| Topic: |
Religions > Bible |
| User: |
"Peter G. Chase" |
| Date: |
17 Sep 2004 01:30:34 AM |
| Object: |
DN Selecting the Proper Shoes 9/17/2004 |
DRAWING NEAR
September 17
Selecting the Proper Shoes
"Stand firm . . . having shod your feet with the preparation of
the gospel of peace" (Eph. 6:14-15).
Standing firm while in the conflict requires the right kind of
spiritual footwear.
I'll never forget a game that took place at the Rose Bowl during my
college football days. Being winter time and late in the football
season, the field was in bad shape from several days of rain and an
entire season of wear and tear. However, the grounds crew painted the
field green, so it looked much better than it actually was. I had two
pairs of football shoes: one with long spikes for bad turf and one
with short spikes for good turf. Thinking the field looked pretty
good, I opted to wear the short spikes.
On the opening kick-off I caught the ball on the four-yard line, took
two steps, and immediately landed on my backside. That's not unusual
after a tackle, but in this case there wasn't an opponent in sight! I
slipped in the mud--my shoes betrayed me.
Since proper shoes are important in athletics, how much more so are
they when fighting for your life. Roman soldiers took great care in
selecting just the right shoe. Typically they wore a thick-soled semi
-boot with straps securing it to the leg. On the bottom of the soles
were hobnails that protruded like the cleats of a track or baseball
shoe. The thick soles protected the feet from injury; the hobnails
provided traction when maneuvering on the soil.
The Christian's spiritual footwear is the "gospel of peace" (Eph.
6:15). Romans 5:1 says, "Having been justified by faith, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." God has reconciled you
to Himself through the death of His Son (v. 10). Once you were His
enemy; now you are His child. Once He opposed you; now He is on your
side.
No matter how difficult your circumstances may be or how many
opponents come against you, realize that the invincible God of the
universe is on your side. He makes war against His enemies (Rev.
2:16), and against Him no one can stand. So stand firm in that
confidence. Focus on your Great Ally rather than your feeble enemies.
Suggestions for Prayer:
Thank God for His peace, presence, and protection in your life.
For Further Study:
Read Judges 7. How did Gideon demonstrate his confidence that God was
on his side?
Drawing Near, Copyright 1993 John F. MacArthur, Jr.
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
http://www.gty.org
~~~
Romans 5:10
10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the
death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be
saved by His life.
Revelation 2:16
16 'Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight
against them with the sword of My mouth.
Judges 7
7:1 Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were
with him rose early and encamped beside the well of Harod, so that
the camp of the Midianites was on the north side of them by the hill
of Moreh in the valley.
2 And the LORD said to Gideon, "The people who are with you are too
many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel
claim glory for itself against Me, saying, 'My own hand has saved
me.'
3 "Now therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying,
'Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from
Mount Gilead.' " And twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and
ten thousand remained.
4 But the LORD said to Gideon, "The people are still too many; bring
them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. Then it
will be, that of whom I say to you, 'This one shall go with you,' the
same shall go with you; and of whomever I say to you, 'This one shall
not go with you,' the same shall not go."
5 So he brought the people down to the water. And the LORD said to
Gideon, "Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog
laps, you shall set apart by himself; likewise everyone who gets down
on his knees to drink."
6 And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their
mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people got down
on their knees to drink water.
7 Then the LORD said to Gideon, "By the three hundred men who lapped
I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all
the other people go, every man to his place."
8 So the people took provisions and their trumpets in their hands.
And he sent away all the rest of Israel, every man to his tent, and
retained those three hundred men. Now the camp of Midian was below
him in the valley.
9 It happened on the same night that the LORD said to him, "Arise,
go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand.
10 "But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah
your servant,
11 "and you shall hear what they say; and afterward your hands shall
be strengthened to go down against the camp." Then he went down with
Purah his servant to the outpost of the armed men who were in the
camp.
12 Now the Midianites and Amalekites, all the people of the East,
were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels
were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude.
