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Life Around "The Fire"
Life Around "The Fire"
Hungry for More
Something is stirring in the hearts of believers across the world. A divine hunger, planted by God Himself, calling us beyond the comfortable confines of what many have accepted as the Christian life.
Have you felt it? That nagging sense that there must be more to following Jesus than simply being good until you die and go to heaven? You're not alone, and you're not crazy. The stirring you feel is the voice of God calling you deeper into His kingdom reality—not just as a future hope, but as a present experience.
For too long, many Christians have lived like trained elephants with invisible chains. As baby elephants, they were limited by real restraints until they stopped trying to break free. Even when the chains were removed, leaving only a bracelet, they remained bound by the memory of limitation. This powerful metaphor reflects how many believers have accepted artificial boundaries on God's power working through them. The good news? Those limitations are lies. The prison doors are open.
The Book of Acts wasn't the conclusion of God's kingdom expression—it was just the beginning. What makes Christianity vibrant and attractive isn't our list of "don'ts" but the supernatural life of God actively flowing through us. That's what draws people to Jesus: believers who function with confidence in God's power, demonstrating His love through signs, wonders, and authentic community.
This unfolding of kingdom power requires something often missing in church culture: the freedom to try, fail, and grow. Like any product development, spiritual growth happens through "research and development"—spaces where we can explore the gifts of the Spirit without fear of criticism when our attempts aren't perfect. It's easier to steer a moving car than a parked one.
If you're hungry for more, know that God is positioning you to connect with others who share this same passion. The cry within you comes from Him, and He will satisfy it. Ready to break free from religious routine and step into the empowering grace that makes the Christian life the most engaging adventure possible? Let's journey together into the unfolding kingdom.
Loving Yeshua/Jesus, Loving people... Come as you are and you will be loved!
Feel free to check out our website by typing in lifearoundthefire.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.
there are quite a few people that are going to be listening to this podcast, that are going to be at some point agreeing with what I'm saying on a very significant level, because there is a hunger. There is a hunger that's growing in the hearts and of the body of Christ, who are filled with the Holy Spirit, and inside of your belly that we haven't really reached the pinnacle of things yet concerning our purpose on planet Earth. We are living in a day and a time in which God is making his presence known more and more across the nations and it's going to increase, because God loves us and he wants relationship, real relationship with us, and he is in hot pursuit of you. His love compels him, it motivates him to reach you To the point that he Took your Own Penalty For the wrong that you have done and the things that were Within your own life by virtue of the fact that you were born in a fallen world, and he brought them to the cross, to a place of death, to put them to death, so that we could be free from the bondage of living a lie and experience the truth found in relationship with him.
Speaker 1:The only satisfying factor in life is relationship with God Hands down without a doubt, with. God hands down without a doubt, and in that relationship, it's our privilege and our responsibility to become more and more like him, because he has given to us his very life, in covenant with us. The depth of relationship that he has secured is unbreakable. The bond is unbreakable. There is no height, there is no depth, there is no creature known that is capable of separating us from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus. We are secure in his love. He has saved us, he is keeping us and he will complete the work within us. And he will complete the work within us. Notice that it's not us being saved and then our responsibility to get things done by being good. Now, a changed life and behavior is part of repentance, granted, but it's a work of God's Spirit within us that is achieving these things. He is faithful. The one who called us is faithful to not only save us, but to bring us to the end, not for us to be left to do things in the middle. Now we can cooperate with him, and that's the beauty of this whole thing we are learning to cooperate with the very life form of God, form of God, the very life of God and his forming us into his image, not us forming ourselves into his image by behaving, but our behavior changes as a result of him working within us and us cooperating with him in that process. That's profound, that's grace, that's a gift, that's God, that's the love that he has for us and the fact that now things are unfolding. He has for us and the fact that now things are unfolding.
Speaker 1:This is where things get rather rich, at least as a result of my own life experience with Jesus, experience with Jesus. Now I've been born again, literally by His Spirit, by the Spirit of God. I've been born again into the Kingdom of God for over 50 years, but it was about 40 years ago, give or take, that something really took place within my life and it has changed me. It's affected me and it's still affecting me to this very day, and that is, I became acquainted with the understanding that I wasn't born again just to be good and wait until I get to heaven when I die, in order to participate in the life of God. Being good was what I had heard, if not by direct teaching, by the example of other people, and granted again, that's a powerful thing, especially for someone who's lived a life of real sin I mean really lived in the darkness and to be free from that and to live a life that is clean. Oh man, amen, amen, may that tribe increase. But that's not the high watermark, and that's what I'm getting at. Not the high watermark, and that's what I'm getting at. I learned that there is something more involved in being born again than being good, as good as that is. That's not the high watermark, that's not the pinnacle of God's purpose for taking me out of darkness and bringing me into the light of his life. It's so that I can become a citizen of his kingdom, the kingdom of God.
