So what's going on, everybody?

Hey, guys.

We're back.

We are.

We are back.

Sorry about the short break.

Little break.

Yeah.

The whole two weeks.

That was actually felt like forever.

Yeah.

I mean, we haven't recorded in what, three weeks?

It's been a while.

Yeah, it's been a crazy time between middle school trips and high school trips and actually, when you go to listen to this episode, I'll be on a high school trip.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Tennessee.

Off to move.

Not moving, but off to a conference call.

Yeah, yeah.

But we're gonna pick up our Spiritual Warfare series right where we left off.

And speaking of spiritual warfare, I would say go ahead and pray, hedge of protection over myself and my family.

Because when you do big conferences like this, it seems like it follows that it's gonna.

I'm gonna go under attack or something.

So please.

I'd say just for our church in general, the church here, we've been under attack.

Like there's all kinds of stuff happening that's crazy and good because people are stepping into positions that they have been supposed to be in and their families and everything else.

There's some good things, some wild things happening.

So.

Yeah.

So when good things happen for the kingdom, the enemy fights back.

So that's.

That's basically what I'm trying to say.

And just a heads up, don't shame us for what we're wearing because A, I came here straight from work and B, we're recording two episodes today so that you all don't miss out anymore.

Okay.

Yeah.

So if I'm wearing the same thing today as I am next week, that's because we recorded them both today.

Yeah.

And so hopefully the one after this one, you know, we haven't mentally fried ourselves too much.

Yeah, no, we'll be fine.

It's different enough.

So today we're talking about the last piece of the armor.

Yep.

We've gone through a lot.

We've gone through all defensive pieces so far.

Yes.

But today is both we go on the offensive.

Defensive and offensive.

This is true.

And it's important for both.

So.

Yeah.

So we're excited.

Today we are talking about the sword of the spirit.

And we get a sword.

Guy killed me.

Mal killed me with a sword.

How weird is that?

If you know that reference, hit me up in the comments.

Not like I'm married.

So in this, what is.

But so welcome to the truth response, Sam.

Anyways, alright, so I'm gonna pray today.

All right, cool.

Father God, I just want to thank you for bringing us back together.

For keeping momentum in our lives going towards you.

And I just pray that that never slows down, Father.

And I pray that our conversation today is enlightening for us as much as the listener.

I pray that regardless of when people are hearing this, I pray that it hits them in a way that they've never thought about it before.

God, I pray that for us, too, as we're going through it, we can deepen ourselves in it, just through your guidance.

Father, thank you for your grace, your love and mercy that we need so much each day.

God.

And I pray that it just flows through us into others.

Thank you for just the ability to get together and do this without persecution and the fear of such.

And I just pray that your hand be a hedge of protection for us and those who are listening.

It's in your precious and holy name I pray.

Amen.

Amen.

All right.

I haven't had to, like, take my hat off, put my hat back on in a while.

So did you miss it?

I did.

I did miss it.

Missed having to get.

That's what we talked about last time, is putting the helmet on.

Right, right, Exactly.

Yeah.

So we've been through a lot of the armor today.

Like he said, we're just gonna go through the kind of defensive offensive weapon, but we've been working through Ephesians 6.

That's where you'll find all this stuff.

So I'm hoping that you all are back and following along with us and that maybe you've gone through the journey with us.

And if you haven't, then all the rest of the pieces are up there.

Please go back, check it out, let us know what you think.

But so what?

We started with the belt.

That's where we started, right?

Belt of Truth.

Belt of Truth.

I almost didn't get that out.

The breastplate of righteousness.

Right.

That was next.

We've gone through.

We had the boots we had.

Or the sandals a piece.

The boots.

The boots we had.

The helmet of salvation.

Yep, yep, yep.

So there's a lot of things we got.

But now we got the sword.

The sword of the spirit.

Who hasn't wanted a sword?

You know what I mean?

I myself have owned several.

I know I have at least one.

I used to pretend like I was.

I fought with them.

Yeah.

I got one at Medieval Times once I got knighted.

I used to larp one weekend a month.

Larp?

Live Action Role play.

Yeah.

With a real sword.

No.

Okay.

No, no.

When they're called boffer weapons, they're foam swords with a. Hardcore.

Hardcore.

Yes.

And Then, you know, there's the lightsabers.

Yeah.

A little bit of lightsaber fighting only.

Only hurt a few people.

So much fun.

All right, so today.

Yeah.

Going into the sword of the spirit.

It's amazing.

What are you doing?

You good?

Yeah, I'm just.

I'm making sure we have all the scripture references.

Oh, you're doing.

I don't want to, like, leave them without scripture references.

Okay, well, I'm going to ask the icebreaker question.

Do it.

What do we got?

Is there a quote, phrase, or scripture that has stuck with you so powerfully you find yourself repeating it often?

And what.

Why does it mean so much to you.

Man?

This is one I'm going to have to think on.

Like, I'm.

I can't.

Well, scripture wise, right?

Like, no temptation has overtaken you, except for that which is common to man.

God is faithful and just, and he will provide a way out, basically.

It's slightly paraphrased, but pretty close.

That's probably one of my favorite scripture references to just repeat and remind myself whenever, in any kind of temptation situation where it's like, yo, this needs to come to my brain now so I can start looking for the way out.

Right?

And that's First Corinthians 10:13.

So good.

That one's really good.

I'll think of another quote, I'm sure, here in a minute, but I've got.

A long list of them.

And so right now, that's what I've been sitting here going, like, which one?

And I think the one I'll bring up is just one I've done recently.

I've talked about recently, which is from the Book of Daniel.

It's when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are being threatened with.

Thrown in the furnace.

And I think it's just so powerful because they say, hey, our God can save us from you, but even if he doesn't, we're still that.

I mean, that is a faith beyond faith right there.

Yeah, yeah.

God can save us from you, and we're gonna stay faithful to him whether he does or not.

Like, I'm not gonna bow the knee.

I'm not gonna do like.

That is just.

Ah, it's so good.

It's such a powerful moment there.

I mean, there's a lot of powerful moments in scripture, but that one, every time I read through Daniel and I read it, I'm just.

It's just.

It doesn't lose its flavor, so to speak.

The thing that's been coming to mind lately, too, is Just the renewing of my mind.

Like Romans 12.

Yeah.

Since just us going through it, and just before that, talking through with some other people from our church.

Kevin and Mad Cow, you guys know him, if you're longtime listeners.

And it's just really hit me because we talk so much about how do I know what God's will is in my life?

And it's, simply put, it's straightforward.

It's just, you know, it's not until you allow your mind to be renewed that you can be transformed.

Right.

And it's not until you're transformed that you can actually understand the perfect will of God.

And you do all of that by saying, I'm not going to do what everybody else is doing.

You know, I'm going to do what Christ has asked me to do.

