20260401 Ephesians 6 Breastplate of Righteousness and Gospel Shoes Wednesday Bible Study Tim Dickmann

All right, we're in Ephesians again this evening

So we're in Ephesians chapter 6 Let's read these

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

first few verses again here. So Ephesians 6,

10. Finally, be strong in the Lord and the strength

of his might. Put on the full armor of God so

that you will be able to stand firm against the

schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not

against flesh and blood, but against the rulers,

against the powers, against the world forces

of this darkness, against the spiritual forces

of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore,

take up the full armor of God so that you will

be able to resist in the evil day. 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 all taking up the shield

of faith which is with which you will be able

to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil

one and Take the helmet of salvation and the

sword of the spirit, which is the word of God

with all prayer and so on there so We're gonna

talk this evening about The breastplate of righteousness

here in verse 14 so we talked last week about

girding our loins with truth and Now he says

to put on the breastplate of righteousness a

Couple things it's good. So hopefully you know

we read those few verses every week and when

I'm And any time I'm preaching or teaching, I'm

reading those verses multiple times a week. Usually

every time I begin to study, I read that whole

passage. Okay. So I would encourage you that

throughout the week, as you think about these

things, read those first, those whatever that

is seven verses, because it becomes familiar

and you may not be able to quote it perfectly

after doing that, but it will become very familiar

so that you'll know where it is and you'll have

a good idea of what's being said and of course

you could always take the time to memorize those

seven verses which would be beneficial. So usually

by the time I'm done teaching something I have

a very good working knowledge of that portion

and I'm able to recall it to mind because I've

just read it time and again and so that's helpful.

Even if I don't memorize it intentionally, it's

at least very profitable in that regard. So let

me encourage you in that Secondly here. I want

to remind us that As we because we go on here

and talk about each piece that we're to put on

here each piece of this armor Keep in mind what

this armor is for okay, so What is it for? Why

does Paul tell us to put the armor on? What's

the reason for it? It's to stand, to stand firm

against the devil, right? That's his whole point.

That's the reason he's writing all this. He says,

do this so that you'll be able to stand firm,

so that you'll be able to resist. So each piece

of this armor is meant for our resistance of

the devil, sin, the world. Okay, so keep that

in mind. So if you're wondering what does this

mean? How does this apply? How does it apply

to our lives in our resistance against sin and

our striving against Satan? Okay So again that

helps us in the context of what we're talking

about that it's not some thing over here that

has nothing to do with my resistance Against

sin and Satan Anyway, I just think that that's

always helpful to keep in mind as we go through

these things All right, so he says to put on

the breastplate of righteousness So this breastplate

We're probably familiar with it if you if you

think of a soldier. He's got this chest protector

going from his neck down to his hips or his loins

here and Usually it's going to be front and back

and so it's protection for his vital organs Other

than his head obviously, but his organs there.

So what does what? What does that represent?

Anybody have any ideas when we're talking about

these vital organs? How does scripture represent

these things? What does it mean when we're talking

about our heart, bowels, and so on? What is the

Bible speaking of often when it speaks of those

things? Good answer though Okay How about we

heard of the bowels of mercies Okay, our emotions

our feelings our sensibilities Okay, it's not

it's not our mind All right, it's it's these

inner thoughts and feelings that we're talking

about maybe we could we could Conscience our

conscience our heart The sensitive parts, our

feelings, our affections, those are the things

here that the Bible often uses to speak of these

parts of our body. So that's what we're talking

about here. That's what we're protecting with

this breastplate of righteousness. So the next

question then is, what is righteousness? God's

goodness. There's more than one. Yes, yes and

yes. Okay. It was a Psalm where David says, Oh

God of my righteousness. So did we hear Jake?

He mentioned imputed righteousness. And so we'll

talk about that. He also said imparted righteousness.

Is that something different? Yes. Okay. So imputed,

imparted, but what is it? I want to go back here

to what is righteousness? Just a simple definition.

Different than what Jake gave if we're talking

about righteousness if I say Caleb you should

live a righteous life What do I mean? Okay, upright

Doing what's right, you know living virtuously

Morally we could say Again, righteousness here,

we could say, obeying God's commands, living

in a right way according to God's precepts, his

ordinances, right living, righteous living. So

righteousness. Now there is this righteousness

that Jake mentioned. Imparted righteousness and

imputed righteousness. What is imputed righteousness?

