The Armor Of God – Peace Series

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The Armor of God – Peace

(Recap: If someone wasn’t there, encourage them to ask someone for notes.)

Really quickly: Last week we talked about the breast plate of righteousness. Did anyone mediate on that this week and talk to the Lord about cleaner being closer? Did anyone approach God from a righteous position in Christ this past week and notice a difference? By “anyone” I mean we all should have…

What do we tell ourselves about our righteousness?

I am innocent. I am not guilty. I am shameless. I am blameless. I do not deserve punishment.

(If no one has anything to say, encourage them to expect when they communicate with God from a righteous position. If no one is open to share, or your church deals with gossip, you may share my story below.)

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Example: I’m going to share a testimony from someone in a different church, so please don’t look around and say, “I bet I know who that is…” Unless you’ve been to Barefoot Redneckville in the deep south, just listen to the story.

I grew up in church, and I was taught that I had the righteousness of Christ, and because of Him I was made righteous. I could quote you several scriptures, but I never gave it much thought. One day I heard a teaching on how important it was to actually believe I am just as righteous as Christ and use my faith for it when I go before God. I broke down crying, because I realized that through His righteousness, He was trying to tell me that I am made perfect, I am right, I am acceptable, I am worthy to receive, and God putting me in that position made me free to receive all His love. It radically changed my life, especially because I came from a background of abuse. I was wrong when I was wrong. I was wrong when I was right. I was punished when I was wrong. I was punished when I was right. Right and wrong never mattered to me, because it was always a murky mess. I was even a bad person when I was right. Now I understand why our breastplate is attacked so badly. It’s everything about being positioned over the enemy, who we’ve been made in Christ, and knowing God loves us so we can easily believe we have answers before we ask.

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This week…

Ephesians 6:15 NKJV

and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

Really quick, just so we’re all on the same page, we went over this in the introduction, gospel means “good news,” and your peace sandals aren’t referring to sharing Jesus, although that’s never a bad or wrong idea when it comes to spreading peace. This scripture says, “preparation of the gospel of peace,” which in Greek is also means readiness, firm footing, or foundation. This scripture isn’t saying being ready to preach salvation will give you peace shoes, because our peace doesn’t depend on actions, but having a firm foundation in the good news of peace will produce effective prayer against the enemy. Remember, sharing the gospel isn’t prayer, and Paul is talking about a prayer suit.

Peace. Shod means to bind to the bottom of your foot, like a horseshoe on a horse. A Roman soldier’s sandal was a high-top thick leather sandal. The bottom had metal nails with a nob at the end that possibly provided some type of grip into the ground, kind of like an ancient soccer spike. The heavy-metal bottom sandal was also believed to be used for crushing an enemy underfoot after the enemy was on the ground. A Roman army marching in unison with these sandals probably caused quite stir and struck fear in the enemy.

What I believe Paul is saying is that we need to bind peace to our feet. Why our feet? Because the motion of the feet signifies that wherever we go, peace should be leadings us, following us, and surrounding us. It’s very difficult for a person to take up a one-sided fight, and refusing to fight can immediately squash an enemy in his tracks. When your motives in life are peace and walking in love (which promotes peace), you certainly can stomp out the works of the enemy.

One of my favorite peace scriptures, and I believe it’s key in strengthening your peace, is

Psalm 119:165

Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.

To me, this is one of the hardest sayings in the Bible. What does that mean, “love thy law?” The word law actually means teaching. This scripture can be read, “Great peace have they which love thy teachings: and nothing shall offend them.” We are not under the law anymore, but grace! Before you shout woohoo, Jesus said in…