I'm going to be obedient.

I'm going to let him completely transform me by the renewing of my mind in every aspect and every facet of my life.

And just.

Even.

Just recently, like Friday, I had a late night with a brother that he just was speaking some things over me that I did not like, but needed to hear.

And, like, just since my heart has been in a place where I can just receive it and.

And start acting on.

On the things that I need to change in my life, you know?

Yeah.

So it's been really cool just to see even.

Even after all.

All the years, like, the fact that I know that I'm imperfect, but the fact that he can still continue to transform me, you know, and still continue to, you know, renew my thoughts and mind, you know, on a regular basis.

It's just been really cool to see that in my own life.

But so that's been a big one for me, too.

Scripturally, when I was growing up, one of my favorite verses was from Proverbs, and it says, as water reflects the face, so a man's heart reflects the man.

And I remember that was something that, to me, it spoke of, like, what kind of man do I need to.

I want to be?

You know, my heart's going to really show who I am.

So it was a big deal to think about the kind of person I was becoming, really.

And which is interesting because I really started to put that as part of myself before the time period of my life where I wasn't really doing anything with God or anything like that.

But I still hold on to that.

There's things that just become formative to us where it's like, okay.

And then the other thing from my childhood I remember is And I didn't.

I started to workshop it as years went over.

But like, I remember when I first started reading the Bible, of all the things, I used to love reading the Torah.

I loved reading the law and seeing all the things in there.

I don't know why I was so drawn to it, but there's a part of the Torah which basically states that, you know, the sins of the father don't need to go to the son, sins of the son don't need to go to the father.

And there was something about that that just intrigued me.

It was like, not that I saw anything that would be passed down to me or vice versa.

It was more of the idea that later really caught my attention.

I think the.

What got me is that cycles can be broken.

You know, you don't have to think that just because it was one this way, but this person, it has to be with you.

And that really became powerful in a lot of aspects of.

Powerful in my parenting, powerful in how I wanted to live my life.

And that's not speaking ill on those that came before me.

It's just realizing that I have my own choice to make, you know, Was really good there.

So, yeah, there's just.

I mean, scripture is so full of stuff that just impacts you on those deep levels.

A fun one.

Not today, Satan.

That's an easy one.

You know, I mean, as silly as it is, like, it's fun.

What verse is that?

Yeah, but resist the devil and he must flee, right?

Not today, Satan.

You're not gonna get me today.

It's simple.

But it also keeps your heart and mind in the right, right place that, you know, a, we know who our enemy is, and B, we know that all we have to do is resist him and he's got to flee from us, you know, and we do that by shutting him down and praising the Lord.

Yeah.

I mean, and then actually there's something that I say a lot I've said for many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many years.

I don't even know when I started saying it, but one of the quotes you'd hear from me from time to time is, well, you know, people make plans and God laughs and.

Which is actually a paraphrase of scripture, but it's so true.

I mean, how often do we think that we got something in mind that we're going to do and God's like, that's great.

I really like that.

But that's not how.

That's cute.

It's cute.

You think your plans are great.

Yeah, yeah.

No, it's kind of crazy because I'm trying to rack my brain for something non scriptural, you know, like just the things of scripture coming to mind, which is awesome.

It's good to be so full of scripture.

That is.

Yeah, I am so full of it as well.

But, no, I really am.

I'm, like, trying to think of what are some big quotes that I can't think.

I mean, I can't quote the William Wallace line, but that also doesn't really motivate anything.

It's just really cool.

Like, you know.

Yeah.

I mean, it's quotes.

I mean, there's all kinds of them out there, but.

Oh, one of my favorite quotes from a movie.

What is.

Oh, ugly.

And that's from the Three Musketeers, the Disney version.

It's wonderful.

Porthos says it.

It's great.

I love it.

I love that movie, actually, so much.

Yeah, I do, too.

Come, d', Artagnan, we're saving the king.

Quotes that don't matter.

That movie.

There's so much about that movie I love, but I love that part where it was towards the end of the movie where the one dude, I'm trying to remember his name, played by Charlie Sheen, he gets shot and they think he's dead.

And he wakes up and he got shot in the cross.

And his line was, just see, there is a God.

And I was like, yes.

That's so cool.

Divine irony.

Yeah.

That line being said by Charlie Sheen.

I mean, who knows?

It could be.

Who knows?

Who knows?

No judgment.

So, yeah, Sword of the Spirit is what we're talking about today.

And like I said, we've been going through Ephesians chapter 6.

This particular scripture is Ephesians 6:17.

And so it says, and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.

There's so many S's.

Sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.

All right, so we also have been talking about the context, right?

Yeah.

And it's a Roman context.

They would have been thinking about Roman gear.

Right.

So you got your Carhartt and you got your.

Oh, my goodness, he's going into the.

Just kidding.

Just kidding.

I won't go that far.

Pitchfork.

Anyways, so today's is the Roman soldier sword, which is called Machira.

Yeah, Machira.

That's a great way of pronouncing it.

Is that the correct way to machira?

I was like, okay, cool.

Basically, it's a curved, short sword.

Right.

And we were discussing during the break, the pause, the intro, whatever, like, how cool it is because it Is shaped as a curve, so it comes down like this and then has, like, before it gets to the hilt, it curves back out.

And so, like, it's perfect for catching another incoming blade and just throwing it with its own momentum away from it.

And I'd never thought about that before.

And it's such a good way to talk about this sword.

Right.

Because it's not just offensive, but it's also defensive.

And the fact that it's not even.

The weapons can't even be formed against you.

Right.

It's that whole just knocking it off of your blade.

Yeah, yeah.

So good.

Yeah, it's pretty cool.

Yeah.

The material kind of think machete, by the way.

Much, much.

Anyway.

Yeah.

So they're only about 18 to 24 inches small blades.

When it comes to.

When you think about swords of history, oftentimes we think of things that are longer.

Whether it's like some people think of swords in, like, a privateer sword, or.

I mean, maybe you even think about, like, Highlands broadswords.

I was gonna say William Wallace.

Yeah.

I mean, Highlander.

Yeah.

Knights usually had really long swords.

You know, stuff like that.

Especially in the movies, we picked them.

But these were definitely.

The thing about these kinds of swords being smaller is that you can be really agile with them.

Yeah, you know, they could.

They.

You could be.

In comparison to some of the bigger, heavier swords.

You could almost be like a surgeon with them, so to speak, where you could.

I mean, definitely get into any of the places you could be quickly defensive and quickly offensive with them.

And that's kind of what we're doing with the word.

The word is something that can be very quickly defensive.

And we've talked a lot about defensive things when it comes to keeping your mind right, keeping your heart right, and all the things that you can, like standing on peace and all that stuff.

But this is something that can not only be defensive, where it's quick and a defensive.