What do we mean by that? Okay, we're made righteous.

Is there another way that we would say that?

What does it mean to impute? Okay, I wrote down

here, and I don't know where I got this from,

taking what belongs to one person and giving

it to another. All right, so imputed righteousness

is the righteousness of Christ being given to

us. So that now we have the righteousness of

Christ. What's another word for that? Having

the righteousness of Christ, being righteous.

Justification. That's this imputed righteousness.

Having the righteousness of Christ. Okay, where

does that Bible talk about that? How about we

just turn to one? Second Corinthians 521. Okay,

Second Corinthians 521. He made him who knew

no sin to be sin on our behalf that we might

become the righteousness of God in him. Okay?

So there we have this idea of this exchange,

right? This exchange, our sin to Christ, Christ's

righteousness to us. Imputed righteousness, being

made righteous, all right? So that's one righteousness

that scripture talks about. And again, if we

were gonna talk about that, we would say that's

our justification that has to do with being made

right with God, all right? Another righteousness

is this imputed righteousness, or I'm sorry,

imparted righteousness. This is, we would say,

a result of what has happened to us. So this

is a result of our regeneration, our being born

again, our being made new. So all of those things

that the Bible talks about, the newness of the

Christian, his new life, his new birth, a new

heart, a new creation, a new creature, okay.

We've been made new and because of that then,

what happens? We live in a righteous way, okay?

So now, something has happened to us, we've been

saved, we've been justified, and now we're living

a righteous life. That's our desire, that's our

goal. That's what we're striving after. So it's

a result of something that has happened to us

and we are being transformed then and changed

Made more like Christ and living a more righteous

life in that way. Okay, so What's Paul talking

about here what righteousness is Paul talking

about when he says to put on the breastplate

of righteousness Okay, Christ's righteousness

in what way? You mean like the imputed righteousness

of Christ? The result of Christ's work on our

behalf and our regeneration. Well that's what

I would say. So that when Paul says here put

on the breastplate of righteousness, I think

he has in mind here this idea of living in this

way in this righteous way now do you do you disagree

with that dad do you think it refers more to

the imputed righteousness of christ okay i was

just wondering yes yes so so right and we'll

talk about that here well here i'll just say

right here so what is this then if we're talking

here about right living just say it simply there

that this breastplate has to do with living rightly

and living rightly then is a protection against

the attacks of satan how does that apply how

does that correlate does anybody does anybody

know what i'm asking there How does this, living

rightly, how is that a breastplate for us? How

does that give protection to us? If you've fallen

into sin, it's hard to have a clear conscience,

isn't it? What's the result of living an unrighteous

life as a Christian? Conviction. Conviction.

You feel guilt. Notice I said you feel. You feel

guilty. You don't have a clear conscience. What

else what else happens here Communion with the

Lord is affected what else? Okay lack of joy

Okay, it's hard to have assurance right if you're

in sin and you're continuing in that pattern

Should you have any assurance? Probably not,

right? So, living rightly, living in a way that

honors the Lord, gives us more confidence that

we are walking with the Lord. We can look at

our life and say, my life and my profession seem

to go together here. I have reason to hope. I'm

not just talking. I'm not just saying I'm a Christian.

I'm actually living like one, okay? What else

does that do? What does Satan do through all

of this? He wants us to doubt, right? He wants

us to doubt our salvation. He wants us to condemn

ourselves. He wants us to live joyless, miserable,

guilty, condemned lives, right? That's his goal.

Because when we're living in that way, we're

not living in the way that God designed us to

live as Christians, and we're not being fruitful

in the kingdom, and we're not producing in our

own Christian lives the way that we should be

in growing and maturing. So living rightly is

this breastplate. It protects us against all

of these lies and attacks of Satan. There's a

balance here, of course, right? Because just

because we live a good life, that doesn't make

us a Christian. But we're living in this way.

And where is our hope on that imputed righteousness

of Christ? That Christ's righteousness is mine.

