WEBVTT 00:00:01.100 --> 00:00:01.502 Hey, what up. 00:00:01.502 --> 00:00:02.084 It's Mark Carter. 00:00:02.084 --> 00:00:03.367 I'm the pastor of Fierce Church. 00:00:03.367 --> 00:00:04.391 Welcome to our podcast. 00:00:04.391 --> 00:00:06.708 I'm so pumped that you're able to join us today. 00:00:06.708 --> 00:00:16.228 I hope this encourages you, inspires you, strengthens you, gives you hope to keep pressing on, and it's my prayer that this sermon gives you a more expansive view of God's love for you. 00:00:16.228 --> 00:00:17.371 Enjoy the message. 00:00:19.519 --> 00:00:21.844 Good morning, hey, happy Mother's Day. 00:00:21.844 --> 00:00:23.707 Happy Mother's Day to you. 00:00:23.707 --> 00:00:33.368 I just want to honor and acknowledge the beauty and the glory that women bring. 00:00:33.368 --> 00:00:37.795 God created Adam and it was good, and then he went. 00:00:37.795 --> 00:00:41.447 Oh, it's not good for Adam to be alone, and he made him a help. 00:00:41.688 --> 00:01:12.890 Meet and mamas, whether you've birthed children, whether you're caring for other people's children, whether you've struggled with birthing your own children, whether you teach other people's children, whether you create spaces where people feel at home, you are a mama in every different way, and I just want to honor you today and recognize you, and the way that you present God's love and God's beauty to the world is amazing. 00:01:12.890 --> 00:01:18.986 So today I just want to think about a little bit some of the things that we mamas do. 00:01:18.986 --> 00:01:24.326 First of all, I just teensy little game for me, if you want to play along how many of you brought a purse today? 00:01:24.326 --> 00:01:27.424 How many of you have at least a pen in that purse? 00:01:27.424 --> 00:01:30.600 Maybe, maybe you, if you have a paper in that purse. 00:01:30.600 --> 00:01:32.444 Do you have gum in that purse? 00:01:32.444 --> 00:01:35.271 Does anybody have a diaper bag with them? 00:01:35.271 --> 00:01:40.328 Does anybody have like an extra pair of shorts in the car, just in case? 00:01:40.328 --> 00:01:43.862 Or, you know, like you're just prepared for everything, right, ladies? 00:01:43.862 --> 00:01:44.784 Like this is what we do. 00:01:44.784 --> 00:01:45.746 We come prepared. 00:01:45.746 --> 00:01:46.408 Is that a thing? 00:01:46.408 --> 00:01:50.206 Yes, head nod, yes, agree, okay, so we come prepared for everything. 00:01:50.519 --> 00:01:58.927 Recently we took our family to Great Wolf Lodge here in Gurnee, and no one has to pack everything but the mom. 00:01:58.927 --> 00:02:10.377 Maybe that's not like in your family, but especially when you have little kids, y'all I'm not kidding I have packing lists for every individual person, so that I just don't miss something because you have to get all the things. 00:02:10.377 --> 00:02:11.643 And then our family. 00:02:11.643 --> 00:02:14.450 We like to just bring our food because it's ridiculously expensive. 00:02:14.450 --> 00:02:21.741 So I'm packing the clothing, I'm packing the sleepwear, I'm packing the snacks, I'm packing all the lists, I'm assembling the team, I'm delegating. 00:02:21.741 --> 00:02:22.701 I'm losing my patience. 00:02:22.701 --> 00:02:23.443 I'm asking for help. 00:02:23.443 --> 00:02:24.304 I'm loading up the car. 00:02:24.304 --> 00:02:33.376 I'm playing Tetris as I'm packing up the car, right, yes, we get exhausted really quick. 00:02:33.539 --> 00:02:35.082 Now I want to pause here for a second. 00:02:35.082 --> 00:02:55.264 Gentlemen, I'm going to mostly be talking to the ladies in a lot of my application points because it's Mother's Day, so we're talking to the ladies, but please do not check out on me here, because I believe that God's word is true, it's living and active, and I think that God's word, even though I'm talking to the ladies a little bit more man. 00:02:55.264 --> 00:02:57.312 It can affect your heart too and affect your life too. 00:02:57.312 --> 00:03:00.262 So let's not check out today, got it Okay? 00:03:00.521 --> 00:03:03.288 So again, mamas are always juggling. 00:03:03.288 --> 00:03:06.493 We're always at the ready, we're always prepared. 00:03:06.493 --> 00:03:15.705 We've got to be Kids to school lunches, extracurricular activities, change over the laundry, prep the meals, grocery shop, water the plants, feed the pets Don't feed the plants. 00:03:15.705 --> 00:03:17.050 I mean, maybe you need to do that too. 00:03:17.050 --> 00:03:22.084 Plan the events, serve a church, nurse the baby, take out the garbage, all the things. 00:03:22.084 --> 00:03:23.324 Everybody take a deep sigh with me. 00:03:23.324 --> 00:03:36.913 Right, it can just feel like so much some days and it's beautiful and it's holy and it's glorious work. 00:03:36.913 --> 00:03:47.926 But we are at risk sometimes because we get so stirred up by all of it that we become, maybe emotionally not well, we're exhausted. 00:03:47.926 --> 00:03:52.472 We maybe become grumpy, bitter, selfish. 00:03:52.472 --> 00:03:58.491 We know that we've got to be prepared, but we begin to put on the wrong armor. 