A Firm Foundation

 DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE EPHESIANS

A FIRM FOUNDATION

Eph 6:10-18

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 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. 13 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. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 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. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 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.

NIV

With our belt of truth on along with our breastplate of righteousness firmly in place, both of which are who Jesus is, we now must put on peace sandals, although Paul uses the term to fit our feet with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. Just as the Roman soldiers had special sandals for marching and others when they were in combat, it was necessary for them to be prepared to be on the move. Our sandals or shoes are the symbol of the foundation for us being able to take our stand, to stand our ground, against the enemy of our soul. The gospel is our foundation. We need to stand on the gospel and base our lives on the gospel of peace. It is interesting the gospel gives us the peace with God. Jesus is the gospel of peace, for he tells us that he gives us his peace, not as the world gives peace. As we fit our feet with the peace of Jesus, our hearts are not troubled, and we are not afraid. It is essential that as we face the dark forces of the world, devils’ schemes, and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms we are not afraid, and our hearts are at peace because we are clothed with Jesus. We know there are many troubles in this world, but as Jesus told his disciples to take heart, he has overcome the world. Because we are clothed in Jesus we should also take heart for Jesus has overcome the world. What can these troubles of the world do to us if we are fully clothed in the armor of God? What battle can harm us, because we have the belt of truth on with the breastplate of righteousness, and we stand on the rock, a very firm foundation. Oh, we can worry, or be anxious, or fret over all sorts of situations we face in this world, but we need to remember this is the world and we have abdicated our citizenship in this world, as we became a citizen in the kingdom of God, and He provided us with all the clothing we will ever need to overcome this world. As long as we take our stand on the gospel of peace, Jesus, our firm foundation, we will not be moved. The sandals the Roman soldiers put on when engaging in war had spikes on the bottom of the sole, much like the older style golf shoes. This allowed them to be able to stand firm even when they were standing in muddy soil or muck. Here we are, with our feet firmly fitted with the gospel so we can stand our ground in the muck of this world because we are on a firm foundation.