Hello and Happy Summer!!!
It’s summer! It’s summer! It’s summer! If you don’t know this about me, I LOVE SUNSHINE, so the fact that it’s officially summer makes my heart super happy:)
If you’re new here, welcome to this space with me! And if not, you know that last month, for my birthday, I threw out the challenge (on social media) for you guys to join me in a month long Scripture writing adventure and to my delight, many of you took me up on it! So, I decided to invite you to do the same thing with me for the month of June as well. I mean, why stop a great thing, right? I’ve been entering into this practice for a few years now and it has been such a great way for me to engage with God in a simple way so I thought you might want to give it a try yourself. And by the sound of it, many of you are enjoying it as well!
JUNE PLAN
As you can see, this month, the plan that I chose is centered around the Armor of God. It’s broken down into categories for each piece of armor: The Belt of Truth, The Breastplate of Righteousness, The Shoes of Peace, The Shield of Faith and the Sword of the Spirit. (For those who are not familiar with this armor that God invites us to put on, the description is found in Ephesians 6:10-20.If you haven’t read this recently, or ever before, I’d encourage you to do so.) ---It also has 4 extra days on it, so go ahead and double up on a few of the days where you feel like you're still hungry:)
MY LOVE FOR THE ARMOR BACKSTORY
In 2016 my pastor, Jeff Peabody, did a series on this passage of Scripture and I loved it so much that it’s one that I often revisit. (And in fact, he’s actually working on his book from this passage as well—-way to go Jeff!!) But one of the things that stood out from the very beginning, came out of the first part of this passage where Paul tells us in verse 11 to put on the full armor of God. I don’t think I’ll ever forget how deeply it impacted me when Jeff shared that the greek (original language it was written in) for “put on” actually meant “sink in”.
At the time I heard this, I was working really hard in counseling around some early trauma in my life and I felt like I was already working so hard trying to do all the right things in order to find the freedom that I so longed for. This day, when I heard that God, through the apostle Paul, was saying ‘sink in’ to the pieces of protection and grab my weapon (The Sword of the Spirit) that He was providing for me, I literally felt myself exhale deeply. The slight paradigm shift that day, had enormous implications and enabled me to see that my primary purpose was to surrender myself to God, to let Him clothe me with the garments of protection and allow Him to fight for me. (Also, Exodus 14:14—The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still.) It was in this sinking in that I would experience His love and delight in me, and be armed with just what I needed to join forces with God in this battle that ensued in my heart and mind.
***MIND BLOWING!!!***
Needless to say, I’ve been sinking into Jesus in this new way ever since and it continues to get easier and easier and more fulfilling and life-giving each day as I show up with Jesus.
Because that series at my church was so impacting for me at the time, and continues to be, I thought I’d see if I could make it available for you to partake of as well. I contacted Jeff and he made it even more accessible for us. Simply go to newdaynw.com/armor you will see the list of sermons (9) available for you to enjoy! Then just click on whichever one you’d like to listen to and viola!
I’m so so grateful to be on this journey with you as we lean in closer to who this God of the Bible is and what that means for us. So, as you write your verse each, I pray that you/we will pause, slow down long enough to let it have time and space in your heart and mind, so the Holy Spirit can create something new in you and in me.
HELPS...
I already have next months chosen for us and I can’t wait to share it with y’all!
Here are some questions to ponder as you enter in each day with Jesus, through His word:
*What is the message of the passage?
*How can I step into this thought or way of being with Jesus today?
*Is there something I need to confess and ask Jesus to cleanse me from?
*Once I’ve talked with Jesus about this portion of Scripture, through prayer, who is in my life that I can share with about what God is doing in me?
Looking forward to finishing this month soon and embarking on the new one next month with you, as we continue to lean into and position ourselves to engage in practicing the presence of Jesus together!