Day 255

Okay... so I when I woke up this morning -- Day 255 of  The Red Shoe Project -- I never thought for a moment, God would be putting last night's word to the test, so soon.  That's right -- I barely got out of bed, threw on my RED sneakers, and took Pauly outside for his walk, when God began to speak.  

He said, 

"Gail --  I want you to YIELD to me today!"

Wow!  I wasn't even fully awake yet, 

but God's voice was loud and clear.  

"YIELD!"   

"Okay, Lord," I responded -- not really knowing what I was getting myself into.  That's just it...  Up front, you never really know what  God has in mind!  But with yesterday's blog still vividly etched on my brain, I remembered this:   "Follow My lead! --  Move with Me!"  

Yes,  PARTNERSHIP -- This is all about partnership!

  -- WORKING TOGETHER WITH GOD --  

I just have to remember that He's the Leader.  My job is to follow.

I simply have to  trust Him and to do whatever He tells me to do!

So I went for my prayer walk, returned home, showered and got ready for an appointment.  With a few minutes to spare before leaving the house, I perused facebook, just to see what was going on out there.  A dear friend had posted something, and like several others, I posted a word back to her.  

CLICK went the return button and up came the message I posted when the Lord said, 

"No!  That's not what I want to say at all.  

Here's what I'd like you to post on my behalf."

"Really, Lord?  On facebook?"

"YIELD!"

"Okay... you got it!"

I typed in His message and pressed return.  It was done!  I sat back and looked at what He asked me to type.  WOW!  Powerful!  That's one thing about God -- when He speaks, He doesn't mess around!  And there's no confusing His voice over mine... because His voice is anointed!  

I ran out to my appointment and met up with a couple of friends.  While conversing, God dropped another divine word into my heart.  This time it was in the form of 

"a suggestion"  given to one of the people I was meeting with.  And not just any old suggestion...  It was a Divine Suggestion.  

I found myself saying...  

"I really sense that God wants you to consider doing this!" 

I have to admit, the idea was brilliant and certainly not something I could ever come up with on my own.  

I'm telling you...  Have you ever dropped a coin in a vending machine and you could actually hear it drop into the empty coin box?  That's exactly what this was like.  God just dropped the idea into my mind.  Plop!  Even my friend responded... "Oh my gosh!  That's a GREAT idea!"

My friend Bonnie always says that God gives us brilliant ideas and witty inventions!  Well that's what He did today.  In YIELDING to Him,   my job was to deliver those messages to the intended receivers.  I've told you before,  I have a part-time job as a Divine Mail Carrier.  

What's that Mail Carrier's Creed?

"Neither snow, nor rain, 

nor gloom of night

stays these couriers 

from the swift completion

of their appointed rounds."

Yielding in RED shoes!

Gail

Day 254

Day 254 of  The Red Shoe Project has come and gone.  I've had my comfy RED flats on the entire day!  I started out this morning at The Bonfire and ended up at a Bible Study Group at the home of a friend.

About three weeks ago, I visited this friend and noticed on her bookshelf,  
The Woman's Bible.   Oh my!  That was one of the first Bibles I used in my early years and I loved it!  It had some great daily devotionals within it's pages, as well as corresponding scriptures that I looked up when I had extra time.  Tonight she announced to me that she's been using that Bible ever since and she loves it too!

I love when people get caught up in their Bibles!

It's a LOVE thing!

Glory to God!

Okay, so I promised that we'd finish our discussion, today, on  Hearing God's Voice.  Yesterday, we started to  discuss "The Yellow Light."  That's when God says...

Slow Down!       Wait!       Yield!

Before I get into what  "Yield"  means... I want to make sure that we all know what The Yellow Light doesn't mean.  

It' doesn't mean:

"Throw in the towel!"

"Abandon ship!"

"Forget the whole thing!"

That's what "NO" means.
 I bring this up because if we aren't patient, we'll want to go there.  I know we all think we're patient, but the difficult thing about all this goes back to
God's Divine Timing.  What's a short time to Him, can be -- and often is -- a very long time for me!   Seriously... I've mentioned this on many occasions,
His...

"Soon"  

"In a little bit"  

"Just around the corner"  

"We're almost there"

- AND -

"We're closer than you think"

 can be just that,

- OR -  

it can be 
days, 
weeks, 
years,

 or even 
decades away.  

A few weeks ago, I talked about Corrie Ten Boom and how she and her family hid Jews in their home from the Nazis.  One hundred years earlier,  Corrie's grandfather used to meet in his home with a handful of Dutch believers.  They would read the Scriptures and pray for the Jews.   A century later, Corrie's family was hiding jews, in that very same house, ultimately fulfilling her grandfather's prayers.

It's that Multi-Dimensional thing!  

Granted, you and I may not be waiting centuries for our prayers to be answered, but I know that I, personally have a few promises that God hasn't yet fulfilled.  Some are 10, 20 30 years old.  I'm still believing that God will come through in His time.

