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Life Around "The Fire"
Life Around "The Fire"
Kingdom of God Unplugged
Step into the transformative world of God's kingdom in our latest episode, where we explore the profound impact it can have on your life today. We invite you to see the kingdom not just as a distant reality, but as an active, present state of being that shapes our daily interactions and choices. Throughout the episode, we discuss the struggles many face when trying to comprehend what it truly means to belong to this divine kingdom and the necessity of adjusting our perspectives to align with God's vision.
As we break down key concepts, we delve into the powerful imagery of the Holy Spirit as a tuning fork—guiding us to find harmony within the divine symphony of God's creation. This connection emphasizes the importance of being in tune with our purpose and participating actively in the unfolding narrative of faith in our lives.
Our conversation also prioritizes the theme of relationship over religion, showcasing how a genuine connection to God inspires a heartfelt, lived experience far beyond following a checklist of rules. We highlight the depth of belonging that accompanies being a citizen of His kingdom, celebrating the love, grace, and community that transform how we relate to ourselves and those around us.
Join us as we challenge you to embrace your identity within this kingdom and discover the richness that awaits. This episode is not just a discussion; it's a call to action. We encourage you to tune into the divine symphony, explore your unique role, and reflect on how you can live out this transformative reality today. Subscribe to our podcast for more insightful discussions and share your thoughts with us—we'd love to hear from you!
Loving Yeshua/Jesus, Loving people... Come as you are and you will be loved!
Feel free to check out our website 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, before we get going on the topic of this particular podcast episode today, concerning, once again, the kingdom of God, I really want to take a couple of moments and, first of all, one of my favorite things to do is to just really lift high the name of Jesus and say he is amazing, he's wonderful, he is Savior, he's Lord, he's King of Kings, he is God, he is good man. Jesus is awesome and I love saying that. I'll say that throughout eternity. I'll saying that. I'll say that throughout eternity. I'll say that Also. I want to say this you guys, you folks that are listening, and some of you have been listening for the past three years. That's pretty much how long we've been doing this particular podcast, life Around the Fire about three years and we started with no budget and we still have no budget and we've kind of really more out of obedience. We have made the decision to be obedient, right to God and not have money involved in anything that we're doing. We have a website that has a place on it that if you want to donate, feel free, but that's about as aggressive as we get concerning raising any funds. Now, periodically, we might point you to the website because there's a project that we're working on and we want you to be aware of it so you can take a look at that and you might want to contribute to that. But, as far as just you know, asking you to give us money, we don't do that, we're not going to do that. But that doesn't mean that the quality of what is being put out is, you know, something that's kind of cheap, kind of schmaltzy, not good. We try to keep the quality of things on a high level, because this is really about Jesus, this is really about him and he is worthy of the best, and so we try to do that and on many levels, I think we've been fairly consistent with that which is good, fairly consistent with that which is good, and where I'm going with that is just that.
Speaker 1:You guys, I'm going to brag on you a bit because I want to thank you for being faithful, not just to listen but to share this with other people, because we started small in my bedroom in Jacksonville, florida. That's the studio, and one city, one location, and right now we're being listened to in over a thousand cities around the world, to in over a thousand cities around the world, 62 countries and nations and all of the continents, and that's with a budget of $0.0,. Right, tell me that when God wants something done he doesn't need. He's not poor, he doesn't need our money. We need to give more than he needs the money. Right, it's better for us to give. Anyway, I want to thank you that's really to take a moment, but also to kind of give you an update as to what's going on and the footprint, the imprint, the footprint of this particular podcast is pretty significant, and so that's another reason why we try to be careful with what we're sharing and why I frequently, most often, have a Bible in front of me when I'm sharing, because we're using the scriptures as a baseline for our communication. We found it to be accurate, to be true, to be the best source to begin with, and then from there we can build on Christ and solid rock the good foundation Relationship with God. And so thank you, thank you. Thank you, thank you for being faithful to pray and to share what's going on, because this drop in the ocean is going around the ocean now, and it's a good thing.
