Faith: all the time & for all the flames

“In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.”

Different body parts and diverse battles require specific armor. A helmet isn’t ideal to protect the chest, and shin guards can only do so much for the head. Swords can’t swat away bullets. But there’s a piece of armor designed to be a one-size-covers-all item as the first line of defense against an attack.

In the spiritual battle, it’s the full-body shield of faith. Darts descend on us only to pelt against our shield of faith. The enemy approaches from any angle only to be thwarted by our shield of faith. Fiery arrows whiz straight toward us, only to be absorbed, repelled, deflected, and extinguished by the shield of faith. 

But because of the shield’s multi-purpose protection at all times and for all the flames, it’s our faith that gets burned and bears some of the deepest scars from battle. During a cease-fire, you may have realized that your faith feels worn out. In that stillness, have you turned your shield around to examine its condition?  

Imagine looking at the surface area of this large shield as if it’s comprised of faith categories: at one corner might be your beliefs about God’s character; at another corner, all that you believe about God’s power; maybe the middle portion is what you believe about God’s Word; still other parts of the shield might be your faith regarding God’s people and God’s plan. Often, the arrows pierce again and again at just one section of our beliefs to weaken that specific area. On what part of your shield have the arrows clustered together?  

Maybe your faith about God’s character has been splintered. Perhaps your belief about His power is falling apart; maybe your trust in His Word is coming undone. It could be that relationships with God’s people are being chipped away, little by little. God’s plan for you might feel sub-par. Left without reinforcement, even the slightest hole in our shield can lead to our take-down.

To our relief, though, God is in the shield restoration business. Materials we need for repairs are never on back-order. He’s not short on help, at a loss for all the damage done, or disgusted when we slide our shield across the counter to Him.  The question is whether we’ll pick up the tools He offers us to rebuild with Him. His Word functions like a toolbox full of truth to reinforce our faith. Recognizing where our faith has been weakened and applying the reinforcement of specific truth is how the battle actually becomes the catalyst for strengthening our shield of faith instead of destroying it. 

What specific truth needs to be applied to an area of your faith as reinforcement for it?

Planted in Peace

“...as shoes for your feet, the readiness given by the gospel of peace.”

I was on my way home from church and needed to pick up groceries for lunch. It was that frigid, snowy weather that swept through our region a couple weeks ago, and I was wearing my coziest sweater, jeans, and long, puffy coat with a hood trimmed in fluff. I felt quite protected from the elements, dashing from the car, through the slush, and into the store.

As I hurried down the aisle, I forgot that I had worn my high-heeled boots that were now coated in snow. All the layers that shielded me from the freezing temperatures couldn’t prevent my fall. I landed in a pose that I’d like to imagine could have been the first move of a breakdancing routine (I’d probably call it The Puffer Jacket Drop), and I’m sure whoever was watching the security camera that morning enjoyed the replay.

No matter how guarded they are, knights in shining high heels won’t be ready for the onslaught of the day. Shoes matter. 

We’ve picked up two pieces of armor so far, wrapping ourselves in the belt of truth and aligning our actions with our new righteous identity in Christ. We’ll also need secure footing to stand against the elements, which brings us to this third piece of armor: shoes of readiness given by the gospel of peace. 

Each morning, we confront new battles or old ones, and we wonder how we’ll ever be ready to face what pulls the rug out from under us. We’ll only be prepared to step into those unsettling scenarios if we’ve planted our feet firmly in the gospel. The gospel isn’t just elementary Sunday school truth; on the contrary, the gospel is our foundation for active, daily peace. 

Peace with God is the gospel’s message: 

When our lives began, we were cut off from God and alienated from His life. Our broken, lifeless existence couldn’t be made whole by anyone or anything, except Jesus, who is Himself our peace. His death, burial, and resurrection offers us a new life of living in harmony with our Creator, restored and forgiven because of peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Self-reflection: 

Do I lack peace because I expect circumstances, people, my job, reputation, achievements, etc. to be my source of wholeness?

Is sin preventing God’s peace from filling my life? 