Speaker 1:The kingdom of God is so significant in the understanding not just the mental, intellectual understanding of the kingdom, but the experiential reality of walking in accordance to the culture and ways of God's kingdom, empowered by the Holy Spirit and utilizing the things, all of the things, all of the things that God has made available to us now. Not us waiting until we die in order to participate in them, but to participate in them now. And there's a hunger. There is a hunger that is a God-given hunger for people to grasp, to lay hold of these precious promises, to find out what they are to find out what they are and actually live them out, not just talk about them in groups and then go home and basically live life the same old, same old but to literally be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we become people that function in the power of God's Spirit, as citizens of His kingdom and impact the world that we live in. That power, those things that are available to us as a result of us being taken from the realm of darkness into the kingdom of God, is so significant that we have, in many respects, at times undersold what's available to us. We've sold ourselves short, and there is a cry going out to God from the hearts of his people for more, and God is answering that cry. In fact, he placed that cry within us and answering it at the same time. There is more. There is so much more available to us than what we've been walking in. There's so much more available to you.
Speaker 1:Now, if you are bored with your walk and relationship with Jesus, it's because you're stuck in dead religion, dead works. You're stuck in doing the same old, same old, because somehow the thought of more has been a bit too elusive, not necessarily emphasized, nor given opportunity to learn how to, and even learn by making mistakes, but nonetheless learning how to function with the gifts of God's Spirit. Because we live in a world, basically, of smoky mirrors, meaning that we see things in part and we know in part. It's like looking in a mirror that is an old-fashioned mirror that was just polished metal and it was hard to see the exact image, kind of a smoky glass, mirror or metal. That was just not as easily. It didn't really give the clear picture.
Speaker 1:Well, in this world that we live in, that's comprised of time and space, in that continuum, it's like living with dark mirrors. Everything is not all that clear, because one day it's going to get clearer and we'll be able to see clearly. We'll know as we are known, but right now we are given the opportunity to trust God and have faith, even when we can't see. But we can see. It's not that we can't see nothing, we just can't see everything. It's not all perfect. That's why we need to have patience with each other, because that's all of us who are in that place.
Speaker 1:There are no superstars. We are all people who need to rely upon Holy Spirit to be our guide, our teacher, to show us how and to empower us to live it out. And when he empowers us, he empowers us with such great power. If you don't know whether or not you've been empowered by the Holy Spirit, you haven't yet, but we can, and there is so much available. It's unfolding. God is unfolding it to us.
Speaker 1:The beginning of the church wasn't the high watermark, it was the beginning. The book of Acts wasn't the end of the church age. It was the beginning of that age, of this age, and it's been unfolding. It didn't stop unfolding, it's been unfolding, and now we're seeing the unfolding take place in a very pronounced way again. And when it unfolds, more becomes clear and what's available becomes clearer and we are capable of functioning on a higher level, which is far from being boring. It's the most engaging way of living known to mankind, and we get to be part of it.
Speaker 1:We are called to participate with God in it, to co-operate with him, to be empowered supernaturally with his gifts and to be trained by his spirit, and for us to be utilized as those those who can be vessels, to train those who can be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, miracle workers, things that are literally ways in which God uses us to demonstrate himself in his place. Like Jesus did we become like Jesus, but now we're multiplied and it's God's intention that we grow and that we continue to grow and that we are vibrant in our growth because of the empowerment that comes by his spirit and our participation in his kingdom. To know the kingdom of God is really, really, really to function in it In that way. Know it, that type of knowing the functioning. That's where life takes on a whole new meaning. It's not boring, in fact, as I said, it's very invigorating. But also it's very attractive when we see people that are filled with confidence.
Speaker 1:Insecure people don't really attract other people to come and be part of that. Or people that don't like each other and are continually squabbling about and pointing out the problems in each other's lives. What is attractive to become part of? Who wants to be part of that? That's far too often the commentary that we have provided for the world to read concerning what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Kind of an empty, dull life. Certain things that we don't do. We don't smoke, we don't chew and we don't go with girls that do right that old clothesline Christianity living life by what we don't do as a sign of our spirituality, as opposed to what it is that we do function with and in how we go about living and the love that we demonstrate to each other.
Speaker 1:I'm emphasizing this because when you're hearing it, something inside of you, if you are called by God to participate in his kingdom and those of us who are born again, we are there is a cry coming up from within you and you wonder is that really real? The answer is yes, it's real. You're hearing it here. There's more, and God is providing it If we will allow him to remove the limitations from our lives.