This is called:   Standing on the Promises of God!

One time, fairly recently, God gave me a message to deliver to a dear friend.  He told me to tell her that He hasn't forgotten about her, and that although her situation seems a long time to her,  it isn't a long time to Him.  That said, He promised that change was coming soon!

Do you see?  Waiting can, at times, be long.  But we are not to give up!

If God said it -- He'll do it!  

What can I say?  That's just how God works.  And if we realize that... Well, when those long durations come along, it makes it a little easier to endure,
hold out, hold on, and be patient.

Lastly, let's talk about YIELDING TO GOD.   When God asks us to YIELD, He's saying...

"Surrender the lead to me!"

"Submit yourself to the leading of The Holy Spirit."

"Wait for me! -- Don't start without me!"

"Let me take the lead from here -- You follow!"

"Move with me!"

"Wait for my signal!"

"Wait for my Word!"

It sounds so easy, but it's not -- especially living in a society that promotes self-leadership.  My flesh gets tired of waiting.

It always want's to jump in the driver's seat of my life, take over and lead the way.  

I've found out the hard way
- on more than one occasion -
that this usually results in my being stuck in a ditch, by the side of the road, somewhere.   

What do I do while waiting?
PRAY   
- that God will accomplish His perfect will!
- that I'll be patient, in the slow times, and wait things out!
- that I'll be a good follower, of Him!

I'm off now, in my RED shoes, 

to remind God of those long-time promises!

Talk soon,

Gail

Day 253

It's Day 253 of  The Red Shoe Project and I was out early this morning in my RED sneaks doing my prayer walk.  I LOVE BEING HOME!  I love being around my girls!  I love walking Paully!  I love being back in the routine of my prayer walk!  I love seeing my friends!  Going away to get refreshed is GOOD!  But now it's time to "Walk it out!" if you know what I mean.  That can be challenging... even scary at times, but it can also be exciting and adventurous!  Perhaps it's a little bit of all those things wrapped up in one.  Regardless,  I know that...

"I can do everything through Christ 

who gives me strength!"

Philippians 4:13  NLT

Why?  because God's Word says I can!

I want to get back to our conversation on  Hearing God's Voice.

We've talked about when God says nothing.  And we've discussed when He says YES and when He says NO. 

 But what about the "Yellow Light?"  

You know -- when God says...

Slow Down!     Wait!       Yield!

1.  Slow Down and Take Caution:  Whenever I come upon a flashing yellow light, while driving, I immediately bring the speed of my car down to a crawl.  I don't stop short, but I'm ready to stop if the situation at hand warrants it.  With that said it's important to realize that a yellow light with God can be interpreted as:

Stay Awake!   Be Alert!   Take a closer look!

I don't want you to miss this!

Anything can happen at this time.  Be on the lookout!  For what?  For God.  

He may be changing course.  He may 

be getting ready to speak a word of direction to you.  Something unexpected may be about to transpire and He doesn't want you to miss it.  Proceed with caution in this case.  Right now, speed is not what's important.  This is NOT the time to jump out on your own!  Be patient!   He's slowed you down for a reason.  There's always a reason!

Patience --  Patience --  Patience.  

God will be working patience in me til the day I die!  

Patience is...

    forbearance,  self-restraint,  calmness,  

waiting it out,  perseverance,  and endurance

Sometimes God just needs you to slow down while He's working on something else.  You can be assured that, if that's the case, He will use this opportunity to work patience in you!  He wants to improve and increase your "Staying Power." There will come a time when you'll need it, so what better time than this, (when you don't really need it), to work it in you?  -- To grow your patience to the next level of capacity.

2.  A "Yellow Light"  can mean WAIT!   

Understand that patience is critical when you're waiting for God.  

Quite frankly, most of us 

are not very good at this.  

Recognize that during these times, 

God may be saying... 

Okay... that's done, but Hold your horses!  

There's something else that I'm working on

that you're not aware of, that needs to be

completed before we can move any further on this.

Stay in place!  until I tell you it's time to move.

Don't run ahead of me or you'll mess up and miss out!

Delay your action, until I give you the signal to go!

Take a pause here...  My timing is critical!

Halt!  until I tell you to resume.

This is so important to understand!  It took me forever to get it.  But TIME has a way of showing how things come together.  

You see...  

God works 

Multi - Dimensionally, 

where Man works 1, 2, 

maybe 3 Dimensionally, 

at best.

That means that I'm probably only aware of the part of God's plan that effects me, whereas God is  working on fulfilling a plan that's much bigger than what I see in front of me.  It includes people, situations and circumstances that I don't have a clue about.  That's okay!  I don't need to know all of that.  It would boggle my mind if I tried to grasp ahold of it all.  That's why God only tells me what I need to know.

It's funny... because I woke up this morning, and God announced to me...  

