Armor of God: W4

“And with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace” Ephesians 6:15 Peace shoes? Peace sounds more like a tshirt slogan than a pair of shoes right? First… without google.. what does the word peace mean to you? If you’re taking notes, write it down. I wrote a free place of tranquility and safety despite anything surrounding me. If any of you have read up on places on this website, THIS is where my new walk with God started. Peace. Let me save you some heartache. Maybe things are so bad right now at home or work or just in you period that you think no change of shoes can do anything to counteract the chaos. Yes. When those shoes are God’s shoes, footprints will show up everywhere you step. I had it wrong. I got it wrong yesterday. STILL have bad days, now I just share them with someone different. Peace isn’t like a tshirt. It is more like shoes. I “put on” my peace every day. I can do this. I can be the bigger person. I’ll pray about it. Even though I put it on, the devil was still snatching baby pieces of my soul every single day. Little by little I was losing color to my tshirt of peace, like he was just pouring bleach over it, leaving ugly stains just everywhere… and it worked… because it was just a shirt. YOU HAVE TO WALK IN PEACE. It really is shoes. Step one- realize that whoever or whatever “has got you” right now… it’s just Satan pouring that bleach. Realize… you can only control you. And peace does not exist outside of the walls of Christ. Not one thing, not one relationship or lack of has improved since my life has changed. IT DOESNT MATTER, I promise if those people decided to “act right” it’d only be temporary. He is constant. Unchanging. Unfailing. Here yesterday, today, and tomorrow. That is what you put on. That is what you walk in. Get upset, but remember that peace. Bleach doesn’t hurt something that’s already white.

A big part of Satan’s plan to stir up a mess is to start in our own hearts. He takes our past sins, the ones that are forgiven, and brings them up.. over and over. Here, you remember this? What about that? He sets them in front of you in a boiler on the stove to distract from the good. That pot boils from past into a small scent of anger and he’s done it. Just a little bit of harbored anger can turn into opportunities for unforgiveness barrelling on down into bitterness and resentment. Y’all, those things stain. You cannot let them be a part of your life. He knows how big of a mark they leave, that’s why he uses them. Get mad, or cry, or be upset… but let it go. You can only go as far as your feet will take you, don’t get tripped up on temporary. Realize that peace isn’t a place or a person but a state of heart found only with Him. We can’t control the kind of ground we’re walking on, again- we can only control ourselves. “True peace is best detected when measured against the backdrop of commotion and confusion- when instability abounds, yet you remain steadfast; when disappointment and chaos are near, yet you’re still capable of walking with stability and steadiness”

Next thing, got your shoes on but where is the line between I love Jesus and hold on, girl, let me tell you about yourself. Y’all, I don’t know. I’m sorry. I struggle with this every day, because me six months ago would have done said whoa, hold on now. Christian living is the hardest easy thing we will ever do. Dealing with people in a way that is healthy and promotes peace demands a supernatural endowment that can only come from Him. If someone is being bitter- you can’t fix it. Choose to do your part anyway. It’ll hurt your pride, it has hurt mine but don’t compromise your forever white shirt for today’s messy one. Tomorrow is a new day… and a new mess. So there’s two types of peace… peace WITH God and peace OF God. What’s the difference to you? Peace with God is knowing everything around us isn’t perfect. Not our lives, not the people in our lives, not our hearts. But try. Try anyway. Because with the peace OF God… it’s okay. Even if life around you is messy- it’s okay, YOURE okay- because with His peace, nothing else wins… all we have to do is keep walking in it. Again, He is the only answer to true peace. It’s not your spouse or your BFF. If you have the perfect marriage, hats off to you but it’s still not the answer. Temporary things. They promise peace, but they don’t deliver it. False alternatives and cheap substitutes have never been and will never be sufficient replacements. If our emotional state is directed by the shifting circumstances of earth, we will constantly be in a state of turmoil and confusion. “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” -Colossians 3:15 and be thankful. Concentrate on Him instead of being absorbed by our circumstances tells God, hey man- you’ve got this. And He hears that. Then He starts working to fix it.. it stabilizes our runaway emotions, centers our minds, guides our footsteps and overflows into our experience with others. Getting peace with God gives you peace with life. Latch on to Him. You will be completely tethered to someone that knows exactly what He is doing. I can’t explain it… I can just say He does. Father, I don’t know what each person that’s come to this group is fighting. I pray they don’t know the lost feeling that I did, I pray it doesn’t take as much pain to get their attention that it did to get mine. I’m so thankful for your mercy, thankful you saw fit to pull me out of the dark and chose me to help spread your light. I don’t know the entire Bible God- but I do know You. Please, please help them to come to know you as I have. Protect them, guide them, and help me to help if I can. Amen. Y’all, this struggle. It’s so personal to me because it saved my life. I’m not here to be your teacher… I’m here to be your friend. Yes I realize how ridiculous that sounds, btw, but I mean it. If your choosing to change how you walk, you’ll need some support and I’m here. For anything. Love y’all! Katie