Posted in The armor of God, tagged Gospel of Jesus Christ, peace, tenderfoot on December 21, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Ephesians 6:15 – “and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE;”
Let’s break down the words of this verse for a few seconds:
As I share this last part of the feet of the gospel of peace, I want to wish everyone a very blessed Christmas! I pray that these devotions are a blessing to you. I’m taking the week off for Christmas; please join me next week as we move into studying the shield of faith!
Merry Christmas!
Posted in The armor of God, tagged good news, horseshoes on December 18, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Ephesians 6:15 – “and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE;”
When I was younger, growing up on our farm, I remember watching my father shoe the horses. He would take the tools used for such, scrape and trim the horses’ hooves, and then hammer a horseshoe into each hoof. I had wondered why horses, with their tough feet, needed horseshoes? My father simply said that the horses would not be ready to ride if their feet were not shod.
Are you ready today? Are your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace? It’s hard to carry the message of the good news out to those who need to hear it, if you’re not ready to go. So…have you got your shoes on? Are you ready to ride?
Have a blessed day!
Posted in The armor of God, tagged beautiful feet, good news on December 15, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Isaiah 52:7 – “How lovely on the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who announces peace And brings good news of happiness, Who announces salvation, And says to Zion, ‘ Your God reigns!'”
Romans 10:15 – “And how shall they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GLAD TIDINGS OF GOOD THINGS!'”
My Ryrie Bible has a footnote on Isaiah 52:7: “Here the good news is the announcement of the exiles’ return to Jerusalem, but Paul applies this verse to messengers of the Gospel (Rom 10:15)”
A young married Sunday School class, that my wife and I were members of one time, had a Valentine’s Day get-together at a member’s house once. We played an ice-breaker game where we blindfolded each of the wives; they had to crawl around the circle we were all seated at, and try to find their husbands only by recognizing, by touch, his foot and ankle! The purpose of the game was a lead-in to a devotion on knowing your spouse. (Whether the husband’s foot was beautiful or not, it should be beautiful to his wife!)
The Bible verses above reference beautiful feet, because those feet carry the messenger who carries the message. In the Old Testament, it was the exiles’ return to Jerusalem; in the New Testament, it is the missionaries who bring the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. How will the lost know unless the message is carried to them?
Have a blessed day!
Posted in The armor of God, tagged feet, gospel of peace, Isaiah 52:7, Romans 10:15, shod on December 13, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Ephesians 6:15 – “and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE;”
We have 3 words again to consider in this part of the armor of God verses.
According to Merriam-Webster.com, “shod” means “furnished or equipped with a shoe”. “Feet” (plural of foot) means “the terminal part of the vertebrate leg upon which an individual stands.” “Peace” has several meanings, but I chose this one: “freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions.”
The Strongest Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible states that “shod” occurs only 4 times in the Bible. “Feet” occurs 256 times, and “peace” occurs 429 times (along with peaceable, peaceably, and peacemakers).
When I was reading this verse, my Bible has 2 cross-references to it: Isaiah 52:7 and Romans 10:15. I want to address these in a separate post, so your assignment 🙂 is to read those 2 verses.
Have a blessed day!
Posted in The armor of God, tagged John 14:6 on December 10, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Ephesians 6:14 – “Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,”
Do you remember the first time you caught someone lying to you? The confrontation, the hurt, the betrayal you felt? The relationship with the one who lied may have been reconciled or the hurt may have lingered past a day or more. Maybe it was something that still remains broken even today.
One thing you can count on, is that God does not lie. What He says, what He does…is the truth! What I find incredible, especially during the Christmas season, is that there are some who doubt that Jesus came to this world in the form of a baby born of a virgin in a stable. But there are some who do doubt the truth.
Jesus stated in John 14:6 “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.” That is what is reassuring about putting on the armor of the belt of truth: we gird up for battle with the absolute Truth as our support and base. We need not be afraid of the lies of the devil, because, in this crazy world we live in today…where many groups claim different forms of “truth”…we are assured that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life!
Have a blessed day!
Posted in The armor of God, tagged Atom, Batman, God's truth, marshall, roofers, sheriff, soldiers on December 9, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Ephesians 6:14 – “Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,”
Let me ask you a few questions:
All these characters, both real and imaginary, couldn’t do their work properly without their belts. The very tools and devices they need are part of or are housed on their belts. For a Christian, truth is one the greatest weapons we have against the devil. The devil’s lies can’t stand up to the light of God’s truth.
Don’t forget your belt when you armor up today!
Have a blessed day!
Posted in The armor of God, tagged core training, foundation, gird up the loins of your mind, Jesus Christ on December 8, 2009| Leave a Comment »
1 Peter 1:13: “Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
A quick sidebar here: when I was stating the number of occurrences yesterday for the words “gird”, “loins”, and “truth”, I glanced at the last verse of the list on “loins”. There was the reference to 1 Peter 1:13. Having already quoted the definition of loins according to Merriam-Webster.com, I was intrigued because the verse above also is translated as “gird up the loins of your mind…”. My Ryrie Bible has the following footnote on this verse: “gird your minds for action = be disciplined in your thinking. A figure of speech (lit. gird up the loins of your mind) based on the gathering and fastening up of the long Eastern garments so that they would not interfere with the individual’s activity.”