Speaker 1:So back to the topic I had the kingdom of God, the rule and the reign of God, the realm of God, god and the way that he does things, what comes out of his heart, what comes out of God's heart, is his kingdom. Like, out of the heart of a king comes the kingdom. What he likes, the clothes he likes to wear, the music he likes to listen to, the proclamations that he makes proclamations that he makes that's the kingdom, comes from the king. And many of us in cultures that don't have a kingdom mentality can struggle with the notion of the kingdom of God Because we try to read the kingdom or see the kingdom like. We try to look at it, like, oh like, like it's. We try to make it fit our world instead of us fitting that world. And so I, uh, I want to be really sure and careful to emphasize the fact that we're talking about something that can be, in some people's minds, a completely different culture, and it's important for you to not try to make it fit into your world, but you need to fit into the world of God's kingdom. And that's the process that many of us have been going through and we've been sharing that, because sometimes it's a struggle and sometimes it's awkward in the struggle because we don't necessarily look like, we know what we're doing and it's not all perfect and it's not all planned, it's not all programmed, and you know what? That's actually a good thing, because we're talking about relationship, and anyone who's in any relationship knows that there's a lot of give and take that goes on and changes that go on, and the relationship is not a program. There's not a set outline for every relationship, and that's how it goes. It has moving parts. An organism is a better way to put it Now. An organism can have organization in it, but it is a living organism, and that's what we're talking about relationship in the kingdom of God, first and foremost with God, but then with each other.
Speaker 1:And I reference the fact that most often I have a Bible in front of me, and today I don't. Often I have a Bible in front of me, and today I don't, because I just want to be able to more clearly talk without feeling as though I need to give a chapter and a verse behind everything that I'm doing. And so my challenge will be for you to, if you hear something that you want to kind of question, just take a word from what I'm saying and get your concordance out, and you will find a scripture reference for it. I'm not going to be giving chapter and verse, considering the things that I'm saying, because in this podcast it would take too long and there's a point that I want to get to that's important. So, before we go any further, what I'd like to do is just take a moment and pray, because we live in an incredibly busy world and there are a lot of things that come our way and our lives can be moving in a variety of different directions all at the same time, and to keep focus can be a real challenge.
Speaker 1:It can be, without a doubt, a challenge, but we need to focus, because there's a principle in life and it goes like this what we behold, or who we behold the most, is what or who we become like, like beholding and becoming. And we want to behold Jesus because we want to become like him, and that's an assumption that I'm living with. Concerning you who are listening, you want to become like Jesus. Some of you are just learning how some of you, the question mark is like nah, this is really a trip, because I didn't really always want to, but something's happening, you're being drawn by Holy Spirit into relationship or you're in it, and so we want to become like him. That's what happens when we enter into relationship with him. There's a love, there's a deep love that infuses us. It's his love, it's his life and it inspires us to want to not have to.
Speaker 1:You see, the have to thing, that's religion. We have to comply with certain laws, certain creeds, certain ordinances. We have to do this. You can have organizations. The Masons are one of the most highly religious organizations that there are. You have to. There's an order of things, so we don't have to when it comes to our relationship with God. We get to, not got to, we get to, and that get to is within us. We want to be. I want to become like Jesus. So I want to behold him, because the more I behold him, the funny thing is, I become like him.
Speaker 1:So it requires focus, and we're going to ask Holy Spirit to help us focus for a little bit so we can, in our spirits and then in our minds, focus in on Jesus. So, father, we come to you right now, god, and first of all I want to thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you for who you are and for how you're doing things. Father, I just thank you for calling us, choosing us, drawing us by your spirit into your kingdom, citizens, sons and daughters, kings and priests, into your kingdom, ambassadors. Lord, god, holy Spirit, we want to be like Jesus and I need help. We need help to become like him because of the things that come our way. So, right now, please help us focus in on him. Shepherd our thoughts like a shepherd's sheep. Shepherd our thoughts that way and cause them to just rest so we can feast on him, that our eyes can behold him and we can become like him and then live like him. So we honor Jesus Christ, the Holy One, and we stand here in his name and we say let it be so, be it. Amen, amen, amen, amen, all right, all right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like I said in the beginning part of this particular podcast episode, that we're going to continue on with the theme concerning the kingdom of God, because that's the eternal rule and reign, but also the realm in which we've been called to be citizens in eternally. And eternity begins now. It's not going to happen when we die. We're just living in the realm of time and space. That's going to cease at some point in time, but eternity always has been and always will be, and so the kingdom of God always has been and always will be. And so the kingdom of God always has been, always will be. And, funny thing, the time in the kingdom of God is always now. And so our emphasis on the kingdom of God and growing in our understanding that seeking first that kingdom and the righteousness that goes along with the relationship with God is paramount, because everything else is added to our lives after that the pearl of great price, the kingdom of God, man. As we become more familiar with what that means, we realize how valuable that is and it's extremely valuable. So knowing it, living it, living according to the ways of it, the culture of it, is good to know now, not for us to wait until we die.
