Day 19 - Sunday

Day 19

 

"Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared." Ephesians 6:14-15 (NIV)

Today we continue our study of the armor of God. We are looking at the admonition of Paul's to "put on Christ," as every attribute that the armor represents is also found in our Lord.  As we cover ourselves in the attributes of Christ, it gives us strength and covers our lives. Now we turn our attention to the "shoes of peace."

When we think of armor, we don't normally think about the shoes that are worn, but they are a very important and vital piece of the armor.  Think about the rough terrain that a soldier has to traverse in battle.  A barefooted warrior or one with poorly covered feet would be in jeopardy of being wounded, slowed down or captured.  In fact, in ancient times, the breaking or failing of a shoe was a metaphor for weakness, because the shoe was so important to the soldier's success.

A Roman soldier, who Paul models many metaphors after, would wear a shoe called a "caligae."  Caligae were heavy-soled military shoes or sandals.  They were worn by all ranks up to and including centurions.  They were constructed from leather and laced up the center of the foot and onto the top of the ankle. Additionally, iron hobnails (stud like nails) were hammered into the sole, providing the soldier with better traction and allow the caligae to be used as a weapon (inflicting damage by stamping.)

Paul says that our caligae is peace.  When we are covered in the armor of God, peace will protect our feet.  This is what will give us energy for our journey and in the battles of life.  Peace, remember, is not the absence of conflict, but trust in the presence of God in the midst of it.  These shoes will sustain us, just as the soldier in the battle relies on his shoes to protect and keep him moving.

Begin to imagine in your mind's eye, wherever you walk, no matter the situation you will encounter, you walk in the peace of God.  No terrain is too dangerous.  We do not walk alone or without support.  We walk in peace.

Prayer:  "Jesus, thank you that you cover my feet with your peace.  I do not have to be anxious about any situation that I may encounter for you are with me and give me your peace.  In your name, Amen."

 

Day 18 - Saturday

Day 18

“The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of his being.” Proverbs 20:27 (KJV)

Now that we have entered into relationship with Jesus and he has changed us, replacing our old heart with a new heart, we can trust God to speak to us through our heart.

Proverbs is saying that our spirit (heart) is used by the Lord to illuminate our entire being. We have a heart-to-heart connection with God. So this is the place to where God speaks bringing revelation to us, through his righteousness that covers our heart.

“For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:6 (NIV)

Our heart now speaks to us through our conscience. Do you ever hear a voice telling you to do something, then later you realize doing it was the exact thing you needed to do? You felt to call someone, who turned out to need you at that moment. You felt to go somewhere, and you had a divine assignment. You felt that shouldn’t do something, but you did it anyway and it failed? The Lord is speaking to your heart.

“This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God.” 1 John 3:19-21 (NIV)

The more we listen to our heart (spirit), the more we train ourselves to be quick to respond to the Lord’s leading.

Prayer: “Lord, help me to hear your voice in my heart, leading me and I trust you to walk with me. Cover my heart with your righteousness and make me into your image. In Christ’s name, Amen.”

Day 18 - Saturday

Day 18

 

"The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of his being." Proverbs 20:27 (KJV)

Now that we have entered into relationship with Jesus and he has changed us, replacing our old heart with a new heart, we can trust God to speak to us through our heart. 

Proverbs is saying that our spirit (heart) is used by the Lord to illuminate our entire being.  We have a heart-to-heart connection with God.  So this is the place to where God speaks bringing revelation to us, through his righteousness that covers our heart.

"For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."  2 Corinthians 4:6 (NIV)

Our heart now speaks to us through our conscience.  Do you ever hear a voice telling you to do something, then later you realize doing it was the exact thing you needed to do?  You felt to call someone, who turned out to need you at that moment.  You felt to go somewhere, and you had a divine assignment.  You felt that shouldn't do something, but you did it anyway and it failed?  The Lord is speaking to your heart.

"This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.  Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God."  1 John 3:19-21 (NIV)

The more we listen to our heart (spirit), the more we train ourselves to be quick to respond to the Lord's leading. 

Prayer:  "Lord, help me to hear your voice in my heart, leading me and I trust you to walk with me.  Cover my heart with your righteousness and make me into your image. In Christ's name, Amen."

Day 17 - Friday

Day 17

 

"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?"  Jeremiah 17:9 (NIV)

 

"I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh."  Ezekiel 11:19 (NIV)  

 

How many times we have heard whether from preachers, or teachers, or maybe our parents that we're not good? That we're bad people?  Religion is extremely good at reminding us that we are not good enough.  And as we saw yesterday, yes, we do fail.

 

Some have taken Jeremiah's words to be the final say from God about our hearts.  "It is deceitful and wicked."  I have heard some preachers say that we cannot even know our own hearts…though they seem to believe that they can know ours, and judge us for it.  But these folks dismiss the declaration of Ezekiel when they focus on the "wickedness" of our hearts.

 

God made a promise to us through the prophet that though our hearts may have been wicked at one time, that he was going to provide a way for us so that a change would happen.  He would give us a NEW heart. 

 

If you have made Jesus your Savior, if you have placed your trust and faith in him, he has removed your sin as far as the east is from the west and placed a new heart, a new spirit, in you.  The past is gone and the new is here.

 

"Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him."  John 14:23 (NIV)

 

The enemy of our souls will come to us and lie, telling us that we are deceitfully wicked, that this is our nature now, but this is not true. 