I'm trusting in Christ's work. I'm trusting in

His righteousness on my behalf. And I'm living

in this way that He's told me to live. And therefore,

I'm walking boldly and confidently into the battle

with this breastplate on, okay? So I think that's

what Paul's talking about. We all surely know

what it is to walk through this life when we've

fallen into sin. And maybe we've continued in

that sin for a few days or a few weeks, maybe

even months, maybe it's been years. Do you have

confidence? Do you have assurance? Are you a

joyful Christian in that time? No. No, you're

not. So living rightly, living in a way that

honors the Lord, living in a way that matches

the profession that we make is a guard and a

help in our battle here on this earth. Okay,

I feel like we should say a little bit here just

about this whole Again conscience feelings emotions

I think that's again all that's being mentioned

here. We don't live our lives based on feelings.

All right it is It is however a reality in our

world, right and if we let it we have emotions

we have feelings And so, we're not here to say,

oh, you know, you shouldn't have feelings, there

shouldn't be emotion, there shouldn't be experience

in the Christian life. We have all of those things,

and those things are good, but we don't live

based on those things. We live based upon truth,

reality, what Scripture says, having our loins

gird about with truth. Alright, and then we're

gonna talk about faith later on. We walk by faith,

not by sight, not just what we see and experience

here on this earth, but what the scripture says

about who we are, about what Christ has accomplished,

and all of those things. So I don't want to minimize

the reality of feelings in this world. We just

can't live based on our feelings. We have to

Face our feelings upon truth and not just what's

going on around us If Christians don't have any

feelings in their walk or in their life, then

that's another reason to wonder if they're Christians.

The emotions are great. They're definitely part

of the Christian life. The only good problem

is that we've got to guard our emotions even

in the practical ways that you already said.

But there's no limit in the amount of... of joy

that we can experience, the amount of peace that

we experience, the love, we can have mounds of

emotional experiences as Christians. Right. Yeah.

And yeah, absolutely. And I was thinking more

along the lines of negative or the not good feelings.

Okay. Right. Just what dad said, the Christian

life is one of experiential, is an experiential

life. Feeling I mean surely we've all felt the

love of God We've all experienced that in a deep

way That's a good thing So much better than the

world's ever experienced any love that the world's

ever experienced so yeah absolutely Just a couple

things here That I wrote down here walking worthy

of our calling right? That's what we're told

walk worthy of the calling with which we've been

called That's walking with this breastplate on

I Think it was I Forget who it was That I read

about this this today talking about Who is able

to really engage confidently and boldly in the

battle? The one with a clear conscience and so

when when you've got that clear conscience that

breastplate on You can charge ahead full steam

But if you don't have that clear conscience if

you don't have that conviction that that assurance

and all of those things that we mentioned You

want to just back away from the fight you're

like, I'm just not real sure right now. I'm not

sure that this is for me Not sure if I'm really

armed properly and if I'm gonna win But when

we have that confidence when we have that clear

conscience when we're walking in the way that

we're called to walk We can walk boldly and confidently

fearlessly into battle Another thing here Galatians

5, right? We could talk about that in regard

to this breastplate of righteousness In 16 but

I say walk by the spirit and you will not carry

out the deeds of the flesh For the flesh sets

its desires against the spirit and spirit against

the flesh for these are in opposition to one

another so that you do not do the things that

you please. But if you are led by the Spirit,

you are not under the law. Now the deeds of the

flesh are evident. Immorality, impurity, sensuality,

idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy,

outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,

envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like

these, of which I forewarn you. And then he goes

on here, he says, but the fruit of the Spirit

is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,

Faithfulness, gentleness, self -control. So again,

there's the contrast. That's what we're talking

about. Right living. Living a life that is pleasing

to the Lord. Living a righteous life. And then

I may as well say this, of course. We're not

trusting in those righteous works. We're called

to a life of righteousness. We're called to a

life of works. Right? Faith without works is

dead. But our works, that's not what saves us.

That's not what we're relying on. So when we

look at our life and we say, yes, I'm doing these

things. Be encouraged. But we're doing those

things because Christ is in me. Because what

Christ has done for me. Because I'm relying upon

Him. And I want to please Him. I want to serve

Him. I love Him. I'm a new man. It is It's amazing

to think again this I was I read this Sunday,

and I mentioned it Sunday, but Part of this breastplate

is what Jake said there is having assurance And

so in Romans here Romans 4 16. I'm sorry Romans

4 16 For this reason it is by faith in order

that it may be in accordance with grace so that

the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants

The promise being guaranteed all right If it

was based upon our works our salvation that's

what he's talking about here a he's talking about

Abraham in that passage If it was based on works,

was there any guarantee? Was there any assurance?