00:03:59.280 --> 00:04:05.330 There's this song that my mom used to listen to all the time when I was a little girl, by Twyla Parris. 00:04:05.330 --> 00:04:07.141 Would you put the lyrics up for me? 00:04:07.141 --> 00:04:16.666 And it says like lately I've been facing battles left and right, but even winners can get wooden in the fight. 00:04:16.666 --> 00:04:21.403 People say that I'm amazing, strong beyond my years, but they don't see what's inside of me. 00:04:21.403 --> 00:04:23.706 I'm hiding all my tears and it's. 00:04:23.706 --> 00:04:27.593 They don't know that I go running home when I fall down. 00:04:27.593 --> 00:04:39.389 They don't know who picks me up when no one is around, and then she's like I drop my sword and I cry for just a while, because deep inside this armor, the warrior is a child. 00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:43.689 Mamas, do you feel that Some days you're like, can I just have a break? 00:04:43.689 --> 00:04:47.882 It's a lot right, like I'm just wounded. 00:04:47.882 --> 00:04:50.586 I'm battle weary and wounded. 00:04:50.586 --> 00:05:14.836 And so, though, sometimes we begin to put on the wrong armor Late night, binging selfish escapism, wine o'clock, complaining, nagging coffee, all the coffee, energy drinks, controlling what we can, because we feel like we're out of control of so much. 00:05:14.836 --> 00:05:21.774 Or we just retreat from the battle altogether and we're like let me have my bathroom time. 00:05:21.774 --> 00:05:24.348 I cannot handle one more question, right? 00:05:24.348 --> 00:05:30.988 Like, come on, we've all been there where you just close the bathroom door and the little ones put their fingers under the door. 00:05:30.988 --> 00:05:39.211 You're like come on, we put these pieces of armor on us. 00:05:39.211 --> 00:05:58.992 But they're really just coping mechanisms that actually leave us more weary and wounded in a lot of cases, and sometimes they lop on with depression and anxiety and more lethargy, and then rage and slander and malice and envy and like can't I just get a break? 00:05:58.992 --> 00:06:01.908 And it starts to get really gross. 00:06:01.908 --> 00:06:04.625 Like we put on the wrong armor. 00:06:04.625 --> 00:06:08.093 But there is something so much greater. 00:06:08.093 --> 00:06:12.290 Y'all, we were not meant to retreat with those coping mechanisms. 00:06:12.290 --> 00:06:20.930 Instead, there is a better armor, a better game plan for all of us who are in a battle-weary state. 00:06:20.930 --> 00:06:22.903 Does that sound like some good news? 00:06:22.903 --> 00:06:24.088 Let's bring it. 00:06:24.088 --> 00:06:24.511 Okay. 00:06:24.511 --> 00:06:28.223 So it's time to stand for the real battle at hand. 00:06:28.223 --> 00:06:31.689 It's time to stand, justin. 00:06:31.730 --> 00:06:35.444 Read those verses for us Ephesians 6, 10 through 18. 00:06:35.444 --> 00:06:38.552 I'm not going to read the whole thing, but I just want to start with. 00:06:38.552 --> 00:06:42.427 Finally be strengthened by the Lord in his vast strength. 00:06:42.427 --> 00:06:58.569 Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil spiritual forces in the heavens. 00:06:58.569 --> 00:07:08.425 For this reason, take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to resist in the evil day and, having prepared everything, to take your stand. 00:07:08.425 --> 00:07:12.581 So some truths that I want to extract from that right off the get-go. 00:07:12.581 --> 00:07:20.877 God strengthens you with his vast strength, his vast strength. 00:07:20.877 --> 00:07:32.341 You may be very battle-weary, you may be wounded, you may be exhausted, but God's strength does not run out and the Bible says that they that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. 00:07:32.341 --> 00:07:34.879 They will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary. 00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:40.709 They will walk and not grow faint, because God gives you his strength. 00:07:40.709 --> 00:07:43.735 He's not running on fumes. 00:07:43.735 --> 00:07:50.076 Strength, he's not running on fumes. 00:07:50.076 --> 00:07:50.839 His strength is vast. 00:07:53.221 --> 00:07:55.002 Second thing to remember the schemer be scheming. 00:07:55.002 --> 00:07:55.944 The schemer be scheming. 00:07:55.944 --> 00:07:58.206 We have y'all a real enemy who is. 00:07:58.206 --> 00:08:01.668 His whole goal is to steal, kill and destroy. 00:08:01.668 --> 00:08:04.831 His whole plan is to just spew lies. 00:08:04.831 --> 00:08:20.880 His whole thing is to just deceive, to twist truth in such a way that you think it sounds right, but it's really totally not, and he is up to no good. 00:08:20.880 --> 00:08:22.165 There's a battle raging, a spiritual battle raging. 00:08:22.165 --> 00:08:24.812 Okay, now this one third truth your enemy is not flesh and blood. 00:08:24.812 --> 00:08:29.863 I'm going to say it again your enemy is not flesh and blood. 00:08:29.863 --> 00:08:32.308 Your enemy is not flesh and blood. 