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"
Presence Before Programs: God's Heart for Relationship
Presence before programs. This simple but profound truth stands at the heart of genuine relationship with God, yet so often we reverse the order. We frantically build spiritual structures hoping God will eventually show up and bless them, when all along He's been waiting for us to simply sit at His feet.
The Father has gone to extraordinary lengths to remove anything that might separate us from His love. Sin and death, those seemingly insurmountable barriers, were overcome not through brute force but through the paradoxical power of the Lamb's gentleness and sacrifice. This demonstrates a kingdom principle that challenges our conventional thinking: true strength often manifests through meekness, and victory comes through surrender rather than aggression. The Lamb overcame the beast not by mirroring its violence, but by embodying love.
Like Mary who chose the "better part" while Martha busied herself with preparations, we're invited to prioritize divine presence over religious performance. God isn't impressed by our spiritual productivity or ministerial credentials. He's after relationship—genuine communion where His presence and our presence converge. From this intimate connection flows authentic kingdom advancement, not manufactured church growth. When we align with this divine order—seeking His face before launching our initiatives—we discover the wisdom, strength and supernatural ability to participate in what He's already doing rather than asking Him to bless what we've already planned. Have you been building programs hoping God will endorse them, or have you been sitting at His feet, allowing Him to direct your path? The invitation remains open: cast down your crowns, lay aside your agendas, and rediscover the joy of simply being with Him.
Loving Yeshua/Jesus, Loving people... Come as you are and you will be loved!
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Shalom to you and your home.
This podcast episode is a real exhortation, and what I mean by that is that there's something that God has been conveying to me over and over and over for the past several years, and that's this he wants his presence known more than he wants his programs known. He wants his presence known first. He wants us to know him. He wants relationship with us to know him. He wants relationship with us. He desires relationship with us so much that he's gone to the fullest extent to remove every barrier, anything that could hinder us from experiencing his love. He has destroyed it Literally, he has demolished it. He's made a public spectacle out of those things that would try to keep us from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus. The scripture says that neither height nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. Excuse me, love is more than just a word. Obviously, love is the heartbeat of God. God is love. The Apostle John said that very statement over and over and over again God is love. And then he said beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God. That's all relational talk. That's all relational in its heart, right At the very heart of this whole kingdom dynamic is the love of God. God's kingdom is full of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, but it's motivated by love. Love flows from the heart of our Father, love flows from Jesus, love flows from Holy Spirit, and we are called into that. Now, yes, there are organizational things that need to take place and that will take place. That do take place. God is organized, he's not chaotic, but he wants us to know his presence first. Programs can come later, not programs first, then his presence. He wants us to carry his glory. He doesn't want us to put it on some sort of program, so maybe it can fit in to our schedule, but he wants us to feel the weight of his glory and have it be something that's with us all the time. Hallelujah, hallelujah. And so he wants us to know his presence. He wants to know him with us all the time. Hallelujah, and so he wants us to know his presence. He wants to know him, and he provided that way through sending his son, jesus, to annihilate the barriers. The two main barriers were sin and death, and he overcame them. But he didn't overcome them through violence or through tanks and guns. He overcame them as the lamb, interesting how gentleness and meekness are actually powerful things.
Speaker 1:You'd think that, well you know, brute force is where it's at. Let's get real militant about this. Well, yeah, there's a time and place for that, sure, but by and large, love never fails. Love has within it characteristics that exemplify meekness, kindness, gentleness, self-control. Those are things of love and gentleness and meekness.
Speaker 1:The lamb, the lamb. The lamb overcame the beast. The lamb, the lamb that was slain. Worthy is the lamb, the lamb, the presence of the lamb, yes, we want to feel the roar of the lion, but also we need the dynamic of the Lamb, the conquering, gentleness and meekness and love of the Lamb of God, jesus Christ. So God sent him and he annihilated these things that were so blatantly pretending to be powerful and were, but they were no match to God. And in God's gentleness he overcame them. He didn't even have to exude his mighty power, although his mighty power was demonstrated in gentleness and meekness.
