A WARRIOR DOES NOT WEAR PURPLE HIGH HEELS!

I remember the very first time I wore real high heels. Not those pink sparkly plastic kid ones, but honest to goodness real purple satin, pointy-toed, 3 inch heals.   I was eight years old and wore them trick-or-treating. Even though my feet swam in them and the back of the shoes made a big slapping noise against my feet and I would walk out of them occasionally throughout the night I felt so grown up!

I really can’t remember much about the rest of my outfit, but I remember those purple pumps! And that trick-or-treat night I learned the price grown-up girls pay for walking three hours in three-inch heels! By the time I got home, I had blisters on the sides of my feet and my feet ached so badly I could barely stand up! While my friends were out having good fun “pranking” the neighborhood I was at home soaking my sore feet. 

So what does a pair of grown up purple satin pumps have to do with Armor Of God?

Let’s see what God has to say about our footgear as we battle Satan every day…

STAND FIRM THEREFORE, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH THE TRUTH, AND HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND HAVING SHOD YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE. Ephesians 14-15a

God, tells us to STAND FIRM. We learned about this in our last session of The Armor of God. We are not to give up well-fought ground to Satan. We need to stand firm against anything he and his legions can throw at us.

And one way to stand firm is to  SHOD YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE.

A soldier, or an army for that matter, was only as good as their feet. Wars across history have been lost for lack of proper footwear. Ancient Roman soldiers would wear thick leather-soled sandals that were tied to their feet by leather straps. But these were not just any sandals, they were studded with sharp spikes so a soldier could literally dig into the ground! These shoes would also enable the soldiers to walk and even run for great distances over rough terrain.  Having the proper footwear gave these soldiers a stiff advantage over their adversaries!

The word PREPARATION carries the meaning of being ready, fit and prepared. It can also mean to prepare a firm foundation or base! I think this illustrates again that we need to stand firm and prepare a foundation that we cannot be knocked off.

Gospel, “euaggeloin” in Greek means good news. It was used for any good news, but for a soldier, it was the good news of victory and the death or capture of the enemy. For Christians, it is very much like that too. It is the good news of the victory we have in Christ over sin and death. It is the work of Jesus Christ and on the cross and His victorious resurrection over death! 

Did you know that…

THEREFORE HAVING BEEN JUSTIFIED BY FAITH, WE HAVE PEACE WITH GOD THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. Romans 5:1

The Gospel offers justification (being declared not guilty of our sin) once we accept God’s gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. And we are at peace with God. No longer enemies. We move from the family of Satan into the family of God! We are adopted as sons and daughters! 

In light of this, we must make sure we are daily “shod” with the truth of the gospel. We must dig into its foundation and stand unmovable and firm in it!

We cannot have a spiritual purple high heel day if we want to be victorious! Those pretty shoes will not keep us standing firm against the adversary! Not at all! Every day, every minute we must wear our battle gear, from head to TOE!

How about you? What shoes will you put on this morning?

This series memorization verses are…

THEREFORE, TAKE UP THE FULL ARMOR OF GOD, THAT YOU MAY BE ABLE TO RESIST THE EVIL DAY, AND HAVING DONE EVERYTHING, TO STAND FIRM.

STAND FIRM THEREFORE, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, AND HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND HAVING SHOD YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; IN ADDITION TO TAKING UP THE SHIELD OF FAITH WITH WHICH YOU WILL BE ABLE TO EXTINGUISH ALL THE FLAMING MISSILES OF THE EVIL ONE.

AND TAKE UP THE HELMET OF SALVATION, AND THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, WHICH IS THE WORD OF GOD.

WITH ALL PRAYER AND PETITION PRAY AT ALL TIMES IN THE SPIRIT, AND WITH THIS IN VIEW BE ON ALERT WITH ALL PERSEVERANCE AND PETITIONS FOR ALL THE SAINTS. Ephesians 6:13-18

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24 Comments

  1. I’m praying for those reading these words this morning…may those who’ve never known it before find true peace with God, given to us through His gift of His Son Jesus Christ.

  2. Lori Hurd says:

    Love it, Yvonne. I love that those verses in Ephesians. You always give us a good Sabbath Day foundation. This is a key to your successful outreach, that you are firmly standing on solid ground, cheerfully prepared in the gospel of peace.

