Welcome And Why The Word Matters

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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.

The Call To Fulfill Your Ministry

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All right, day five of these leadership lessons that I want to share with you. The last one is this for the week is I hope and pray that you will fulfill your ministry. That's right. You're not supposed to fulfill Billy Graham's ministry or my ministry or Kyle's ministry because God has given you a ministry. And that's right. Some of you are thinking, well, I don't have a ministry, I'm not in ministry. If you were in Christ, you were in ministry. The role, actually, my role as a shepherd, as a lead pastor, is to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. You have the Great Commission, you have the Great Commandment, God has a call on your life, and the worst thing that you can do is try to fulfill somebody else's ministry. A great

David’s Courage Against Goliath

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place to see this again is 1 Samuel chapter 17. This is where shepherd boy David is going to show up on the scene, the man that will one day become the greatest king of Israel. And he has been preparing for this moment his entire life. He didn't know it, but by caring for sheep and hearing and heeding the voice of God, God had been preparing him for this moment. And he shows up on the scene. He's going to check on his brothers. Meanwhile, what we find out's happening is Goliath has showed up every day and cursed the nation of Israel and cursed the God of Israel. And David is so offended by Goliath, and he is so surprised and disappointed by the fear of the king and his men that David decides to step up. Now his brothers come along and they question his motives, but he does not let that stop him. Here's a leadership lesson in and of itself. He doesn't waste time trying to convince the naysayers. Listen, I know a little about this one. Don't waste your time trying to convince the critics when the Lord has called you to do something much bigger. Again, I'm not trying to mold myself for the approval of man or what somebody else thinks I'm supposed to do. I am trying to live as a servant of Christ and fulfill the ministry that he has wired me for. And so David says to King Saul, let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with the Philistine. Now Saul has his doubts. He's like, this is a little shepherd boy. But David is confident in his abilities because he is confident in the Lord. He knows that the Lord has been preparing him for his entire life. And so David says, The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine. In fact, when he goes out before Goliath, he says, You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel.

Saul’s Armor And Fighting Your Way

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That David knows he's not fighting in his own strength, he's fighting in the Lord's strength. Well, Saul doesn't know what to do with this. So Saul wants David to fight, like everybody that he's ever known, fights. And so Saul dresses David in Saul's armor. And here's the key it didn't fit. And there's a bunch of you men, and you were trying to dress yourself in your dad's armor. And God bless the godly dad that hands down a legacy. Praise God for that. But here's the thing: you're not your dad. And you're not supposed to be your dad. And God has a call on your dad's life. Praise God for that call. And God's got a call on your life. And they're not the exact same thing. And so Saul dresses David in Saul's armor and it didn't fit. And David had the backbone to look at Saul and be like, this is not the way I have been created to fight. So David says, I gotta do this the way God has wired me, and then we know the outcome.

Paul’s Charge To Timothy

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I mentioned earlier in the week that Paul was raised raising up young Timothy to take over the church at Ephesus. He was the like the lead pastor at the church of Ephesus. And in 2 Timothy chapter 4, verse 5, Paul says, And as for you, he's talking to Timothy. He says, Be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist and fulfill your ministry. Please don't waste your time trying to fulfill somebody else's ministry. Please don't try to waste your time trying to be the next whoever. You just need to be the you that God has created you to be.

The Talents Parable And Comparison Trap

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One of the best places you see this is in the parable of the talents, Matthew chapter 25, that the master gives out three sums of money, one talent, two talents, and five talents. Talent was like 20 years' wages. This would be equivalent to about a million bucks today. And one of the real heroes, I think, of the parable of the talent is the two-talent guy. Because the two-talent guy doesn't have the most and he doesn't have the least. But one of the things that you'll see with the two-talent guy is that he spends zero time comparing himself to anybody else. Because comparison is always a lose-lose proposition. Because it either puffs you up with pride and you think you're better than somebody, or it beats you down with condemnation because you think you're not living up to some standard. But what this guy does is he is just faithful with what God has given him. He fulfills his ministry and he gets the same reward as the five-talent guy. It's well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master. And

Gospel Motivation And Final Encouragement

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trust me, because of the finished work of Christ, okay, we're not saved by the good things that we do. We are saved by the thing that Christ did for us on the cross. When we believe that when he died on the cross, it counted for us, then we receive the right to become children of God. But we have been called to do good works. We have been called to a good work. And when we do that thing, then you and I, one day, when we breathe our last here on earth and we breathe our first breath in the presence of Christ. If you fulfill your ministry, then what you hear is, well done, good and faithful servant. So that's my hope for you. Because of the finished work of Christ and his call in your life, may you be all that God has intended for you to be for his glory and for your joy.

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Hope this is helpful. Amen. Thank

Share The Show And Stay Sharp

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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.