The Gospel of Peace

Having Your Feet Shod

With The Preparation Of Peace

    Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee!

    The Gospel of Peace is all about reconciliation.  Our mission is to bring peace between two parties...God and Man.  The Bible says "Blessed are the peacemakers".

    The shoes the Roman soldiers wore had intermittent bands up to the knee and spikes underneath.  The reason for the bands was most likely for pressure relief so they could stand fighting longer.  The spikes have a three-fold purpose...they were used to dig in and stand your ground, or as your were charging the enemy so you didn't slip, or if the enemy was getting you down you could still kick.   While our method of fighting spiritual battles is not as such, the lesson is there.  As we fight the devil, we must stand our ground, advance into his territory, and if need arises give him the boot.

    As we stand and wield the Sword Of The Lord (the Word Of God) against the devil, we must have our passions in the right place or we will slip and fall.

 

Romans 10:15  

Isaiah 52:7

    The message of Peace is wrought through the hands, feet, and voice of those who truly care about the message.  How can we so graciously experience the Peace of God and then not spread it around?

    Peace is one thing that sets the Christian apart from the non-Christian and peace is what gives the mind rest in traumatic times.

Proverbs 16:17

    Another wording of this is "bathing your feet in the good news of peace".

    If you are facing temptations, take a look at where the feet of your mind have taken you.  We may be creating scenarios that are conducive for the devil to play with our minds, and that is a temptation that can be avoided.  Satan does, however, enjoy the thought of plaguing Christians as a means to get their mind off the real purpose of spreading Peace.

    We need to handle ourselves in such a way that we can be reconciled to God and others.  Our entire life should be such that we are constantly working for peace with God and our fellow man.  If our hearts are hosting impurities we will not have peace.

    Something we can glean from this is we must be prepared.  Our feet are to be controlled by the gospel of peace.  Everything we do must be in line with the gospel of peace.

    When our feet are bathed in the gospel of peace, they will take us to places of peace and our focus will be on God.  We will be able to walk on hot coals when our feet are held to the fire.

    David, as a man after God's own heart, made the pact within himself; "I will set no wicked thing before my eyes" Psalm 101:3

    Our peace can only come through God, and will only be applied to our lives if our mind is "stayed on Him".

    Our hearts are prone to wander and when we allow them to wander from God and forget His goodness, and righteousness, and authority, our peace will be elusive.  If our peace is elusive, then The Gospel of Peace will have no power in our lives nor in the lives of those we are trying to help.

Colossians 4:3,4

Colossians 4:15

Revelation 12:11

Proverbs 3:6

    When our desire for God does not direct our ways, our passion for God needs re-ignited.

Luke 2:14

    When Jesus was born, the birth announcement included "peace and goodwill to men". After Jesus went back to Heaven the only ones left to carry this message are His followers.  Are we extending Peace and Goodwill to those around us.

Colossians 3:15,16

    The peace that we extend to others, must first come from God, then be real in our own lives and through this peace, we will be able to encourage our contemporaries.

John 14:27

    Satan has worked very hard to destroy our message of peace.  In many cases, the peace in our hearts, the peace in our homes, and the peace in our churches does not exist or there is very little of it.  Somewhere along the line, Christians have taken off their shoes of peace, possibly thinking they didn't even need them.  Satan has tricked many into dismantling their armor one piece at a time.

    The fact remains, the Gospel of Peace is part of the armor and if you want fully protected from Satan's fiery darts, it must be a part of your life.

    “My Peace I leave with you, not as the world giveth give I unto you.  Let not your Heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid!”

Righteousness - The Armor of God

   First of all, we must come to the place where we realize our righteousness is as filthy rags. After having realized the deplorability of our unrighteous condition before God, we then understand that in order to commune/see God we are without hope.

   The word Righteous refers to having been made right, and in order for something to be made right it must have been wrong before.

   As God's Ambassadors, our mission is to bring rightness to the world. This will be our offensive mission, and in order to carry this mission out, we must first bathe ourselves in the righteousness of God.

Psalm 24:3-5

Matthew 5:20

Philippians 1:11

James 3:18

   To regain the perfect righteousness that our forefather Adam & Eve once had, we must receive it as a gift from God. God knows our condition and longs for fellowship with you and has paid the price to purify your soul, thus beginning the work of the redemption of your soul.

God's Righteousness was imputed/placed upon Abraham because of Abraham's faith and obedience. The idea of being reborn into a new family, the family of an upright God, indicates a change that must take place in our hearts. As a child of God, we must exemplify His characteristics.

James 2:20

James 2:26

   Christians, after having Christ work in their heart, should have the righteousness of God exuding from their lives. If we are consciously bathing ourselves in the righteousness of God, our spiritual vitals will be covered.

The Roman breastplate, which the Ephesians would have been familiar with, was laced together in the back. They knew not to turn their backs to the enemy.

   As the Holy Spirit works in your life, the righteousness of God will become a greater reality. The righteousness of God comes about by having faith in the promises of God, accepting His plan, and obedience to His will (nothing other than submission).

   We must be able to enter the presence of God to receive the gift of His righteousness, which will then become a part of us.

1. Enter in through the gate of Jesus Christ
2. Enter into the court of sacrifice
3. Partake of the Bread of Life/the Word
4. Bask in the glow of Truth
5. Send prayers before the throne of God

   When people spend time with God, they come out of that Holy Chamber, changed with the radiance of God written on their hearts.

   Moses after spending time with God, became a man whose face radiated with the Glory of God, and the sinners around him couldn't stand to be in his presence. God's Glory is a constant reminder to sinners of their plight, but fellow christians will be refreshed just being around someone from whom the Glory of God is coming from.

   Without living in the righteousness of God our spiritual vitals are wide-open to be prey for the devil. This is not something we can live off a past experience, rather must be a current part of our life. As we continue to stand in God's righteousness, we will recognize how fallible our own righteousness is.

Proverb 21:4

   No amount of "good" things we can do will be good enough to counteract the bad things we do.

When we do "good works", we are doing them for the wrong motives , thus it is sin. A sinner who plows his field, does so to gain for HIMSELF, but a man who is righteous plows his field to the honor of God.

   A man who has the righteousness of God within him does good works by allowing the Holy Spirit to work through him.

Galatians 5:22-25 Gives us a list of what the righteousness of God looks like and is to be an all-consuming part of our life.