I’ve been stumbling through so many thoughts lately. Thoughts on God’s goodness that cannot be fathomed in my meager human mind, thoughts on prayer and how effective it is, the line between self-salvation and God’s bottomless grace, and how I can’t even scratch the surface in expressing it all. Yes, I can post on here week after week, but what’s been a revelation in my life may not become so for someone else right away or even in the same way. Personally, I hope to be receiving revelations on the depths of God’s grace and goodness long after I run into His arms. Growing up in the church, I went through lesson after lesson (with no real revelation) on the armor of God. As an adult, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking on that passage – Ephesians 6:10-18 – and where victory and prayer is in all of it – seeking out new revelations.
We visited some family in Georgia for a week last month. They were fresh with the sniffles that comes with seasonal and temperature changes (crazy that I have to explain a common cold or allergies for fear of a public stoning – don’t cough in public!), and as is true with most children, my kiddos decided to try those germs on for size. The cold lasted for a few days (don’t worry – no fevers and we never lost our sense of smell or taste), we had to delay my daughter’s 9th birthday party, but we came out of it just fine. In addition to the cold that shuffled through the family, I have also been battling a newly discovered, and unfortunate, allergy. I think I’m allergic to my dog. When we lived in Alaska, she was an outdoor dog who only slept inside on the nights of negative temperatures. Since moving to the east coast, our living situation has changed, making her more of an indoor dog. Needless to say, the sneezing, snotty-nosed coughing has not been fun – especially during a “pandemic” and being pregnant.
We’re a family that prays together, so my allergic reaction to our family pet and our temporary housing that forces our pet too close has been on our minds. We (hubby and me) often pray for wisdom in regards to raising our kiddos, for our eldest daughter and son-in-law in making wise decisions, our health and growing family, our finances and investments, and many other things reaching far beyond the future of our country. Prayer is a powerful weapon when it comes to spiritual warfare, and I absolutely believe we’re in a battle. Right now, I feel like the battle is against pet dander, but regardless of what you’re praying about – it’s important to the one praying.
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” Ephesians 6:10-13 (NIV)
While this doesn’t directly say anything about pet allergies, it does have to do with all that the devil hurls at us – including issues with our physical health. This passage was the intro to many Vacation Bible School (VBS) themed weeks. The 5 verses that follow list out the pieces that make up the full armor of God – all vital to living and walking in victory.
“Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” Ephesians 6:14-18 (NIV)
If all pieces of the armor are firmly in place, the wearer will experience a life of walking in victory. I did not just state that it would be an easy life or a life void of persecution. All too often, victory is mistaken for ease. For any victory, there is a battle. You may not have an understanding of the covenant of peace God has with us, so you may not be ready when troubles come or may even believe it’s God’s judgement (sometimes in the form of a “pandemic”). If you’re constantly receiving and believing a mixed-grace message, your shield of faith is going to be next-to worthless against the fiery arrows being shot at you. You may have the helmet of salvation, but lack the knowledge of being the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (II Corinthians 5:21). Without the breastplate of righteousness, you’ll constantly be doubting the durability of your helmet. I could go on, but let me clue you in: I know this to be true because this was a struggle of mine for a long time.
I heard a lot of the “mixed-grace” message growing up (unfortunately this is pretty common even today). Whether it was taught on Sunday morning or simply my childlike interpretation gone wrong, I grew up believing that God had fits of wrath when I messed up, I doubted what the Bible stated about Jesus loving me unconditionally, and even my salvation. Sure, I believed that Jesus died on the cross for my sins, but I also heard a lot of you’re saved by grace, but you need to do all of this other stuff in order to keep it. I also remember hearing that it’s sometimes God’s will for people to get sick and die (not true by the way – I Timothy 2:4) but I also distinctly remember hearing that every time I repeated a sin (or sinned again) that it was like I was crucifying Jesus all over again. Talk about heaping guilt and condemnation!
I was also taught that regardless of being saved or not, we would all stand before God and have everything we ever did or thought put on display before everyone. One big, fat, shaming session for all to witness. As a teenager, in my infinite wisdom that can only come from being a teenager, I figured that I should at least make the shaming session as entertaining as possible. As an adult who has gained some actual revelations in this area, the helmet of salvation is firmly atop my head. Scripture tells us that if we’ve placed our faith in Jesus, we’ve been justified (Romans 3:22-26), so it would be unjust for the justified to be judged for sins that have already been paid for. God, who states that because of Jesus’s sacrifice He forgives us and remembers our sins no more (Hebrews 8:12 or Jeremiah 31:34), would be a liar if He not only remembers our sins, but points them out one by one. Can we even fathom what it means to have our sins removed according to the distance between the east and the west (Psalm 103:12)?
Don’t get me wrong – I believe that there is going to be a Judgement Day. On that day, either we’ll point at all of the things we’ve done in order to make us worthy or we’ll point to Jesus who made us worthy. We’ll either be judged by the books or by the book of life (Revelation 20:11-15). Unfortunately, many churches (including one I attended in the last few years) admit to teaching guilt, condemnation and judgement so that their congregation wouldn’t feel free to go live in sin. News flash: the Holy Spirit does not need anyone to do His job, so perhaps we simply need to teach the goodness of God instead of fear and condemnation.
All of this to say, in order to walk in victory, we can’t leave part of the armor on the wayside or have a mixed-grace perception of our Heavenly Father. I would like to explore Ephesians 6:10-18 a bit more in-depth over the next few weeks. Prayer is an integral part of a Christian’s walk, but praying in the Spirit makes victory possible. Without going too far into it this week, praying in the Spirit is an absolute reliance on God. We don’t always know what to pray for and most of the time we’re blinded by what we think is best. But praying in the Spirit is when we allow Him to intercede for us. I’m convinced that prayer, in its own right, is an act of worship and a vital step on our path to living a victorious life.
Join me next week as I delve deeper into God’s goodness in learning more about what He’s supplied us with for a victorious life. The full armor of God, praying in the Spirit, and seeing how it’s all wrapped up in grace upon grace.