"Stay the Course!"

Stepping Out in RED shoes!

- Day 26 -

Saved for a Purpose!

One of my favorite hymns is Love Lifted Me by James Rowe and Howard E. Smith.

"I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore.

Very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more.

But the Master of the sea, heard my despairing cry!

From the water lifted me, now safe am I.

(chorus)

Love lifted me.  Love lifted me. 

When nothing else could help.

Love lifted me!"

I remember well, the day God rescued me.  It was April 10th, 1983.  The moment I gave my life to Christ, He took me out of the mess I managed to get myself into, washed away my sins, and put me on a new path.  It was The Road to an Abundant Life!    

Psalm 40:2 says it this way...

"He lifted me out of the slimy pit, 

out of the mud and mire;

He set my feet on a rock and 

gave me a firm place to stand."

Many years past and a season of great hardship came my way.  I found myself in a very vulnerable place.  Tired and discouraged, I moved off to the side of the road and sat down for a rest.  I wasn't planning on a detour.   I merely decided to take ONE STEP off the path. I had no intention of doing anything more than that.

Take note:  The detour started with a step. 

- A little step off to the side -

 It was just ONE step, 
but it was a step in the wrong direction!

It was such a little thing.   Looking back, I never thought about where that one step would take me. -- I just took it!   I couldn't believe how quickly -- even after all those years -- that it brought me right back to that same pit.  

Take note:  A step in the 

wrong direction takes you off

 The Road to Abundant Life 

and puts you back on

 The Road to Destruction.

John 10:10 tells us that...

 "The theif, (the devil), comes 

to steal, kill and destroy, but 

I have come,  (Jesus said),  

that you might have life and 

have it more abundantly!"

I just moved off the path, ever so slightly.  I decided to sit down and rest awhile.  "Someone" -- noticing how tired and weary I was -- joined me in some delightful conversation.  They listened intently to all my woes. 

Take note:  Don't sit down and

enter into conversation with the enemy.  

He will deceive you!
Oh first He'll welcome you!
He'll make you feel good.  He'll agree with you 
and tell you everything you want to hear. 
But be assured... In the end,
     He will deceive you!  That's his M.O.

Before I knew it, I was complaining.  He agreed that I had every right to complain.  When I finally stopped talking, He encouraged me to follow this new path that I was on and assured me that it was the right way.  In time I discovered that "Someone"  deceived me.  He was a wolf in sheep's clothing.  The path he encouraged me to take was The Road to Destruction.  

Proverbs 14:12 says...

"There is a way that appears to be right, 

but in the end it leads to death."

God saved me for a reason.  He put me on the path that I'm meant to walk.  It's my job to stay on that path.  Every step I take brings me more and more into the life of abundance that He's promised.

There's no looking back.  

There's no stopping off and sitting down. 

There's no time for that!  

The devil will distract you. -- He will deceive you. -- His ultimate goal is to destroy you!  

Stay the course!

Fixing our  eyes on Jesus, 

the pioneer and perfecter of our faith!"

Hebrews 12:2a

Okay... so incase you still don't quite get it,  let me be very straightforward here...

Don't go back to hanging out with your unsaved friends.
It's not time to start partying!
No... smoking a little weed is not a good thing!
Deciding to take up social drinking again is not on God's agenda for you!
Hitting all the hot spots, hoping to pick up a date for the night is the old way!
Putting yourself back into the company of negativity, vulgarity, and abuse is not profitable!
Re-connecting with that old "friend" when God severed that relationship is the first step backwards.

This isn't about legalism.  It's about moving forward in God's plan for you!  I know you're tired, but there are other options.  For starters:  Pray and ask God for a godly friend in the faith to walk with you. When Elijah was tired, God brought him a friend to travel with -- Elisha.

I'm praying for you!

In RED shoes,

Gail