Life Around "The Fire"
This podcast is dedicated to those wanting to experience a living and real relationship with God as well as growing together in love for one another. We consider that to be a true sign of spiritual growth as we journey along The Way. If this is you then come along with us as we co-operate with God in what He is doing around the corner and around the world!
Life Around "The Fire"
What Happens When You Stop Just Existing and Start Overcoming?
Are you stuck in a cycle of merely existing from day to day? That "same stuff, different day" lifestyle leaves many of us feeling empty and unfulfilled, living for weekends that provide only temporary escape. But there's a profound difference between just getting by and becoming an overcomer.
My own journey transformed when God's Spirit revealed Jesus to me in a powerful way. That divine encounter showed me the weight of my condition and offered genuine forgiveness—not something I manufactured through self-improvement, but a cleansing that came from outside myself. This revelation planted the seed of God's very nature within me, beginning a process of growth that continues today.
The promise in Revelation 2:7 speaks directly to this transformation: "To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God." This promise isn't for those who merely participate in life; it's specifically for overcomers. Through years of ministry across 107 countries and over 1,300 cities worldwide, I've discovered five essential keys that unlock this overcomer lifestyle: diligently pray, faithfully obey, quietly trust, patiently observe, and thankfully worship. In an age where the average adult attention span has dwindled to just 6-8 seconds, these spiritual disciplines become even more crucial.
Forgiveness forms the foundation of this journey—both receiving God's forgiveness and extending it to others. When we embrace these principles, our lives develop a richness and depth that goes beyond existence into purpose. We become part of something that would be doomed to failure unless God is in it. Ready to move beyond just getting by? The overcomer's path awaits.
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.
I was thinking recently that I've been at this ministry of the gospel for quite some time and I've had the privilege of seeing things take place in various places around the world, all throughout the United States, in Czechoslovakia, in Canada, in Africa, slovakia, in Canada. In Africa, there are now, as a result of this podcast, over 107 countries that are listening to what's going on just through this podcast alone and, I think, like over 1,300 cities around the world, and so there's some meat and potatoes that we have to offer, because God has been really good and has allowed us the opportunity to do some things that, of and by ourselves, we wouldn't be able to do. And that's really what I want in life. I want to be part of something that is doomed to failure unless God is in it. I've seen what I can do on my own and I see what people can do, you know, without the recognition and aid of God, and some of the things are, you know, they're okay, and some are really actually pretty astounding, but in comparison to what God can do, they are not even a whisper a whisper.
Speaker 1:So I say that to say this that there was also a time that I was living a lifestyle that was basically doing the same thing, but on a different day. That SSDD type lifestyle, that SSDD type lifestyle, and also I was doing things just to get by. I would live for the weekend because on the weekend I would let my hair down and I would do a variety of things. Sometimes I would just drink all weekend and consider that a good time, you know, and then going to work the nine to five doing the same thing. But it was a different day and I was. I was getting by, I wasn't really necessarily being that much of an evil guy, but I was just not really doing much until one day the Spirit of God got a hold of my life and revealed Jesus to me in a very significant and powerful way, and that, right there, made the difference and began a change in my life. The change began with me changing repenting, meaning changing my mind and changing my ways and asking God to forgive me. There's nothing like forgiveness, and if you've never experienced forgiveness from the weight of sin that comes along with just being born into this world and not being free from that and being born again spiritually, but the weight of that sin, when it's removed, we then realize how heavy it is. But fortunately God allowed me to feel the weight of my condition and I wasn't blind anymore.
Speaker 1:I really saw what was going on and it was Jesus, the light of the world, that revealed to me what was really going on. He wasn't being mean about it, he just let me see what was going on. In fact, he would be mean to see a person stumbling around and not tell them that there are obstacles in their way and reveal what those obstacles are so they can see them and then have them removed. That would be mean to just watch someone stumble around. So the Lord, in his graciousness, revealed to me what was going on and I asked him to forgive me and he did. He cleansed me literally inside out. It wasn't me trying to polish myself up. He cleansed me and within me imparted his life, his very nature, not just a good thought to think about, but literally his life, the seed of his very life planted in me. That life began to grow and as a result, here we are today. I'm doing more than just existing. I'm living the life of an overcomer, meaning I have a purpose and God has a plan and my purpose is part of his plan and in that I'm committed to seeing that fulfilled all the way through to the end and, in that respect, becoming an overcomer, not just one who's existing, doing the same thing, but on a different day. And that same thing is available to you, and that's why we are continually expressing things that God gives to us, in hopes that something is going to touch your life and impart to you a spark that will bring about a change, so that you too can become an overcomer and not just one who is going through life existing.
