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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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All right, welcome back to the Daily Blade. We'll pick it up in Matthew 14 once again. Immediately, jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side while he dismissed the crowds. And after he dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. Hopefully now you're one for one on spending some time alone with the Lord Verse 24,. 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 he 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.

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Fear is a concept that is talked about all throughout the Bible. One of the things that fear will cause you to do is fear will cause you to see things that aren't even there. They think it's a ghost. It's not a ghost, it's Jesus. You see, I've talked about this a million times.

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The opposite of faith is not doubt. The opposite of faith is fear. You see, if you've got doubts and you've got unanswered questions, I got really good news, you can make a great disciple. And what we're told to do in the Bible is if we've got doubts and unanswered questions, you just pick up your doubts and you follow after Jesus. I get this from John chapter six. Peter does not understand what Jesus is talking about in John chapter six when Jesus says unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no part with me. And so the crowds began to leave. And he looks at Peter and says do you want to leave too? And Peter looks around at his life and says to where else will we go? You're the only one that offers eternal life. And even though Jesus doesn't explain himself, what Peter does is pick up his doubts and follow after Jesus, and one day your faith will become sight and all of your doubts and confusion will go away.

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So the opposite of faith is not doubt. The opposite of faith is fear, because faith produces action and fear paralyzes. You see, fear is when we look into the future and we see that our circumstances are in control. This is what Peter is going to do. He's going to look out at the wind and the waves and he is going to think that's what defines his life. Faith is when we look into the future and we trust that God is in control. You see, fear is not a feeling.

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The Bible teaches that fear is a spirit and fear does not come from God. Second Timothy 1.7,. The Bible says God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind. And so when we're overcome by a paralyzing fear, that is a spirit that does not come from God. Now, scared is fine, scared is a human reaction. And when we get scared and yet hear the voice of God and we buck up and do what God has called us to do in the face of being scared, that's called courage, and we need more men to be courageous in the church.

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The most commanded thing in the entire scripture is this do not be afraid. In the King James Version of the Bible, there are 366 times where we are told some version of do not be afraid, be anxious for nothing, do not worry, be strong and courageous. Why? Because every single day of my life, including leap year, I need to hear don't be afraid, but believe what God says over what our circumstances say. You see, a part of the reason I think that do not be afraid is the most commanded thing is that faith is a gift from God. So whatever trust or faith you have, it comes from God. Where you put that faith and trust you have some serious accountability for.

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And what happens when we take our trust and we place it in our circumstances? We will be filled with fear. So what Christ is calling us to do is to snatch back our trust from our current circumstances and put our faith in the sovereign king over all of our circumstances. This is what we have been called to do. And then, by courage, march forward in the direction of the good shepherd. And so they see Jesus walking on the water and they are afraid and they cry out it's a ghost, verse 27,. But immediately Jesus spoke to them saying take heart, it is, I do not be afraid. You see where Jesus is. Fear cannot be, because the Bible says perfect love casts out fear. So, men, let me ask you what are you afraid of? Where have you been paralyzed by fear? Well, I dare you to snatch back your trust from that circumstance and put your trust in faith in the one who is sovereign over all things, and don't be afraid, because Jesus is with you, 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.