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Life Around "The Fire"
Life Around "The Fire"
The Journey to Making God's Kingdom Visible
What if the values and teachings of Jesus could transform not just your life, but the world around you? Join us as we explore the profound possibilities of living out the kingdom of God on Earth. In this episode of Life Around the Fire, we focus on spiritual growth, inspired by Jesus' call to manifest God's kingdom here and now. We eagerly anticipate insights from our esteemed guest, Tracy Perez, who will guide us in making the invisible realm of God's kingdom visible in our daily lives. Discover how embodying God's values and practices can lead to a profound transformation in your spiritual journey, as we delve into the historical mandate to extend God's dominion and function as His kingdom's colony on Earth.
Experience the awe-inspiring power of God's love, a love that surpasses even the most profound human connections. We'll discuss the immediacy of God’s presence and how we can actively participate in the unfolding of His kingdom. Through scripture and personal experiences, we are called to open our hearts with child-like curiosity, ready to embrace new spiritual awakenings. Whether through scripture or shared stories, this episode encourages you to reflect God's power in every aspect of your life and engage with our growing community. Don’t miss this opportunity to connect and share your thoughts with us at lifearoundthefire@gmail.com.
Loving Yeshua/Jesus, Loving people... Come as you are and you will be loved!
Feel free to check out our wesite by typing in lifearounsthefire.com or Life Around The Fire ... We think you'll find some beneficial stuff to look at and apply to your life.
Shalom to you and your home.
Howdy folks, I want to welcome you to another episode of Life Around the Fire. My name is David Utari and I'll be your host today. We are a podcast that is devoted to spiritual growth, and what we mean by spiritual growth is this growth in our relationship, first and foremost, with God, then in our relationships with one another. What I'd like to do today is continue on with an introduction into this next series of podcasts that we're going to be doing concerning the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God and, specifically, regarding the statement that Jesus made when he was giving an outline to his disciples concerning their question or their wanting to get from him an idea of how to pray. Man, teach us to pray, like you. Because they made the correlation between what was taking place and the fact that Jesus prayed, and so they wanted to know what it was that he was doing while he was praying.
Speaker 1:And one of the things that Jesus said that he was doing while he was praying, and one of the things that Jesus said that he did and that he instructed them to do, was to give a declaration concerning the kingdom of God, and it would be a declaration like this kingdom come. Will of God be done in the earth as it is in heaven. That's a powerful statement when used in context with the way that Jesus taught it in a form of a declaration, where we are saying kingdom of God, manifest in the earth in the same way that you are being demonstrated in the invisible heavenly realm, taking the invisible and making it visible on planet Earth. The kingdom of God, the rule and reign, the culture of God's kingdom being demonstrated on Earth, ultimately covering the earth as the waters cover the sea. The knowledge of the glory of the Lord, the kingdom of God, the knowing how that functions, how that functions, the living in that kingdom, the functioning in that kingdom, in that realm, in that culture, as citizens all across the nations, all across the earth, just like the waters cover the sea. That's the way it would be, that is the intention of God that we would be a colony of people colonizing planet earth with the kingdom of God covering it. That was the declaration from creation given to Adam and Eve that they would take dominion and that they would cause that dominion to go forward the kingdom of God, the rule and the reign of God. And so we're going to be focusing our attention in on that and I've invited to our studio one of our favorite guests, tracy Perez, and Tracy has been tapped on the shoulder by God to bring about not just a revelation of how this type of thing takes place the invisible becoming visible but some of the other elements that go along with it, the functioning in it, and God is using him to, as I said, not just bring about the revelation of that but to literally, as he presents it, it becomes more and more of a reality, and he'll be in studio next week, and I'm looking forward to it, because he has an integral message pertaining to the very thing that we're talking about.
Speaker 1:But before we go any further, what I'd like to do is take a moment and pray, because, once again, we live in an incredibly busy world. All of us have a lot of information that comes our way. We're living in a day in which information is being transmitted across a variety of different platforms that we have access to, and so our attention there is competition for our attention on a regular basis, and what we pay attention to, what we pay attention to the most, is very important, because we've learned that what we behold, what we fix our attention on, is actually what we become like or who we become like, and we want to focus our attention in on Jesus, because we want to become like him, and one of the central themes that Jesus presented while he was walking on planet Earth 2,000 years ago as Christ, the Messiah, yeshua Hamashiach, his declaration was the kingdom of God and the heart of God, the Father, the Father, heart of God, and the kingdom of God and the heart of God, the Father, the Father, heart of God, and the kingdom of God. Those two themes made up the majority of his communication, and so for us to fix our attention in on him will ultimately lead us to function like him in those two very areas. And so we right now just say together Father God, first of all, thank you for who you are and for what you're doing, how you're doing it.