Most physical fitness enthusiasts (and I have a friend who I consider such an expert) would agree that “core training” is very important to overall strength development of the human body. When you develop and strengthen the “core” (the abdominals and lower back muscle groups), you help create a foundation for overall muscle development, growth, and health. If you have a strong core, you are able to support development of other major muscle areas as well as support the strains on the physical body in other lifting activities. I have seen Olympic weightlifters on television picking up those huge barbells of weight, going for the record books. While they are extremely physically built, they have to have a strong core or foundation to be able to build up to lifting that much weight. However, I’ve also noticed what a good many of them wear when they are pressing that much weight; a support belt to protect those core muscles (especially the back), so they do not injure themselves.
We must daily gird ourselves for action, so that we have no worldly interference with what God wants us to do in His service today. Our strong foundation, our core, is the truth of Jesus Christ, God the Son, Who was the perfect sacrifice for our sins, Who died and was resurrected, Who lives and reigns today in Heaven. God may have some heavy lifting for you today; are you properly girded?
Have a blessed day!
Posted in The armor of God, tagged belt, gird, to prepare (oneself) for action, truth on December 7, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Ephesians 6:14 – “Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,”
We have 3 words to consider in this part of the armor of God verses.
According to Merriam-Webster.com, “gird” has 4 definitions, but it can be best summed up as “to prepare (oneself) for action”. “Loins” mean “the upper and lower abdominal regions and the region about the hips”. “Truth” has several meanings, but I chose this one: “sincerity in action, character, and utterance”; the words fidelity, constancy, fact, and actuality are also used.
Interestingly enough, when I sought to find the definition of “loins”, there was a cross-reference definition to “gird”. The two are connected in the phrase “gird your loins”.
The Strongest Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible states that “gird” (and its forms of girt, girded, girdeth, and girdedst) occurs about 66 times in the Bible. “Loins” occurs 63 times, and “truth” occurs 237 times (along with truth’s).
I went to our company gym last week to work out, and normally I pack my gym bag the night before. For whatever reason, after I showered and got dressed, I discovered I didn’t pack my belt. So until my wife brought it to me at lunch, I went about my daily work without a belt on. Now despite the fact that no one noticed, I felt like I wasn’t properly dressed. I grew up understanding that, if you put on a pair of pants with belt loops, you better put on a belt to go through them loops, else you ain’t properly dressed!
We need to have that same attitude when preparing daily for our Christian walk. You need to have the belt of truth on before you go out into the world. You need to be prepared for action, because the Christian walk isn’t always a stroll in the park. It can be a gauntlet, especially if you aren’t ready for ambushes by the devil!
Something to think about. Have a blessed day!
Posted in The armor of God, tagged cowboys, Iron Man, Jesus, life support, protection on December 2, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Ephesians 6:14 – “Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,”
Growing up, I enjoyed reading superhero comic books especially. As you know, one of the heroes I enjoyed reading the adventures of, was Iron Man. The suit of armor that gave Tony Stark the incredible strength and powers he used to fight evil and injustice also served another function that was different than the stories of armored knights…it was his life support. In the comics, the chestplate he wore also contained a pacemaker to keep his damaged heart alive and working; therefore, he couldn’t do without the chestplate, even if he took off the rest of the armor. (Now, in the recent movie, the producers tweaked this origin to make it an electromagnetic energy source that kept his heart going, not the chestplate itself. Also, later on in the comics, Stark did get a heart transplant.)
Remember old western movies and TV shows? Remember how the cowboy kept fighting, even if he got winged by a bullet in the arm or leg? It was only when he got hit in the chest (where all the vital organs are stored) that he got stopped or killed.
The breastplate of righteousness, like the helmet of salvation, is protection for our lives. It is the garment in our Christian walk that keeps us safe, free from guilt or sin. Sin can ravage the body, spiritually and physically. Just like those cowboys, you can’t take many hits to vital areas of your body without protection. Just like Iron Man, the breastplate keeps our heart alive and well…in the body of Jesus Christ.
Time to armor up!
Have a blessed day!
Posted in The armor of God, tagged Cornerstone, in accord with divine or moral law, Jesus Christ, Superman, to be free from guilt or sin on December 1, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Ephesians 6:14 – “Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,”
“Acting in accord with divine or moral law: free from guilt or sin” is the definition of righteous. I read those words, and I can’t help but think “what an empowering feeling it is to act in accord with divine or moral law, to be free from guilt or sin”. It would give you a confidence, a sure and purposeful feeling.
I think of Superman (yes, believe it or not, I do have a life outside of comic books, but follow me here…). Whenever you saw Superman on a magazine cover or TV, it was usually in the pose of strong defender: standing tall, confident, in the protective, “super-heroic” stance (chest stuck out, hands on hips, immovable, invincible). You knew that nothing would stop him from protecting people, striving for truth and justice. Having been raised by the Kents, he was grounded in a good moral foundation.
As Christians, we too, are grounded in a good moral foundation…the ultimate foundation, actually…the Cornerstone, Jesus Christ. No, He doesn’t wear a super-suit, but He is our ultimate Defender, our Advocate, our Shepherd. Only in Him, living in accordance with His divine law, can we be free from guilt and sin. That’s how it feels to put on that “breastplate of righteousness”.
We may not “leap tall buildings in a single bound”…but all Jesus asks us to do, is go in His Name, and make disciple makers. If we try to do that on our own, you might as well try to “run faster than a speeding bullet”! But when we let go, and let God, and put on that “breastplate of righteousness”…you’ll be amazed at how He can use you!
Have a blessed day!
Combing The Word 