00:08:32.308 --> 00:08:36.582 It is not your toddler who wakes up before they're supposed to wake up. 00:08:36.582 --> 00:08:42.244 It is not your husband who did not do the thing that you asked him to do umpteen times. 00:08:42.244 --> 00:08:46.360 It is not your co-worker who just gets on your every nerve. 00:08:46.360 --> 00:08:49.927 Your battle is not against flesh and blood. 00:08:49.927 --> 00:08:56.245 There is a real spiritual battle at war and we have got to get in the fight. 00:08:56.245 --> 00:08:58.610 There's hope. 00:08:59.631 --> 00:09:00.494 It's time to suit up. 00:09:00.494 --> 00:09:03.905 This is totally not an appropriate TV show, but how I Met your Mother. 00:09:03.905 --> 00:09:04.638 There's this one character who's like suit up. 00:09:04.638 --> 00:09:05.244 This is totally not an appropriate TV show, but how I Met your Mother. 00:09:05.244 --> 00:09:06.653 There's this one character who's like suit up. 00:09:06.653 --> 00:09:12.123 And it's just, he literally shows up in a suit wherever he goes because he just thinks that's awesome. 00:09:12.123 --> 00:09:20.748 But I don't mean suit up like that, although I think it's a good like suit up, be prepared to get in the battle. 00:09:21.710 --> 00:09:25.174 There's a real armor for you to put on that protects you from those schemes. 00:09:25.174 --> 00:09:28.104 It's tailor-made for you. 00:09:28.104 --> 00:09:29.567 Do you know that? 00:09:29.567 --> 00:09:30.870 I don't know why. 00:09:30.870 --> 00:09:33.542 I've read these verses like oh, I grew up in church. 00:09:33.542 --> 00:09:35.567 I've heard like put on the full armor of God Y'all. 00:09:35.567 --> 00:09:37.371 It's God's armor. 00:09:37.371 --> 00:09:39.403 It's God's armor. 00:09:39.403 --> 00:09:46.254 And because you believe in God as the leader of your life and the forgiver of your sins, he's like you are my child. 00:09:46.254 --> 00:09:47.965 I am entrusting this. 00:09:47.965 --> 00:09:49.009 You are now an heir. 00:09:49.009 --> 00:09:52.068 Here is my armor and you'll get to use it too. 00:09:52.068 --> 00:09:56.284 He has entrusted it to you, you just got to put it on. 00:09:56.284 --> 00:10:05.246 You might say but Erica, I'm really tired, I am angry. 00:10:05.246 --> 00:10:10.370 This is really really hard and I just don't want to. 00:10:10.370 --> 00:10:19.094 Can I tell you, probably these last six to nine months for our family have been really, really hard. 00:10:19.094 --> 00:10:25.806 We've been in just a relational tension, not Brandon and I. 00:10:25.806 --> 00:10:26.267 We're great. 00:10:26.267 --> 00:10:27.250 Our kids are great. 00:10:28.721 --> 00:10:31.089 But there's just been an external circumstance. 00:10:31.089 --> 00:10:39.691 It has put us through the ringer and part of me is like God, uncle, could we just be done? 00:10:39.691 --> 00:10:40.903 Like, could we get past this? 00:10:40.903 --> 00:10:44.126 I'm tired, I can't right now. 00:10:44.126 --> 00:10:58.707 And if I were to sit with you in it to steal Carla's words, I would sit with you, I'd hold your hands or I'd cup your face, pretending that I'm a really old granny, because that's who I am in my heart, but not my age. 00:10:58.707 --> 00:11:05.086 But I'd hold your face and I'd say listen, you have more in you. 00:11:05.086 --> 00:11:09.649 God is in this, with you. 00:11:09.649 --> 00:11:26.691 He is leading you the wisest way, even though it may not feel like it right now, and he would not have entrusted this situation to you if he were not intending to empower you, to strengthen you, to give you what you need to get through it. 00:11:26.691 --> 00:11:31.830 He is good and he's entrusting this to you. 00:11:31.830 --> 00:11:34.635 So, y'all, it's time to stand. 00:11:34.635 --> 00:11:36.519 You don't have to right now. 00:11:36.519 --> 00:11:40.725 You are called to more. 00:11:41.606 --> 00:11:52.606 Our bottom line for today is because of God's vast strength, you are empowered, you are equipped and you are enabled. 00:11:52.606 --> 00:11:57.333 So you may feel hopeless, but that is not the truth. 00:11:57.333 --> 00:12:03.476 No, you are empowered, you are equipped and you are enabled in the fight. 00:12:03.476 --> 00:12:04.620 So it's time to get battle ready. 00:12:04.620 --> 00:12:05.844 You ready, all right. 00:12:05.844 --> 00:12:07.529 So we're going to put on the full armor of God. 00:12:07.529 --> 00:12:15.868 This is our little mannequin for today, and so, first of all, we have to put on the belt of truth Now. 00:12:15.988 --> 00:12:17.470 I went over to my dad's last night. 00:12:17.470 --> 00:12:19.352 I was like Dad, you got a lifting belt. 00:12:19.352 --> 00:12:21.655 So this is our belt of truth. 00:12:21.655 --> 00:12:23.321 And what do we do? 00:12:23.321 --> 00:12:28.663 It says belt of truth, Put on the belt of truth, and I'm going to not know how to do this. 00:12:28.663 --> 00:12:35.464 Hold, please, here we go, belt of truth Right around your waist. 00:12:35.464 --> 00:12:39.533 It is the very first thing that God equips you with the belt of truth. 