    And I thought of you and your clutter issues yesterday as I admitted to my patient husband that I had already lost the new car phone charger he bought me. (I left the last one in a rental car). We creatives have so much in common. 🙂

  3. Lori Hurd says:

    Love it, Yvonne. I love those verses in Ephesians. You always give us a good Sabbath Day foundation. This is a key to your successful outreach, that you are firmly standing on solid ground, cheerfully prepared in the gospel of peace.

    And I thought of you and your clutter issues yesterday as I admitted to my patient husband that I had already lost the new car phone charger he bought me. (I left the last one in a rental car). We creatives have so much in common. 🙂

  4. Teresa Cabebe says:

    Each Sunday morning I turn on my tablet and look for your message. It’s a very nice way to begin my day of rest! The Scriptures strengthen like no other book.
    God bless you.
    Teresa

  5. Thank you for letting your light shine and for letting the Lord use you as a messenger so that all may come to know the glory of God. Thanks for reminding us that in a world that sometimes seems so hopeless and scary we have a God who gives us what we need to prevail!

  6. Such a great message! Thank you, Yvonne. I would like to add something I am just understanding; the value of daily worship. Once upon a time, I thought worship was only done during “worship” time prior to the sermon at church. But I’m learning how worship is so much more than songs, although songs can be a part of it. Have you ever noticed the difference between singing worship songs with a community of believers and just yourself? Sometimes singing alone can feel small. I’ll reassure everyone that worship can be so much more! I’m a teacher and one way I like to worship before my prayers, is using the alphabet to guide my worship. Here is an example:
    ” God you are _A_ll knowing, _B_eautiful, _C_aring, _D_ elightful. . . I’m sure you see the pattern here. Each time, try to find new words for each letter so you are refreshed in your worship and it doesn’t become repetitious. My goal today is to help my Sisters-in-Christ learn that when we worship daily, we draw even closer than we could ever imagine to our Precious Savior and Lord of All.
    Blessings upon your day!

    1. Thank you Nan for this wonderful suggestion. It is often so hard for me to keep my mind on worshipping and not becoming “distracted”

  7. Look at your picture. It says hight heels. Should be high. Have a lovely day.

  8. Dear Yvonne, There is not other good news than that of Jesus Christ in whom we may be saved. I think God that it doesn’t stop at justification but the good news of Jesus continues to save us! Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Thank you for directing our thoughts to Jesus today.

  9. I look forward to your Sunday posts, Yvonne. You have a really great style of teaching the Word in a clear, fun way, and it is a pleasure to read.

  10. I love your Sunday messages. I am on my way home SC from a visit with 97 yr old Aunt in Virginia. When seeing your purple shoe story made me think of Aunt Essie. She always wants to give you something. This time it was shoes. She was just sure I wore her size…”I won’t need all these shoes long, she said so enthusiastically to give me.”
    My foot much larger, she seemed sad not to give them to me.
    We walked the yard and she was so excited that I wanted a slip off her Sweet Shrub plant. That made us both very happy trading The shoes for one of God’s beauties that will last and remind me much longer of my sweet
    aunt.
    Sherrill

  11. Dearest Yvonne, You raise us up to the Lord ! I humbly thank you……..Blessings……Anne

  12. Thank you for the encouragement. You are a beautiful example of a Christian. Humble, loving, and fierce! God bless you and your family.

  13. We are so blessed to know who will always deliver us from the enemy’s arrows. Our Victorious Lord.

  14. Thank you for your encouragement, and great word.
    Be Blessed

  15. Carol Imler says:

    Thanks for the Sunday posts … It seems a constant battle for us to dig in on a daily basis … So many distractions! ? Ps-more proofreading “help” … You repeated the paragraph on Ancient Roman footwear. Although, an interesting tidbit – I didn’t know those sandals had spikes!

  16. Deb Gregory says:

    Beautiful. Thank you for preparing this.

  17. I’m ready and I’m standing firm!

  18. Thank you Yvonne for sharing the truth of the gospel, and the Hope we have in this world when we believe and receive Christ. I love your encouragement to be prepared and not have a purple high heeled day!

  19. So enjoying the “Armor of God” posts. My bible study group is doing a series on this same subject. Wonderful to have your beautiful words to go along with my study. May God keep blessing you!

  20. I follow faithfully but, rarely comment.

    I just wanted to let you know how much you blessed me this morning. I have been extremely busy and got a few posts behind and wouldn’t you know, just what I needed to hear was sitting here. I am a young housewife and your blog never fails to inspire me in my pursuit of creating a godly home.

    Keep up the good work!