Peace in chaos is the gospel’s power: 

It takes a power beyond our own to have peace when our circumstances emphasize how powerless we are. Contrary to popular opinion, we are not enough, and that’s the very reason that the Father sent the promised Holy Spirit when Jesus returned to heaven. He lives in our bodies once we trust Christ, giving us access to divine power. He enlightens the eyes of our hearts to recognize hope when God is invisible. When the battle is crushing or threatening, it’s only His presence that is powerful enough to sustain us with the same immeasurable greatness of His power that raised Christ from the dead. 

Self-reflection: 

Do I gauge my battles according to my own strength or by the power of the Spirit in me?

How can I be so full of the gospel that when life provokes me, peace controls me?

Peace for others is the gospel’s mission: 

Jesus came and preached peace to those who were far off and peace to those who were near.  When we lace up our boots in preparation to follow Jesus into our next step, the banner we carry across enemy lines declares, “peace!”. We receive His peace and become ambassadors who extend peace like He did, remembering that the recipients of our message are not the opposition. Crusaders and jihadists declare “war!”, bringing brutality against flesh and blood, treading down their victims, and leaving tragedy in their tracks. This is not the gospel’s footprint, because we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. 

Embracing and proclaiming peace with God disrupts the cosmic forces of evil; when we spread peace, our twisted enemy hears, “war!”, so we shouldn’t be surprised by his retaliation. But we ready ourselves, allied with the King who reigns far above all rule and authority and power and dominion.   

Self-reflection: 

Am I living out the gospel’s mission?

Italicized phrases from: Ephesians 1:13-21; 2:12-17; 6:12,15; Romans 5:1-5

Righteous to the Core

The Messiah looked around at the total lack of justice 

and saw how wrong was maximized and right was minimized. 

His eyes watched as truth fell to its knees for all to mock, 

and anyone who attempted to leave the jeering crowd was hunted down. 

No one could withstand such depravity; 

not a single warrior, king, or nobility could handle it. 

So the Messiah stood, resolved. 

He reached out for His own armor. 

“He put on righteousness as a breastplate…” 

-thoughts from Isaiah 59:14-17

It’s the opening scene, and it’s the closing one in our wrestle against the darkness. Our Savior positions Himself center stage - fully capable and finally conquering - to single handedly defeat the enemy who is too strong for us. 

Now He offers His followers the victorious armor of Himself. 

When we trust Christ, we untie and hand over our own ragged efforts to save ourselves, and we strap on His righteousness at our very core. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” 

Vine’s Expository Dictionary explains the righteousness of God like this: “the perfect agreement between His nature and His acts”.  

He places on us His own righteousness like an identity exchange, changing our nature to transform our way of living. Paul introduced this idea back in Ephesians 4:24, when he wrote, “Put on the new self, created after the likeness of God, in true righteousness and holiness.” Righteousness like God’s on the inside equips us to live likewise on the outside, and that wholeness is what arms us, leaving no room for inconsistency and nothing vulnerable to attack. 

While the enemy scans for a crack in your armor, lean into the core strength of the One who saves us from the inside out.

The Belt of Truth, chapters 4-6

The wind of every whim promises freedom, so we’re quick to let the breeze carry us where it will and shape us how it may. There’s a catch, though, and we realize we’ve slowly drifted into the enemy’s briar patch of distortion. His lying thorn bush frays us at the edges, and his deceptive burrs attach themselves and won’t let go. 

They won’t let us go. 

But the belt of truth gathers loose ends in its embrace, cinching down what otherwise strays and snags. Thoughts, emotions, desires, beliefs - all of them billowing - will either get tangled in the devil’s lair or be taken captive under the bandwidth of truth. Restriction is inevitable. It comes by the hand of the enemy or by the belt of truth, but only one option guarantees freedom. 

As we conclude our search for the belt of truth in the book of Ephesians, may we choose to be held together by truth we discover in chapters 4-6: 

Lie: I can live however I want now that I’m a believer.

Truth: I have a responsibility in Christ that calls for specific character qualities. 4:1-3

Lie: Everybody should be/think like me.

Truth: Grace gives oneness in salvation, but diversity in its application. 4:4-12

Lie: Everyone else might have a part to play in Christ’s body, but I don’t. 