00:12:39.940 --> 00:12:47.083 Now, if you know anything about weightlifting or just anything like that, your core strength is imperative. 00:12:47.083 --> 00:12:51.556 You cannot do anything if your core is weak and flabby. 00:12:51.556 --> 00:12:55.764 You have got to stabilize the very center of who you are. 00:12:55.764 --> 00:13:01.825 If you're lifting heavy things, that's got to be good to go, so that you have the power and the might to get through it. 00:13:01.825 --> 00:13:08.403 Well, god is saying listen, your very core needs to be stabilized by truth. 00:13:08.403 --> 00:13:14.695 By truth, if your core is strong, it enables the rest of you to be strong. 00:13:14.695 --> 00:13:27.052 Ephesians 4.14 says they will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves blowing here and there, by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people and their deceitful scheming. 00:13:27.052 --> 00:13:31.168 No, if you are in the word, you are stabilized. 00:13:31.168 --> 00:13:33.273 You are not going to be able to be tossed about. 00:13:33.273 --> 00:13:39.273 When you keep your focus on the truth of God, it gives you a firm foundation. 00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:43.427 I want to give you a little just word to the wise. 00:13:43.427 --> 00:13:45.832 I love Instagram. 00:13:45.832 --> 00:13:53.690 I've never been on TikTok, but I'm sure there's awesome things that are on there and God is using some of those tools in powerful ways. 00:13:53.690 --> 00:13:56.006 Can I just encourage you, dear one? 00:13:56.006 --> 00:14:01.491 Do not get your theology solely from Instagram or TikTok. 00:14:01.491 --> 00:14:07.710 30 second sound bites Do not help you understand God's fullness. 00:14:07.710 --> 00:14:10.164 You have to get it for yourself. 00:14:10.164 --> 00:14:15.684 You have got to be in the word so that you know the truth, so that you can be anchored and secure. 00:14:16.726 --> 00:14:24.590 The Greeks in the Bible times used to think that your center, where your guts were, was like the center of all your emotion as well. 00:14:24.590 --> 00:14:30.366 Ladies, our emotions can go like this, right? 00:14:30.366 --> 00:14:32.471 Yes, awesome Guys. 00:14:32.471 --> 00:14:38.898 God gave us our emotions as beautiful tools to help us see what's going on in our hearts and in our lives. 00:14:38.898 --> 00:14:40.802 Right, they're kind of like warning bells. 00:14:40.802 --> 00:14:43.628 They are horrible guides. 00:14:43.628 --> 00:14:45.912 They are horrible guides. 00:14:45.912 --> 00:14:47.980 Do not trust your emotions, okay. 00:14:47.980 --> 00:14:49.964 Trust truth. 00:14:49.964 --> 00:14:55.753 Anchor in truth, get that belt of truth around your waist. 00:14:55.753 --> 00:15:07.301 Priscilla Shire says in her Armor of God study when you have a strong, stable, well-supported core, you can't easily be led astray by the enemy's clever lies. 00:15:07.301 --> 00:15:12.250 Gird yourself with truth and then you're on guard from the word. 00:15:12.250 --> 00:15:25.750 Go when you're tempted to feel swayed by your emotions or a cunning teaching that you hear out there, put on that belt, get stable, speak out God's truth and stand firm. 00:15:25.750 --> 00:15:27.312 Okay, all right. 00:15:27.312 --> 00:15:29.765 So that was our first piece of armor, our belt of truth. 00:15:30.126 --> 00:15:40.902 Now we have our breastplate of righteousness and because you know I don't have a breastplate around the house, but you know what I do have what is this called? 00:15:40.902 --> 00:15:42.667 An apron? 00:15:42.667 --> 00:15:45.312 You know, there we go. 00:15:45.312 --> 00:15:49.282 It covers my chest, right Like it's like a breastplate, almost. 00:15:49.282 --> 00:15:51.648 Okay, it's covering, it is covering us. 00:15:51.648 --> 00:15:53.412 Oh, also, notice what went on. 00:15:53.412 --> 00:15:56.042 First Belt of truth. 00:15:56.042 --> 00:15:58.028 Do you need to see the belt of truth to know that it's there? 00:15:58.028 --> 00:16:00.365 No, it's there, it's stable. 00:16:00.365 --> 00:16:02.692 It can be covered up even by the breastplate of righteousness. 00:16:02.692 --> 00:16:03.283 It covers our chest. 00:16:03.283 --> 00:16:03.768 What does it need to do? 00:16:03.768 --> 00:16:04.433 The breastplate of righteousness. 00:16:04.433 --> 00:16:05.520 It covers our chest what does it need to do? 00:16:05.520 --> 00:16:06.863 It covers our vital organs. 00:16:06.863 --> 00:16:15.182 It covers our heart I need to get in my papers and it covers us with righteousness. 00:16:15.663 --> 00:16:20.072 Righteousness is God's perfection put on to us. 00:16:20.072 --> 00:16:25.792 It gives us freedom from guilt or sin and it makes us morally right or justifiable. 00:16:25.792 --> 00:16:27.846 This is like bananagrams, y'all. 00:16:27.846 --> 00:16:29.505 Here's what I want you to hear. 00:16:29.505 --> 00:16:36.764 We all know that we're not perfect, right, right, especially as mamas, y'all. 00:16:36.764 --> 00:16:42.547 We're not lacking in mistakes or missteps or misspoken words or faces at our kid. 00:16:42.547 --> 00:16:50.472 Do you ever feel like if one of your children held up a mirror at your face, that you'd be like oh that's what I look like when I'm frustrated? 