Walking On Water In My Stilettos: How God can Strengthen Your Faith-walk

By Michelle P. Jones

Now that you're at the door ready to enter your season of CHANGE, continue your journey by answering the question, 'In what way is CHANGE knocking on my door demanding entrance,' to take that first critical step into the CHANGE that's waiting on you!

• Language: English
• Publisher: MichellePJones, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 5, 2020
• ISBN: 9781904074359

Book preview

DEDICATION

I recently went to the funeral of a 31-year-old young black male, and while giving his remarks his grandfather said people who knew his struggles were always judging him and trying to keep him in his sin. He said that he prayed his grandson made the CHANGE before he died and didn't become counted among those that ALMOST believed! That has stuck with me and because of his dedication to his family and his promise to his best friend and my father, Rev. Cooper L. Bledsoe, I dedicate this book to you, Overseer Fredrick C. Bradley, for not allowing me to be numbered among the ALMOST believers that never truly accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Thank you for allowing God to use you, no matter what it looked like and by any means necessary, to help guide me and mold me into the woman of God I am today! To my father in the Gospel, Overseer Fredrick C. Bradley, I recognize the impact you have had in my life, your dedication to the gospel and your consistency in sharing the Gospel with any and every one! I love you!

Blessings,

Min. Michelle P. Bledsoe-Jones

FOREWORD

Michelle and I met during a time of restructuring and exploration as we both were determined to live our best lives as members of the Professional Women’s Group of Dress for Success Indianapolis. Our first meeting, although I am sure she doesn’t remember it, was one of revelation. I learned in that meeting that not only is she my sister in success, but my sister in Christ. I treasure our friendship, the bond we have, the laughs we’ve had, the tears we’ve shed and the love we share. Throughout the years, I’ve witnessed firsthand the love she has for her family and how they are her foundational support system and the reason she is the blessed woman of God she is today.

While Michelle was writing this book, she would often ask me questions, and if you know Michelle some of the questions she asks causes you to seriously think before answering while others were no brainers that you could answer immediately. Michelle’s signature trademark is the Stiletto, and whether she’s writing about her experience as a Stiletto, a woman of great faith, or wearing them; she is always operating in her purpose as an edifier. This book, through the information shared and the questions asked, has helped to transform me, helped me through some difficult moments in my life and forced me to recognize and take responsibility for where I am emotionally, mentally and Spiritually while going through my own change moments. In this book, Michelle is very transparent about the things she’s experienced while going through her season of change. I believe God gave her this divine assignment to share her heart and to be transparent while sharing her experiences to help the reader be better, be empowered, and live a life of purpose. Once you read this book, complete the workbook and begin journaling, you will begin to live in your truth, your life, your purpose out loud and in living colour (Michelle’s signature blog post ending)!

In the years since meeting Michelle, I can truly say that I have grown from her insight, humor and wisdom. Her friendship, guidance and love has kept me grounded, accountable, humble and Woke! She truly believes that one can only grow when given the opportunity, information and permission to be the best person they can be. She carries this same truth when working with women and girls to help them realize they were born on purpose and for a purpose. As well as when she is facilitating workshops, sharing her testimony or giving an insightful word from the Lord. Whether you’re reading her Blog and/or Books, and/or whether you are listening to her Facebook Live or Radio broadcasts, you're receiving a real blessing with this one. She is a force to be reckoned with. When I think of her I am quickly reminded of Proverb 31:31, Give her the fruit of her hands and let her own works praise her in the gates. She is a woman on a mission, and I am proud to call her friend.

Sincerely,

Yonna Lee

INTRODUCTION

The enemy will fight you, with how you view you.

--Pastor Corey Duncan

I am sitting here thinking about how grateful to God I am for how far He's brought me! I am very protective of my testimony because of the judgment and ridicule I've experienced at the hands of Christians, and the people who profess to love me. The people who are supposed to be an extension of God's love, His grace and His mercy. You know, the people who were supposed to love me until I was able to love myself, step into my rightful place and be a representative of Christ here on earth? This isn't in any way an indictment of the Church, this is my testimony of what I experienced and how it affected, infected and impacted my life. While reading this book, please keep in mind that I'm a Church-girl who has been instructed to write this book by sharing my truth! Sometimes we don't understand the totality of a situation or an experience until we have been tasked with sharing it with others, and we find ourselves vulnerable to their opinion, their judgment and sometimes even their baseless ridicule. They have failed to see that it is my testimony and it speaks to how I dealt with the issues and situations I faced while on my journey of healing and deliverance to become the awesome, devoted and purposed woman of God I am today! Remember, without a test there isn't a testimony and without any mess there isn't a message to shine the light on the path for someone who needs to see and follow to get to Jesus and discover the tools and the hope needed to receive their healing and their deliverance!

I have taken the time to put pencil to paper and share my testimony of how God strengthened my faith walk while teaching me the importance of walking on water in my stilettos, and how it has freed me of the burden and heaviness of carrying this testimony around hidden in my heart, and encased in the chains of fear, unfair (although sometimes correctly deduced) judgment and expected disappointed looks. The year of change I went through redirected me and reminded me of my purpose while disclosing the destiny assignments God has given me and tasked me with completing. However, to do that I have to break the chains that are holding my testimony and me hostage! I must be willing to expose me, my experiences, my life and my sins in ways that frightens, terrifies, scares and excites me all at the same time! Throughout my life, I have been told that the truth will set me free, and it opened me up to receive the best that God and life has to offer! What I was not told and learned the hard way later is that it also invites ridicule from peers, leaves you feeling abandoned and alone, and it leaves you to experience the judgmental attitudes of self-righteous individuals who have mastered how to use their words to cut deep while leaving me bleeding out and drowning in the words that my mind has latched onto while mentally and emotionally condemning me, internally!