Like you said, like, their swords were built to help parry, but can instantly go for the jab.

So that sword can really cut through things, which is something, you know, that's something we need in this day and age.

We need the word of God.

We need the truth to cut through the clutter.

Yeah.

And what's cool here is the word that is used for word of God is rhema, and it's not logos, which we know is also talking similarly, but this is specifically talking about the spoken applied word in specific situations.

So, like, we're talking a spoken word against something is think Jesus in the wilderness.

Right.

Satan comes to him to tempt him.

And Jesus quotes the scripture aloud, audibly, for the specific situation and is just can't.

Nothing can touch him.

You know, Satan's just deflected at every spot and it cuts straight to the source of truth in those situations.

So, yeah, yeah, the logos that's, you know, would be Jesus.

Jesus is classified.

When we talk about Jesus as the Word and he is the Logos.

But this is definitely not what that's talking about.

This is something to be used by us, not necessarily just used by God.

Excuse me.

So, that being said, what do you think?

Why do you think Paul links the word with the image of a sword?

Well, I think a lot of it has to do with the way the Bible also talks about the tongue.

Yeah.

You know, tongue is a sword.

Yeah, yeah.

And so words, words are weapons.

They really are.

And I know there's the whole like, you know, sticks and stones.

Right.

But it's not, by the way, that is completely false.

That's not true.

Words hurt.

Words do hurt.

Words do sting.

But also words transform.

Yeah, they do.

And manipulate and change.

And so, I mean, one's life.

And so even I had a girlfriend one time, I was in college.

She would get onto me anytime that I would say, like the word stupid or anything like that, because she would say, you know, as you are hearing some, you say, well, they're stupid.

Like you're hearing yourself say it, you know, And I hadn't.

I hadn't even thought about it at that point, you know, to that depth.

But the fact that you were hearing is going to then affect you as well.

And so, like, it has a power to.

Even the words that come out of your mouth transform you in a negative way.

Negativity breeds negativity, and positivity can breed positivity.

It's actually fascinating on a scientific basis what we're finding when it comes to the spoken word.

Words have so much power.

I mean, when you think of even those who are in botany and when it comes to plants, you can speak.

You can speak to plants and they will respond.

It's amazing that plants will respond to negative or positive.

So if you're very positive with your plants, they tend to have more positive results and vice versa.

If you are speaking negative to plants, there's actually negative results that can be actually seen and witnessed and recorded from this.

And it's amazing how much the spoken word really does play such a powerful part of this world.

And I'm right with you because my wife always tries to tell me about rephrasing things in my head.

So if I'm like, man, I have to go do this, or I got to go and I got to get this.

And she goes, change it to get to.

I get to do this.

I get to go do this thing.

I got to.

And it becomes very positive.

But if you're training your mind in those ways, just a small change can really completely transform you.

Yeah.

And with the amount of people that are struggling with, like, mental health these days, and I know sometimes I sound callous when I'm talking about it, because I do have a very big mindset of, you know, suck it up.

I mean, then move on, deal with it.

You know, deal with it.

But give it to God, obviously, because he's the one who can deal with it the best.

But.

But there is.

There is a mental health situation in the world today.

And, man, it takes.

It does take you changing your mindset in order to combat that.

Yeah.

I recently saw a movie, and one of the characters said to another character, people are gonna say all kind of things about us, but don't you do the job for them where it becomes real?

Dude, Dude, Kevin said that to me the other day because it's one of those things that I struggle with.

Self deprecation or what?

Self putting down whatever.

Yeah, okay.

Yeah, that the word.

Sure.

Okay.

I put myself down a lot.

Right.

I say bad things about myself a lot.

And so you can laugh at me all you want to do.

It is what it is.

But.

But he's like, you've got to stop.

You've got to stop doing that.

Because the whole.

He said that exact thing to me.

He was like, the whole rest of the world can do that for you.

You don't need to do it for yourself.

Yeah.

And it's so hard, too.

I mean, I'm my own worst critic.

I'm my own worst enemy when it comes to that kind of thing, you know, especially with, you know, just sometimes we.

You doubt yourself.

You're critical of yourself.

Like, I can do.

If somebody were to do a painting in front of me, I'd be way easier on judging how they did the painting versus if I painted a picture and I paint a lot, look at it and go, I hate this 100%.

And, you know, I'm so harsh sometimes.

And why.

Why do I have to be?

Why can't I just accept that it's okay?

What am I trying to prove to.

Even to myself, dude, and that's my whole job, right?

Like, I am that way with my whole Job and the laser engraving stuff, it's like, if it's not just right, it's gonna drive me crazy.

And, you know, I'm.

I'm like, it's not perfect.

This is off.

That's off.

And every single person that I've talked to about, it's been like, it's handmade.

Like, it's not.

It's not.

You're not cookie cutter.

You're not a production line.

You.

You are handmade.

Sweat sometimes tears into this stuff, you know, like, it's.

It's gonna be imperfect, and that's what makes it desirable.

And I was like, ah, that's crazy.

And jumping off of that.

I mean, we're imperfect and God desires us.

Not that our imperfection is what he desires, but the fact that we are imperfect.

Yeah.

And he created us in his image and we broke that.

But he desires us enough to send his son to even make any of this worthwhile.

Right.

Is great.

He loves us anyway.

Yeah.

And, you know, that's something that we should.

I mean, if you're thinking about how can you.

What's the best way to rethink things, resay things, Is to start by thinking about the fact that, yeah, we are imperfect.

Yeah, we do mess up.

We do things that are stupid.

We make bad decisions, but God loves us anyway.

Sometimes the best way to remember that for me is when I look at my kids and I realize that, yeah, they did something that I didn't really like.

Might even have made me a little mad.

But I still love them.

At the end of the day, it's not changing anything.

I still want to hold them and embrace them and try to help them.

So.

Yeah.

Yeah, I think that's good.

I mean, the sword is definitely a great metaphor, so to speak, of what it is to be able to wield words one way or another.

Yeah.

Because you can use words defensively and you can use them offensively.

But the thing is, is that we're not talking about just using any words.

We're talking about using the word of God.

And so that.

That comes with a lot with it.

Right.

Well, I think that.

I think that's why brought up the tongue because, like, that is gonna be what attacks us.

And if we're not using the word of God to actively block and attack back.

Yeah.

Then we are.

That's.

That's the thing that's gonna get us right.

Like if.

If somebody were to break your leg, sure, that would be frustrating.

You'll heal.

Right.

And.

And you may even be just okay with that person could happen.

Right.

But words, man, words sink deep.

And sometimes they don't go away unless you're actively trying to get rid of them.

And so in order, in order to combat anything, if you can use scripture, it will not only guard you, but it will also pierce through the lies that come from those other words.

Yeah, yeah, yep.

So God's word is powerful.

Powerful though, very power.

