Willamette Students

One tension in all of this is to realize that God probably did not have in mind a disjointed soldier with random pieces of metal on his body. A ready soldier must wear all of his armor, and is essentially naked without any one piece.

Roman soldiers had lots of armor attached to their bodies, but only a couple weapons in their hands. A sword (which we’ll look at in verse 17) in one hand, and a shield in the other.

Today’s reading looks at the shield. Let’s read Ephesians 6:16:

“In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”

Do you see the purpose of the shield? To put out the flaming arrows of the enemy — the evil one (the Devil). Without this shield — the covering and protection of faith — the soldier would be easy to pick off and defeat/kill.

Also, notice that no soldier goes to battle alone. At least not if he or she wants to win! We need one another, like those who on a battlefield promise to the others, “I got your back!” But how many Christians try to do this life on their own?

We don’t know exactly how big the shields would be, but they were pretty substantial — maybe 4 feet tall and 2 feet wide. Heavy and hard to move. But great to hide behind.

Grouped together, soldiers would move like one giant person in a formation called “The Turtle” or “The Tortoise” [see picture to the right].

Can you see what it’s called that? That’s because when all their shields are put together a shell is formed — like a turtle or tortoise. Arrows and rocks are shot and catapulted towards them just bounce off.

Also, the shield of a Roman soldier would have a leather outside, dipped in water. It would be wet — so that a flaming arrow would be extinguished. Putting out the fiery darts of the enemy, and moving together as one are key traits of successfully winning the battle. We need one another!

The shield of faith speaks of both our faith in Christ, but more than that — it is God’s unswering promises to be all and do all that only He can do in Jesus. We are His, and He will protect us.

• Think on this: How can faith in Jesus hold of attacks from the evil one?

After looking at the belt of truth and breastplate of righteousness yesterday, today we consider an often forgotten piece of armor: footwear.

Let’s read Ephesians 6:15:

“… and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.”

In the history of wars and battle, a consistent little-known fact shows up as one of the most telling factors as to which army wins. What is it? Great leadership? Outnumbering one’s opponent? Betting weapons? All of these are important, but can be overcome by the other side. Yet, more often than not the key factor is footwear. That’s because a soldier’s body must be with top shape, and he must be mobile. Without the ability to run and walk for long distances, there can be no victory on the battlefield.

It seems like a small thing, but when a Roman soldier went barefoot across rocky terrain, the enemy could sprinkle some shards of glass on the road and sit and wait for these tiny objects to defeat the mighty army from their toes up. Or a tiny pebble in the boots of those same soldiers could make walking so miserable he quit altogether and had to go home.

Good footwear is key. I know this first hand as a one who suffers from chronic footpain. When my feet aren’t right, my whole body (and day) is out of whack. But standing in good shoes with the right insoles, all is well.

It’s the same way with the Gospel, which is the only safe ground we can stand on before God. The Gospel (meaning “good news”) is the amazing news that while we are worse off than we ever realized, we are more loved than we dared to hope. God treated Jesus like He was us — having sinned and sinful — so He could treat us like we are Jesus — having lived perfectly and honored God from the heart fully (cf. 2 Cor. 5:21). If we leave that reality and try to relate to God on another basis we take of the only shoes He intended us to wear in the battle — feet ready in the gospel of peace. We stand in peace with God. What more could we want? And we walk and run and live in this peace with Him, prepared to take His message of hope and love to everyone around us.

• Think on this:
  • Do you have the right footwear on?
    
  • Are you standing in God’s grace and promises given to us in the Good News (Gospel) of His Son Jesus?
    
  • What little pebbles can and make you quit relating to God on the basis of what Jesus has done and promises to be for us?
  • Wherever you walk today, are you prepared to take the good news of Jesus with you?
    

Now we get to the pictures of each piece of armor. Today, the Belt of Truth.

Isn’t it funny to put on the belt first? Isn’t that just an accessory that we put on after we’re all dressed? Well, not exactly. In those times a soldier would put on his undergarments (first layer of clothes), and then a belt that would essentially act like the anchor for the rest of the armor. Perhaps you can relate to this: have you ever gone for a long hike wearing one of those huge camping backpacks? You know, the ones with a metal frame and thick shoulder straps, and most of all a thick belt. When you cinch up the belt it . Most of the weight of everything else in the backpack is on your hips, when you are the strongest. It’s the same way with the belt on a Roman Soldier — it holds everything else together.