"Gail... Dare to BELIEVE that 

I've got a bigger plan than yours!"

Okay... I could write an entire book right now on this, but I think I'll stop right here for today.  Tomorrow, I promise, we'll pick up where we left off.  For now...  "Selah"  -- Let's pause and think about all that's been said so far. 

Meditating in RED shoes, 

Gail

Day 252

Day 252 of The Red Shoe Project has brought forth rays of sunshine that are making my Ruby Reds glimmer.  First and foremost...

a BIG

T H A N K   Y O U ! 

to all my RUBIES

for your prayers and

words of encouragement!

I feel your LOVE!

Twenty-four hours have past since my lunch date in Tampa.  WOW!  You all surprised me!  I didn't expect such a deluge of encouragement from my readers on yesterday's post.  Know that I am feeling the love and strength from your prayers and words of encouragement.  

God has also been faithful to shed light on the matter. 

I've been praying about whether or not to give my girlfriend (from yesterday's lunch) a call.  We are very, very close friends, and I don't want anything to mess that up.  Sometimes if you don't take care of matters, right up front, the devil has a way of getting his foot in the door and creating havoc. 

But she beat me to it!

She called me today, and we chatted for quite some time.  Right up front, right out of the blue, she mentioned something that totally opened the door for us to talk in detail about my disappointment in yesterday's meeting.  Between my conversation with her and the one I had with God, here are my take-aways:

1.  I've been walking in RED shoes for 252 days, now.  This time of being set apart for everything and anything God wants to do has become my new  "normal."   Sometimes I forget that everyone else isn't doing that too!  While I'm going on three mile prayer walks;  soaking in afternoons of worship;  taking in God's Word like they were my three meals for the day;  reading inspiring books one after another, talking to people about Christ;  not to mention looking for God and blogging for hours on end...  pretty much everyone else is in their normal routine of parenting, work, school, church, gym, etc. etc.  

This is my unique time of being 

set apart with God for a purpose.  

It's extreme and unusual.  

Granted, it has it's benefits... The Holy Ghost is falling all around me -- I'm seeing angels from on high -- I'm dreaming dreams and having visions -- I'm learning from the Master, Himself -- Divine provision is surfacing -- The Glory of God is being manifested, etc. etc.   But I guess I forget that that isn't happening to everyone else as well.  That's okay... it's not supposed to.  That said, my expectations at the luncheon may not have been realistic.  

I mean really... that's like me being on a trip to Hawaii, totally relaxed and bathing in the sun by the pool, sipping on a cool drink and calling you on the phone, while you're at the office, working on the most frustrating project imaginable, while trying to meet a 5 p.m. deadline  and me telling you...  

"Just relax!  Is that so difficult?"  

2.  Regardless of my friends' wealth of ministry, giftings, experience and spiritual fruit, I don't really know where they are at in their hearts, what season of life they are in, or what God's doing in them, any more than they know those specifics about me.  I can't and shouldn't assume they are where I am at this time.  Maybe they are -- Maybe they aren't.  

I just heard a well known minister preach a message about a time in which his ministry was booming, but his soul was sick.  He had gotten off track, confessed his sins to God and God was re-working some things in His life.  No one knew that was going on.  God continued to move in his ministry regardless.   People were getting saved, healed and delivered despite it all.  

3. Everyone -- including me -- has both areas of personal strength and weakness.  The #1 fear of most people in the world is public speaking.  Yet, to me... most often, public speaking is like a playground.  I love it!  It's effortless, as long as I'm comfortable with the subject matter.  At the other end of the spectrum, I'm awful when it comes to fixing things around the house -- or anything that has to do with cars.  LOL.  

One time, when I first bought the house I live in, some shelving had to be taken down off the wall.  I couldn't get it down for the life of me.  Someone told me to use a crowbar.  Next thing I know, there were some pretty big holes in the wall.  I had to get someone to come and plaster them for me.  It was downright 

embarrassing!  Yet... the husband of one of my closest friends finds fixing things around the house to be his #1 stress reliever.  He loves it!   Figure that out!

I've got to be sensitive to the fact that everyone has different gifts.  And when someone is called upon to do something that they're not gifted in... I need to be ready to extend a measure of grace.  After all... that's what God does for me!

Meanwhile...

My girlfriend shared her heart with me 

and all was made well!  

She assured me that they are both for me and not against me.  She believes, without a doubt, that her husband has given me his blessing in his own unique way.  And without question, I can be assured they are covering me with generous prayer support!

Everything was made right in that conversation.  Everything!   The Holy Spirit was faithful to pour out His love upon us.  Oh how I wish that it were always that easy!  The devil never got his foot in the door.  The air was cleared, and our relationship is better than ever.   

I believe a lot of that is due to YOUR prayers!  

THANK YOU JESUS!

All said... I'm back in flight,

Red shoes and all!

"All of you,"  that is!

I'm glad you're flying with me.

Gail