In fact, I think most people listening have heard verses that are powerful one way or another.

Sometimes we don't recognize how powerful they are, but the fact that they're so powerful that you hear them, like even, even the non believer will hear things like for God so loved the word and they hear it, they might not fully contemplate what it means, but these words go out and they don't come back fruitless.

Yeah, you know, there's stories from the Bible, there's, you know, I preached weeks back, maybe a month back or so on the parable of the prodigal Son.

That story is well known through culture.

Whether you know or you know it's from the Bible or not.

There's so much when it comes to people kind of heard of the story of water splitting, they've heard of a man being swallowed by a giant fish or a whale.

Some people usually say, you know, these things go out into the world, they don't come back fruitless.

Yeah, that's got power over the world.

It sure does.

Which is a scary thought when you think about what it would be if that was ever removed.

That God's word ever removed from the world.

Nope, nope, nope, nope.

Which is, you know, that could lead us on a whole tangent.

Tis bit on what it is to remove God from things like schools.

But yeah, it's power.

There's so much power in it and it changes lives and it produces a change in people.

Yeah, for sure.

Hebrews 4:12 says the word of God is living and active.

Sharper than any two edged sword.

Yeah, and that's pretty cool considering that the Roman sword was razor sharp.

They kept those things ready to go.

It was pretty darn sharp.

So yeah, it's sharper than that.

It cuts right down to the heart of it.

When we talked about Jesus being tempted, Jesus being tempted in the wilderness and defeating Satan with the temptations by saying it is written, then quoting scripture and second Timothy 3, 16, 17.

And this is why it's important to just soak up whatever you can of scripture because it says that all scripture, not just Romans, not just, you know, Old Testament, not just revelation, not, not just A little bit.

All scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training.

Right.

And training in righteousness.

So the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

So it's all, all of it is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training.

It's so good.

It is.

And we'll see.

But then comes the responsibility of it is to make sure that you're using it correctly.

Now what's interesting is that you've kind of.

We brought up the idea of Jesus being tempted.

Satan tempted him in the desert and yeah, Jesus came back at him with quoting scripture.

What's interesting about that story is that Satan also tried to use scripture.

Yeah.

Oh yeah.

But he used it incorrectly.

I mean, he was then rebuked with it used in the correct stand.

But that is something you got to be careful of and be careful what you're listening to because people do use scripture incorrectly and we have to make sure that we are doing our best not to do the same thing.

We need to make sure we're using it in the right way.

Because when you understand it, when you know it and you can use it in the right ways, that the full power of God's word comes to the forefront.

That's the sharpest of swords right there.

Right.

And today especially, I mean, scripture is being used improperly all the time and it has been for a long time.

Don't, don't get me wrong, the Crusades, bad news, that was not biblical at all.

Right.

Like, I don't agree with how that went down by any stretch of the imagination.

So like it's been being used in the wrong way for a long time.

I get that.

Matthew 4:1 11 is Jesus temptation in the wilderness.

Take that, look at it, read it, and see what your actual enemy is going to be using against you.

Because he's going to start by hitting you in the temptation of your quote unquote needs, right.

And twisting God in that.

And then he's going to resort to using scripture against you and twisting it to use it against you.

And if you don't know it, you're going to fall into that.

You're going to fall into that trap.

So if you don't know scripture enough to be able to combat it and he's had a long time, he's had a long time to practice.

So it's important just to be studied up, trained up.

Right?

Yeah, it's extremely important, you know, because if you don't know it, then you Won't know the difference.

And that's a dangerous position to be in.

But if you do, then you can.

When somebody says something, you can actually discern for yourself, you know, whether what they're saying sounds legit or if it.

If it's.

You know, if it's improper to the point where, like, I have a hard time watching certain movies or TV shows.

If I hear somebody saying something that's just completely off the wall, I watch.

I love it.

When.

Don't get me wrong, I'm like, it's weird because I have an addiction to watching anything that has any reference to God, the Bible, Jesus, or even stuff in the Bible.

If there's mentioned in movies or TV shows or something like that, I want to see it.

But then as soon as it's improper, I start to lose my mind.

Yeah.

It's funny how many things, like, echo things from Scripture, too.

I was watching an interview with dude who plays Morpheus in the Matrix.

Yeah.

Lawrence Hirschburn.

And he was talking about all of the biblical references that were in it.

In the Matrix?

Yeah, in the Matrix.

And just even things I hadn't thought about before, which.

His character, Morpheus being John the Baptist, crying in the wilderness, that there is a one coming, you know, and it's.

It's so good, like, I mean, scripture's so good that it can't stay out of entertainment either.

You know, like, watch the thing on the Passion of the Christ and the impact that it had not only on the world, but, like, on the people that were doing this thing that all of Hollywood decided was a bad idea and the struggle that they went through spiritually and emotionally in it.

I mean, Mel Gibson.

I didn't know this.

Mel Gibson spent like $30 million of his own money to make this movie because nobody else would support it.

And he.

I mean, nobody wanted that movie made, but nobody.

Nobody regrets having done it.

I mean, even.

Even the guy who played Jesus.

Jim Caviezel.

Yeah, Jim Caviezel.

He got struck by lightning while he was on the cross.

He got struck twice.

No, he got struck once.

The.

The executive producer got struck twice.

All three strikes were in the same exact shooting of the same scene.

And.

Well, he got struck doing the Mount of Olives, too.

Not the Mount.

On the Sermon on Mount.

He said that in a different interview.

Okay, well, they didn't reference that one.

That one's crazy.

That's crazy that there's.

He said the storm started to.

But it was in a part of the world that.

That is not normal.

Like, storms chaotic Storms to come up.

Like that is not something that.

And that's why they picked that place.

You know, as one of the reasons is looked like the typography.

The weather was supposed to be right and constant spiritual warfare.

And they would say they would talk about Mel Gibson like getting up early to pray and constantly walking around quoting scripture and talking to God throughout everything.

He'd go off mumbling scripture.

And it's cool to hear that these things have been in play even in an area in which most people are like, ah, entertainment is horrible.

There have been Christians to use this and God has done mighty things through it, you know, so have you.

Have you had.

Have you experienced scripture coming alive and giving you strength or clarity in a moment or of need maybe?

Yeah, I mean I feel like we kind of hit that with the last one was like very like in the moments like knowing or even better having had a huge conversation about something that was a broad topic scripturally and then like the next day something happening and then it triggers that having had that conversation to be able to fend it off.

Like yeah, absolutely.

I mean I can't pull a specific thing, but I know that even in recent time there's been plenty of times that that has happened.

There was a period of time where just that it's kind of famous.

But the be still and know that I am God.

It was really powerful for both myself and my wife.

There's so many.

I wrote a song based off of that scripture back in college.

Really?

Yeah.