 

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"  2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

 

We are not merely "fixed" people, but rather, we have become whole new creations.  We are re-created and our hearts are no longer hearts of stone, but that of flesh and soft and pliable in the hands of God, quick to respond to his leading.

 

Prayer:  "Father, thank you for making me into a new creation.  Thank you that I can know my heart is new and free.  Thank you for changing my life.  Amen."

Day 16 - Thursday

Day 16

 

"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."  Isaiah 64:6 (KJV)

I believe it is important for us to examine the words we use, especially in context of spirituality and religion.  It is sin that has kept us separated from the presence of God.  But "sin" has many connotations depending on who is talking about it.  Not long ago I heard a good definition of the word, sin.  "Sin is whenever we try to fill a legitimate need by illegitimate means."

We have a legitimate need for intimacy in our lives, but some of us find illegitimate ways to fill that need through relationships that are outside the boundaries God has set for us.  When we do this, though it may "solve the problem" for a little while, it takes a toll on our souls.  It takes a toll on our hearts.

We have a legitimate need to acceptance in our lives, but sometimes we find ourselves giving into the control and abuse of others simply so we don't feel rejected.  But God has called us to have self-control and be in charge of our own lives, under his guidance.  Instead of being fulfilled we end up stress-filled, wounded and manipulated.  And it takes a toll on our hearts.

As we looked at yesterday, we realize, especially when face to face with God's goodness and grace, that we are in desperate need.  In fact, without God's help we have no hope of ever being "good enough" or in right standing with him.   And this is the point of the good news, that even though we couldn't do anything about our standing before God, he could and did.

"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV)

This is the promise of God for us.  We do not have to have it all together.  I cannot fill these legitimate needs of my life on my own.  I fail.  No matter how perfect I try to keep the law of love (loving God and loving others) I will never get it right enough.  

But God the Father laid upon Jesus the sin of us all and in him the price for our sin was paid.  No more sacrifices, no more rigorous law-keeping to make sure that God is not angry.  Nothing more is needed but the acceptance of the gift of God:  his son, Jesus.  When I believe this and begin to allow this truth to lead me, I cover my heart with his breastplate of righteousness.  

Prayer:  "Lord, today I affirm I  believe that you gave yourself to become sin and receive my punishment, that I might be free to receive your righteousness.  Thank you for your gift of life.  In Your Name I pray, Amen."

 

Day 15 - Wednesday

Day 15

 

"…the breastplate of righteousness in place," Ephesians 6:14 (NIV)

 

Paul is telling us that we can cover and protect our hearts with righteousness.  The word righteousness here implies "integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking feeling, and acting."  When we have righteousness in our lives, it keeps us from getting into situations that will damage our hearts.

 

Unfortunately, most of us when we see that list realize that we cannot accomplish being "correct" in our thinking or feeling.  We know that we are not pure and sometimes our lives do not display the integrity that we would like.  Discouragement comes and knocks on the door and tells us that we'll never be good enough.  God wants us to be righteous, but we'll never get there.

 

Reality is that this is true.  We will never get there…on our own.  We are not pure…on our own.  We will never be correct in our thinking or feeling…on our own.  This is what Paul meant when he said in Romans:

 

"Since we've compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ."  Romans 3:23-24 (TMSG)

 

Because we cannot do this on our own, God gave us Jesus to stand in our place, to do what we couldn't and provide for us a way that we could become righteous.  Righteousness is another way of saying "being in right (good) standing with God."

 

This breastplate we receive through our salvation in Christ.  It is given to us not because of anything we can do or anything we can give, but simply by receiving the gift of God.  This is grace, that what we were, broken and separated from God, is swallowed up in the love and sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf.  Now his righteousness has become ours.

 

Prayer:  "Thank you, God, for granting me the grace to be righteous through Christ.  Though I have nothing in myself to offer, I offer myself wholly to you.  In Jesus I pray, Amen."

Day 14 - Tuesday

Day 14

 

"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)

Nestled safely behind the breastplace lies our heart.  Yes, physically we have a heart, but spiritually as well and Solomon reminds us that the heart is at the center of all we do.  Just as it is most important to protect and keep our physical heart healthy, we must also take care of our spiritual heart.

 

Solomon says that from it comes the "wellspring" of life.  The King James Bible says that from it come the "issues" of life.  This word "issues" in Hebrews is a word that means "boundary" or "source."  In other words, he is telling us that the source of life comes out of our heart and sets the boundaries of who we are.  Therefore, it is imperative that you and I guard our hearts.

 

What is found in our hearts?  It is in our hearts that our desires are found: Psalm 37:4 says "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart."  Our heart is the spiritual container of our dreams, callings and desires.  When we seek to find our joy in God, he will stir his desires in our hearts and call us to follow after him.

 

From our heart, we worship God.  "I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders." Psalm 9:1 (NIV)

 

It is with our hearts that we believe.  Faith is birthed in our hearts.  "…That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved."  Romans 10:9-10 (NIV)

 

Because of this, we can expect the enemy of our souls to battle against our hearts.  This is why God gives us his righteousness to be a guard and a covering for our hearts.  He desires to be able to express himself through our hearts.  He calls us to love him and to love others, and he wants to do it through us.  Our hearts will be the vehicle through which the world will feel the love of God. 

Prayer:  "Jesus, my heart holds so many things: desires, faith, worship and more.  Cover me with your righteousness so that I might be your vehicle of love and grace as you love others through me.  In You I pray, Amen."