Let's Make A Deal

Stepping Out in RED Shoes!

- Day 136 -

The devil will always 

encourage you to play it safe!

Way back in the day, when I was a little girl and color televisions were fairly new on the scene, I would sit in the living room with my mom and watch Let's Make a Deal.  Monte Hall, the MC, would pick contestants from the audience and give them the choice between two prizes.

First, he'd show them what was in the box.  Without exception, it was always a decent prize.  But then, he'd quickly give them the option to trade it for what was behind the curtain.  This time, however, they didn't get to see the prize. -- It was a mystery.  Sometimes it would be all new kitchen appliances.  It could be a trip to some exotic getaway.  It might even be the newest automobile!

Then again -- it could be a total dud!  It could be twenty-five, eight foot stacks of old newspapers, a heap of dirt, or even a llama.   If you picked  "the dud,"  you pretty much lost everything and went home with nothing.  LOSER!

Recently I noted that the devil will always try to get you to focus on what you'll lose,  (Day 123).  He wants you to focus on what's in your hand.  There's never an upgrade option with him.   Being the liar and deceiver he is, he'll always do his best to convince you that you'll never get anything better than what you already have.

If you've got fifty bucks in your hand, he'll persuade you to keep it.  He'll tell you you're lucky to have that.  He'll bring up example after example of how reality is filled with duds.  If you listen to him long enough, you'll realize his message is this:  You'll never be a winner, so it's best to take the least of the worst things so that you're not a total loser.

Here's another way to look at it:  The devil never wants you to take a leap of faith.  His moto is...  If you can't see it,  don't go for it!  If you sit down and talk with him for a while, he'll have you convinced that your step of faith is like jumping off a rooftop to your death.

God's way, however, is entirely different.  He's all about faith!  He loves it when you trust Him enough to step out and believe.

"For without faith it is 

impossible to please Him."
Hebrews 11:6

"Blessed are those who have 

not seen and yet believed." 
John 20:29 

Don't misunderstand me.  This isn't a word to encourage you to take reckless risks.  No!  But when God says...

 "Trust Me!  --  Take the leap! -- Choose the curtain!"

You gotta go for it!

Let's set something straight here.  God is not a trickster.  He's not out to "fool" you.  He's not out to discourage you and degrade you.   He's out to bless you!  He's out to encourage and uplift you.  You are the apple of His eye and He wants to see you grow in your faith and live the abundant life!

"The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy;

I have come, (Jesus said), that they may

have life and have it to the full."

John 10:10

Stepping out in RED shoes is about knowing God's voice
and stepping in His direction -- and it's always by faith!

Gail

"So what did you do today, Mom?"

Stepping Out in RED Shoes!

- Day 135 - 

"Nothing out of the ordinary..."

"Me and my superhero girlfriends just went out into the world and slayed some demons, ripped down strongholds, pushed back principalities and powers, spoke in other languages, proclaimed victories, rescued the dying, delivered the demon possessed and healed the sick.  Oh yeah... and we called forth the dead!"

Just a typical day at The Bonfire!  

You think I'm kidding...  I'm not.  That's exactly how I responded to my daughter last night -- and that's exactly what happened.  Walking with Jesus is anything but boring.  You just never know what's going to happen.

Just how do you explain that you 

called forth someone from the dead?  

There's just no way to sugar coat that!  

After a powerful message, Mama Bonnie, asked me to come up and pray for our speaker.  Several ladies and I gathered around, laid hands on her and agreed together in prayer.  In addition, a specific request was made that we pray for a boy, who after years of drug use, is now institutionalized and requires around the clock care. 

 A tongue and interpretation came forth from a lady in the back row.  

  "Everyone should call out to the boy by name -- COME FORTH!" 

 So we did!

I headed back to my seat, knowing we had done what was required, but something was missing.  I could feel a rumbling within me -- a churning -- God was getting ready to do something and I had this strange sensation that it included me. 

"I don't think we're done yet!"  Bonnie spoke out.  "God's got something else."

Then the little lady in the back spoke out again in her quiet but firm voice.  

"I see a serpent wrapped about that boy's head!" she proclaimed.