And then of course there's Jeremiah before I know the plan I have for you that's come up at interesting times that were very helpful for me.

So.

Yeah, I mean scripture has a way of just getting you right in the feels right when you need.

So we've been talking about what it is to wield this sword correctly at that.

And step number one is know it.

You got to know it.

Know it.

Psalm 119:11 says, I have stored up your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

Yeah.

You know, by the way, when it comes to knowing the Word realistically in the day and age we live in, to not know any of it is that's just unexcusable.

I mean really, we have.

I mean not only is it really easy to get your hands on a Bible, I mean our church gives them away.

But you got.

Most people have devices where you can get the Bible app on your phone, you can have it read to you.

You don't even have to physically read it with your Own eyes.

You can have it read to you.

There's Bible plans.

There's people that are just willing to sit down with you.

It is easier than I think it has ever been to just have the Word available to you to read or listen to.

If you don't know it, that's on you.

There's so much.

And that sounds kind of harsh.

I apologize that it sounds harsh.

But I also want to back up and say that I believe that, like, there's no reason you shouldn't be getting into the Word in one way or fashion.

There's no excuse.

There really isn't.

There's no excuse.

It's too easy.

If you have a phone, if you have a computer, shoot, you don't even have to have any of that.

Like I said, just go to a church.

People will give you Bibles.

I've handed out so many Bibles, I don't even know.

And just in the last year, I gave new Bibles to my students.

I have Bibles, I give out all the time.

We, as a church started giving them out on Sundays.

Anybody needs.

We want everybody to have them.

And it's just so easy.

And then, you know, then the question becomes, well, you know, how.

How do you even start?

You know, some people get a little nervous.

I get it, I get it.

You know, where do you start in the Bible?

You know, John's a good.

Seriously, hands down, if you're like asking that question, where do I start?

John and all of the others, all of the other places are good, don't get me wrong.

But John is the perfect place to start because it gives you the relatable love you and yet straight up gruesome truth about all of what has taken place with Jesus.

Right?

Like, it gives you the why, the who, the how.

It tells you you are condemned if you don't believe in Jesus.

You're not condemned if you do believe in Jesus.

Like, Jesus loved you.

God loved you so much that he sent himself, you know, he sent a part of him to become like us and die for us.

Like, there is no better place to start in this day and age, in my opinion, than starting in John.

John's a great book.

John is a great book.

Not that I want to argue, especially.

To start, but I wouldn't, I don't.

I wouldn't argue against that.

I would say, I mean, there's plenty of places that, depending on the person, I think there's a lot of great places to start.

Even if you want to start back at, you know, in the beginning well.

But see, that's the thing with John.

Well, that's the thing with John.

I know, I get it.

But like, you know, but the Bible, if you don't know, reach out, man.

Just reach out to people.

And actually one of the things that I tell people that aren't used to getting into it on a regular basis or feel like they don't have time to really get into it, you know, the Bible app that I brought up, there's a YouVersion Bible app, and it is just, I think, one of the greatest apps to ever be made ever.

And it's completely free and it's got almost every Bible translation that's currently out there that you can read it.

And so if you can.

If you can't find a translation that you can understand in there, then you can't read.

But that's kind of harsh, too.

I'm sorry, I'm getting.

There's.

But there's so much.

There's a translation for everyone and there's even paraphrase in there that can help you understand.

Stay away from that.

But it's good to help you both understand.

You can have it both and both and.

But anyway, listen, not either or, but the Bible app also has these really.

It has Bible reading plans.

And for anyone that sounds.

That just heard that and said, oh, that sounds like a lot, some of them really are minimum.

I went through some plans that literally just gave me a verse a day to consider when it came to a subject.

And if that's not too much, that's really not too much.

Everybody's got.

Chapter eight is not too much.

It's really not.

But a verse a day, if that's a place to start, go through them all and then start going deeper.

If you do one verse a day, there's rival reading plans on there that do one verse a day and you.

Can do it with friends.

One verse a day.

Three years, you will have read through the entire Bible or listened.

Or listened.

Because it'll read it to you too.

And it's like three.

Well, yeah, it would make sense that it would be three verses or verses, three chapters.

I meant chapters, one chapter a day.

Not too much.

One chapter a day gets you through the whole Bible in three years.

Three chapters a day will get you through the whole Bible in one year.

That's all it is.

Yeah.

And so, I mean, you just got to go for it.

And actually, and the best place to read, to start reading, if all else.

If you won't take my recommendation of John, it's the Same thing that most of us will now say about what translation.

Whichever one you're gonna read, start wherever you're gonna read, whatever you're willing to read, read there.

Yeah, I mean, you need to get God's Word in you one way or another.

So, yeah, so that's what it.

You got to know it and study it.

And when I say that, knowing it, also once you start to read it, there's.

The next step is to really try to understand it.

Because we don't just read to read, we read to understand.

Because the more you understand it, the more it's on your heart, the more you can actually start to live it.

You can compare yourselves to it.

You can be encouraged by it.

You can be, in some cases, defeated by it a little bit.

But the Word can start to really change you when you get more understanding of everything that comes with it.

So, I mean, at that point, you know, there's so many things, even with the apps and stuff, you can go on there, and it can help you understand.

There's all kind of resources out there to help you understand.

Of course, you have church and Bible studies, and there's just so much that can help you go deeper and get that Word understood into your heart.

Because the more you know, it leads to the second thing, because once you know it, you gotta speak it.

Speak it?

Yeah, speak the word.

And Proverbs 18:21 states that death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

So death and life are in the power of the tongue.

Right.

That means that the things you say matter.

Yeah, but it's really.

There's something really powerful about when you're going through anything, especially when it comes to what we're talking about.

Spiritual warfare is the whole purpose of this series.

Going into spiritual warfare with the ability to speak God's word accurately is like, that's.

You have to find.

There's a lot of people today that want to argue, even in the church.

A lot of people today that want to argue methods or ideals or whatever, and they tend to leave out scripture to back up their thoughts and their ways.

And even in that, that becomes that twisted.

You know, that twisted thing is the church is supposed to be a great thing.

Yeah.

I mean, that's why.

And when we remove that, it's.

Yeah, that's why somebody came to me.

We were arguing about something that a church was doing, and I was asked, well, where is it in the Bible?

And they actually started to say the sentence, well, why does it have to be in the Bible.

I said, as soon as you ask that question, you're completely off the rails.

If that's what you're asking.

Why does it have to be in there?

Like, okay, now that's a whole different conversation now.

The Bible is there.

God's Word is powerful in itself.

Why are we going outside of that?

To try to.

But, yeah, so we got to know the Word so we can speak the Word.

Speaking the Word can be great for when you're going into a situation and you're feeling a little unsteady and you start thinking about scriptures that help you with anxiety, or when you're a little afraid and you have a good don't be afraid verse.