Speaker 1:God, I trust you. I've not always been able to say that, but I can say that now that you've proven yourself to be trustworthy, and so I place my complete trust in you. I place my complete trust in you, and in so doing, I ask you, holy Spirit, to shepherd not only my thoughts, but to shepherd our thoughts like sheep, like a shepherd. Shepherds, sheep. Shepherd our thoughts and bring them into a place of calm and focus in on Jesus and the kingdom of God and the heart of the Father. Help those other voices to be quiet and for us to be in a place of focus, of complete understanding, revelation and wisdom in areas that we need greatest help in, and I thank you for being so faithful. You are incredibly good and I appreciate everything you're doing. You are our leader. You are our leader, you are our guide and we stand here in the name of Jesus and we say amen, amen, amen, amen.
Speaker 1:Well, once again, as I was preparing for this particular podcast episode, I was ready to dive in and begin to unfold some of the things concerning the kingdom of God as we see it revealed in Scripture, because the Scriptures contain the greatest revelation, written revelation that we have, involving the invisible becoming visible and the reality of relationship, not just religion but relationship with God and seeing that take place, being empowered as people who can portray the very life and nature of God Literally to live out the values, practices and priorities of God, his culture, his kingdom, being demonstrated to us and through us in the communities, in the region, in the nation that we live in, and that being something that covers the earth, because that that is the reason why I'm emphasizing again in this particular introduction that we are living in a day and an age in which the knowledge of God's glory is going to be covering the earth. It's already happening, it's been happening, but we are living in a time, right now, in the unfolding of God's purpose, his plan, the unfolding of it, that we are at the point where he is going to be manifesting his presence in an ever-increasing way. Because, once again, there's been a lot of talk about him, and some of it's been good, and some of it's been just kind of a mixture of things, and some of it's been wrong and even nefarious, evil, misrepresentation of who he is. And it's been said that it's easier to believe a lie that we've heard a thousand times than to believe the truth that we've only heard once. And so God, not the smart guy or the kind old lady, but God God is revealing himself because he wants us to know him, because he loves us, he loves you, he wants you to know that he is interested in having you receive the benefit for me to receive the benefit of him beholding us, where he can cause his face to shine upon us, that he can lift up his countenance upon us and give us his peace. We can walk up his countenance upon us and give us his peace. We can walk in his power, because not only what we behold we become like, but the one who beholds us empowers us to behold that which we fix our attention on. To behold that which we fix our attention on and when we are in relationship with God and we have the things that previously separated us from relationship removed, we benefit from him beholding us and the effect of that. And when we realize that he beholds us in love. Love is patient.
Speaker 1:Love, the love of God is kind. Love, the love of God is kind. The love of God does not take into account a wrong suffered, but it's forgiving Quick to forgive, slow to anger. Love, his love is so rich and so alive that when we experience the effects of his love, it enlivens us in ways that none other can provide. Nothing else can provide the satisfaction that comes from the love of God, receiving the love of God, to be loved, to be loved by God, to be in a place where we can actually feel the love of God. You know, it's amazing to feel the love from another human being. I mean, I know for a fact that I have been elevated as a result of the love that comes from my wife. She loves me and I eat it up because it's good, it gives me purpose, it enlivens my insights.
Speaker 1:Well, if that comes from human relationships, how much more does it come from the relationship that we have with God, when the things that separated us from him are removed and granted? That's a process. Legally, they have been removed. Experientially, they're being removed. I'm becoming perfect, I am already perfect, and I'm on my way to experience the reality of that. I'm living in two places at the same time, and so are you, and part of our focus on Jesus and his kingdom is going to be us realizing that very thing and learning how to function that way. To learn how to function on a higher level, to see things done from a higher dimension that impact our world, where we can literally see the kingdom of God manifest in miracles, signs and wonders, where we not only hear the message of the kingdom but we see a demonstration of it in the world that we live in.
Speaker 1:In the world that we live in, in some respects it causes an undoing. The prophet Isaiah said that when he saw the Lord, he said I'm undone. Because he saw a vision of God and the majesty of God and a demonstration of the glory of God in his temple. Isaiah said I'm undone man, I'm undone. Well, god is in right now. Right now. Right now, we are in the very days in which God has determined that he's going to manifest more and more and more of his presence and he wants us to function in his kingdom as citizens now, not just waiting until we die and then we start living out a new life, but we live out that life now. We begin to live it out now. The inheritance is here now. The full experience, the full reality, the full payment is coming, but the inheritance is here right now and the inheritance is significant, and God is showing us that, and part of the process of that is us seeing him for who he is, experientially in our midst, individually and collectively, being in a place where we host the glory of the Lord, where we function in the dynamic power of his kingdom, where we function in the dynamic power of his kingdom in ways that we have not functioned in before.