With that in mind, let’s read Ephesians 6:13-14:

“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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place.”

The battle (as we mentioned yesterday), is with the hidden spiritual forces that work against us, not with the loved ones and other people we see around us. It seems like we battle against them, but real enemy is the Devil and the evil spirits who are invisible but oh so real. These forces chip away at the foundation of truth on which we stand firm. Unless we have the “belt of truth buckled” around our waist and the plate of righteousness on our chest — standing forgiven and right in God’s sight — we will lose this battle every day. Fight back. Buckle up with the belt of God’s truth and stand firm in all that God has done for us in Christ. Without it nothing holds together as it should.

• Think on this: Have you let the belt of truth become loose? Have you taken it off? How can you get into the Truth of God’s Word — putting on His belt — and be ready with God’s Truth to face daily life?

As we start this week (at school for you, at work for me), let’s be heads up on how we look at things we come to in our daily lives.

This week we are looking at the “spiritual armor” mentioned in Ephesians 6:10-18, and how God makes us ready for the battler every day. We started off with Ephesians 6:10-11 yesterday.

Today, let’s read Ephesians 6:12:

“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.”

Well, that puts things into perspective! No wonder we encounter tough times and frustration, and get into arguments. And no wonder we then try to “wrestle” back against people, not realizing that the real war is with the Devil and the evil spirits (demons), and not with one another. They are invisible (we can’t see ‘em), but we tend to take out our frustrations on those we can see. Let’s not battle against the visible ones, only the invisible ones.

• Think on this: What should change you in way we view our spiritual struggles, knowing that we’re fighting the “spiritual forces of evil”?

Spiritual Warfare is real.

This week our readings are in Ephesians 6:10-18, giving the summary of our “spiritual armor.” These are the weapons when used together work for us to achieve victory in the small and big areas of our lives — for Christ and by the strength of His power.

Let’s read Ephesians 6:10-11:

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”

Only in Christ can we be strong. We are weak by ourselves, and we need God to be our Protector and Deliverer. Verse 11 points out the reason we are to wear God’s armor: so that we can withstand the devil and his schemes.

• Think on this: What is a scheme that the devil is currently using against you to pull you away from Christ?

(Remember, his schemes won’t be obvious, with a sign that says, “Hey, this is bad for you …” He works behind the scenes and wants to shift your focus from Jesus onto other things (even yourself). Pray and ask God to overpower the evil one and give you wisdom to know where you are being tricked — and for the strength to overcome those obstacles to knowing, loving and enjoy God above all else.)

Today’s reading is Philippians 2:3-4:

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

The passage that follows (Phil. 2:5-11) is one of the first worship songs (hymns) of the early Christian church. In it we read of the self-emptying of Jesus the God-Man.

We read of how Jesus Himself truly did nothing out of selfish ambition and “empty glory.” Rather, He emptied His glory, leaving Heaven to come to earth and live among us. He laid down His life for our sakes, providing not only the ultimate sacrifice that no one else need provide, but the ultimate model that everyone can imitate.

Think on this:

• As disciples (followers) of Jesus, how should we treat others?
• Why is it so hard to think about others more than we think about ourselves?

We’re starting something new, journeying through the Bible readings together each day.

The back of our FaithWeaver handouts each week have a “Reading the Bible this Week,” outlining suggested readings for each day. They’re short and good, coupled with a question.

What we’ll do here is give the Scripture (NIV text, hover over the reference to see it in ESV), and then give some short thoughts, whether some background or a question or two. Feel free to interact in the comments, or email me directly at jeff at willamettechurch.com. (Also, here’s the RSS feed if you want to follow along in a feed reader, or via email here.)

Alright, let’s get to it!

Sunday’s reading was 1 Corinthians 10:31:

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

It may be easy to think of relgious activities and being done to the glory of God. But what about everything else? Well, God does not separate things sacred from random other common things. All things can be sacred, if brought to Sacred One. Our Creator looks past the outward appearance of things ot see the inner motivation of the heart behind it.

That is, whether we are eating or drinking — the most simple of daily tasks — or “whatever” we are doing — it is all meant to show God’s infinite worth.

• Think on this: When people look at you doing daily activities, are they challenged to look past you to the One who is behind your life and actions?

Point: what you do matters less than why you do it