Or there's just.

There's so much to it.

When you're feeling lonely, when you're feeling like you don't match up, and you think about the fact that God loves the world so much, or that all fall short of the glory of God, or if you're feeling a little lost and you think about things like renewing your mind, as you said from Romans 12:2, or, you have my life verse, trust in the Lord with all your heart and not in your understanding, but always acknowledge him and he'll make your path straight.

Those are things that will help when it comes to different situations in your life.

But to say it and be able to put that into the situation you're in, you got to know it first, so.

You got to know it so you can say it.

Yeah.

And you guys may be thinking, okay, right?

But can't we just say it here?

And the answer is no.

It may feel dumb sometimes to speak that.

Right?

Only at first.

Right.

That's the key.

Right?

It's only at first.

And the reason it feels, quote, unquote, feels dumb at first is because that is spiritual warfare.

Right.

That in and of itself is, you know, the spiritual forces saying, man, that's really ridiculous.

That's awkward.

I mean, even to the point of.

Another example is me and my wife, sometimes it's hard to pray out loud together because it feels awkward at times, you know?

But that's spiritual warfare.

That should never stop you.

Right?

I'm not saying that should never happen.

I'm not saying that should never feel awkward.

I'm saying that shouldn't stop you.

Because what scripture says is that spoken word, it matters.

It has power.

And so we're saying, yes, speak those.

Those truths.

Speak scripture audibly out loud.

One of the best ways is our next thing, which is to pray the Word.

So that's an easy way to start doing that in your life, is to.

As you start to know these verses or what scripture is saying, pray God.

Pray to God about these things.

You know, bring it up.

You know, you'll hear people when they pray with one or two people.

Hey, you know, we know that you said that when two or more come together, you're with us.

You'll hear that when people pray, sometimes other verses will come into mind.

And you're bringing the power of God's word into your prayer.

Talk about taking it to the next level.

It gives everything more meaning, more depth to your spiritual life.

More prayer also, you know, it starts to.

It's like your prayer is fighting off opposition as it's coming out of your mouth.

And that's an incredible thing, you know, to just.

And I think the more that you do it, the more surprised you'll be at how much easier it gets.

You know, like you said, it's a little bit of a spiritual warfare to try to.

When you feel weird about doing it the first times.

But when you can get over that and start to really put it into practice, it's like riding a bike.

Yeah.

And all of these things lead to what is one of the most important parts.

And I think that since we have had an overabundance of, you know, the idea of saved by grace through faith not works.

Right.

That we tend to be a little more easy on this next part, the required part.

Right.

That it's not a checklist, but it is.

Obedience is important.

Right.

And that is applying the Word.

Right.

So James 1:22 says that do not merely listen to the Word and so deceive yourselves.

Do what it says.

Do it.

You have to do it.

And the thing is, it's not a checkbox.

I did it.

The more you pour into Christ and Christ pours into you, the more you want to do it, and it becomes natural to do it.

But don't merely listen, because that is deceiving yourself.

Don't just hear what we're saying here and listen to the scripture that we're speaking on here.

Like, don't just listen to that, because this is pointless.

Needs to become part of your life.

You need to start actively doing what Scripture says, or else it's pointless to even do any of the other listening.

Right.

Like, I like how you said it's not just a box to check, you know, because a lot of people, when they think about works, you know, it's usually something you have to do.

And, like, it's almost Like a checkoff box.

Well, I did this and I did this and I did this, and.

As if we're trying to get tasks done in order to achieve something.

And that's not what it's about at all.

And James also says that faith without works is dead.

And I think the large thing he means there is that if it's not changing you, if you're reading Scripture and it's not changing, then you need to go back and read it again.

You need to have it to where it's not only becoming part of you, but it's changing you from the inside out.

I think it's even stronger than that to the point of faith without works you not doing.

The obedience is you not following Christ.

And if you're not following Christ, he's not knowing you.

And if he's not knowing you, Matthew 7.

Jesus says it himself that you will be denied in the end.

It's that important.

What good is faith if it's not growing inside of you and making you.

You want to become more obedient?

It's all part of the sanctification process that we go through now.

I mean, obviously, you know, it would go to, you know, the whole, you know, it's faith, you know, grace by faith.

That.

That's on the idea is, you know, there's nothing you have to do to earn salvation.

Right.

So that's.

That's important.

But our lives should now start to bear fruit.

Yeah.

Because here's what it comes down to.

I'm going to try to make it as easy as it gets when it comes to understanding what we're talking about.

If you believe that Jesus is who he says he is.

Okay.

If you can believe that, then that means that the things he says are important.

And so if you believe that he is God, that he is the Son of God, and that your salvation is in his hands, then the way he says goes, man.

And so that means you need to start living by that as best you can.

And look, we all get better at it as we go.

Don't feel too bad when you stumble.

We've talked about this in other episodes, but, yeah, you want to be able to apply it to yourself so that.

Because it's, you know, obedience sharpens.

The word obedience is what's going to help you to get better, to be more prepared, to have your armor on more works.

And doing what the Word says is not asking for perfection.

No, it's not.

It's moving that direction.

It's just moving that direction.

Right.

Like it's Taking the risk, taking the chance, and doing what Scripture says.

Yeah, right.

It's not saying you succeed in your own strength.

Like, no, I mean, the Holy Spirit is here to succeed for us.

Right.

He intercedes, but, like, he's the one that makes us succeed whenever we do do the things when we try, and when we fail, he's the one that is stepping in and saying, yes, but.

But I've covered you, right?

We've got you.

God's got you.

You know, like, Jesus has already died for this mistake, so keep going, you know, so we're not asking perfect perfection.

Scripture is not asking for perfection because Jesus was the perfection.

He's asking you to move and start heading in his direction and be changed by.

By.

By that process.

Yep.

So what are some practical ways you personally stay sharp in scripture and ready to use it when you need it?

Practical ways.

I mean, personally, it's just kind of getting back into it.

There's different things that I just feel like I'll either feel like I need to study, so I do, or I want to, so I do.

And it just, you know, I just research things that come to mind a lot or just interest me.

I'll do deep dives so that I can get it.

If I'm reading through scripture and there's this moment, even if it's momentary sometimes, or I'm reading through it and I just kind of get stuck for a second.

Hold on, let me rethink that one first.

Just a second.

That sometimes will trigger a real deep dive for me.

Or suddenly I'm like, I wanna know.

I wanna know.

Or if I see one thing connect to another thing, I'm like, oh, okay, now I'm gonna look into that and see how much it does connect or what else connects to this and stuff like that.

So, yeah, I mean, I have.

It's easier for me.

I've had a lot of.

I've had a lot of training.

I've got a lot of tools in my toolbox that help make that a little easier for myself.