BOOM!  Suddenly, the most ferocious tongue erupted from my core as I leapt out of my seat.  Following it, came the interpretation -- a prayer that smote the serpent-like spirit that was wrapped around that boy's head, pushing back the forces of evil, ultimately giving clear access for God to move in and heal.  

"BOY... COME FORTH INTO HEALING, 

IN JESUS' MIGHTY NAME!"

Three times I proclaimed that with intensity, like it was my last cry on earth.  The whole room shook.  The spirit world was caught off guard.  The enemy had no recourse but to yield to the voice of God Almighty.  Immediately, the powers of darkness backed off.

As I toddled back to my seat, shaking under God's Holy Power, up jumped my sister, Kelly, with a Word for all the women present.  Like a doctor,  she administered divine healing, bandaging up the wounds of many, applying the medicinal salve of The Holy Spirit to each one.  

Glory to God! 

 Lives were touched by the Master! 

Wherever there's a hungry heart -- God shows up!  I find myself in those places a lot these days, wearing my RED shoes!

Gail

Now what?

Stepping Out in RED Shoes!

- Day 134 -

We watch and wait!

A friend of mine asked me today,
"Now what?  Now that you've pulled over that vision, what's next?"

My answer:  "I'm watching and waiting.  
It' going to manifest somewhere.  I'm looking up!
I want to be the first to see it!"

Too often waiting is thought of as passive -- slow, boring and actionless.  That's not the case here.
I'm  actively  waiting!  I'm sitting on the edge of my chair, looking here, there and everywhere,  expecting it to manifest at any time.

I'm  passionately  waiting!  As a matter of fact, I'm so excited, I can hardly wait!  How awesome this is going to be.  I want to be the first to see it!  I'm attempting to hold back the hallelujahs, without much success.  They're slipping off my tongue, in advance.  My feet are already tapping.  I'm even practicing my dance moves for the celebration at hand!

I'm  zealously  waiting!  There's nothing better than seeing the hand of God move.  It's like the Grande Finale on the 4th of July!  Right now, I've positioned my chair under the stars, front and center.  I've arrived a little early, insuring the best seat in the house for the show.

I'm waiting with enthusiasm!  And I'm not afraid to talk about it!  God comes through every time, and this time will be no different.  I feel like I'm at a pep rally of sorts.  Everyone is sharing their  "God"  stories.  Let's get the crowd going! -- He's about to show up!   The suspense is killing me, I can hardly bare it!  Just a little longer... just a moment more!  The crowd is already clapping!

I'm  fervently  waiting!  I'm excited.  I'm enthusiastic.  I'm almost giddy!  I'm jumping up and down, on the inside!  This doesn't happen everyday -- but when it does, it's Good!

I'm whole-heartedly waiting!  I'm all in!   I've not come hoping.  No!  I've come believing!  This is it!  The time has come!  I've sent out invitations.  I've changed my plans to be here!  There's no place I'd rather be.  God will be here any minute, and I don't want to miss a thing!

I'm  watching  and waiting!  I'm looking around.  My eyes are darting to and fro.  Is that it?  No, not yet.  What about that?  No... that's just a shooting star!  I don't want to blink or turn away lest I miss any part of it!  I want to be the first to see the grandness of it all!  I want to take it all in from beginning to end.

When God say's  "It's done!"  

It's time to slip on the RED shoes,

WATCH and WAIT.

Gail

It's Done!

Stepping Out in RED Shoes!

- Day 133 - 

Dad, I need your help!

Let's do this together.

After a good night's sleep, I practically jumped out of bed and immediately headed to the prayer closet.  Yesterday's exhortation to pray through this divine vision of mine was like filling up an empty car with gas -- my engine was revving and ready to go!  Today is the last day of my official assignment to "pull forth"  that vision from the spirit realm into the natural.

"LORD,"  I announced,  

"I'm going to need 

Your help today -- big time!  

Let's give it ONE  GREAT  BIG  YANK 

and  PULL  IT  into being!" 

It was an interesting morning of prayer, to say the least.  I know some of you are wondering, "Just what did you do?"  But some details are meant to stay in the closet. -- They're between me and God.  I will say this, though... It was much easier than I thought.  

