Or, A Preparation of the Gospel of Peace
Wednesday, October 16th, 2024
So, last night was literally one of the craziest nights of my life. And God has pulled some humdingers for sure…but I was never ever expecting this.
But first, I want you to take a good hard look at this printable poster:
It says, quite clearly in this here, erm, poster, that this spiritual armor is a military metaphor.
As in, it’s a nice bit of poetry. (Oh? Well, then if Paul is at it, I’d like to propose the addition of the Doublet of Dashery and the Crotch-piece of Contentment.)
(OH! I forgot to add…I want a Pauldron of Passion, and an Upper Cannon of the Vambrace. What what?)
and here’s a link to more serious people talking about this subject more seriously… https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2019/10/the-armor-of-god?lang=eng)
For the past year(ish?)…Or maybe several years…(yet I’ve only realized that it was happening because I’m now a paraplegic and can FEEL EVERYTHING that happens to my waist-down spiritually)…I’ve had these sticky spiritual layers connected to my feet and calves.
I started to notice, that whenever I chose good or learned a lesson deep down to my spiritual DNA on all levels that I’d have angels take a spiritual layer–or like an extremely sticky boot/shoe–off of my spiritual legs and feet.
It started to be like a sort of Minecraft game for me. How, you ask? I have no idea, but that’s the first game that came into my mind, and so I’m going to stick with it.
Did ya see what I did there?
…stick…with it. Stick. As in sticky. BA DUM TSSS!
https://youtu.be/fRs0OqV4uSc?si=iNVA0HaWmYvB83Fp
I remember writing in my journal about this, again and again, but pretty soon it was such a normal thing–happening about once a week for the past couple of years–that I’d even forget to write about it the next day.
Then, there was a layer maybe 10 layers ago where the angels started to ask me to exercise my own will and take the damn things off myself. Just a bit.
Then I’d complain and they’d do the rest.
I got the feeling that with each new layer it was like a smellier sock, hiding an even smellier sock underneath that one…until it was like ‘shrooms and stuff were hiding, or monsters, or something that made them so the angels COULDN’T HELP ME ANYMORE. Because, ya know…ContamiNation isn’t just a place in Washington D.C…
I had the feeling that the angels were now wearing HAZMAT suits and really thick gloves around me, at all times, because the stink was real with these stinky sticky socks from hell.
Thus, the point finally happened where the angels would nudge me at night and be all like, “Mmmk…next layer, Nicole, is all on you.” Then I’d contort myself into all sorts of shapes until that stupid-dark-shroom-sludge-layer-shoe was off. Then I’d finally collapse upon my pillow and go to sleep.
Then, there was the layer before last when, as soon as it was taken off, I felt nail holes the size of one of my fingers either being driven, or having been driven and I just then noticed that they were driven, THROUGH MY FRIGGIN’ SPIRITUAL FEET.
Like, can you say “OUCH” with me? OUCH.
Yeah, I spent a couple hours screaming and crying late into the night that night. My mom was freaking out right along with me and was all like, “LET’S THROW SOME PAIN MEDS AT IT!” and I was all like, “DO YOU SEE MY PHYSICAL FEET BLEEDING, MOM?! PHYSICAL PAIN MEDS AREN’T GOING TO CUT IT!!” and then she was like, “WELL…pray about it, maybe Dad can give you a blessing, and just…just…stick it out? Okay? I’ve got work in the morning…” And then she trailed off and trailed out of my room to leave me in my misery.
Then I was all like, ya know…she’s partially right. I need to hear Christ’s voice and then stick it out because He’ll actually tell me the reason why I need to.
So………..I called JJ for a revelation.
(If you’re late to the game, he has a gift with receiving extremely clear revelations for others with whom the Spirit gives permission. And, yeah, I know that’s going to raise some eyebrows, but do you not remember in the Book of Mormon where I think it was Captain Moroni who needed to know the enemies movements and so he sent for word from one of the prophets around those parts and he got specific word back for what to do?!? AKA, if you judged, you don’t know your own scriptures. And if you’re all like, ‘well, Nicole, hate to break it to ya…but you’re not Captain Moroni!’ And then I’d be all like, ‘Weh-heh-hellll isn’t just a place I’ve sludged through. How do you flippin’ know who I am?! And, guess what? To prove my point, how about you take away the part of that name that isn’t me–aka ‘i’. That’s it…spell it out…M-O-R-O-N.” Which you are if you don’t agree with me and aren’t laughing right now.)
Okay, so back to the hours of screaming and crying into the night a couple of months ago, because I felt nail wounds in my feet. I don’t know why this is (I have a few theories, though, but those will have to be for another time).
Pretty soon, after realizing this, I recognized that these layers were sticky, and gross, and that I’d probably had them ever since I was little…but just didn’t notice them being added upon layer after layer throughout the years until when they started coming off.
So, as I was saying, through the past couple of years ever since I started taking off layer after layer of spiritual satanic boots that started out like Puss in Boots’s boots and then slowly, ever so slowly, became more and more like thin cow’s leather and then after that more like really thick tights…well, to say the least, I started noticing that the layers didn’t seem at all as “fat” as before. I knew I was getting to the core of something. But I didn’t know what. But, like your favorite Disneyland jawbreaker, I knew there was something white in the middle.