And in that, I have to get on myself when I start slacking on that a little bit because, you know, not a lot I take for granted how what I know to do versus someone who doesn't have any clue.

You know what I mean?

Like, somebody comes to me, like, I don't know where to start.

It's almost a weird question to be asked because of how natural and normal it seems to me to dive in.

But, you know, it's.

But I can, you know, rephrase things so that.

Try to make it easier.

But yeah, that's what I do.

I mean, I just.

You just gotta keep going back in.

Yeah.

For those who know me, they're not gonna be shocked by this, but I intentionally debate people who are wise in scripture because.

Because it keeps me sharp.

As long as we're debating and utilizing scripture to find the solution, the correct answer to the debate, even if it's something that doesn't actually have an.

An.

A lot of times we will go to scripture to try to figure out what that answer is.

And that keeps me sharp.

One thing I would say is definitely don't.

I would say, unless you're that person.

Right.

Some people can go and they can look up the scriptures that they.

This for this situation.

This for this situation.

Whatever.

Trust me when I say that whatever you're reading, God will use in your life to fend off the devil.

It doesn't.

It's great if you know those extra things or if you know specific things.

But I'm telling you right now, it doesn't actually matter if you know this scripture for this, this scripture for this.

If you're pouring yourself into scripture, God's going to use whatever you are pouring into and is being poured into you to go ahead of you.

So practically speaking, just dig in.

Yeah.

I mean, it's incredible, like how things just.

Here you go.

I already knew you were going to need this for this situation.

I had your reading here.

Yeah.

If you're a morning person and you want to get up before the day starts and read scripture, I would say here's a great challenge for yourself.

Pray over the scripture that you're reading that God not only brings understanding as you read it, but understanding throughout your day.

It is interesting how often he will answer that prayer in ways that you are not expecting and things become more real for you.

To me, it is just about going back in and trying to stay steady in my reading of scripture.

There are times I do better than that than others, especially in the busyness of ministry where there is just so much going on.

End up, I'm studying for this and I'm studying for that.

And then I'm like, yeah, but you didn't make time just to study for yourself today.

And that happens sometimes.

Sometimes I'm really good about getting up early and doing it, and then sometimes it's a little later in the day because sometimes you're just so tired.

And I want to put the Lord first.

Don't take me wrong.

But when you have five kids and you're running all over God's wonderful creation here.

It's like, you know, I really need sleep today.

So the next part of this, I want to talk about practical tools.

And we did talk about Bible memorization apps and plans.

The YouVersion app is one of the best.

Yeah, it's so good.

What is it?

The blue.

I mentioned it earlier.

Something Blue Book.

Blue Letter Bible or something.

Blue Letter Bible, yeah.

Is that what it is?

That one's really good.

Even Bible Gateway.

Yeah, yeah.

Great website, Bible Gateway.

And for a really low price, like, I'm talking, like less than 10 bucks.

It's.

It's one of the cheapest subscription things you can get.

But for an incredibly low price, if you really want to get into the Bible, Bible Gateway will let you get access to so many commentaries and study Bibles and, well, even.

Even in the niv, they have Hebrew and Greek Logos.

Bible software is free.

There is a free version of that.

There's a free version, but that can get your feet wet.

Oh, yeah.

And there's lots of things with that that you can dig deep, deep in.

Yeah.

Oh, I tell you what's great.

There's some really great Bible teaching things where you can listen to it.

So, for instance, Verse by Verse Ministries, this is something that I use.

It's a wonderful, wonderful teaching group.

The guy that started, the guy that used to be like their lead pastor teacher, unfortunately passed away in 2020.

But it's so good.

They go literally verse by verse and they'll give you context and they'll give you such depth and meaning and application.

It's so good.

And their videos, you can go on there and just listen.

They also have it written out for those who love would rather read or follow along.

But it's.

It's fantastic.

There's also something really cool if.

If you're at a point where you can.

You can afford to do this.

For about 40 bucks, you can get an ESV reader's edition, and it removes chapter, verse, and headings that aren't actually there in.

In Scripture and allows for you to just read it in its more natural form in English, obviously, but in its more natural form to where you can just read straight through.

Because so often, even Friday night was a Bible study I was at.

We were talking about Second Corinthians 1, and at the end of Second Corinthians 1, we were discussing what that we stopped and discussed the very end of it.

I was like, I read on and it's the end of the thought is the first part of chapter two.

And so a lot of times we'll miss the whole thought if we don't continue on.

So that might be a good option for you.

I plan to get one here pretty soon.

I've looked at them and they are really neat.

So that might be an option for you.

Other things like journaling.

Lots of people have journaled.

Yeah.

I actually just introduced to some of my middle schoolers when we went on a middle school retreat.

I gave them each a journal and I tried to get the first.

I wanted to see who would, you know, it wasn't a thing where I thought, all these kids are going to do this and it's going to be amazing and they're going to love it forever.

I did think, though, that some of them might be introduced to this for the first time.

And let's see how it goes.

The idea, though, is that you sit there and you reflect.

You read some scripture, reflect on the verse and really start to draw it out.

This is what it says.

This is what I think.

This is how it made me feel.

And just kind of really write it out there.

It's good to do that with your prayer life sometimes.

What's really cool is that you can go back and see not only your progress and understanding, and sometimes if you're doing prayers and such, how God might have answered them.

But you can grow off of what you already know.

And you never know how things that you write down, like your personal journaling, can affect others, that you might be able to use that to affect it.

Look at all of our psalms.

That's essentially what our psalms are.

Is somebody journaling their situation with God and the words that.

That he's given them, you know, and so, I mean, David did it a lot in the psalms.

It was like, where are you?

Where are you in this, God?

You said you're this for me.

Where are you in this?

And it always, you know, it's cool to see, like, where he's at.

You could.

This is where studying it gets really cool, is you can start seeing, like, okay, David wrote this psalm when he was going through this situation.

And you start putting things together.

The more you study that stuff, the more real it makes the things that you're doing as well.

The psalms are.

So journaling's great.

The psalms are full of pretty much every emotion.

It's all in there.

No matter how you're feeling, you can find yourself in the psalms pretty much.

It's wild.

But, yeah.

So obviously something that's easy enough to do, especially when you can make yourself have the time.

Bible study groups are make yourself have the time.

Not when you can.

You should make yourself have the time.

Create that time in your life that you can do it.

Because if you're not doing it, you are missing something, I promise.

Because Scripture does tell us that iron sharpens iron.

Being able to be with like minded people.

And what I mean by like minded people, I don't mean Democrats, Republicans, any of that.

I mean people that are trying to chase God together, who genuinely want to encourage you in your faith.

Those are the kind of people that when you circle up with them and you're going through scripture, the depth of understanding and applications and experience that can come with that kind of thing is invaluable.

You can really go so much deeper.