Speaker 1:I want to share with you a passage from the book of Revelation, the Revelation of Jesus, where John, one of Jesus, which was in direct opposition to the culture that he lived in at the time, and the people of that culture of that time wanted to get rid of him, and one of the ways that they chose was to put him on this remote island as a death sentence. But John, while he was there, received a vision from God and wrote it down, and that vision that he received is a revelation of Jesus. Thus we have the book of Revelation and in Revelation, chapter 2, verse 7, he writes he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches, because he wrote a letter concerning his vision to seven churches, seven different congregations throughout Asia Minor. And he's, and in it this portion of the message just grabbed a hold of my heart and it's important for me, for us, to share this word, the word of the Lord, to you because it carries power to you, because it carries power. So again he writes he who has an ear, a spiritual ear, he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches and even though it was written to them, it carries weight for us today. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God. Revelation. Revelation, chapter 2, verse 7. Again, again, he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God. That's a powerful promise, but it's worth noting that the Spirit didn't say to the person who just exists and is doing the same thing, but on a different day. I'm going to do this Because there's really no reward that comes in living that way.
Speaker 1:You know, there's a notion in some cultures that there are trophies that are given to people young, kids for just participating in a sporting event. It's called a participation trophy. You get a trophy and I'm not an advocate of that because I believe that there are certain things that are reserved for those who are in a place, that go above and beyond just participation, but that they actually exert themselves with the power of God to become over comers. And so I wrote down a few things that are keys. They've been keys in my life and I wanna pass them on to you because they're more than just theory. These are things that actually work, and if there's one of these keys that you can take hold of and have it impact your life and have it impact your life, then this is a successful podcast on two ends on my end and on your end.
Speaker 1:And so the keys to overcoming, to being an overcomer, are to diligently pray number one Number two faithfully obey God Diligently pray to God. Number one Faithfully obey God. Number two quietly trust God. Number three patiently observe God. Number four and five thankfully praise and worship the one true God. Now, diligently pray to God. You see, without faith, it's impossible for God to be satisfied. We can't just kind of maybe consider the fact that he might be real. It's like someone considering the fact that you might be real. It'd be like I'm real. You can't just consider maybe the fact that I'm real and that would be satisfying to you. So, without faith, without really believing that God is and that he's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him, just casual observance or mental assent, that's not the same as believing God.
Speaker 1:And prayer, prayer, is the link. It's called prayer, but it's really more relational conversation with God, both speaking and listening, a two-way thing, like we have with one another as people. We talk, we listen, we laugh, we cry, we work things out. That's prayer, but it's done with God and it's a spiritual dynamic, because God is spirit and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. And so we engage in a spiritual activity, not just as something that we do as a an emergency you know parachute but it's the first thing that we do, not the last thing that we do, or, in a case of emergency, we pray. It's a relational interaction and we diligently do it, not just passively fire up a prayer, but we are diligently engaged in it in order to be an overcomer. And prayer is a link. Conversation with God is a conduit through which things flow from the, the kingdom of heaven, into the earth, into the world that we live in, and we are the conduit, and prayer is the pipeline through which things flow. It's the faith connection, it's the trust connection. If you talk to me and you present something to me, whatever it might be, it might be a request or it might be an idea, but you talk to me about it. It means you trust me. Well, the same goes for God, and even more so because God does things beyond us and he operates in a way that is so faithful, he is so trustworthy. He's proven himself to be trustworthy to me, and so prayer for me now is not an afterthought, it is a forethought, it is a current thought and it's an afterthought. It is a forethought, is a current thought and it's an afterthought. It's diligently praying, because I am an overcomer, not just one who's existing.
Speaker 1:Number two faithfully obey. Obedience is better than sacrifice. It's better to obey God than to try to do something for God. God doesn't need us to do things for him. We're called to obey, and in that obedience there's something that transpires in the spiritual world, but also in the earthly world that we live in. There's something unique that takes place when we obey. We might not see it immediately. That's an important point to take note. You might not see the results of your obedience and your diligent prayer immediately. And it's interesting in America, right now, in year 2025, for an adult, the average attention span is somewhere between six to eight seconds. Six to eight seconds meaning that's how long we think about things and we're thinking about something else, and so we can pray sometimes and forget about the thing that we prayed about six to eight seconds later because we're onto something else and we don't really ever realize the answer to it because our attention span isn't locked in on God. We've not learned to meditate, to ruminate, to wait, to wait upon the Lord to faithfully obey.
Speaker 1:And the next point, number three quietly trust, quietly trust. Once we diligently pray and we faithfully obey, we quietly trust. We don't make a big deal out of what we're doing behind the scenes. In fact, it's been told to us to, when we pray, oftentimes go into a private place and don't do it so that other people see you doing it or hear you doing it, because if you do, you've already got your reward. That's your reward. People say wow, that's pretty spiritual. But if you go to a place where you're not making a big deal out of it in front of other people, but you quietly trust and you're not using your prayers to undermine what someone else is doing by saying I really don't agree with them, but I've been praying for them, oh man, that just throws a fly in the chardonnay right there. Man, it's just not good. But to quietly trust, quietly trust. So, number one diligently pray. Two faithfully obey. Three quietly trust. Number four patiently observe. Four patiently observe.