Truth: I have a unique role in the growth and maturity of the body of Christ. 4:12-16

Lie: I can keep old patterns and habits that are just part of who I am.

Truth: Life looks different if I’m learning to be like Chist. 4:17-24

Lie: God doesn’t really care about little sins.

Truth: My new self in Christ completely replaces the old self. 4:24-32

Lie: I can define love. 

Truth: Christ Himself defines love. 5:1-6

Lie: A corner of darkness in my life is fine.

Truth: In Christ, we’re children of light. 5:7-14

Lie: A little foolishness is normal. 

Truth: The Spirit leads with wisdom. 5:15-21

Lie: The Bible promotes domineering leadership in marriage.

Truth: The flourishing of His bride is central to Christ’s self-sacrificial leadership, so a husband who does not have that goal isn’t leading like Christ. 5:21-33

Lie: God doesn’t notice how I treat people in certain contexts of my life.

Truth: The Lord is concerned with how I interact at home and at work. 6:1-9

Lie: My work is too insignificant to be meaningful.

Truth: The Lord rewards what I do on any scale, big or small. 6:8

Lie: I can manage this life.

Truth: Strength comes only from the Lord himself. 6:10

Lie: The devil is just too strong for me.

Truth: In Christ’s armor, I can stand against the devil. 6:11

Lie: Those people are the real problem.

Truth: The real enemy in my life is a spiritual one. 6:12,13

Lie: There’s too much to do to stop and pray.

Truth: Life in the Spirit is covered in prayer. 6:18-20

Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

-Jesus

John 17:17

The Belt of Truth, chapters 2 & 3

I’m continuing to comb through Ephesians, searching for evidence of the various pieces of armor listed specifically by the end of the book.  The belt of truth may seem like an odd item at the top of the list, but actually, the remaining pieces depend on it for their power. Without truth, there is no salvation, nothing to put faith in, no gospel to proclaim, nothing to quench lies, no word that pierces like a sword. With an enemy such as ours, truth is our necessary beginning.

[The devil] was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, 

for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, 

for he is a liar and the father of lies.

-Jesus

John 8:44

Our enemy is void of truth and actively opposes it, seeks its death, and speaks against it. Lies flow from him and through him as his heart language, the most natural words dripping off his forked tongue. We are not left defenseless. May the belt of truth in Ephesians 2 & 3 wrap you in its life-giving support and enable you to distinguish and follow God’s voice without hindrance:

Lie: My salvation isn’t really that miraculous.

Truth: God’s mercy raised me from death to life. 2:1-7

Lie: God isn’t good.

Truth: The gospel reveals God as rich in mercy, love, grace, and kindness. 2:4-7

Lie: I’m a good enough person to merit salvation.

Truth: Only God’s grace can save. 2:8,9

Lie: I don’t have a purpose like someone else has.

Truth: God had good works planned out for me when He saved me. 2:10

Lie: God is far away from me and likes it that way.

Truth: Christ’s blood brings me near to God. 2:11-13

Lie: There are too many long-standing differences for peace to ever be reality.

Truth: Only through Christ can peace be accomplished. 2:14-18

Lie: I don’t belong.

Truth: I’m a member of God’s family and part of its very structure. 2:19-22

Lie: God makes Himself at home in those perfect people, but not in me.

Truth: God lives in me. 2:22

Lie: God plays favorites.

Truth: The Gospel is all-inclusive. 3:1-6

Lie: One person can’t make much of a difference.

Truth: God gives each individual specific grace to steward in His kingdom. Eph 3:2,7

Lie: The church is an outdated idea.

Truth: The church, when functioning properly, reveals God’s wisdom. 3:7-13

Lie: Faith is a dead-end.

Truth: Faith in Christ is the path toward experiencing the fullness of God. 3:14-19

Lie: Because of my background, I should keep my spiritual expectations low.

Truth: I cannot even imagine the possibilities that exist through God’s power in me. 3:20,21

…the reason I was born and came into the world

was to testify to the truth. 

Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.

-Jesus

What is truth?

- Pilate

John 18:37,38