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Welcome to the Daily Blade. The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.

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Welcome to our final day this week. On the account in Matthew, chapter 14, where Jesus and Peter walk on water. We're going to read the whole thing one more time. It says immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side while he dismissed the crowds. And after Jesus had dismissed the crowds he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came he was there alone Again. I hope now you are making it a habit to spend daily time alone with the Father.

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But the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus came to them walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified and said it is a ghost, and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them saying take heart, it is, I do not be afraid. And Peter answered him Lord, if it is, you, command me to come to you on the water. And he said come. And so Peter got down out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind he was afraid and beginning to sink, he cried out Lord, save me. Now I want you to see Christ's response to Peter, because one of the things that happens is we hear about people in the Bible or we look at Christian people that we look up to and we begin to think, well, god could never use me because of the things that I've done. Okay, so Peter is about to royally screw things up here. Right, peter gets out on the water and then he's overwhelmed with fear, he focuses on the wind and the waves and he begins to sink and he cries out Lord, save me. By the way, that is a prayer that Jesus will answer 100% of the time. He may not save you from your circumstances, but he will save you from your sin. The Bible says all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. And look what happens Verse 31,. Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him oh, you have little faith, why did you doubt? And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased and and those in the boat worshiped him, saying truly, you are the Son of God. Now Jesus asked this question Peter, why did you doubt? Now the question to ask here is what is Peter doubting? Well, peter's not doubting Jesus. Jesus isn't sinking. So think about this. Peter was doubting himself. You see, jesus is doing just fine. The Bible says this.

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Actually, peter, later in his life, peter is going to write down these words. Peter is going to say his divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness. You know what this means? It means that if it's God's will, it's God's bill, that his divine power, the spirit of God, through the blood of Christ, through the resurrected Jesus, that his divine power has given us everything we need to accomplish, everything that God has called us to accomplish. So, if he calls you to step out of the boat, then God can sustain you to walk on the water. And so not only do you need to believe in Jesus for the miraculous, but if Jesus has called you to do a thing, then believe that Jesus has given you what you need to do, what he's called you to do.

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Now, what I want to point out here is that this failure does not become the defining moment in Peter's life. Let me say this about you your worst moment does not have to be the defining moment in your life, because your worst moments don't tell you who you are, jesus does you see? In Jesus Christ there are no second chances, there's just the blood of Jesus. And from now on, in fact, peter's going to screw up a bunch more times On the mountain of transfiguration. He opens his dumb mouth and says it is good that we are here and the Spirit of God tells him to shut up At Caesarea, philippi, after Jesus says upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Then the Bible says that Peter rebukes Jesus. And Peter is told get behind me, satan.

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At the Garden of Gethsemane, at the arrest of Jesus, peter chops off a dude's ear. And then, ultimately, peter, after promising that he would never leave or forsake Jesus, he denies Christ three times. And even though he screws up time after time after time, and most of the time, the thing that got Peter in trouble is his mouth, jesus still loves Peter enough. He asked Peter three times do you love me? He reinstates him into the ministry and he uses the thing that used to get him in trouble, his mouth, to preach the very first sermon at a church service on the day of Pentecost.

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I say all that to say men, maybe your life is a series of screw-ups where you doubt not only Jesus, but you doubt that his power has given you what you need to accomplish what you're supposed to. Maybe there's some serious shame in your past. I got some really good news the empty tomb and the alarm clock are empirical evidence that God's not done with you. Put your faith in Jesus and he can use you to do immeasurably more than you ever dreamed, thought or imagined. Peter is exhibit A. So if he's called you to take that step of obedience, don't let your past failures be the loudest voice in your life. Let the sovereign risen Savior be the loudest voice, and if he's called you to it, he's given you the ability to step into it, amen.

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Thank you for listening to today's episode Before you go. If you want to help equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review. Stay sharp.