43: Shoes of Preparation

Take My Hand Inspirations

ARMOR OF GOD SERIES

“. . . and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace, . . . “ (Ephesians 6:15).

To prepare simply means to “get ready”.  Before we start a race, we hear: “On your marks, get set (ready), . . . .”  What must a Christian soldier get ready for?  Preparation is what you do and the time you take to get ready for something that will happen either in the immediate future (one minute, one hour, one day from now) or distant future (one month, one year, one decade from now). 

You, fearless Soldier of the Cross, are to get yourself ready to teach, preach, and reach with the gospel of peace in this cold, cruel, apathetic, atheistic, violent world we live in.  Your preparation—knowing what the Bible says and being able to share your testimony about how you were saved—is key in this Battle for Souls.  So, the question posed to you right now is: Where do you allow your feet to go? 

When gossip is spreading like wild fire, many of us go running to it so quickly we don’t even discern (to see with spiritual eyes) the pain in a soul crying out to be saved standing right next to us.  We rather push him or her aside in lust to satisfy our itching ears.  Or when there is a wayfaring warfare of words, insults ricocheting throughout a house, or in the streets, or on any kind of media, some Christian feet are ever present catching it all in—in silence!  Aren’t you supposed to go with the gospel of peace?  Why is your mouth closed?!  Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God (Matthew 5:9).

Our feet go where our “eyes” take them.  Inside our eyes is a lens, the part of the eye behind

the pupil (the black hole at the front of the eye) that helps you to see clearly by focusing (collecting) light onto another part of the eye called the retina.  The retina receives the light and sends pictures of what the eye sees to the brain.  From there, the brain interprets what is seen and sends message to any part of the body either to act (or to react) or to not act at all.

What you “see” is determined by the lens you wear.  Do you wear rose-coloured lenses; or are they coloured with darkness and despair?  Lisa’s mother, a happy homemaker, taught her daughter to put on rose-coloured glasses and see the good in everyone.  Lisa’s father, an honorably discharged Vietnam war hero and veteran, cautioned her to put on those other spectacles and see people for who they really are.

The rose-colored glasses are the way we “see” situations around us from the point of view outside ourselves.  These spectacles (specs) are not related to the ego, the “me” part of how we feel.  Rose-coloured specs are the unselfish “eyes” that peer into the needs of others and compel us to go and help.  They enable us to recognize the lessons even in the worst tragedy.  They focus on the possibility in seemingly hopeless circumstances; and they envision a future full of light and filled with rose-coloured roses and pink balloons and zany yellows and sky blues and chartreuse greens and rainbow joy! 

And folks who wear these specs know fully well how dark life can be, but they choose every day, and often by force, to create a better world, a beautiful world—here on earth as it is in heaven—for the sin-sick souls around them.  A smile, an “a-ha”, an exhale of relief released from a once imprisoned soul set free is the joy we receive as Soldiers in God’s Salvation Army.  Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents (Luke 15:10). The GREAT COMMISSION also saves you, the one going.  As you constantly witness the miracle of re-birth—creating new beings, new creations (2 Corin. 5:17), your faith is recharged and set ablaze on fire—Holy Ghost . . . fire!

The late musical genius, Michael Jackson, sang it from his whole heart: Heal the world,

make it a better place, for you and for me and the entire human race; there are people dying, if you care enough for the living, let’s make a better place for you and for me.

Keep this in your mind’s "eye": The Armor is THE SHOES.  The Weapon is PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE.  THIS WEAPON PARALYZES THE WILES OF THE DEVIL!  Satan wants to keep you in the dark about how powerful you are in Christ.  He wants to distract you from Bible reading and to stop you from sharing your testimony by dumping tragedies of sorts into your life to steal your joy of salvation.  He wants you to see yourself as helpless, hopeless, pitiful and ugly.  He tries to turn your attention inwardly so that you only think about yourself and your problems.

YOU TAKE BACK CONTROL OF YOUR GOD-GIVEN POWER WHEN YOU TAKE OFF THE DARK-COLOURED LENSES AND SHOD YOUR FEET WITH THE GOSPEL SHOES.  This truth may hurt:  Not everything is about you.  In fact, JESUS GAVE UP HIS LIFE to break us out of bondage.  Was that out of selfishness?  Did He do it for praise, for a medal, for headlines in the graphic?  Did He get paid for it?  Did He seek to please other people's opinions on how special He is?  Did He seek martyrdom and pity?  NO.  IN ALL JESUS DID, HE DID IT OUTSIDE HIMSELF.  HE DID IT TO SAVE US.