Speaker 1:Remember I said you know that sometimes things seem like they're delayed, and you know we live in a time and space continuum, the realm of time and space, and so sometimes things seem like they've taken a long time, but in all reality it's not then but a breath, because in eternity it's always now and God operates in the realm of eternity. But he's given us this place of time and space so that we can learn certain things that we can't learn anywhere else and we can't grow anywhere else except within the realm of time and space. And it's not always going to be this way, but it's this way now. In fact, this time, this age of time and space is coming to a close relatively soon, and there's going to be something new that's going to be taking place after that. That's interesting. When that takes place, it's going to seem like it's always been that way, and yet it'll seem brand new. And that's the way that eternity works. It's in the now.
Speaker 1:But when we live in time and space, it seems like we wait and sometimes it seems like we're waiting a long time. But in all reality we're not waiting that long, and especially if our attention span is six to eight seconds on the average, waiting, even waiting 40 days or 40 years, is not that long when it's stacked up against eternity. But in the realm of time and space we need to patiently observe, because things don't always happen right away, but they will happen. See, that's the part. If we patiently observe and if we quietly trust, if we maintain our faith, we don't drop off and just say, well, that didn't happen yet, so it's probably not going to happen. I mean, there's a temptation for that to take place in all of our lives. It hasn't happened yet, it's probably not going to happen. Ah, well, you know, there it goes. See, it never happens in my life. Well, that just negates what we prayed. And if someone came up to me and they asked me for something and it was going to take a while, but then they came back around and said, ah, it didn't happen. It didn't happen yet, so it might as well not happen, just forget about it, I'd be like what? Yeah, forget about it, it didn't happen yet. You know, I see you don't really like me, you don't really care about me. You care about everyone else but not me.
Speaker 1:But if we patiently observe and we quietly trust, we maintain a position in which we can become overcomers and not complainers or not just people that go through things and have a complex about. Well, it never happens anyway, it's not going to happen now. See, these are the things that God wants to deal with in our life and help us get rid of change to repent from, to change our mind and change our ways so that we can diligently pray, faithfully obey, quietly trust and patiently observe. I say quietly and patiently observe, again, not making a big deal out of us observing. I'm watching you, I'm watching You're praying about a situation, right, and it happens to all the other people, and we tell the other people. I've been praying and I'm watching now. Well, man, talk about unhealthy pressure and control manipulation that we place on people.
Speaker 1:Diligently pray, faithfully, obey, quietly, trust, patiently observe and, lastly, thankfully, praise and worship the one true God, even before the answer comes, because the answer is going to come. And when the answer comes, yes, praise and worship God, but throughout the process he is worthy of our praise and worship. Our number one call in life is to worship God. Our highest priority is to worship God. He is worthy. He is central. We're not. He is he's creator. We're created. He is worthy of our praise. He is worthy of our praise and he is.
Speaker 1:He is so amazing, so wonderful, so faithful, so powerful, so true. He has decisions. He's decisive and in his decisiveness they're called judgments. He has a final say on things. A judgment keeps him from being judgmental. Right, that's a different thing. Being judgmental is a religious thing, bondage, judgmental. But having a judgment, having the ability to be decisive, have a final say on something, that's healthy.
Speaker 1:God has judgments and they're good. They're not flippant. He's not out to fry people. He loves us, but he also will correct us and, if need be, in correction there can be things that are uncomfortable. No discipline or correction is comfortable for the moment, but in the end it leads to life, man. I mean, it goes with children, right, if a parent doesn't discipline their child and bring correction and have responsibility for them, eventually that parent will become the child's slave, because the child will feel entitled. But when there's correction, it puts things in place. It's not being abusive, of course. Not Abusive is abusive, but being correct to provide correction. We need that. I need that, I need that as an adult, and God provides it, and so he's worthy of our praise and worship.
Speaker 1:But especially in the process of us becoming an overcomer, having a lifestyle of praise and worship, hallelujah, that is really a telltale sign of a person's maturity in their walk with God Prayer and worship, along with obedience and trust and the ability to observe, keeping your eyes open. Now, early on, I put forgiveness in there. Early on, I put forgiveness in there. And forgiveness, man, forgiveness. Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
Speaker 1:Forgiveness, be forgiven and be forgiving, and the list goes on in the life of an overcomer. And these qualities are good. See, that's when you see a person who has those qualities. There's a richness and a depth in their life, there's a sense of being solid and righteous and peaceful, and they have joy because things are in their proper place, they are right.
Speaker 1:Hallelujah, hallelujah, so diligently, pray, faithfully, obey, quietly, trust, patiently, observe, thankfully, praise and worship the one through God. And to him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God, in the paradise of God, which is in the paradise of God. Let's pray Father, thank you, thank you, thank you, I love you. I love you, I worship you, I love you, I worship you.
Speaker 1:We worship you, god, and I thank you for teaching us how to be overcomers, not just telling us to be overcomers and leaving us on our own. You've not left us as orphans, but you, holy Spirit, have come in the very name of Jesus and you are our teacher and our guide, our comforter. Thank you, thank you for showing us Jesus, jesus, thank you for showing us the Father. Father, thank you for revealing to us the heart of God. We need you, we trust you, we look to you and we stand here in the name of Jesus and we invite you, holy Spirit, to make us like him and in his name we pray Amen, amen, amen, amen. Hallelujah. Folks, we love you. If you have any thoughts, questions or concerns, please feel free to drop us a line at 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.