from wallowing in self-pity about his past failures, He was still merciful enough to remind Paulo of how to avoid them.

  Paulo swallowed. “Yes, Father. I know. I need Your help in this area. I do tend to get…harsh when people don’t get the truth right away. I get so frustrated because it’s obvious what You’ve done and who You are. It’s just so bizarre how people will reject You and...”

  It was Me who opened Your eyes, My son. It was Me who called you out of darkness. You used to reject Me too, or have you forgotten?

  Paulo swallowed in shame as the words washed over him from a deep place within his spirit. “Yes, You’re right, Father. Forgive me. Being a hypocrite again. Father, help me with my pride issues, please. And please give me Your grace and patience this time. Please fill in the gaps where I am lacking. It’s not by my own strength, power, or might that this girl will be saved. It’s by Yours. Don’t let me get arrogant, impatient, or pushy this time, God. Cause me to do this exactly as You want. Please Jesus, help me to be fruitful in carrying out my duty as a Christian.”

  And the Lord led Paulo to pray and prepare for the battle. That night, Paulo began, as led by the Spirit of God, to pray for the woman’s soul and salvation. He prayed for her for the next few days. The woman stayed on Paulo’s mind constantly, the burden to pray so overwhelming that Paulo began to lose sleep. He sensed that she was in danger, but did not know exactly what was happening. Paulo was concerned but not afraid, because he knew that God knew, even if he did not.

  On day seven, however, the Lord began to take the prayers to another level. He commanded Paulo to begin a seven-day fast for the girl, and even began waking Paulo up to pray at odd hours of the night. Sometimes the Spirit would put a burden on Paulo to drop everything during the day, and it didn’t matter if Paulo was in the middle of a conversation, on the phone, or meeting with a client. And there were times when Paulo was tired. And he was hungry.

  On day nine, Paulo became everything he didn’t want to admit he still was as a Christian. Satan, having caught wind of God’s plan, began to taunt Paulo in his mind. Paulo began grumbling about the tasks that the Lord called him to. He was frustrated. Annoyed. Tired.

  And what he wouldn’t do for a nice veggie burger and sweet potato fries?

  But he had to endure the seven-day fast from solid foods, confine his meals to soups, vegetable juice, and water. He had five days to go in the fast and he had visions of fried chicken dancing in his head. He wanted to serve the Lord with joy and gladness in his heart, but it was gone. There was no point in hiding his feelings from God because God knew his heart.

  “But God, I can’t take it anymore. It’s like the third night You’ve gotten me up at three in the morning to pray for a girl I don’t even know. And I am starving, Lord. Sorry, but it’s true. What’s going on here?”

  And the Lord led him to James 5:15, “And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.” Paulo’s eyes traveled further down to verses 19 and 20, “my brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth, and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.”

  Then visions of Jesus being whipped and kicked and nailed to the cross filled Paulo’s mind and Paulo was humbled. “How could I complain after what you’ve done for me, Jesus? I am so sorry.”

  And he got out of bed, fell to his knees, and let the Holy Spirit use him to intercede for the woman in a prayer in tongues. Paulo did not know what he was praying about, or what the Lord was battling in the spiritual realm, but suddenly he was overcome with gratitude that God would use him— a foolish, selfish, broken man—to help someone in need. Paulo wept when the Lord was done leading him in the spiritual battle. Suddenly a vision of the girl, lying on a heap on the ground, surrounded by bottles of liquor filled Paulo’s mind.

  Exhausted from the two-hour prayer in the spirit, Paulo collapsed on the floor and prayed, “Save her, Lord,” repeatedly. It was all he could say, all he had the energy to pray, but he was sure it was enough. He had learned that God didn’t need many words for a prayer to be effective.

  God just needed faith.

  The following day, Saturday, Paulo had plans to take his usual Saturday jog at his favorite park in Washington Heights. Afterwards, he planned to clean his apartment and his office on the ground floor, do laundry, and meet some friends for a birthday gathering.

  But God had other plans for Paulo. He sequestered Paulo into a nine hour prayer and scripture battle that caused him to fall asleep in an exhausted hump on the floor of his prayer room.

  The following day, during church, Paulo heard a sermon about how it was the job of every Christian to be fruitful and to be ready for God’s use at all times. Paulo’s determination to fight for the girl, as led by the Holy Spirit, was renewed.

  He decided to make extra effort to surrender without complaint. He decided to rely on God’s strength rather than his own. Paulo, at this point, was praying every five minutes during the day. His strength was sapped, but God’s strength carried him.

  On day thirteen, Paulo began to sense breakthrough for the girl. His prayers began to change. He knew, somehow, that he would be seeing the girl soon. He began to petition the Lord to reveal to him how He wanted Paulo to proceed. That Wednesday night, he asked members of his weekly Bible study to pray for the girl he had “bumped into in Cara’s building” and continued to let the Spirit lead him.

  On day fourteen of his prayer battle, Paulo’s seven-day liquid-only fast ended. As he scarfed down his dinner— a veggie lasagna from his favorite Italian restaurant—Paulo suddenly began to see that the Lord was going to use him to help the girl change her life, even as he ministered the Gospel of Jesus Christ to save her soul.

  “How, Lord? Please reveal to me how You want to use me in this woman’s life?” Paulo asked then and kept asking throughout the day.

  But the Lord was silent on the matter. Instead the Lord continued to lead Paulo in prayer for the salvation of the girl, for healing of her heart, mind, and body. He prayed for the restoration of God’s
plan and will for the woman’s life. Paulo also prayed for his own patience, compassion and faith. He prayed to be a light and a witness to the girl, a person who provided kindness and love, that the girl would experience the love of God through his actions as well as through his ministering words.

  And seventeen days after seeing the woman in Cara’s building, Paulo received a word from the Lord. Paulo was woken up at six in the morning to pray for the next few hours.

  At the end, Paulo prayed, “Father, I ask that You use me to minister to the girl and to help her with whatever she needs. Please help her to receive the truth. Please cause her to receive the help You will lead me to offer her. I ask for success and victory, that Your plan will succeed. Let Your will be done, in the Matchless Name of Jesus. I declare victory, Lord God. I speak healing in the woman’s life. I plead the blood of Jesus for healing and for transformation in her life. Use me as Your broken vessel. I declare that under Your authority, I will not fail in Jesus. I come against all forces of darkness hurting this woman. I call upon the forces of heaven to surround her right now and lead her to where You want her to be. Break through, my God. In Jesus Name!”

  And he jumped out of bed and rushed out of the house to jog, which suddenly became an urgent matter. But before he left, Paulo felt the urge to grab his business card. He didn’t quite know why, but he had learned one thing over the years:

  To obey God.

  Chapter 3

  Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter (Isaiah 5:20)

  Friday night…

  He had said that he was tired of looking at her ugly, fat behind.

  He told her it didn’t matter how much she had done for him, because he couldn’t get past her looks.