00:16:50.472 --> 00:16:55.173 I should never, ever look like that at you, because that's not what we want to model to them, right? 00:16:55.173 --> 00:16:59.590 But shame and despair can quickly plague us. 00:16:59.590 --> 00:17:03.381 In those moments we can feel like, oh man, I'm just doing it all wrong. 00:17:03.381 --> 00:17:08.564 I don't know how many times I have told my husband like I'm just a horrible mom, like I am really, really bad at this. 00:17:08.564 --> 00:17:11.311 I should just give up and run away because I am not good. 00:17:11.311 --> 00:17:14.561 Like the spiral happens very, very quickly. 00:17:14.561 --> 00:17:18.884 It's easy to want to just throw our hands up and give up. 00:17:18.884 --> 00:17:21.446 There are no perfect moms. 00:17:21.446 --> 00:17:22.666 Bless the Lord. 00:17:22.666 --> 00:17:24.028 There are no perfect moms. 00:17:24.028 --> 00:17:25.589 There is a perfect Savior. 00:17:25.589 --> 00:17:33.134 There is a perfect Savior and his righteousness covers over our heart and he guards us with his righteousness. 00:17:33.394 --> 00:17:36.477 I'm going to teach you just a little theological term. 00:17:36.477 --> 00:17:37.477 It's called imputation. 00:17:37.477 --> 00:17:54.911 I don't know, maybe you've heard it before but essentially what it is is that God looked at Jesus and he looked at all of us and he saw all of our sin and all of the thing that had to separate us from him and he put all of that onto Jesus. 00:17:54.911 --> 00:17:58.201 All of our wrong, he put it onto Jesus. 00:17:58.201 --> 00:18:00.487 That was step one. 00:18:00.487 --> 00:18:02.049 He did not stop there. 00:18:02.049 --> 00:18:17.393 He took all of Jesus' perfection, all of his righteousness, all of the things that he did well, and he handed it back to us so that when God looks at you and me, he sees Jesus' perfection. 00:18:17.393 --> 00:18:22.541 When you make him the leader of your life and the forgiver of your sins, he sees Jesus over you. 00:18:22.541 --> 00:18:25.227 You don't have to wallow in shame. 00:18:25.227 --> 00:18:39.190 You can say kids, I'm really sorry, I messed up, I'm really sorry, I yelled, I'm really, really sorry, I did not model God's love to you in that moment, but I'm not going to sit in shame and like I'm the worst mom ever. 00:18:39.190 --> 00:18:46.766 No, because of God's armor, he put righteousness over me and he puts righteousness over you. 00:18:48.028 --> 00:18:51.641 The breastplate of righteousness it isn't ours to achieve. 00:18:51.641 --> 00:18:53.806 Titus 3, 4 through 7 says. 00:18:53.806 --> 00:19:05.153 But when the kindness and love of God, our savior, appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. 00:19:05.153 --> 00:19:21.308 He saved us through the washing of rebirth and the renewal of his Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ, our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs, having the hope of eternal life. 00:19:21.308 --> 00:19:27.012 You and I are now heirs to God's kingdom. 00:19:27.012 --> 00:19:31.116 We have his righteousness covering over us. 00:19:31.116 --> 00:19:46.291 So when we're tempted to allow those arrows of accusation and despair to penetrate our hearts, those lies that we aren't good enough, we're not perfect enough, we're not capable enough, well, because of God's kindness and love, it's not the righteous things that we have done. 00:19:46.291 --> 00:19:51.064 God covers our hearts and we have his righteousness like a breastplate. 00:19:52.285 --> 00:20:07.557 Okay, two down, we got the breastplate of righteousness, and then we have my really janky. 00:20:07.557 --> 00:20:11.348 They were pretty in white, they're not anymore, because y'all were in a battle. 00:20:11.348 --> 00:20:13.567 White shoes can't stay white in a battle. 00:20:13.567 --> 00:20:19.089 So we got our feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 00:20:19.089 --> 00:20:26.769 All right, I need to give you just a little bit of context because I, as I was reading this, I was like, oh, this is so good for mamas. 00:20:26.769 --> 00:20:50.882 The sandals that they're talking about, they were almost more like shin guards, because when they used to go into battle, the enemy that they were fighting against would have these stakes in the ground that would like poke up toward the infantry right Coming by, and so there was the frustration of these spikes coming at you. 00:20:50.882 --> 00:21:01.286 How many of you have ever stepped on a Lego, right, okay, so stakes in the ground, kind of like stepping on the Legos. 00:21:01.286 --> 00:21:05.727 Oh, my goodness, it's not going to kill you, but it is a major irritant. 00:21:05.727 --> 00:21:16.008 Yes, okay, as mamas, as dads, as humans, we are in a world that has irritants. 