Could Abraham confidently say, I'm gonna reach

the goal, I'm gonna meet my God, I'm gonna make

it to glory? No, he would have no confidence.

But because it wasn't on works, but it was on

grace and based upon it, because he had exercised

faith in God. He's been given that gift. He could

confidently go on. It was guaranteed. It was

a sure thing. It's a terrible thing to think.

Those folks, and some of them are Christians,

I would imagine, but who are basing whether or

not they're going to make it to heaven on their

successful life as a Christian. Oh, I've sinned,

I'm going to hell. All right, I've repented,

now I'm going to heaven, and I'm gonna press

on. Oh, I've sinned, now I'm back in hell. There's

no confidence there. There's no assurance. There's

no guarantee in anything because they're looking

at their works rather than Christ, the finished

work. Catholicism, do, do, do, do, do all of

these things. There's no assurance that they're

gonna make it to heaven. And they tell you that.

There's no guarantee. Well, you know, worst case,

you know, you're gonna have to go to purgatory

for a while, or maybe best case. And then maybe

you can work your way through that and, you know,

hopefully you'll get to heaven. Where's the hope?

Where's the confidence to go through this world?

The sure expectation of glory, there is none.

That's not what the Bible teaches the Bible teaches

that we can walk confidently boldly with full

assurance of our salvation Because of what Christ

has accomplished That breastplate that's that

breastplate that we're looking to put on and

to wear daily All right questions or comments

Okay He goes on then he says having put on the

breastplate of righteousness And then he says

your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel

of peace All right, so what is this? What are

the feet that are shod? What is this preparation

of the gospel of peace? So again, this is part

of the armor This is a piece of armor that was

put on the shoes or the greaves both and the

Roman soldiers were ahead of their time and they

had spikes they had shoes with some either some

nails in them or some bumps and things like that

for traction for sir for uh getting getting where

they needed to go and so that's what we're talking

about here well what were these for what did

it give what was what were these shoes good for

i mentioned one thing there What are shoes good

for? Okay, I mean they're good for running Getting

around their protection right you're able to

move much more easily on rough terrain with some

shoes on I Don't know about anybody else when

I was a kid. Maybe we used to run around barefoot

That's tough now as a grown man that is hard

I do it every now and then like when you go floating

and you're getting out of the canoe and you don't

have your shoes on Forget about it. You're not

going anywhere fast and you're probably falling

So these shoes they were protection they were

support they enabled you to cross rough terrain

all of those things They were they said that

the Romans one of the reasons they were such

conquerors and then Grease before them was they

were able to move swiftly because they could

travel quickly on rough terrain because of the

protection that they had. So it gave traction,

stability, agility, able to move freely, able

to advance, and able to hold your ground. So

this word preparation then being have the preparation

another way that could be translated would be

equipped being equipped or having to do with

readiness being ready and then he goes on here

and say the gospel what's the gospel when we

say gospel was not what is the gospel what do

we what's the word gospel mean good news okay

so the gospel is good news All right, so we're

talking about good news So the preparation of

the gospel of peace What's he mean here, what

is this gospel of peace that he's talking about

Okay, so peace with God Forgot everything you

said there mom no no more. Did you say wrath?

Okay, enemy we are not we are no longer enemies

The wrath of God has been propitiated that's

some good news God is for us. He's not against

us. We're no longer aliens and strangers But

we're heirs were children. I mean those are all

That's all good news That's all good news. How

about reconciliation? The restoration of fellowship

with God? Romans 5, 1. Therefore, having been

justified by faith, we have peace with God through

our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of this justification

because of what has happened here. We are at

peace with God So there's good news Has to do

with the peace of God peace with God what else

what else is good news and peace related to I

Mean peace with God what other kind of peace

could we talk about? Okay, peace with men. Does

the gospel bring peace with men? Yes. The answer

is yes. Anybody got any references for that?

I've got a couple. So, Romans 12. 17 I have written

down here. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone.

Respect what is right in the sight of all men.

If possible, so far as it depends on you, be

at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge,

beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God.

For it is written, vengeance is mine, I will

repay. Anything else? Does that bring anything

else to mind that maybe was taught by Jesus?

Being peacemakers, what else did he say? Turn

the other cheek, right? Don't give evil for evil.

That is a result of the gospel. That is the result

of our justification, of our being made new.

We are no longer, we should no longer be at war

with men in this sense, repaying evil for evil.