The dark-coloured glasses do not let you clearly see how beautiful you are.   When you commit to going in The Great Commission YOU BECOME BEAUTIFUL.  How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring good news, who bring glad tidings of good things, who proclaim salvation . . . (Isaiah 52:7 and Romans 10:15).

On your marks, get ready, . . .

© 2019 by Take My Hand Inspirations, a division of PepParadise Society Ltd Publishers.  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—without the prior written permission of the publisher.  The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Unless otherwise stated, all scripture quotations are from The New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.  Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Most of the paintings selected for this blog are retrieved from “Black Art” search engine.

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42: The Breastplate of Righteousness

Take My Hand Inspirations

ARMOR OF GOD SERIES

“. . . having put on the breastplate of righteousness, . . . “ (Ephesians 6:14b).

In Blog #11 (July 2017), entitled Getting Right With Me, we conversed that Jesus is your righteousness.  When you completed your 7 Steps to Salvation, you allowed Him into your heart (soul) as your Lord and Saviour. So now He lives in you.  You alone can never be right with God—for flesh we are; but Jesus in you makes you all right in God’s sight!  And if you believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He died on the cross, rose again three days later and is seated right now at the right hand side of God as the second in the trinity of the Godhead, then your faith (this belief) is counted for righteousness (Read Gen. 15:6 and Hebrews 11:7).

Whew!  Amen.  You can now stop beating yourself up for the sins you’ve made in the past, or the devilish temptations you are feeling today.  The devil is always at work attacking you so that you fall off the righteous road, straight into sin and back into his bosom, defeated and hell-bound.  That’s why you must PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS!  This is a protective covering over your heart and lungs.  God put His own breath of life into you and now He lives in your heart.  This piece of God’s Armor is to keep you upright, in right standing, with Him.  This piece of God’s Armor is to protect your heart from that lying spirit; and to protect your lungs so that His breath keeps you alive as you battle the forces of that lying spirit.

Girded in the BELT OF TRUTH your faith in God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and His promises is rooted, but without the BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS the rest of you—your thoughts and ideas about who you are in Christ—can be swayed to and fro, making you insecure (unsure) about which way to go in life: But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind . . . . he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways (James 1:6-8). 

To ask God for something is to have faith in Him that He will answer and give it to you.  Satan makes you doubt or question yourself: “Do I really deserve this?”  “Did God really forgive me?  Will He even hear my prayer?”  Then, when the answer to your prayer is delayed, Satan makes you blame God by telling you, “God won’t answer me because of my past.  I am not worthy of His blessings.”  This is what is known as being driven and tossed by the wind (moving air)—according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2).

The BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, just like the BELT OF TRUTH, pulls down strongholds which bind you in unbelief about your righteousness status; casts down arguments that go against your confidence in yourself and in your ability to bring other souls to know God; takes into captivity that lying spirit and makes it obey what is in the mind of Jesus Christ; and punishes all disobedience as you fulfill your obedience to the Great Commission (2 Corinthians 10:3-6).

The Armor is the Breastplate.  The weapon is RIGHTEOUSNESS.  Repeat and believe this TRUTH three times (or more as you need to): I AM RIGHTEOUS IN CHRIST BECAUSE CHRIST IS MY RIGHTEOUSNESS! You are the blood-washed, soul-cleansed, purified precious child of Almighty God.  He will never leave you nor forsake you so that you can boldly say and believe without doubt: The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. . . . (Hebrews 5b-6).

GO OUT, SOLDIER OF THE LORD, AND WORK FOR JESUS!  What must you ask for?  Lord, help me to open my mouth and let Your Holy Spirit talk through me to win more souls to Your Kingdom.  Can Jesus say, “no” to such a request made in perfect obedience to His will?

But seek first the kingdom of God and His RIGHTEOUSNESS, and all these things [what you need to have life more abundantly on Earth] shall be added to you (Matthew 6:33).

If you believe this promise, shout, “Amen!”