Speaker 1:And so the other day I was talking to a friend of mine and I said let me run this by you, let me give a question. I said about two years ago give or take. I started in my, in my spirit, in my innermost being, I heard this note like when you hold a organ key, a pipe organ, and you're selling that one note, sustained note. That's what I heard, but it was just really. It was faint but it was recognizable and I just I would listen to it and I didn't really know what that was, and it was just recently I began realizing that that note or that sound has gotten louder.
Speaker 1:I've been hearing in my spirit a single note louder and so, I excuse me, I have a good relationship with my friend and I said what do you think, man, he goes, do you think that that might be a tuning fork? And man, as soon as he said that, just that light bulb turned on and I said what did you say? He goes, tuning fork. You know tuning fork. I said, man, you're putting language to something that I've been hearing. Yes, I said exactly, a tuning fork, the sound of a tuning fork, he goes. Well, that's what a conductor does prior to the beginning of a particular symphony piece. Prior to the beginning of a particular symphony piece is he takes and he strikes a tuning fork and all of the instruments tune their pitch to that particular tuning fork. I said, excuse me. I said, yeah, man. I said yeah, man. I said it's getting louder, he goes. Well, what do you think? And I said I'm going to think about that. Well, I did. And now here's what I think about that.
Speaker 1:I think that that tuning fork is Holy Spirit, the conductor of the symphony, tapping that tuning fork so that we hear it and we tune our lives into that pitch, because there's a vibration. There's a vibration that goes along with that pitch and there's things that, when we tune into it, we can play and participate in, we can work in, we work together in, and it is an organized organism of sound and light and reality, but it gives access into us being able to function according to the symphony that has been chosen for us to play. Oh man, dude, I'm telling you, my life is being tuned so that I can participate in the symphony piece that's designed for this particular point in time in world history. We've been like that noisy bunch of instruments tuning ourselves into that and getting ourselves to where the beginning was symphony. It sounds kind of just confusing all these different sounds, and then the tap of the baton and everything gets quiet and then the symphony starts. Folks, there's the beginning of a new symphony that's going to be starting rather soon and we're going to hear a tap, tap, tap. It's going to get real quiet for a second and then we're going to participate in something.
Speaker 1:I don't know if it's the last piece of the symphony or not. I don't know. I don't know. I wish I did, but I don't know if it's the last piece of the symphony or not. I don't know. I don't know. I wish I did, but I don't. But it's definitely a new piece of the symphony, same overall theme, but just another part of it, kind of like act two, act three, act four, five, so on and so forth. Well, whatever act this is, this is a new act and we are being tuned into it. Now I hear it that way because part of my gifting is to be a seer and a sayer. I have a sensitivity about my life. That is just a fact.
Speaker 1:Okay, there's a story about the princess and the pea. It's an old story where they could discover whether this girl was a princess or not. She'd be very sensitive, she could even feel if she was a real princess. She could feel any lump in a mattress at all. Well, they tested her and finally they had a tall bunch of mattresses. They put one little pea underneath the bottom mattress and she could feel that pea. It's called the princess and the pea. Well, it proved that she was a princess.
Speaker 1:I'm not going to say exactly what this proves in my life, except that I see things and I say things and I'm very sensitive and what I see I'm saying and what I feel I'm expressing and what I hear you said. You know I'm saying what I feel I'm expressing and what I hear Jesus said. You know, those who have ears to hear, let them hear. Eyes to see, let them see. He wasn't just talking about our eyeballs and our ears, he was talking about our inner, inner man.
Speaker 1:And when we are tuned in, we get to participate in things that you don't participate in unless you're tuned in. And the only way to tune in to this symphony is through Jesus. There are other symphonies going on, but this is the symphony of God. The only way into relationship with God is through Jesus. And I know that gets some people just so upset because they say I'm good, I'm a good person, how could I be outside of a relationship with God? I do so many good things. Good is not the point. Love is the point. And whether or not we are born into, born into, born again, into literally a supernatural new birth, born into the kingdom of God, not doing into the kingdom of God, not working into the kingdom of God, born into A gift that's received and then, once in, tuned in, tuned in to participate. You can't play part of this symphony unless you are tuned in, and you can't tune in unless you're in. And those who are in, some people don't want. For some reason, they choose not to participate. They're scared, they've been told that it's not. I don't know. A lot of different reasons, too many to count and not worth talking about right now.