I put on my armor, cleared the atmosphere 

of hindering spirits,  removed strongholds, 

and called forth those things that aren't as 

if they are.  I stirred up some things, woke 

someone up in the spirit, and spoke out 

instructions that crossed oceans.

There's something to be said about knowing "It's done!"   -- that your task is complete -- that the assignment is over.  There's nothing more required of me.  It's all up to God now.  But my time in the prayer closet was not over with that.  God had more on His agenda.  He moved on to the next piece of business as if it were merely the natural flow of things.

Suddenly He began to download

 revelation after revelation to me.  

-- Visions -- Books -- Messages -- Prayer Requests -- 

We moved on to the "next thing" 

without skipping a beat.  

Good thing I had a notebook and pen with me to jot down my next assignment!  I stepped out of that prayer closet in my RED Shoes excited, overwhelmed, gloriously radiating from His presence.  I'm sitting here in Starbucks, now, trying to write it out and make sense of it all, but it's no use.

 I'm in a wonderful mess of His glory today.  

I guess this is how we celebrate 

a divine project completed!

There's nothing left to do now, but dance!

In RED shoes, 

Gail

The Hot Seat

 Stepping Out in RED Shoes!

- Day 132 -

God had me seated right in front of Him

so I'd hear every word He had to say!

Yesterday was Mother's Day.  First thing in the morning,
I got a text from my son in Colorado, filled with words of love and well wishes.  Around noon, I talked with my daughter in New York by phone.  She's a delight.  Her love for me has a way of bubbling all over the place in her conversation.  It puts a smile on my face every time.  My youngest, Grace, is local.  She had to work all day.  At the end of the day though, we sat together on her bed, sharing our thoughts and dreams.  She wrapped it all up in the most beautiful prayer of blessing over me.  Truly, I am loved!

That said, this Mother's Day -- like every other day -- was spent in RED shoes  with Jesus.  For a long time, the thought of such a thing didn't excite me.  Just how does one spend the day with a God they can't see? And how could that be fulfilling? -- To me it all seemed kind of empty.  But no more! -- I have learned that every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before.  He is a God of adventure.

You just never know 

what's going to happen 

when you're hanging out with God.  

You can count on this: 

 It will be unforgetable!

Not quite knowing what to do with myself after church on Mother's Day, I decided to go straight to Starbucks.  It was announced there would be a special missionary service later in the afternoon, so I didn't want to go all the way home and then come all the way back.  I had myself a chai and a bagel, watched my favorite download on YouTube, and managed to get  completely caught up on all my blogs.  When I was done, I headed back to the church a little early and prayed in the parking lot until it was time for the meeting to begin.

What I didn't know was that there was a space between the worship time and the missionary speaking.  After a nice time of singing, everyone broke up into two groups.  Most went one way into a class on the teachings of Jesus and the remaining few were a part of a pastoral leadership class hosted by the pastor.  It would be awkward to just sit there alone in the main room for an hour, so I meandered into the pastoral leadership class to observe.

As I entered the class, I was welcomed with a smile.  There, in a circle,  sat a handful of students and the pastor discussing vision.
I sat myself down in an empty seat, thinking to myself,

"What the heck am I doing here?"  

Little did I know it was all part of God's Divine Plan.  That seat was the hot seat, and God put me in it for a reason.  He seated me right in front of Him so that I'd hear every word He had to say.  The topic of vision, as you all know, is not something I'm unfamiliar with.  The pastor talked openly and frankly about how lonely it can be at times to be a visionary.  It's tough when you can see things others can't.

"Why does He show you those things?"

He asked the students with boldness.

"It's because He wants you to take ownership of them!"

I could certainly relate to the topic at hand.  Had I not just blogged on "Unwavering Faith"  and the importance of getting "All In"?   Then suddenly, the pastor raised his voice and looked right straight into my eyes...

"Hope deferred does not mean Hope denied!"

I'm not sure if he said it more than once or not, but it kept replaying over and over in mind with steadfast boldness and authority.  Oh my... God was speaking directly to me!

