Day 257

The Red Shoe Project -- Day 257 -- has come and gone.  As the clock nears midnight, I am just now, kicking off my RED flip flops.  It has been a long day, but it has been an awesome day!  God is Good!  

Today was my day off from prayer walking, but it was by no means a day off from prayer.  God and I have much to talk about these days.  If I'm going to YIELD to Him, I've got to be ready.  It's like a doctor being "on call,"  only...

I'm a Christian, 

"ON CALL" 

God doesn't have to tell me to YIELD anymore.  Like I said, that's a given, now.  As I start each day, putting on my Ruby Reds,  I'm expecting to be used -- and ready to be used -- whenever  God calls.  

No more...  "Maybe God will use me someday?"  

As far as I'm concerned, someday is here. 

 Everyday is someday!  

I'm going where God goes.  I'm sticking to Him like glue.  We're partners.  If He needs help,  I'm right there!  I don't have to plan for it.  I don't have to prepare for it.  I am prepared!

"Preach the word;  

be prepared in season and out of season;

correct,  rebuke,  and encourage 

with great patience and careful instruction."

2 Timothy 4:2

Now that doesn't mean I'm jumping out on my own.  NO WAY!  It simply means that I'm following Christ, and that I'm ready and available at all times if He wants to use me.  Can you tell that something has changed?  It's an attitude adjustment.  Sometime over these past few days, God adjusted my mindset.  What can I say?  I woke up and things were just different.  I was different!  God's taken some of my reservations and fears away.  I don't know what He did with them... And quite frankly, I really don't care.  I'm better off without them!  Praise the Lord!

How did that happen?  

Well... perhaps it's 

the result of walking 

in RED SHOES

for 257 days. 

I think that has a 

lot to do with it!

Meanwhile, several people have inquired...   

"How can I know if God is using me, 

or if it's just me doing something on my own?"  

I'm going to spend the next few days talking specifically about  (1) the signs that will help you determine if it's God or not and (2)  The three most common things that get in the way of God using you and how to overcome them.

Stay with me on this!

Gail

Day 256

Today was the 256th Day of The Red Shoe Project.  Once again, I woke up to the Lord telling me...

"I want you to YIELD again to me, today."

"Again?"   I thought.  

"Okay!  I wonder what God's going to do?" 

I didn't have a lot of time to think about it.  I was up, in RED shoes, and out the door, bright and early,  for an appointment.  As I sat in the office of a dear Christian friend - taking care of some business with her --  God had some things He wanted to speak into her life.  So I yielded, and allowed Him to speak through me.  

Okay... so if there's anyone who can talk someone's ear off, it's me.  I'm well aware of that.   They say that someone's greatest strengths or giftings can also be their greatest area of weakness -- and speaking is no different.  Speaking for the sake of speaking will ultimately turn people off and even away.  

The trick is to temper my own conversations,

 and turn up God's conversations.  

That means I need to not talk so much in the natural, but let it flow when God's doing the speaking. 

It's taken years for me to understand that.  For a long time I thought talking about God was the ultimate goal, but it's not.  The goal is this:

Let God, Himself, 

do all the talking. 

I'm by no means perfect at it, but I've gotten much better at understanding when it's God and when it's not.  My goal now is to talk on my own accord as little as possible, and to let God talk as often as He'd like to.  Yup!  That's what you call YIELDING to Him!  It's the old, 

"More of Him - Less of Me!"

I went to my friends office to take care of some business.  God had some business of His own to take care of.   I was able to minister one on one with my friend, and we managed to get in some great prayer time at the end of our appointment.  As I hugged her before leaving... I opened my mouth, and I do believe that God spoke directly to her heart in those moments.  Funny how God will meet you anytime, anywhere... even while you're at work!

Okay... so let me make a point here.  I didn't go to her work to tell her something from God.  It's more like this:  While I was at her work, taking care of business, God decided to speak.

Later that morning, I managed to get in a prayer walk, as well as taking care of some office work that needed my attention.  After that, I met up with my mentor for an evening of teaching, testifying, prayer and preaching.  By the time she dropped me off at my house, I was FILLED and INSPIRED!

As I look back at this entire day, I'm convinced that each day, from here on out, must be a day of YIELDING to Him!  Can I possibly live any other way?  I'm thinking that - for me anyway -- I must always be cautiously aware and on the lookout for God's signals, that I might be used by Him at a moment's notice.  

I'm available...

and He's teaching me, 

in these RED shoes of mine, 

to move with Him.

Following Closely,

Gail

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