readiness | The Spirit and the Word

Your Spiritual Shoes

We’re continuing our study through the book of Ephesians. At this point I’m going through the section known as the Armor of God. In today’s post, I’ll talk about the shoes.

…and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
Ephesians 6:15

It’s obvious that this piece of armor protects our feet. The question is; what are our spiritual feet?

Simply put, we walk with our feet. This includes three aspects. Direction…we point our feet where we want to go. Speed…this could be determined by a number of factors. Endurance…as a hiker I know that I can only walk as long as my feet are able.

So to answer my question I need to understand what it is that determines my direction, speed, and endurance in my spiritual walk. In life, it’s my will that brings all of these things into focus.

It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights.
Psalms 18:32-33

God perfects the way before me, but I still have to set my will to walk it out. My will determines my direction, speed, and endurance. This is important for us to know.

Knowing this, we’re told that something needs to be fitted on our spiritual feet. The word, fitted, in the verse from Ephesians literally means an under binding.

That’s because my will is where I come in contact with the world. It’s just like in the natural; my shoes protect my feet as they contact the earth. When I live for Christ, my will comes in direct opposition to that of the world.

It’s in this place of contact that your endurance can get worn down. If you don’t wear shoes, or don’t wear the right shoes, the earth determines how you walk. With the right shoes, you determine your walk.

Like I’ve said, I’m a hiker. I have a good set of hiking boots. I’ve gone out for day hikes with friends who only had a pair of flimsy sneakers. I laughed as they slowly picked their way so as not to step in mud or on a sharp rock. But I was able to move straight forward because my feet were properly protected.

As I look at the armor, I notice that there’s a specific order to put it on. It starts with the mind (The belt), then moves to the heart (The breastplate), and now we prepare our will.

That answers a question that many ask. How do I know God’s will for my life? Once you protect your mind and your heart, you’re ready to hear God’s will. There’s a divine order to it.

Having said all of this, I think the keyword is readiness, the preparedness to do God’s will. We must realize, even before we know God’s will for us, that it’s going to be the opposite of what the world desires. Unless we’re prepared to protect it, our day to day life will wear it down.

Any believer can start doing God’s will. Only those who can endure to the end can finish what they started. We need the preparation that can only come from the Gospel of Peace.

We sometimes get the idea that everything’s okay. “When something comes up, I’ll do the right thing.” NO! You won’t unless you’ve prepared yourself for that evil day.

The fact is that if you don’t prepare beforehand, you won’t choose God’s will when you’re under extreme pressure. The Lord has provided a way for us to walk in victory, but we have to put the armor on.

At one point in Paul’s ministry, he knew God’s will for him was to go to Jerusalem. All along the way, prophecies came forth warning that he would be arrested. The church people pleaded with him not to go.

Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
Acts 21:13

We need that same preparation. No matter what comes our way, we’re ready to follow through and complete God’s will for our lives.

Question: What’s the next step in God’s plan for your life?

A Last Days Mindset

11 Jul

Do you believe that we’re living in the Last Days before the coming of the Lord? Do you think that His return is close? If so, then what should our mindset be like?

We’re looking at the Gospel of Luke, and we’re now in chapter 12. At this point in His ministry the Lord is talking about the importance of being ready. We’re not to be distracted by all the things the world has to offer.

“Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.”
Luke 12:35-36 NIV

In this verse Jesus shows us how to live in the last days. He tells us to be dressed. For us it means to have our spiritual armor on. Don’t go around without your protection from the snares of the enemy.

Too many Christians are walking around spiritually naked. Then they wonder why the enemy has such an easy time messing with them. The time is now to prepare for the spiritual conflict ahead.

The Lord also said to keep your lamps burning. We must be awake and alert. The world is in the dark and we’re supposed to be in the light. That’s the kind of constant preparedness our lives should be equipped with.

We are to be in an attitude of waiting and watching. The meaning of the word that He uses for waiting is to give access to. In other words, I’m not living for myself. I’m at someone else’s disposal. I’m supposed to be ready at a moment’s notice to do something for somebody else.

The Lord must have 24 hour a day access to our lives. As soon as the Master knocks, we should be at the door, opening it. Our schedule should not even factor into it. We live to please the Master.

Sometimes our attitude with the Lord sounds like this; “Oh, I’m sorry. I was reading a book, and I wanted to finish the paragraph.” Servants don’t have that luxury. We live to please Christ. We must be prepared to serve at a moment’s notice.

In order to fulfill this calling, we must have the attitude of a waiting servant. Christ is coming, and we want to be ready when He appears. It doesn’t matter what I’m doing, what I’m reading, or what I’m eating – when He arrives on the scene, I’m there to meet Him. “Lord, I’m ready for you.” That’s the ready attitude to have.

It’s time for the church to stop living like our wants and desires are the most important thing. Christ must be given the highest priority of our service. If we live like this, we have a blessing waiting for us.

It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night.

Luke 12:37-38 NIV

According to the Lord, if we work now, at His return it will be our time to rest. That’s something to look forward to.

However, Jesus made some surprising statements about His return. Don’t be one of those who are unprepared for what will happen before His coming.

The Lord says that His return will come when you don’t expect it. Notice that it will not be a surprise because He comes before you expect Him. What is going to throw people off is that He will arrive later than they thought it would be.

The second watch of the night is from 9 o’clock to midnight. The third watch is from midnight to 3 in the morning.

What if I said to you, “Can I come over your house tonight?”

“Sure,” you reply, and you wait for me to show up. 7 o’clock, 8 o’clock and 9 o’clock go by. At that point you’ll probably shut the porch light off. At 11 o’clock you will probably be in bed. If I then bang on your door at 3 o’clock in the morning, I’m sure you wouldn’t even get out of bed to answer the door, even though I told you I was coming.

That’s what Jesus is saying. He’s telling us that He’s coming later than we think. Most people would think that if you’re going to come for dinner, you should arrive early.

Naturally, we think “suppertime.” But Jesus is asking how long past suppertime are we prepared to wait? There will be a time when people start thinking that Jesus should be here by now, but He’s not. It’s midnight. A lot of people have these religious clocks that are set at five minutes to midnight. They think that the Lord is coming soon – at midnight.

I’ve got news for you. The Bible says He might come as late as 3 in the morning, spiritually speaking. There are many Bible teachers who have taken certain future prophetic events and defined them as occurring “after midnight.”

Someday the “prophecy clock” will strike midnight. If you’re one of the people who believe that He’s going to be here at this prophetic midnight, you might be disappointed. We’ve got to be careful. Most of Christianity is expecting Him to come at this midnight hour.

Jesus said, “I’m going to come later than you think.” As a matter of fact, what you’re going to find as we go through the Scriptures, is that whenever Christ warns us about being ready, He always qualifies it by saying that He will come later than we’re expecting.

Question: How far are you prepared to go if Christ delays His Second Coming?

God’s Armor – The Shoes of Readiness

29 Nov

As I continue with my series on the Armor of God, today we’ll look at the shoes.