I kept on thinking, “what’s at the core of this here gobstopper? I hope it’s a yummy core. And soon. Because I feel like I can’t lick, or take, one more layer off. It’s been at least thirty layers already over the past few years” (after I became a paraplegic and could actually notice what was happening to my lower spiritual body) “and each layer seems to require something new of me spiritually and each layer gets harder and harder to take off, basically!”
Which was true.
Here’s a clip to describe how I’ve been feeling from this depressing movie. (Go to 2:57. I think it’s an accurate metaphor.)
In the past ten or so layers, I started to have to actually drag my body/spiritual body around get bed just to wrap my mind and spirit around getting the damn things off! Weird shapes because there’s not much The Ring-dragging when you’re a paraplegic in bed. As in, there’s about six inches to drag yourself forward. And six inches isn’t enough to drag off knee-high satanic boots. Ya know what I’m sayin’? (P.s. The Ring is an awful horror show were this creepy girl crawls in a TV out of a well, across the grass, and out of the TV. Bam. Now you don’t have to see it.)
I’ve had to get myself out of bed sometimes (that means, fall two feet out of bed like a rag doll) and drag myself across the floor to get layers off sometimes.
Then, the night CAME! Ohhhhhh yes, it did. The night came when I took the LAST FRIGGIN SATANIC CUTTING TWO SIZES TOO SMALL STILETTO CUTTING STRAP OFF OF THE TOPS OF MY FEET!
I literally felt like I went from this:
To this:
Sigh.
I knew it, too, because all of a sudden the unseen angels around my bed were able to touch the tops of my feet.
I was beside myself with eeeeeeeep-ness because it had been years. And at times the going got tough, man. I’m talking about angels waking you at all hours of the night (Okaaaay I’m being dramatic. They’d only keep me from going to sleep in the first place), trying to get you to take off yet another layer from your feet, and then you complain because,
- you’re human. And humans need sleep.
- you have no idea what’s going on.
- and you sometimes don’t even have faith that these aren’t just satan’s forces playing mind games with you and wasting your time.
So, the going was ongoing tough-ness, and JJ my ex kept on giving me revelation from God saying, “keep on going, someday this will all make sense. Just keep doing the work you’re doing.” and I kept on saying, “then why does it feel like I’m playing the horror movie version of Minecraft? Aka, it’s pointless!”
And then the time comes where my spiritual feet were revealed and it was all but point! As in, I felt these nail holes in my spiritual feet. And it felt REAL. So, understandably, I’m all like, “GOD! WHY ON YOUR FLIPPIN’ BEAUTIFUL EARTH IS THERE SUCH MISERY?!”
And then He’s like (through JJ), “Just keep on doing the emotional and spiritual work you’re doing! This will alllllllll make sense! …Eventually! “
Then I’m all like, “IT HAD BETTER! BECAUSE I NOR JJ HAS EVER HEARD OF THIS BEFORE! AND WE ARE SCRIPTORIANS! …Basically.”
But then…I could still feel that there were sticky sludge soles like, super-glued to the bottoms of my feet. And I realized that the bloody holes just revealed in my feet would probably get infected if I didn’t get the sticky soles off of the bottoms of my feet post haste.
So, days and days went by. The angels prodded me over and over–and I tried to get the soles off, over and over. I told them, “WHY CAN’T YOU JUST PUT ON HAZMAT GLOVES AND HELP ME?” But I knew better–this was something I had to do myself.
So, I continually would move my spiritual feet up to two feet away from my body, and tried to get the right heel off with the left toe, or the left heel off with the right toe, and I’d get about four inches peeling it off, and then I’d reach a point halfway through of where I absolutely could. not. do. it.
Like, it was spiritually impossible. The sticky-rat-trap soles of my spiritual feet had won.
I remember the night I gave up. It was a couple of months ago.
I was crying, and so very frustrated, and I cried out, “Okay, angels or whoever ya’ll unseen peeps are…I cannot do this anymore. Please, stop bugging me. Because I give up.”
An Unseen Sole Policeman prodded me, as if to say, “it’ll be worth it!”
And I said back, through tears, “I physically…I mean spiritually, cannot. do. it! And you can probably clearly see that I cannot do this without some kind of help! I can’t stretch outside of my body more than what I’ve been doing and so and I cannot get the damn things off. I can’t do this alone. I give up. I’m actually giving up. I’m sorry. I’ve failed you all…and I’ve probably failed myself but I can’t get the sticky things more than halfway off before I spiritually can’t stretch that way anymore.“
(I wish I had a movable diagram here to show the predicament.)
I think, after a couple of days, the angels saw that I was serious.
And I was. It was spiritually impossible. As I’ve said. I just want to drive that home to ya again, in case you didn’t believe me before.
Okay…so that was a couple of months ago. But, last night I felt the Unseen Ones prod me before I fell asleep. I hadn’t felt them prod me in awhile, so I was curious to see–or feel–why.
