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.

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Hello, brothers. John

Genesis And The Partnership Theme

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Eldridge here sitting in this week for Kyle and Joby. And we have been looking at the story of Saul becoming the Apostle Paul. We looked last yesterday at Ananias and his friendship with Jesus. And I want to pick up the partnership theme this week as we go all the way back into the origins of humanity and pick up the story in Genesis chapter one, which is going to tell us a whole lot about who God is, who we are, and the kind of relationship He's inviting us

Made In God’s Image

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into. Genesis chapter one. And then God said, Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds and the sky, over the livestock, and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created mankind in his own image. In the image of God, he created them, male and female, he created them. God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, increase in number, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground. And then from Genesis 2, and now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east in Eden, and there he put the man he had formed. The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and to take care of it.

Bringing Order Out Of Chaos

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Okay. This again, an incredibly rich story that we could spend a year unpacking. But just notice, notice first what God does. So in the opening of Genesis, we see, you know, light and dark, day and night, land and sea, and then we see, you know, the creation of plant life and then animal life, this cosmos, this incredibly gorgeous world. So what you see is an incredibly creative and generous God bringing order out of chaos. And then what he does is he says, now I'd like you to meet my sons and daughters. With the implication being that this is what we're going to do. We are going to do exactly what you saw God doing, right? We're going to be generous, we're going to be creative, and we're going to bring order out of chaos. Okay. So the first thing I actually want to put before you today is are you bringing order out of chaos in your world, or are you adding to the chaos? Guys, we are living at a time where chaos is absolutely rampaging over the earth. I mean, chaos in the markets, chaos in politics, chaos in global relations, chaos in universities, chaos in healthcare. And if we are the sons of God with creativity and generosity, with power and authority, we are here to bring order, not add to the chaos.

God Loves Human Partners

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Okay. The other thing I want to see together today is how much God loves using human partners. Now we saw this in the story of Saul, because after Jesus, you know, dunks him in this incredibly immersive conversion, he says, get up. We've got things to do. He invites Saul into his story. And then he does it with Ananias. He goes to Ananias and he says to him, Hey, I need you to do something for me. And here in Genesis, we're getting the big picture where God loves to use human partners. He wants to deliver Israel out of Egypt. He's going to go get a guy named Moses, right? He wants to get the gospel out to the world. He's going to use the church. And so we were looking at the story that we want to be true and the story that is true.

Praying Like A Partner

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And instead of asking God, please fix this, please fix that, our prayers change when we realize He's inviting us into partnership with what he's doing in the world. We enter into what God is doing. And so what we ask God is Jesus, what are you up to? What are you up to in my life? What are you up to in my church? What are you up to in my community? And how can I join you in bringing order and beauty and life out of chaos? How am I adding to the chaos, Lord? Because I really want to stop doing that. And how can I partner with you in what you're doing, in my wife, and my kids and my friends in my world? That's the new mindset, the partnership mindset.

Share And Stay Sharp

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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.