Speaker 1:You see, the way to train an elephant not to run away is to get the elephant as a baby and put a bracelet on its ankle and chain it to a post, and when it would try to move away, it couldn't move away, it would just stop. It was limited and so eventually it just stopped trying, and so eventually it just stopped trying. Well, later you could take and remove that chain and just keep the bracelet on, and the elephant wouldn't try to run away and be free, because it was convinced that it was useless. It would not even try. That limitation is something that many people who are followers of Jesus experience and encounter and are right now struggling with, and I'm here to say that that bracelet that's on your ankle, that limitation that's been placed upon you, is a lie and you are free. That's good news. That's what the evangel is. The prison doors are open and you can come on out. You're not limited Like an elephant with an ankle. Bracelet is limited because it just gave up. We are not limited. God has given us great and precious promises and they are available to us and they are activated by faith. They are activated by believing God and taking him at his word and doing something with him.
Speaker 1:Even if we do it wrong to begin with, it's easier to move, it's easier to steer a moving vehicle than it is a parked car, moving vehicle than it is a parked car. We often don't do things because it's not perfect. You know we don't want to do it wrong. Well, why? I mean that would limit anything from being invented and then developed. In fact, there are entire companies that have sections that are devoted just to testings and try to break them until they can't. We, of all people, can give that type of understanding to one another.
Speaker 1:Should we make a mistake in the process of trying, research and development. Come on, man In the body of Christ. We need a good research and development. Come on, man In the body of Christ. We need a good research and development department where we can research things, we can develop them and we can try to break it. Make mistakes, be free to make mistakes, not for the purpose of highlighting the mistakes, but to eliminate them so that we can function according to the life within us, like Jesus did.
Speaker 1:He is our perfect example and that cry within us is the cry for us to mature and become the sons of God, is the cry for us to mature and become the sons of God. The nature within us is crying out for that maturity. Not just nature itself, but our own very human nature is crying out to develop, praise God and for us to encourage each other in the process, as opposed to discouraging each other and or criticizing each other because we haven't done it perfectly. There's more, there's more, there's more, and God is providing more, it's unfolding, and that cry within you is not just you. That's a cry that's come from God and he is going to meet that need. That's good news. It might set you apart as being different for a while, but I guarantee you you will not be bored. In fact, uniquely enough, you will be aligned with and find other people who feel the same way and you'll be joined together with, because God is positioning people to function in ways and in groups that are suitable to who we are best suited for who we are. That might require some change. That's why no leader owns anybody. We don't own people. We are overseers under shepherds. God is one who owns. He can freely align people in different places and move people around.
Speaker 1:Now it's unfortunate that oftentimes we go away versus being sent, and that's a whole nother topic. Waiting to be sent versus just going away because things got rough. I get it. Sometimes we need to for the sake of body and soul, so to speak. We need to move, and that too, is the work of the spirit. But I love to see the sending out, because that means that relationships are still good and God is relational and he wants us to have good relationships, not just with him, but with one another.
Speaker 1:What did Jesus say? God is who he says he is because we love each other. Love is that thing that we have been given more of than we are utilizing. Love, because the power of love and the power in love involves signs and wonders, healings. It's all love, a demonstration of love, peace, joy, righteousness. It's all love. Forgiveness, forgiveness, Patience, long suffering, long suffering, long suffering. God is doing something greater than what was done before and he's doing it now and he's doing it again and he's going to continue to do it until it's complete, Until his plan is complete, until his purposes are done. It's going to continue to unfold and we get to be part of it.
Speaker 1:And this is just an encouragement for those who are listening that you're not nuts, you're not crazy, you're not a malcontent for wanting more. If you're not satisfied with the way things are, it's because you might be stuck in the rut of dead religion, meaning dead works, just the same old, same old, as opposed to something that's unfolding and empowering. And God wants us to be in that place of grace, his grace, his empowerment. Let's pray Father, first of all, I thank you again for who you are and for what you're doing and how you're doing it and the fact that you're using us. You've called us, you've called us and I'm so glad I responded.
Speaker 1:I'm so glad others have responded and I said Lord, enter into my life and give me your life. I want relationship with you. Yes, lord, yes, have your way, lord, yes, have your way. Lord Father, there's so much more available than what we've been living out. I ask that that would be manifest, that we'd be made visible to us and through us, so that your kingdom would be demonstrated and advance and cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. We honor you, god, we worship you and we present ourselves as living sacrifices in the name of Jesus. Amen, amen, amen, amen. All right, folks, I love you. If you have any thoughts, questions, concerns, once again, please feel free to drop us a line at liferonthefire at gmailcom, drop us a line at lifearoundthefire at gmailcom, or just 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.