We should be able to turn the other cheek. We

should be able to be ridiculed, be spoken evil

of, mistreated, all of those things, okay? And

so, again, are we at peace when that's going

on? Not necessarily, but we should be able to

live at peace with men. Even though those things

happen, we can still love our neighbor. When

our neighbor treats us wrong, when we're treated

wrong at work, when we're treated wrong by friends

or family or whatever it is, we can still live

peaceably with them. We can walk peaceably. The

world seeks revenge. We should not. There's a

huge change that should have taken place as Christians,

as those who are walking righteously, according

to what Christ has taught us. Any other kind

of peace? Peace with God? Peace with men? Peace

within. Peace within Do we have peace within?

We should Because of what has because of who

we are We should have no anxiety We shouldn't

be walking in fear Right as Christians living

at peace with ourselves Living at peace in our

world and in our circumstances we could say being

content Being content where the Lord has put

us. It's a big part of our anxiety Because we're

not content with what's going on Preaching to

myself right there Just applied that to my own

life. I'm anxious. I'm anxious at work all the

time Things going wrong people messing up things

not where they're supposed to be anxiety why

Is God sovereign God didn't know that was did

God not know that wasn't part of his plan For

that thing to get cut wrong for that thing not

to show up you name it Somebody that acts foolish

Anxiety stress sin that's all it is right We're

not trusting the Lord. We're not at peace with

everything that's going on. Be at peace. Be at

peace. Be content. Walk in a way that we're called

to walk. Walk worthy of that calling. That's

walking in contentment and peace. With no fear.

Again, that's a big one too, isn't it? Fear of...

What? What if? What if this happens? What if

that happens? What if I lose my job? What if

I get sick? I mean, you name it. You name it.

Living in fear. The sovereignty of God, folks,

is such a wonderful truth that we do not lay

hold of. Am I going to get sick and die? Yeah

when When the Lord says I will and I can't do

anything to change it Am I right I Could go out

tomorrow today And completely change the way

I eat the way I exercise the way you name it.

I could be a beacon of Just health and I could

die the next day I Could live like that for ten

years and then just keel over dead with a heart

attack It's God's plan. He'll do That does that

mean I should? Not be healthy. No doesn't mean

that right? I'm not saying that I'm just saying

if that's my fear. It's unfounded I Should be

responsible and I should leave it in the Lord's

hands with no fear, with no anxiety. Death, life,

you name it. It's in the Lord's hands. My children,

now there's some anxiety, right? I mean, you

new parents, you got some anxiety going on. Am

I being heard in there? Right? We've all been

there. That newborn baby. I remember the day

we brought Caleb home. Forget about it. I was

just like, what do we do now? We got to keep

this baby alive. Laura came over and she's like,

oh, I just want to see him. And then I leave.

We're like, no, no, we don't know what to do.

Stay. But right. I mean, that's that's real.

That's life. Caring for a baby is a big deal

And then they grow up and they're out there getting

married they're driving around flipping cars

I Mean it just it doesn't change from the time.

They're little to the time. They're gone, and

I'm sure I mean gone out of the house Trust in

the Lord relying upon the Lord we can't change

a thing his plan is what it is. So living at

peace in all these things. Again, what does Satan

desire for us in all of this? The exact opposite.

He wants us to live with no peace. So no peace

with God. Does God really love me? Does God really

care about me? Am I really his child? Am I really,

whatever, you name it, all those things. Doubts,

fears, personal doubts, personal fears, anxieties,

stresses. And then again, with mankind, the Satan

would desire us to be at odds with everyone.

Everyone in the world and everyone in the church.

That's the goal, disunity. Walk with our feet

shod, with this peace in mind. Is this something

that we have to feel? We don't have to feel it.

It is a reality. We should feel it. We should

experience it. That we should have that emotion

of peace, of rest, satisfaction in God. It is

true. If we are in Christ, these things are all

true. All these things that we just said. Our

relationships with man, our relationships with

God. They're all true. Alright. I will just say

this. So some think that this refers to the spread

of the gospel and I don't necessarily think it

does but It may and so again, we can certainly

apply it in that way, right? Our feet shod with

the preparation of sharing the gospel knowing

the gospel knowing the truth taking it abroad

whether that's to foreign lands or in our home

or our places of work. Standing against Satan.

