And having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
Ephesians 6:15 NKJV
I believe that God has shown me that in order for us to put on and wear the sandals of the gospel of peace, we have to understand that there is a two-fold application here. The keywords here are “preparation” and “peace”.
- Preparation:
We have been commanded by Jesus to go and preach the gospel. The word “gospel” actually means good news or a good message.
And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: in My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Mark 16:15-18 NKJV
And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!”
Romans 10:15 NKJV
I have heard stories of men who went to war, and apparently they were not allowed to take their boots off at night when they went to sleep, because they always had to be ready to move if there was an attack or a call for action. It would take too long for them to find their boots and lace them up in the dark. So it should be with us. We can all learn how to share the gospel message so that we can be prepared and ready to share it with anyone, at any given opportunity. I believe this is how we put on the sandals of the preparation of the gospel of peace.
Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season.
2 Timothy 4:2 NKJV
2. Peace:
For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
Colossians 1:19-20 NKJV
The gospel is good news, because it brings reconciliation between God and man through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. When we put our faith in Jesus and the finished work of the cross, we understand that we have been justified or declared righteous in God’s eyes. When we repent of our sins, we know that God is faithful to forgive us of our sins and wash us clean from all sin. As we walk in His righteousness, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:1 NKJV
In Ephesians 6, God tells us to put on the whole armor of God so that we can stand against the wiles of the devil. All the armor is given to us for either protection or as weapons of attack (such as the sword of the Spirit).
A few weeks ago, I was thinking about the armor of God in terms of how it offers us protection, and I just couldn’t see how knowing how to share the gospel with others would offer me protection in a one on one battle with the enemy. Upon praying about this, God highlighted the word “peace” to me. He helped me understand that just like love offers us protection from the works of the flesh and faith offers us protection from unbelief, peace offers us protection from things like condemnation.
Any time that we do not experience God’s peace due to spiritual attacks from the enemy, I believe that we should immediately go to God in prayer. I believe that God showed me that while we are walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh, peace protects our spiritual walk with God.
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Romans 8:1-6 NKJV
I’d like to offer you an example of what this looked like for me. There was a time when I felt like I was living in continual condemnation. I took this matter to the Lord in prayer and He revealed to me that because my greatest desire is to please Him, the enemy was using this desire of mine against me. The enemy would bring messages of condemnation to me and because of this, I felt as though God’s peace and joy had been stolen from me. Not having peace and joy made it was hard to stand firm against the enemy’s attacks.
For example: if I interceded for someone, the enemy would make me feel like my prayer wasn’t long enough or that it wasn’t heartfelt enough. God showed me that the enemy was knit picking at everything I did in an attempt to bring condemnation.
At this time, the Holy Spirit led me to the Scripture from Romans 8:1 (There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit) and I realized that I was trying my best to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh. When I had this realization I immediately felt God’s peace and joy return to me. This truth, coupled with peace and joy allowed me to get up, stand firm against the enemy, and keep walking with Jesus.
Many years ago I wanted to know what it meant to walk according to the Spirit, and I thank God because I believe He helped me understand that as long as we are bearing the good fruit of the Spirit, this is how we continually walk in the Spirit:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV
I’d like to leave you with some words of encouragement for this week:
If there is any area in your spiritual walk with God where you are not experiencing peace, call out to Jesus and ask Him to help you. He will reveal the reason, and from there you can pray into that area. God has shown me His faithfulness time and time again, and I know He will help you.
Also, let us choose to put on the sandals and go – boldly proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God, being ready at every moment to share God’s goodness and faithfulness. Let us lay hands on the sick in faith, knowing that God will heal them. Let us be ready to testify of how God has changed us once we were born again. Let us pray for others for freedom, knowing that by the finger of God, demons are cast out. Let us boldly preach about repentance and forgiveness of sin through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. If we go preach, know that we are never alone because God is with us every step of the way.
Blessings to you all in Jesus precious name.