13 And when Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his
companion. He said, "I have had a dream: To my surprise, a loaf of
barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian; it came to a tent and
struck it so that it fell and overturned, and the tent collapsed."
14 Then his companion answered and said, "This is nothing else but
the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel! Into his hand
God has delivered Midian and the whole camp."
15 And so it was, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its
interpretation, that he worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel,
and said, "Arise, for the LORD has delivered the camp of Midian into
your hand."
16 Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and
he put a trumpet into every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and
torches inside the pitchers.
17 And he said to them, "Look at me and do likewise; watch, and when
I come to the edge of the camp you shall do as I do:
18 "When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then you
also blow the trumpets on every side of the whole camp, and say, 'The
sword of the LORD and of Gideon!'"
19 So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the
outpost of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just as
they had posted the watch; and they blew the trumpets and broke the
pitchers that were in their hands.
20 Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the
pitchers; they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets
in their right hands for blowing; and they cried, "The sword of the
LORD and of Gideon!"
21 And every man stood in his place all around the camp; and the
whole army ran and cried out and fled.
22 When the three hundred blew the trumpets, the LORD set every
man's sword against his companion throughout the whole camp; and the
army fled to Beth Acacia, toward Zererah, as far as the border of
Abel Meholah, by Tabbath.
23 And the men of Israel gathered together from Naphtali, Asher, and
all Manasseh, and pursued the Midianites.
24 Then Gideon sent messengers throughout all the mountains of
Ephraim, saying, "Come down against the Midianites, and seize from
them the watering places as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan." Then
all the men of Ephraim gathered together and seized the watering
places as far as Beth Barah and the Jordan.
25 And they captured two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb.
They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the
winepress of Zeeb. They pursued Midian and brought the heads of Oreb
and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side of the Jordan.
~~~
These devotions are posted with permission from John MacArthur's
first (1993) devotional work, _Drawing Near_, and they are also sent
out daily for free to several folks via e-mail.
In addition, John's second (1997) devotional, _Strength for Today_,
is also available free via e-mail only. _Strength for Today_ follows
the same format as what you have seen here from _Drawing Near_, but
with different monthly themes.
If you would like to receive daily devotions via e-mail from either
of these series, just let me know (via e-mail), and I will gladly add
you to the list(s) of your choice.
You can hear John MacArthur daily via the Internet by visiting:
http://www2.oneplace.com/Ministries/Grace_to_You/
and
http://www.gty.org.uk/
You may email John MacArthur in care of Grace to You at:
letters@gty.org
NOTE for those of you reading via newsgroups: If you wish to reach
me, please contact me via e-mail for quickest results.
In Christ,
Peter
Peter G. Chase :: Columbus, Ohio, USA
pchase1@wideopenwest.com
STOP! Who do you think Jesus Is?
http://www.gty.org/Gospel
http://www.gty.org/
http://www.nwbible.org/
To forgive is to set a prisoner free, and to discover that the prisoner was you. -Alistair Begg
.
|
|
|
Related Articles |
DN Selecting the Proper Shoes 9/17/2006
DN Selecting the Proper Shoes 9/17/2005
DN Selecting the Proper Shoes 9/17/2007
My company provide most popular of the shoes model, bag, clothes, Bikini swimwear, sunglasses and watch of etc..
My company provide most popular of the shoes model, bag, clothes, Bikini swimwear, sunglasses and watch of etc..
Whose shoes are "the shoes of the Fisherman"?
My company provide most popular of the shoes model, bag, clothes, Bikini swimwear, sunglasses and watch of etc..
I've taken the shoes off my feet, dusted them off and am LEAVING for a SEASON...
| I've taken the shoes off my feet, dusted them off, and am LEAVING for a BRIEF SEASON....
I've taken the shoes off my feet, dusted them off and am LEAVING for a SEASON...
Just How Gay is the Pope? (Red Shoes Diary)
It's wrong to say ' you must have faith to be saved '... it's proper to say ' you must be saved to have faith '...
Proper Perspective on Abortion
Proper Ministry
Proper Perspective on Abortion
|
|
|