© 2019 by Take My Hand Inspirations, a division of PepParadise Society Ltd Publishers.  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—without the prior written permission of the publisher.  The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Unless otherwise stated, all scripture quotations are from The New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.  Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Most of the paintings selected for this blog are retrieved from “Black Art” search engine.

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41: The Belt-Girded In Truth

Take My Hand Inspirations

ARMOR OF GOD SERIES

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil (Read all of Ephesians 6:10-20).

There are seven pieces to the Armor of God: the Belt (one piece), the Breastplate (one piece), the Shoes (two pieces), the Shield (one piece), the Helmet (one piece), and the Sword (one piece).  The number seven is God’s number of perfection. 

We live in dimensions: (1) the physical garnered by what we see, hear, feel, taste, touch and smell; (2) the social garnered by temperaments, personalities and behaviours; and (3) the spiritual garnered by a “sixth” sense we often call intuition or that ‘inner voice’.  These dimensions are fluid, mixing together like water, oil, and fuel all in one concealed container called life.

And for a human being to be successful at life, he and she must be girded in truth. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life . . . .”  All that is written in story books, text books, reference books and all the e-books and ‘pedias’ may describe parts of the whole of creation, but can never add up to the final version of truth.  All that is TRUTH is found in the Bible, humanity’s manual for living.

That’s why we must READ THE BIBLE to discern fiction (what is not real) from fact (what is real) from lie (twisted reality) from truth (pure knowledge of God). 

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.  For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled (2 Corinthians 10:3-6).

As born-again Christians, in the physical dimension, we do not actually put on a soldier’s armor.  Once our souls are saved, and we obey the Great Commission to Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15), we are given God’s Armor, discerned in the spiritual dimension, but evidenced physically and socially as we Go! about fulfilling our Commission.  The weapons are attached to the Armor of God and, as we use them, we become mighty in God.

The first piece of God’s Armor that we are to put on is THE BELT OF TRUTH: Stand, therefore, having girded your waist with truth (Ephesians 6:14a).  The BELT is the piece of Armor.  The weapon is TRUTH.  And what is the weapon of TRUTH supposed to do? Pull down strongholds which bind humanity in unbelief, cast down arguments that go against bringing other souls to know God, transform every thought of man into obeying what is in the mind of Jesus Christ; and punish all disobedience as you fulfill your obedience to the Great Commission.

The Armor of God, therefore, is given to the Christian soldier who makes himself or herself ready to Go! into all the world around him/her to save souls.  Can a Christian who does not obey the very reason for why Christ died, be given God’s Armor?  Can a cold (disobedient) or lukewarm (comfortable, apathetic) Christian be entrusted with the Holy Spirit’s fire-hot weapons of warfare?  GET UP, GET HEATED AND GET OUT THERE WINNING SOULS.  GOD’S GOT YOU COVERED IN HIS ARMOR!

Where is the BELT OF TRUTH located and why? This piece of armor is located at your center of gravity so to speak.  The waist represents your pivot point, or, in science when describing machines, your fulcrum.  And as the forces of life are thrown your way, including the “wiles”—the tricks, the lies, the deceit—of the devil, the objective of the fulcrum is to keep you balanced.  Scientifically, the power into a machine must equal the power out of the machine to maintain balance, or equilibrium.  Well, guess what? In life, when Satan throws his full force at you, the girded power around your center of gravity—the TRUTH—goes out from you, knocking Satan out and keeping you steadfast and steady, balanced, unshaken, not frightened or fallen!  Halleluiah!

If the center of your being is TRUTH, then you cannot be tripped up or trampled over by the wiles of the devil as you carry out your Great Commission.  The battle is clear: You must go and save souls; Satan must stop you from saving souls which are marked for hell.

With your center girded tightly with the BELT OF TRUTH, you cannot be knocked off balance.  You stand, therefore, rooted firmly and Satan cannot operate against TRUTH.  He flees from it.

“And you shall know the TRUTH, and the TRUTH shall make you free” (John 8:32).

© 2019 by Take My Hand Inspirations, a division of PepParadise Society Ltd Publishers.  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—without the prior written permission of the publisher.  The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Unless otherwise stated, all scripture quotations are from The New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.  Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Most of the paintings selected for this blog are retrieved from “Black Art” search engine.

Take My Hand Inspirations