I had a feeling I was supposed to turn onto my stomach, so I did. The angels kept on grabbing my now-spiritually-naked calves and they were sort of telepathically telling me to reach my spiritual feet up–like bending my knees and sending my heels and soles up to the ceiling.
So, I did.
And, there was an iron bar there.
I was all like, “the iron rod?! That’s perfect! LET’S DO THIS!”
So, I hooked my heels up around the rod and started to separate the backs of the sticky soles from my spiritual feet, and the angels (I could tell) were very excited that this was working, and then the soles were halfway off, I started to say, “HELL YES!” But then I realized that wouldn’t be appropriate, and then I just said, “HE–YES, YES, YES, ALMOST GOT IT, YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY!!” and then the most amazing thing happened…the angels started slipping on new comfy spiritual soles immediately after the sticky ones were off!
And I knew they were made of gold. Squishy gold.
I was thrilled. The angels were thrilled. We were all thrilled.
Then the angels started to thread golden strings through the sides of the soles, crisscrossing over the tops of my feet about three times, and then they started to lace the strings up my calves, to about two inches below my knee.
. . .
I had a healer who was helping me once–maybe around 2018, and she asked me, “Have you received your spiritual armor yet?”
SAY WHAAAA? It was just like my .5 seconds of shock at learning there were fairies (there are), or giants (yep, these too), or unicorns, or dragons, or Sasquatches, or the Blibbering Humdinger (this last one has yet to be proven…)
I was all like, “Um…no…..”
She was all like, “Well, ask to see it! And imagine putting it on, everyday. Eventually, it’ll become real. Spiritual creation is real–it’s all about your imagination. ”
Then she had me buy this coin that was all about spiritual armor…but I never actually considered taking her seriously. Like, that this was something we all are able to acquire as Christians.
Or that the scriptures could be literal.
I mean, what world would this be if the scriptures were both literal and figurative? One in which my dad’s brain would bust for sure.
. . .
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2019/10/the-armor-of-god?lang=eng
Okay, now down to the MEAT of this post…KAPOW!
Let me mention, first, that the bulk of the Book of Mormon is about warfare…. then, let’s talk about Ephesians Chapter 6:
Here’s some interesting biblical background facts about Paul, who wrote it (also from lds.org), HOWEVER, I don’t quite agree with the first point, which sort of feels like Paul just “made this up” as a metaphor, which couldn’t be further from the truth…
- Paul was a Roman citizen, and Roman soldiers had a visible military presence in occupied lands. In addition, Paul wrote his epistle to the Ephesians while in captivity in Rome and was likely guarded by Roman soldiers. So the Roman “whole armour” was likely what Paul had in mind.
- The prophet Isaiah described the Messiah as having a breastplate of righteousness and a helmet of salvation when He would come to intercede for His people and save them (see Isaiah 59:17).
- The ancient Greek word for “whole armour” (panoplia) meant all of the equipment needed to be fully armed to wage effective warfare, including both defensive shielding and offensive weaponry (see Ephesians 6:11, 13; see also Luke 11:22).
Doth sayith thine dusty and oft-forsaken-at-leasteth-in-mineth-case scriptures:
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
Ooh, squirrel!
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Aaaaaand hereafter doth (what what?) are whateth these things meaneth:
Loins girt: When we have our “loins girt about with truth” (Ephesians 6:14), we are prepared to move against evil. We prepare ourselves through personal worthiness, scripture study, and prayer.
Breastplate: A breastplate protects vital organs such as the heart and lungs. Our righteous thoughts and deeds help keep up our spiritual vitality. “He who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come” (Doctrine and Covenants 59:23).
Feet shod: Our feet should be shod with the “preparation of the gospel of peace” (Ephesians 6:15). “Your feet … represent your goals or objectives in life. … Preparedness is the way to VICTORY. … The tide of victory rests with him who is prepared” (Harold B. Lee, in “Message from the First Presidency,” Ensign, Jan. 1971, 2).
Shield: With “the shield of faith,” we can “quench all the fiery darts of the wicked” (Ephesians 6:16). Those flaming arrows rain down from all directions, and we need the faith and trust in the Lord that will keep us from the spiritual harm the adversary’s temptations would inflict.
Helmet: “The ‘helmet of salvation’ [Ephesians 6:17] guards our reasoning, intellect, and thoughts” (Robert D. Hales, “Modesty: Reverence for the Lord,” Ensign, Aug. 2008, 39). If we focus our minds on Jesus Christ and His gospel, our thoughts can be kept pure and our eyes single to the glory of God.
Sword: “The sword of the Spirit … is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). The word of God is “sharper than any two edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12), and the Spirit can “pierce even to the very soul” (Helaman 5:30). With our testimony and the power and peace of God’s Spirit, we can strike against error and conquer the enemy of all righteousness.
And here’s a list from I forget who, and the list is obviously incomplete, of things you can do everyday to help you acquire your spiritual armor.
So, now my feet are shod. I’m shodded. With shoes. Peaceful shoes. Kind shoes. Preparedness sho—
Oh, look! An armed squirrel!
Healing with Christ 