Speaker 1:Some of us have experienced some very significant things in our lifetime powerful things, lifetime Powerful things. Even so, what is happening right now supersedes that, because things are unfolding. That was then. This is now. There's a danger in trying to hold on to the past too long or try to reproduce the past. There are certain things that are good and foundational things that we can build on from the past, but we need to be open to live now and to experience things new and on the level that we've not seen before and, in the process, be willing to look like beginners at times the first being last and those last being first when we are willing to become learners like children again. That's powerful, man. That's powerful.
Speaker 1:That's not necessarily easy when you're 65 years old, 70 years old, 80 years old. It's not easy when you're 30 years old. It's easier when you're younger and the generation that is now becoming of age 18 to 21, 21 to 25, even younger but that generation you are in store for something that is so significant. It is a joy to see those who are really connected in relationship with God demonstrate what that looks like Now the times of worship and prayer and interaction with God and with each other. It's phenomenal, it's a joy.
Speaker 1:I want to learn from that and let that be first and let the stuff that I've experienced before let that be first and let the stuff that I've experienced before let that be last, let that take a seat back, let the new emerge and encourage it, because God is manifesting his presence in waves and in waves, but ultimately a wave, a tsunami, that is going to grow and grow and grow over our heads, and we're being called to participate in it, and it involves his kingdom. And so we are going to be, as I said, really looking at the Magna Carta the other day I called it Magna Carta, right, magna Carta meaning the great charter, the Latin word or the undeniable way that it's designed to be the Magna Cata of the kingdom of God. And we're going to be looking at the Gospel of Matthew, chapters 5, 6, and 7, but also the Gospel of Luke, chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 1 through 6, as well as Romans, chapter 12. All of these are going to be a baseline for us to draw from and use, considering our, our understanding and our function in the kingdom of God.
Speaker 1:I'm looking forward to it, but it was important for me to state the fact that we are living in a day right now. Right now, it's not coming, it's here right now. John the Baptist said the kingdom of God was coming, and Jesus said the kingdom of God is here. And Jesus said the kingdom of God is here. And I am saying that God's kingdom power, the manifestation of God's presence, of him showing us who he is not what people said about him, but who he really is that's here right now. Right now it was coming. It's here right now, and in a way that we have not experienced it before. So it's important for us to let go of some of the things that we have that are preconceived notions, because if we hold on to them too tight, we can miss what is happening right now, because we'll be looking for something else. Just like the first time Jesus came, they were looking for a conquering king, and he came as a humble servant. A humble, suffering servant laid his life down. This time around he's coming back as a conquering king, and his rule and his reign, his kingdom, will have no end. The earth is going to be covered with the glory of the Lord and the knowledge of it as the waters come to sea. The earth is going to be covered with the kingdom of God.
Speaker 1:Ultimately, it's a matter of when and who is involved? Well, I want to be involved now, to the degree that I can, at the level in which I'm able to function together in cooperation with God. So, get ready, get ready, man. And as we open up the scriptures, we're going to be looking at them in a way in which we want to apply them. Not just garner more information, but application and demonstration. Yes, revelation, but revelation for the purpose of application and demonstration.
Speaker 1:So we're right now in the midst of this wonderful move and it's going to continue to get greater. Things are going to continue to change. Let them change. Let's not try to hold on to things and actually become a hindrance, but let's be conduits through which God can demonstrate himself to us and through us, individually and collectively. Let's pray Father once again.
Speaker 1:God, it's so amazing that I can speak to you like this. There was a time where I didn't know how to, and I didn't know if I even wanted to express myself to you, express myself to you, but now I can't imagine things being different. So I thank you, I thank you, I thank you, I thank you, we thank you and we invite you to demonstrate your kingdom to us and through us, as we focus our attention on and honor and give adoration and praise and worship to the Lord Jesus, for he is the door, he is the way, he is the truth, he is the life, and no one comes to you except they come to you through him and Holy Spirit. Thank you for leading us, for guiding us, for drawing us into this place that we are right now. So we stand here again in the name, in the very name of Jesus, just like him, and we say amen, amen, amen to the kingdom of God, come to the will of God. Be done in earth as it is in heaven. Hallowed be thy name, praise God. All right, folks, I love you. Hallowed be thy name, praise God. Alright, folks, I love you.
Speaker 1:If you have any thoughts, questions, concerns, please feel free to drop us a line at lifearoundthefire at gmailcom. That's lifearoundthefire, all one word, all lowercase letters lifearoundthefire at gmailcom, or letters lifearoundthefire at gmailcom, or type in lifearoundthefire and look us up on the web. We would love to hear from you In the meantime. God bless you, adios amigos.