Devotional
Have you ever left the house and felt like you were missing something? Like you don’t know what it is but you can’t shake this feeling that something is off. Maybe you missed a key accessory that you always wear. Like your favorite necklace or bag. Maybe you forgot your phone and you feel lost without it, I have been there. Maybe it’s your keys or your backpack. Maybe you forgot your glasses and now you can’t see. Maybe you get halfway through the day and realize you forgot to put on deodorant or wear socks with your sneakers gross.
We have these essentials that we all need or at least think we need in our day to day life and when we are without them, everything is off. It is the worst feeling.
That’s kinda what the belt was for the Roman soldier. See when they would get dressed they would put their under clothes on, then their belt, then their armor and the belt is what held it all together. It kept everything in place and where it needed to be. A roman soldier could have the best armor, the best weapons but without their belt nothing worked the way it should. It was the foundation of their armor.
Which is why it makes perfect sense for that to be the first thing Paul instructs to “put on” in our spiritual armor. Look at Ephesians 6: 10-18,
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
Paul says in our struggle against the evil in this world, in the battles that we fight everyday the first thing we should prepare ourselves with is the belt of truth. The foundation for our life and our spiritual life specifically is what? Truth.
Truth guides us everyday. We build our lives on what we believe to be true. Let’s think about this example. You go to school like every day right? Why? Because as a society we believe it to be true that if you get an education you will be better off as an individual. So we try to make sure everyone has access to education because it is important. But what if we found out that wasn’t true. What if a study came out that showed education actually set people up to fail, what if we found getting an education would ruin your life? How would that change our priorities and the way we live our everyday lives? That truth would change the way we do everything.
What we believe to be true is the foundation for everything in our lives. So the question is,
What is truth?
Well in John 14:6,
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Jesus says He is the truth. Basically He is the answer we have been looking for. He is our foundation. Through Him and His Word we find guidance for our life.
This is what we build our lives upon. We look at the word of God, the commands, the stories, the prayers that make up scripture and we use this as the foundation for everything we do. Or at least that’s what we should be doing.
At Sagebrush everything we teach we try to teach from the Bible, your student pastors and leaders we try to live by God’s Word and keep it as the foundation for our lives. I am not saying we follow everything perfectly all the time and I am not saying that it is easy all the time. But we believe that the best possible foundation to live our lives by is the truth of God’s Word and the ways of Jesus.
We live in a world where everyone has a different opinion on truth. To some it’s subjective to some it’s not. To some it’s black and white to some it’s not. There’s your truth and my truth and objective truth and all these substitutes to believe in. The problem with that is how do we know what to believe? If truth is constantly changing how will we know how to live?
The Bible teaches that truth is objective. That God has created the world in a way where some things are right and some things are wrong. That there is a truth to hold on to and that there is someone (Jesus) to trust and believe in.
The question is what are you going to build your life on. What is going to be your foundation? What belt will you put on? The belt of feelings? The belt of public opinion? The belt of their truth or my truth? Or the belt of truth from the Bible, the word of God.
Break the ice
What is the dumbest lie you ever told?
*leader note: save 7-10 minutes at the end of your group time for the prayer time*
Small group questions
1. Read Ephesians 6:10-17, what are some of the reasons Paul gives us for needing to “put on” the armor of God?
10 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. 14 Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. 15 For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. 16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil. 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
- Why is it so important to have a source of truth in our lives?
- What is our source of truth?
- If Jesus is our source of truth according to John 14:6, what does it look like to build our lives on truth (aka Jesus)?
POTENTIAL ANSWERS Looking at the ways of Jesus, studying the words of Jesus, remembering what He sacrificed for us, etc.
6Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
5. What are some ways of Jesus that we could practice this week?
PRAYER FOCUS
Ephesians 6:18 says, "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people." According to this verse one of our weapons in this spiritual war is prayer for each other and with each other. This is an important part of our walk as Christians and it is important for us to do as a group. So today we are going to practice praying together outloud.
*Split your group into groups of 3-5 people. Encourage them to take turns praying out loud over these subjects* (Students may feel awkward if they are not used to praying out loud, as the group leader you can start by praying out loud and explaining to them that it is just a conversation between them and God and no one is judging anyone’s prayer.)
- Pray for any specific prayer requests in your group
- Ask God to bless your small group and help you grow closer together and become closer to Him
- Pray for the end of the school year. Ask God to give teachers and students the wisdom and energy they need to get through the next month and finish well.
- Pray for the mental health of this generation. Ask God for the peace that passes understanding and to help us as believers be a light for the people around us.
Loading saved progress…
Your place is saved in this browser. It will not follow you to another device, and clearing browser data removes it.