Sometimes the choices we make are difficult, and have consequences associated with them that force us to find out who we are and to learn the contribution we are to make within our family, our community and most importantly our self! As Whitney Houston sang, learning to love yourself is the greatest gift of all, and is something I recently learned how to do! The year of change I went through didn't come with a roadmap or a set of instructions, but it literally propelled me forward resulting in me living my best life, now! It is my prayer that someone will be inspired, empowered and challenged by my story to begin working towards their own Change Experience as they take responsibility for their life, discover who they are, build an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ and learn that through tragedy and pain purpose is birthed; while they are allowing God to mend their broken places and to heal their hurts. During my season of change, I found the strength to break the chains of fear, self-doubt, unspoken insecurities, self-hatred and/or personal disappointments that have held me hostage for years under the disguise of expectations. And you can do the same! Trust me when I say you will appreciate God for His hand of love, deliverance, strength and support that will carry you through, strengthen you and most of all give you hope that by doing your self-work you will experience the best God and life has to offer you! You will see how I learned to walk on water in my stilettos (or your Stacey Adams) as God strengthened my faith walk. It's my prayer that the testimony I share on the pages of this book, will give you the courage not shy away from your season of change, but allow the Word of God to do the work in your life like it has and is continuing to do in my life. Before we take this journey together, I have one question: have you considered that you were created with this journey and this season in mind?

In accordance with the title of this book, I want to introduce you to my favorite shoe: the stiletto! Have you ever considered that the shoes we wear speaks to where we are Spiritually? Think about this for a minute and consider as we look at the various types of pumps a woman may wear, and which shoe specifically speaks to your placement in the body of Christ, your gifts, your abilities and/or your purpose! By the time you finish reading this book, you will have a complete and total understanding of how I stepped into my rightful shoe: the stiletto. Here’s some history for you, the PUMP was originally named a Court Shoe with a low-cut front (the Vamp) and without any fastening mechanisms across the instep or the ankle. A pump can be made with a kitten heel (.5 to 1.0) or a higher heel known as the STILETTO! The PUMP with a Kitten heel is normally worn by people just learning to walk in heels and/or women who no longer can walk in PUMPs with a higher heel. Like the kitten heel, we are a babe in Christ and are just starting out in our walk with Christ taking baby steps as a babe in Christ. The expectation upon the believer is to saturate their heart and life with the Word of God, develop a prayer life and build their faith!

Then we have the women who wear PUMPs with a medium heel (1.0’ to 2.0 in height). These are women who have learned how to walk in heels (sometimes they are tippers) but they have graduated to the higher heel as they are learning to walk out their own soul’s salvation. In our Christian walk, this woman is someone who no longer needs the sincere milk of the Word but has graduated to the solid food of the Word. She has developed a prayer life, is working on a closer more intimate relationship with Christ and she is learning what mustard seed faith looks like in her life. She has had some experiences with God where her faith has increased, and she understands what is meant when other believers say, if He did it once He will do it again," personally!

Then we have the women who wear PUMPs with a high heel (2.0" or higher in height) also known as the STILETTO! These are women who have perfected the art of walking in STILETTOs and knows that when they have them on they don’t just walk, but they STRUT! They understand and know that when walking in STILETTOs there’s a whole attitude and confidence that accompanies the STRUT! As it relates to their Christian walk, this is a seasoned woman of God who knows her divinely assigned purpose, walks it OUT LOUD daily; recognizes, appreciates and respects the anointing upon her life and is completely and totally sold out to Jesus! This anointed woman of God understands and accepts the STANDARD that God has set for her life, is in constant communication with Jesus, has an ongoing personal and intimate relationship with Him, reads the Word regularly and allows her light to shine so that others can find their way to Jesus, and even still allows others to use her light to light the path to identify their purpose and learn how to walk in it! This woman accepts the responsibility of being a living example of a Godly woman even when she feels like it’s a burden. This woman STRUTs as she ministers at Church, in her home and on her job. She STRUTs when she is completing her destiny assignments and having destiny encounters. This woman knows that everyday her feet hits the floor she is going to be a warrior battling for the lives and souls of her loved ones and those assigned to her! This woman wears her STILETTOs proudly because she understands the power and the purpose of the anointing on her life and basks in the standard that God has for her! She understands the struggle she experienced to get here and honors those that God used to sharpen, mold, strengthen and/or encourage her!

Let me interject some honesty here; when I began my season of change, I wasn’t a stiletto! I grew into the stiletto during my season of change. Truthfully, I was the medium heel Christian. I knew how to hide the Word of God in my heart but struggled with applying the Word of God to my daily walk while accepting its power to do the work in my life. I also failed to develop Godly wisdom to continue strengthening my foundation to stand on during the unexpected storms of life! I was a believer; I was even walking out my purpose. The issue I ran into was I didn’t understand or know how to operate within the anointing on my life! I taught under the unctionizing power of the Holy Ghost; however, like in the Old Testament, once the assignment was over the anointing left me. Leaving me without the power I needed to aptly apply the Word of God to my life and allow it to do the work in my life for lasting change to take place.

What I learned and what you will read on the pages of this book is that as the STILETTO, I have accepted and committed myself to the responsibility to inform, educate and equip my sisters and brothers in Christ with the tools,