00:21:16.008 --> 00:21:24.625 Yeah, like every day you're encountering this and that and the other thing that just got under your skin and you can't really do anything about it. 00:21:24.625 --> 00:21:45.084 But if you put on the feet, fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace, you can go through that and be like, oh, I don't feel those Legos, or I'm not letting that hit me quite the way that I would have let it hit me before this peace word. 00:21:45.084 --> 00:21:52.545 It's a tranquility, it's the Greek word, irenae, it's an assurance of salvation through Christ, fearing nothing. 00:21:53.386 --> 00:22:12.326 One of my favorite current mama writers, abby Halberstadt, talks about like in her book hard is not the same thing as bad that sometimes we gravitate toward a motherhood of martyrdom, an attitude that is sure to bleed into the way that we treat our families, these little things. 00:22:12.326 --> 00:22:19.128 They get under us right, and they bother us and they frustrate us and we can start to look at it as, oh, I'm just a martyr. 00:22:19.128 --> 00:22:21.753 Nothing ever goes right and this is so difficult. 00:22:21.753 --> 00:22:24.383 But motherhood is a gift. 00:22:24.383 --> 00:22:28.631 The Bible says that children are a blessing from the Lord. 00:22:28.631 --> 00:22:34.630 Our lives, our very lives, the very breath in our lungs is a gift from the Lord. 00:22:34.630 --> 00:22:38.663 It's not martyrdom, even if it feels heavy. 00:22:40.027 --> 00:22:41.148 But what do we need to do? 00:22:41.148 --> 00:22:48.192 We need to have the feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace, the readiness we got to get prepared with it. 00:22:48.192 --> 00:22:53.928 Okay, isaiah 55, 12 says go out in joy and be led forth in peace. 00:22:53.928 --> 00:22:58.153 It's the gospel, it's good news. 00:22:58.153 --> 00:22:59.836 It's good news. 00:22:59.836 --> 00:23:00.557 We have good news. 00:23:00.557 --> 00:23:13.888 We have the very presence of God, giving us life, giving us joy, and as we share this good news, when we fill up with God's peace, it guards against combativeness and it allays other people's anxieties. 00:23:14.609 --> 00:23:19.734 Proverbs 15.1 says A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. 00:23:19.734 --> 00:23:33.604 We have an opportunity with our words, with our very presence, to come in and to be gentle. 00:23:33.604 --> 00:23:34.244 Gentleness allays wrath. 00:23:34.244 --> 00:23:38.753 If we were just gentle, if we were to be bringers of peace, we would literally be peacemakers where we go. 00:23:38.753 --> 00:23:40.763 But how do we get that peace? 00:23:40.763 --> 00:23:48.510 Well, another of my favorite mom authors, donna Otto, from her book Finding your Purpose as a Mom, she gives us our answer. 00:23:49.051 --> 00:23:50.682 How do we cultivate a peaceful heart? 00:23:50.682 --> 00:23:57.974 You draw near to the Lord and rejoice that he is near you. 00:23:57.974 --> 00:24:01.185 One of God's names, emmanuel. 00:24:01.185 --> 00:24:06.990 God with us, he is near you, and then you rest in the knowledge that he cares for you. 00:24:06.990 --> 00:24:08.965 You pray about everything. 00:24:08.965 --> 00:24:11.548 You dwell on what is right and what is good. 00:24:11.548 --> 00:24:14.606 So if we want his peace, what do we need to do? 00:24:14.606 --> 00:24:16.644 We've got to dwell on the good news. 00:24:16.644 --> 00:24:23.369 He is with us, he is for us, he is going before us and we will sense his peace. 00:24:23.369 --> 00:24:24.713 He is with us, he is for us. 00:24:24.713 --> 00:24:28.923 He is going before us and we will sense his peace and those little irritants will lose some of their power. 00:24:28.923 --> 00:24:30.144 All right, so what do we have? 00:24:30.144 --> 00:24:40.455 We've got the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, feet fitted with peace, and then what do we have next? 00:24:40.455 --> 00:24:40.960 The shield of faith. 00:24:41.539 --> 00:24:53.786 Ok, so I don't have something to go with shield of faith, because when I was studying what this means, it says it's like a door, and I didn't think I wanted to carry a door here today. 00:24:53.786 --> 00:24:58.922 But imagine if I had a door in front of this right now. 00:24:58.922 --> 00:25:03.633 If you had a Nerf gun, could you shoot my beautiful mannequin? 00:25:03.633 --> 00:25:08.228 No, because a door protects completely. 00:25:08.228 --> 00:25:17.030 Each of these current items cover specific parts, but the door moves with you wherever you go and it covers you entirely. 00:25:17.030 --> 00:25:19.301 It's the shield of faith. 00:25:19.301 --> 00:25:22.211 It's this word pistis, the conviction that God exists. 00:25:22.211 --> 00:25:28.321 He's the creator and the ruler of all things, the provider, and he bestows eternal salvation through Christ. 00:25:28.321 --> 00:25:31.854 And this shield, it covers everything. 00:25:31.854 --> 00:25:35.001 Part of the root word of it actually means a gate. 00:25:35.001 --> 00:25:42.292 This door, this shield of faith, is like a gate and we get to hold it up. 00:25:42.292 --> 00:25:44.721 We get to choose what hits us. 00:25:44.721 --> 00:25:49.190 God is saying hold up that shield. 