If we're talking about stability and moving forward

in battle, we war against Satan in that way and

spreading the gospel that the kingdom of God

would expand and grow. I don't forget. That's

all true. Whether or not Paul thought of it here,

I don't know. I don't think he did, but maybe

he did. But that's another aspect of our salvation

is the spread of the gospel. That's what we're

called to do is proclaim the good news and so

if it's not here, it's on all kinds of other

places and so that's part of our part of our

walk as Christians is to spread the gospel Well,

that's all I've got we're not going to jump into

faith here with just Five minutes left. Any comments

or questions? And then I just, I thought of something

with that last comment you were talking about

that it could mean sharing the gospel, knowing

the gospel, things like that. And I was just

reminded of how like Jesus fought temptations

with scripture. So. It seems like everything

always goes back to the beginning of just. We're

gonna stand by knowing the truth So the more

you know God, the more you can apply these things.

Absolutely. The more truth you know, the more

you're able to apply, and the more victorious

we should live, the more mature lives we should

live, and everything else. My inclination was

to say no, because Matthew 10 and 14 says, I

did not come to bring peace but a sword. So would

you just, would the explanation for that be like

the gospel is something that causes some division?

Well again, we should still be able to live peaceably,

on our part. Right. Right. But yeah, the gospel,

the truth is definitely going to bring division.

I mean, Jesus says, I don't, you know, I'm just

going to divide father, father and mother and

all of that. thinking that the gospel of peace

I was wondering like is that a unique description

of the gospel like in scriptures but then I thought

of the verse in Isaiah that says how beautiful

on the mountains are the feet of him who brings

good news who announces peace and then when Jesus

was born and the angels came to the shepherds

suddenly there appeared to the angel a multitude

of the heavenly hosts praising God and saying

glory to God in the highest and on earth peace

among men So I just thought that is just encouraging

and consistent with the scriptures, the gospel

of peace. And then I have a question. I think

I know some of the answers, but. So, you know,

what would you, what's the best advice for somebody?

who struggles whether just in general with anxiousness

and It's like we you know, you know in your head

these things are true But day in and day out

you encounter the things and your first responses

anxiousness nervousness So whether it be just

like in general or about a specific thing or

person you worry about Was good helpful advice

well Again It is Rehearsing these truths in our

minds. Okay, that's key. We have to dwell upon

truth so You know what in the Psalms I always

think of this when I'm going through depression

or discouragement Why are thou cast down on my

soul? Hope in God That's what David tells us

to do they're hoping God and He's talking to

himself. He's telling himself to do these things

and so that's that's a huge part of it We have

to we have to tell ourselves these things and

we have to believe them. We really do So it's

it's easy to say all things work together for

good to those who love God, right? We we probably

all know that verse If we don't we should It's

one thing to say that it's another to really

believe that Right that all things are really

good You know when our kids are sick or they're

dying or all these terrible things are happening

around us Can we really say all things work together

for good? Do I really believe that? We should

right we have to that's faith that's walking

by faith and not by sight I don't understand

it and so it's the same You're speaking the truth.

What does the Bible say in this situation? It

says to make my requests known to God. To pour

my heart out to God. Tell God about it and then

trust Him. I've got to let it go. So maybe that

means I'm not going to think about it anymore.

I told God, I poured my heart out to the Lord

and that's it. I'm not going to think about it

the rest of the day. Because to think about it

is to be anxious over it. And so you can sit

there and say, well, I've just been praying about

it all day. Well, if you've truly been praying

about it and just, you know, not in an anxious

way and truly trusting the Lord, then that's

great. But so often folks just dwell upon these

things and they think that that's praying about

it. Dwelling on it, being anxious about it, thinking

about it, praying about it all day. That's anxiety.

That's sin. And so you've got to give it to the

Lord. And part of that giving it to the Lord

and trusting in is just to pray about it and

that's it. I'm done. I've done what I can do

and that is pray and trust God. And so I'm leaving

it there. I'm walking on. So that's, you know,

again, speaking the truth to ourselves. Of course,

asking for faith, asking for faith to walk by

faith and those things. But to leave it in the

Lord's hands and to be content with it Yeah,

I mean again, it's like I said we know these

things we know the Bible says these things But

do we really act upon them? Are we really putting

this truth into practice? Are we really walking

by faith? It's easy to say that this is true,

but to live in that way is difficult. It requires

faith. It requires trust.