PUT ON YOUR STOMPIN’ BOOTS

By Tammy Phillips
April 27, 2020

Stand…with your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;  -Ephesians 6:14 & 15

Some days, do you wake up with the desire to just walk around barefooted all day?  I do.  However, most activities require a suitable shoe.  When our mission is to dance, we wear dancing shoes.  Tap dancers wear tap shoes; ballerinas don pointed shoes. Country girls wear cowboy boots to do a little line dance. Nurses wear comfortable shoes to endure their shifts of walking and standing.  Basketball players wear basketball shoes to support their ankles during a game.  Baseball players wear cleats to gain better traction while playing.  Hiking boots, running shoes, walking shoes; there is a shoe for everything.  Shoes provide us the foundation to accomplish our work, our tasks, and our goals, even if that is to only to look cute.  We choose shoes to empower us to accomplish.

Every killer power suit needs a pair of killer shoes.  I call them my stompin’ boots.  Paul mentions the third piece of our armor of God as “feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.” (FYI… Shod means tied on tightly.)  Remember, Paul is comparing our spiritual armor to that of a Roman soldier.  The soldier’s shoes had two parts: The greave which acted as a shield for the lower leg and the actual shoe that protected the foot.  The shoe consisted of leather straps that helped secure the shoe tightly to the foot and leg.  The bottom of the shoe was heavy leather for comfort and cushion to help overcome obstacles.  The bottom of the shoe was also equipped with spikes to be used as weapons and for stability.  The spikes helped the soldiers STAND in place, immovable.  These shoes actually looked like boots and these boots were made to stomp the enemy.  Our boots are made for walking, walking by faith and stomping our enemy.

We must tie on the peace of God tightly like a good shoe.  Peace translated from the Greek is Eirene which means exempt from the rage and havoc of war, rest, quietness, good order security, assured of salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot.  The enemy’s mission is to kill, steal and destroy.  His mission is to move us from our faith in God.  Our mission is to stand in God’s peace, knowing that we are whole, healed and complete.  Peace knows that God is always with you.  Peace knows that we walk by faith.  We must put on our stompin’ shoes tightly and stomp out the devil’s plans.  We are encouraged by the words of Jesus, when he says:  “Behold, I give unto you power to tread (trample, crush, stomp) on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” (Luke 10:19)   We are encouraged to walk by faith.  Our shoes of peace empower us with confidence to crush out worry, chaos and the obstacles of our day.  Our killer power shoes of peace protect us from the devil knocking our legs out from under us.  They enable us to stand. 

I enCOURAGE you to put on your stompin’ boots.  God has given us the power and authority to STAND confidently in them and to overcome.   Jesus said “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)  FOOT NOTE:   Overcome is the Greek word, nikao, meaning to carry off the victory.  It is a derivative of a word you know well, NIKE, meaning victory.  When we put on our stompin’ boots, we have actually put on VICTORY BOOTS!!! Stomp on!