00:25:50.070 --> 00:25:53.237 There are fiery arrows coming at you. 00:25:53.237 --> 00:26:02.342 Remember it says in every situation, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil. 00:26:02.342 --> 00:26:03.845 One Y'all. 00:26:03.845 --> 00:26:07.333 We have got to guard against some fiery arrows and darts. 00:26:07.333 --> 00:26:13.750 Remember the schemer be scheming, he's up to no good and he's going to try. 00:26:13.750 --> 00:26:14.152 However. 00:26:14.152 --> 00:26:14.732 He can. 00:26:14.732 --> 00:26:21.336 Like an arrow or like a dart, you can't really tell exactly where it's going to hit. 00:26:21.336 --> 00:26:25.047 You don't know where it's going to penetrate, but it's also fiery. 00:26:25.047 --> 00:26:29.740 So if it does penetrate, it's going to get deeper and destroy more. 00:26:29.740 --> 00:26:36.451 I have been down in the fight and hit with some really hard arrows. 00:26:36.451 --> 00:26:41.807 Brandon can attest to just some lies that I have allowed penetrate my heart. 00:26:41.807 --> 00:26:44.998 But we need to guard against them. 00:26:44.998 --> 00:26:52.459 The enemy knows just what to say and where to send those fiery arrows and when to send the fiery arrows right. 00:26:52.459 --> 00:27:01.135 Right when you're low, right when you're tired, right when you're hungry, right when you're already frustrated by something else and his intention is to take you out. 00:27:02.339 --> 00:27:16.044 But when we keep that conviction, that knowledge of the fact that God exists and he's the ruler of all things, and we hold up that shield in the forefront of our minds, those fiery arrows, the schemes, the darts. 00:27:16.044 --> 00:27:17.832 They just lose their power. 00:27:17.832 --> 00:27:19.055 They're extinguished. 00:27:19.055 --> 00:27:20.597 No, no, no. 00:27:20.597 --> 00:27:23.330 I remember God is in control of me right now. 00:27:23.330 --> 00:27:26.315 No, that person is not in control of my situation. 00:27:26.315 --> 00:27:27.277 Oh, no, no, that's right. 00:27:27.277 --> 00:27:29.220 My battle is not against flesh and blood. 00:27:29.220 --> 00:27:30.142 Oh, that's right. 00:27:30.142 --> 00:27:32.305 Oh, no, I need to put on my full armor of God. 00:27:32.305 --> 00:27:33.593 I got to hold up my shield of faith. 00:27:33.593 --> 00:27:34.715 God is in control. 00:27:34.715 --> 00:27:41.876 God is in control, he exists and he is the ruler and the provider and the creator and he bestows eternal salvation. 00:27:41.876 --> 00:27:58.808 When you hold up your shield of faith and you keep that belt of truth around your waist, faith in God becomes like that giant door guarding all of you and extinguishing the arrows. 00:28:02.230 --> 00:28:02.811 Okay, we're almost there, ready. 00:28:02.811 --> 00:28:12.661 Okay, we've got the belt of truth, we got the breastplate of righteousness, we got the shoes fitted with peace, we've got a pretend shield right here, and then we have the helmet of salvation. 00:28:12.661 --> 00:28:20.419 I chose my baseball cap, but I had custom made and it says rooted and established in the love of God. 00:28:20.419 --> 00:28:26.711 So we're going to put that and we're going to pretend there's a head on there and it's covering our heads. 00:28:26.711 --> 00:28:33.119 Now a helmet is covering our brains and our eyes. 00:28:33.119 --> 00:28:37.865 It's covering over our perspective. 00:28:37.865 --> 00:28:42.914 It's shifting the way that we think about things. 00:28:42.914 --> 00:28:57.661 When our sight and our perception are guarded by the salvation of the living God, we're like, oh, that's right, all of this is actually light and momentary, like this is actually not the worst. 00:28:57.661 --> 00:29:03.540 It really is hard, but I have my God who is fully in control. 00:29:04.790 --> 00:29:06.455 I'm going to skip my notes a little bit. 00:29:06.455 --> 00:29:17.923 A little farther, psalm 140, verse 7, says O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle. 00:29:17.923 --> 00:29:33.560 I've been doing a little study on the names of God too, and if you look at that verse, and if you look at that verse, oh God, that's the word Yahweh, that is the creator God, the one from very beginning. 00:29:33.560 --> 00:29:37.683 Now, remember, these are all God, but they describe different pieces of his attributes. 00:29:37.683 --> 00:29:54.675 Yahweh, the very creator God, the one who sets all things in motion, that God the Lord, that's Adonai, that's oh, my goodness, I need to get it in front of my mouth the one who is in full authority. 00:29:54.675 --> 00:29:56.721 This is like a term that you would say to like the man. 00:29:56.721 --> 00:29:59.432 It's recognizing that God is in full authority. 00:29:59.432 --> 00:30:04.500 And then he says the strength of my salvation. 00:30:04.500 --> 00:30:10.652 That's God's other name, yeshua, the very one who has power to rescue and save. 00:30:10.652 --> 00:30:15.199 He has covered your head in the day of battle. 00:30:15.199 --> 00:30:19.372 He's the one who guards you, the God who is the creator. 