And if you have a person that's really been in scripture for a long time, that's either a leader or even a participant, I mean, that stuff can really help you out.

And it goes all the way around that circle.

Such an important thing.

I would not overlook it.

I personally really enjoy Bible study groups more than I ever thought I would, but I still do.

I have one that's been ongoing since 2000, I want to say 18 that is still going on today online.

And it's amazing the kind of things that even that group that we've been able to dig out, we find ourselves going down rabbit holes and all that stuff.

But it's so valuable and it can be a brotherhood, a sisterhood or community.

It's just a group of people that are generally going through the word with you.

And there's such a amazing stuff that can come from that.

Other things.

Like I would say, if there's a verse that's talking to you in your life, not only do you want to kind of study it and try to get more about it, but post it around.

I've seen people post things and they'll put a sticky note in their car, by their computer screen, wherever, keep it around, help it stay in the forefront of your mind and until it just becomes just part of you.

It's so helpful sometimes just to be able to see it.

But when you see it, read it.

If you're reading it, read it out loud.

Let it become just part of your normal.

These things can be really effective, so effective in just helping you get better with it all.

Also, if I would say, think about verses, you can have a list of things, but if you know that you're going to be in certain situations a lot, finding verses that really speak to that and keeping them handy.

Like the one app we talked about, the YouVersion app.

You can actually highlight certain verses so it makes it easier to find.

But knowing this verse is good for this situation.

This verse is good for that situation, can be really helpful also.

Yeah.

Yeah, for sure.

So in wrapping up, like the word of God is both defensive, right?

Yeah.

To block the lies, to block the attacks, but it's also offensive to strike back and to push back the.

The lies and the ground that's trying to be taken from God.

Also, we've learned that to use it effectively, you got to know it, you got to apply it.

You can't just willy nilly.

Oh, well.

Proverbs 4:13 says, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

Yeah.

That doesn't mean that you can run really fast.

Right.

Like, that doesn't.

That's not a sports quote.

Right.

Like the precursor to that just quickly is I have had nothing and I have had a lot.

I have been sick, I have been healthy, I've been imprisoned, and I have been free.

So I know that I am content with whatever the Lord has for me because he is my strength.

And I can do all things through that strength that he has given me.

Whether I'm healthy, sick, free, prison, or poor or wealthy, doesn't matter.

I can do the things that he has called me to do in his strength.

That is what that scripture means.

So we have to know it and understand it and apply it.

Yeah.

I will say, though, that I'm not going to put God in a box.

Somebody praying that over their soccer game doesn't mean that God's not going to help you to have a great game.

Right.

But you got to have the understanding behind it too.

Right.

Even the novice.

God loves the novice who is trying to reach out to Him.

Yeah.

Next episode.

So we've gone through the different parts of the armor.

Yeah.

Which is awesome.

That's new to me.

It's the first time I've ever done that.

So we talked about all the pieces and how they fit together, and you can tell that they do overlap quite a bit.

I hope that you have been following along and you've seen how it does.

But now that we have all the pieces of the armor in place, we want to talk about the power of prayer intercession when it comes to spiritual warfare, which is important.

I mean, maybe it should have been the most obvious thing.

Prayer is.

Prayer is important.

So that will be what we'll be talking about in our next episode.

And you might also notice we'll probably Be wearing the same clothes.

So it's gonna be.

Because we're recording two at once, so you're gonna love it or you won't.

But yeah, get ready for that.

And be praying throughout the week.

If you have not been following along, Please read Ephesians 6.

And so good.

You'll see everything that we've been talking about and more.

Another thing that we want to make sure that you are doing as we've gone through this series, now that you have, especially now you have all the parts of the armor, it's a good time to send in any questions you have about it, questions about this episode, any other episodes, anything that we haven't.

Touched on, or any advice.

If you're in a situation where you're going through spiritual warfare, send in the questions.

Yeah, and we'll.

We'll omit, you know, names and all of that stuff like that change that stuff doesn't matter.

We'll just talk about situations.

Right.

And.

And that way.

And we can even, you know, make it a broader, you know, thing to help answer some of that.

We want to.

We want to be here for you.

And so we'll.

We'll not only respond to you directly if we can in the moment, but also we'll.

We'll start piling those up for.

For their.

Our last episode of the series to answer for everyone that way.

Yep.

Yeah.

And, yeah.

But yeah, so Last episode, episode 12 will be Q and A. Yep.

So we definitely need all your questions.

And I think we still.

We're doing the challenge.

Yeah.

So most questions.

Most questions gets T shirt.

We can send it to you or anyone you want.

Yep.

Yeah, so send those questions.

We want to hear from you and we want to, you know, we want to help.

And so, yeah, that's going to be good for sure.

One thing for you guys to reflect on this week is what is one scripture that you can commit to memory and begin wielding?

This week was one scripture that you can, you can, you can wield this week.

So find something that this week that you can start memorizing.

We want to hear about that, too.

Put that in the comments.

Like, what scripture are you trying to memorize so that you can wield it for the Lord this week.

Yep.

And for my readers out there, obviously, like I said, read Ephesians 6:17 is the one we were in.

And then also a companion reader.

This would probably be Matthew 4 this week.

So.

So read that.

Give us your thoughts, especially in how those two things came together for you.

It's also another great Matthew's got so much in it.

It just defends the Messiah.

That Jesus is the long awaited Messiah.

That's such a great book.

I know we talked about John earlier, but Matthew is.

He just.

He's really about what Jesus said.

And so there's so much good things that Jesus said in the book of Matthew.

And if you want to, when it comes to getting things into your heart and part of your life, the words of Jesus, you're gonna find so much in that book.

Gospels is a great place to start wherever that looks like.

Just really, really soaking up what he has to say and what he does and trying to be like that is gonna be a great place to start regardless of which gospel.

But yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, that's.

That's the sword of the spirit.

Sword of the spirit.

The armor is complete.

The word of God, which is active and being used is important.

So that's that like subscribe Comment comment comment comment comment comment comment Anyways, yeah, totally.

We, we love you guys.

You can even hit the notification bell.

Oh yeah.

And that'll let you know.

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I know we're gonna be recording one soon, so got some, some ideas for some cool little one off little things and you're gonna miss out on getting it on time if I put it out at a different part of the week.

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On the.

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And I don't know if there's a notification.

I might.

I know that.

I mean and you can get emails with.

Especially when you're.

Oh yeah, Patreon gives you emails.

Patreon gives you.

Yeah.

And we, we have gotten another of the SEC Tier 2 subscriber this.

Oh man.

So thank you.

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Rockin', rockin'.

So we appreciate that at tiers two and three you get also a five day devotional that goes along with what we talk about today.

So when it's coming out, you'll also get it that same day that it comes out and maybe even before it's actually fully rendered on YouTube.

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Five day devotional specifically designed around what we're talking about.

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