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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, men, let's go. Mark, chapter 2, that is where we are going to be all week long. Kyle warned you of this. There's going to be a little bit of overlap, but that is on purpose.

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Mark, chapter 2, verse 1, says this and when he, that's Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. He was actually at Peter's house and many were gathered together so that there was no more room, not even at the door, and he, jesus, was preaching the word to them. That's what he did. And they came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men, and when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. All right, let me ask you a question Do you have four men that, when you are in a time of need, will do what it takes to carry you to Jesus? Now you may be thinking didn't we just talk about that on Friday? Didn't Kyle ask you that question? Do you have people, do you have men in your life that will carry you to Jesus? Well, I am repeating that on purpose, one of the most things that you're going to hear repeated on the Daily Blade is that you need other men in your life. Do you have those men? If so, write them down right now.

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Now, all last week, kyle went through qualifications that you need to be looking for in men. I'll repeat a few. You've got to have some people that care about you. Do you have friends in your life that care more about you than what you think about them? Do you have friends in your life that actually love you and are willing to make you uncomfortable for the sake of you? Do you have friends in your life that actually know you? Listen, man, me and Kyle, we love you in the kind of theological sense that we, you know, love every brother and sister in the world, whatever. But I'm not in your life man. I don't get to hear you speak to your wife. I don't get to see you parent your children. I'm not close enough that you could reach out and say, dude, I need some help. You need some brothers close to you.

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And once you identify those folks, it is not enough to simply identify these men in your heart. I want to encourage you to deputize those men that you would call them on the phone and you would say I'm asking you to be one of my four corner toters or Mack carriers or Foxhole brothers whatever language you want to use, I don't care. It tends to go way better when you have given permission to another man and you are telling him. If and when I get to the place where I am laying on a mat and I cannot take care of myself, I need you to be the kind of brother that would come to me and do whatever it takes to carry me to the feet of Jesus. And if you begin to say, well, where do I find men like that? The number one place to find men like that is in the local church. Now, we'll talk about this more at the end of the week, but please don't be the kind of man that all he does is criticize the local church without attending, without being involved in, without loving the bride of Christ. The local church, that is going to be the place where you're going to find the kind of brothers that you need in this war that we are in, and the best way to identify those men is to be that kind of man. Be the kind of man that is willing to do whatever it takes to lead somebody else to Jesus, to carry somebody else to Jesus, because I've got some terrifying news for you. At some point in your life, you are going to find yourself on the mat and you are going to need somebody to help you to the feet of Jesus. It could be a financial thing, it could be a relational thing, it could be a physical thing, it could be a mental thing. And so who are those men for you? Or let me ask it this way who is praying for you by name right now? And don't tell me your mama, because you don't even tell her the truth. And so if you think I don't need those men, I got this.

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Let me remind you, on the night that Jesus was betrayed, before he was betrayed, he goes to the garden of Gethsemane to pray. He prays out to his heavenly father. He says he feels like he's going to die because the weight of the world is crushing him. He begins to sweat like drops of blood and before all that you know the thing that he does he calls his disciples to pray for him and then he brings three a little farther to watch and pray. So I would say if Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, god, the who spoke everything into existence and, by his very power, holds the earth on its axis. If he needs people praying for him in his life, then who in the heck do you think you are to think you can do this on your own Brothers? You can't Find these four men. Pray about these four men. Deputize these four men. Go.

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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.