00:30:19.372 --> 00:30:21.840 He has full authority and he has power to save. 00:30:21.840 --> 00:30:23.606 So what do we do with that? 00:30:24.470 --> 00:30:29.479 Well, when we're tempted in these mental spirals do you ever get in mental spirals where you just can't get out, like it? 00:30:29.479 --> 00:30:32.310 Just your mind is racing and it keeps going and it keeps going? 00:30:32.310 --> 00:30:37.560 Well, we remember Adonai, the one in full authority. 00:30:37.560 --> 00:30:40.270 He has control over all of our circumstances. 00:30:40.270 --> 00:30:53.356 When we are like rehearsing conversations in our head over and over and over, well, we remember Yeshua, the one who has power to save, to get you through this circumstance. 00:30:53.356 --> 00:30:54.935 He's the one who defends us. 00:30:54.935 --> 00:31:06.261 And when, if, the what ifs kind of race through your mind like a ticker tape, we remember Yahweh, the creator, god who ordains all things. 00:31:06.261 --> 00:31:08.195 He's in it with you. 00:31:08.195 --> 00:31:13.580 So, when we put on that helmet of salvation, we remember that the Lord goes before us. 00:31:13.580 --> 00:31:16.940 He is mighty to save in every circumstance. 00:31:16.940 --> 00:31:34.317 Okay, we get the correct perspective when we remember Putting on that helmet of salvation, remembering over and over again Okay, so we've got the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the feet fitted with peace, we've got the shield of faith. 00:31:34.670 --> 00:31:54.673 Then we have the helmet of salvation and finally this is legit y'all the sword of the spirit it's not sharp which is the word of God, but it's Civil War era Kind of cool, right. 00:31:54.673 --> 00:31:56.738 Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. 00:31:56.738 --> 00:32:05.958 Everything else on our body so far has been a defensive tactic, right, but this is an offensive weapon. 00:32:05.958 --> 00:32:09.963 If anyone has played football, the best offense is what? 00:32:09.963 --> 00:32:11.705 A good defense. 00:32:11.705 --> 00:32:19.857 So you get your defense up first and then you hold up the word of God, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 00:32:19.857 --> 00:32:22.413 Again, read this all of my life. 00:32:22.413 --> 00:32:27.816 But y'all, it's the Spirit's sword, it's his sword, he's empowering it. 00:32:29.710 --> 00:32:33.038 Acts 1.8 says but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses. 00:32:33.038 --> 00:32:35.442 He empowers you. 00:32:35.442 --> 00:32:37.595 That word power is dunamis. 00:32:37.595 --> 00:32:39.179 It's where we get our word for dynamite. 00:32:39.179 --> 00:32:41.330 It's like explosive powerful. 00:32:41.330 --> 00:32:45.557 His word is power, his word is power, y'all. 00:32:45.999 --> 00:32:49.045 Hebrews 4.12 says for the word of God is living and active. 00:32:49.045 --> 00:32:56.881 It's sharper than any double-edged sword able to penetrate I should make sure I have it right Penetrate even dividing soul and spirit joints and marrow. 00:32:56.881 --> 00:33:00.211 It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 00:33:00.211 --> 00:33:07.565 When we hold up the spirit of God with the sword of the spirit, it has power. 00:33:07.565 --> 00:33:12.453 God with the sword of the Spirit, it has power. 00:33:12.453 --> 00:33:14.338 2 Timothy 3.16 and 17 says all scripture is God breathed. 00:33:14.338 --> 00:33:14.680 And it's useful. 00:33:14.700 --> 00:33:15.442 Guys, his word is useful. 00:33:15.442 --> 00:33:19.873 It's useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. 00:33:19.873 --> 00:33:31.914 So the servants of God may be what Thoroughly equipped for good work, thoroughly equipped for good work. 00:33:31.914 --> 00:33:33.859 There is good work for you to do. 00:33:33.859 --> 00:33:36.826 You need to be thoroughly equipped by his word, which is powerful. 00:33:36.826 --> 00:33:40.353 The Holy Spirit is the one who makes his word effective and powerful. 00:33:40.353 --> 00:33:43.480 He is one with the most high God. 00:33:43.480 --> 00:33:53.998 He knows what needs to be said in response to the schemes of the evil one, and he knows God's word and he will enable you to hold it up with power and strength. 00:33:55.259 --> 00:33:56.923 It's time to parry. 00:33:56.923 --> 00:34:04.823 I have never once been in any kind of swordsmanship class, but I know that there's moves. 00:34:04.823 --> 00:34:12.518 Right, you got to be ready and you got to have it ready to go, and I'm sure I'm holding it wrong and doing all the things wrong, but that's okay because God's word is living and active. 00:34:12.518 --> 00:34:13.420 It's powerful. 00:34:13.420 --> 00:34:18.659 I don't even need to know how to wield it well, because the Holy Spirit will come in power through it. 00:34:18.659 --> 00:34:21.257 He's the one who empowers it. 00:34:22.130 --> 00:34:29.463 Remember, maybe you remember when Jesus was on the earth and he had his 40 days of fasting? 00:34:29.463 --> 00:34:36.117 The enemy came and he accused and he said all these things to him. 00:34:36.117 --> 00:34:42.202