Speaker 1:Anyway, I'm here to encourage you who are. You've sold everything, you've given up meaning, like you've just said, my life. I'm by itself and anything I've done prior to this is nothing. It's filthy rags In comparison to knowing Christ and the greatness of knowing him and to be a citizen of his kingdom. What's mine is yours. And you say, god, what's yours is mine, a divine exchange. I'm not going to hold back. I'm not going to hold back. I'm not going to hold, I'm not holding back anything. It's all been given over. I got nothing, but I got everything. How does that work? Yeah, that's the way it works.
Speaker 1:And so, for those of you who have done and expressed and have experienced that reality, I'm saying, man, god's tuning you into something very great, and be aware of it, because it's a different act. Same symphony, different act, act. Same symphony, different act. And we need to be able to have the same sound, the same vibration, the same frequency, because we're being given access into things by virtue of that vibration, by virtue of that frequency, that we have not had access into before. They've been there, we've just not had access. Now the key is there and the door is open and we are able to function in.
Speaker 1:There are things that are supernatural, that we're going to be functioning, that we have not functioned in before. You can't function in them on your own, you can't make them happen, you can't make, I can't. I can't make a miracle happen, but in the kingdom, when it's time for that to happen, it happens. It just does. Now, sometimes it's intermittent. I don't understand that. Where it happens in one place, not in another, that's again. That's above my pay grade. But I'm here to say that we are right now.
Speaker 1:Right now we're involved in an international demonstration, sovereign by God, of his greatness, of his glory, of his glory, of his glory of his glory, and he's calling us forward, which means he's calling us upward In the kingdom of God. Going forward is going up In the natural world. Going forward is moving from point A to point B, linear forward In the kingdom of God to go forward is going up, vertical, not horizontal. He's calling us up. He's saying come on up, come on up, my glory will come on down, come on up. Function from a higher realm, play the symphony from a higher position. Different sound, different access point. We're being given access into ways of doing things that we haven't been able to do before, even traveling, much like in the book of Acts.
Speaker 1:The book of Acts was an introductory in the Bible. The book of Acts, that was the introduction into things. That wasn't the completion of things, that was the introduction. The plan of God has been unfolding from that point, even prior to that, but from that point it's been unfolding, which means that there are other things that are unfolding and we're in a time of unfolding right now. And the unfolding greatness of God is upon us, a demonstration of who God is. Not us telling people who God is. God saying this is who I am, I am, I am has sent me. We witness that we say what that was, that was, I am. We witness that we say what that was, that was I am. We bear witness. We don't have to put together an outline that tells people who God is. We're in a day and an hour. We can demonstrate by pointing our finger and saying see that, that's who God is, that's his kingdom.
Speaker 1:The door is open, the tuning fork is still sounding, so there's time for us to be able to tune our instruments, our lives, in. When that goes, tap, tap, tap. At that point it's not you're either in or out, it's just you're either tuned into the symphony or you're not. Oh man, okay, I want to encourage you. If you're sensing something significant in your life and you're called to something great, you are okay. You are, and I want to encourage you. You're not nuts, okay, you're not fanatical. We'd have to go so far before we become fanatics that I don't think we can do it. We are far from being fanatical when we're radically sold out to Jesus.
Speaker 1:Let's pray Father, amen, amen, amen. It is so true. Being sold out to your son, jesus. Jesus being sold out to you. Holy Spirit being sold out to your son, jesus, jesus being sold out to you. Holy Spirit being sold out to Jesus. You have full permission to use us any way you want to. Please use us every way you want to, whenever you want to, however you want to, your will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Kingdom come, will of God be done in us as it is in heaven. Kingdom come, love of God be done in us as it is in heaven. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Glory to God in the highest and shalom peace to his people on earth. In the name of Jesus, amen, amen, amen, amen.
Speaker 1:Folks, I love you, I really do. If you happen to have any thoughts, questions, concerns, please feel free to drop us a line at lifearoundthefire at gmailcom. Life Around the Fire is all one word, all lowercase letters. Lifearoundthefire at gmailcom. We'd love to hear from you. Type in Life Around the Fire and look us up on the web. We've got a website. There's some stuff on there I think would be of interest to you. We'd love to hear from you In the meantime. God bless you. Adios amigos.