Just because the vision is tarrying 

does not mean it's not coming,"  

said the LORD.

"It's for a very specific moment in time.  Don't let it go!  

Pray it through, Gail!  Pray it through!"

The pastor continued his classroom discussion with example after example of how God had brought each and every vision He'd ever had to fruition.  When it came time to go back and hear the missionary speak, I smiled and thanked the pastor.  

"You spoke right to me."   I said.  

"No..."  he responded.  "God spoke to you."  

Little did he know the full of it!  Oh he probably knew God had used him, but he had no clue where I was at, or what specifically God was doing in my life.  He was just being obedient and teaching his class. --  God moved through that!

Having heard from God, I turned and stepped out of the classroom in my little RED shoes, empowered to pray forth the vision God's given me!

In the prayer closet,

Gail

Don't go there!

Stepping Out in RED Shoes!

- Day 131 –

It’s no longer an option!

You know you’re growing when the Holy Spirit speaks and you zip your lips.

• Don’t go there!
• Hold your tongue!
• Don’t speak it!
• You don’t want to say that!
• Don’t engage in such conversation! 

His voice has become so clear and precise in that area for me.  For a while there, it was like that with my spiritual mama.  There was certain conversation that I was well aware of that I could not enter into with her.  I’d go to say something and I’d think…  “No --  I can’t say that to her.  She’ll shut me right down.  She won’t have it!  She won’t like it and she won’t hesitate to rebuke me.”  God used that to teach me to hold my tongue. 

Let's face it...  we know what's permissible and what's not.  

• Gossip
• Lying
• Negativity
• Jealousy
• Ill words
• Talking behind someone's back
• Having a pitty party
• Speaking contrary to God's Word

Self control is a fruit of the Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is guiding my tongue.  That’s a good thing!  Most often, He needs to say nothing, but if my flesh tries to resurrect itself, He doesn’t hesitate to step in.  He’s in control of my mouth.

"Keep your tongue from evil 

and your lips from telling lies!"

Psalm 34:13

Often Stepping out in RED shoes is about knowing where not to go!

Gail

The Belt of Truth.

Stepping Out in RED Shoes!

 - Day 130 -

It's Expected that I'll Operate 

in Truth and Integrity.

Many years ago, I betrayed a dear friend.  I broke my promise to them.  I didn't operate the way I was expected to -- with truth and integrity.  Not only that...  I betrayed myself and I betrayed God.  I guess I let everybody down.   How does something like that happen?  I didn't just wake up one day and decide to do a flip flop.

Betrayal was totally out of character for me.

Truth be told, it was during an extremely vulnerable time in my life.  I'd been hurt and betrayed myself.  I was scared.  I didn't ever want to be hurt like that again, so I put my guard up.  Like Fort Knox, no one could get in -- not even God!

But... you know who, was peddling lots of other options.  The enemy of our soul thrives on people's pain.  He sat there, day in and day out, talking, scheming, deceiving -- just waiting for me to bite the bait.  And eventually I did.

"Be alert and of sober mind.  

Your enemy the devil prowls 

around like a roaring lion 

looking for someone to devour."

  1 Peter 5:8

But this is not the story of wayward living.   Quite the contrary... it's the story of redemption.  Christ came for me.  He paid for and covered my sins.  He found me in the thicket and brought me home.

Today, as I was putting on the full armor of God, this story brought revelation to just what "The Belt of Truth"  is all about.  It's so much more than just not lying.  When I buckle that belt into position, I  remind myself that as an Ambassador for Christ, I am to operate in an expected way --  the same way Christ would --  with truth and integrity,  faithfulness and loyalty.

I'm to keep my promises.
I'm to be true to my word.
I'm to be honest and sincere.
I'm to be trustworthy in all things...

to God,  myself  and others.

If you think of it, a belt is what holds everything in place.  It keeps our shirt from flying up and our pants from falling down.  How apropos that it would be included in our spiritual wardrobe.   As I put on my helmet of salvation, my breastplate of righteous and my shoes of peace,  I take time to make sure it's all held in place with Truth and Integrity!

After all, a complete wardrobe is more than just RED shoes! 

Gail