Speaker 1:But there's coming a point in time where the decision-making power of God, the judgment of God, is going to require of himself to execute the finality of his judgment, in which he will take Satan and he will hurl him into the lake of fire. It behooves us not to be aligned with that creature or his kingdom. It would be very wise for us to be far removed from that. But presence, presence, presence before programs. And you know what God wants from us. He wants our presence. He doesn't want our programs first. He's not. We'll build a program and God will come. No, we come together and then he will provide wisdom on how we go about things, but not build the ox cart and put the art on it. Someone tried to do that and people wound up, killed. People get hurt when we try to do things our own way. The Tower of Babel was a fiasco. It was man trying to do things man's own way and God said they can do a lot, but they can do a lot of damage. So I'm going to confuse their language so they don't kill each other.
Speaker 1:There are things that God does to dismantle things in his love and his mercy that sometimes we look at and say why did you do that? It really looked so good. But good isn't great and God doesn't want us to settle for good. He wants us to have the best, and he's best and his presence is best first, and he wants the best from us and the best we can give him is first our presence, meaning our time, our energy and our resources. We offer our best. We offer our best. We don't need to build programs Again.
Speaker 1:I repeat myself, but it's worth repeating because this is an exhortation. I'm exhorting you in the name of Jesus. I implore you, by the very mercy and grace of God, to hear this and adhere to what I'm saying. Drop the programs that you've placed in front of God and embrace his presence first and wait upon him and he will renew things like strength, like vision, like abilities. He will empower us to do things supernaturally, things that we can't do on our own. He doesn't want us to show him what we can do and then him to come and endorse it. He wants us to know each other. Come and reason together. Let's have a relationship. Let's have a meal. Come and reason together. Let's have a relationship. Let's have a meal. Let's sit down. Let's sit down and just spend time together. Doing what? Just enjoying one another's presence. How about that?
Speaker 1:There were two women that were sisters of Lazarus, mary and Martha, and one of the sisters was busy doing stuff, and it was good stuff. She was preparing things for the get-together because Jesus was coming to their house and Jesus went to the house of Lazarus because she felt comfortable there. Side note does he feel comfortable in your house? I want him to feel comfortable in my house, in my body, but also in the home that I live in. He can come and be comfortable. Wait, he went there and one of the women was busy, busy, busy, busy, busy, and the other sister was sitting in her seat listening and she was enjoying his presence and he was enjoying her presence and they were having fellowship. And the other sits said, master, tell her to come and help me. And he said I'm not going to do that because she's chosen the right thing.
Speaker 1:You're concerned about a lot of things, but really you need to be concerned about this. First, spending time with me. Set the other stuff, set the programs aside, the busyness, doing things for God. He doesn't need us to do things for him, he wants us to do things with him, things with him. So that's the exhortation in this particular podcast episode the presence of God and your presence converge. And then the kingdom programs after that not church growth, not business, but kingdom development and kingdom advancement.
Speaker 1:The kingdom of God, the rule and reign of God, the basileia of God, the realm in which God manifests in heaven to be manifest in the earth. Father in heaven, holy is your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done in earth as it is in heaven or on earth as it is in heaven. Whichever you prefer, presence and then wisdom to help see things, so we can have our knowledge that he gives us applied, because wisdom is applied. Knowledge going from point A to point B to point C, and knowing how to do that is wisdom. Knowing how Knowledge is, knowing the stuff we got to do. Wisdom is knowing how to do it, and he'll give that to us when we spend time together. But first and foremost, he loves us and wants us to spend time. We don't need a program in our marriage with one another or in our friendships with one another. Well, I got a friendship program. I'm going to work on what, what I have, a relationship that I live out with my friends, with my family, with God. And let's put the order like this with God, with my family, with my friends, and the concentric circles go on and on and on Presence first, programs later.
Speaker 1:Let's pray, father. Thank you for your simple words of encouragement, god, but they're powerful. Help us see things in proper perspective and, where we've been too busy, help us, holy Spirit, calm down and to lay down our agendas. Cast our crowns before you, jesus. I cast my crown down before you. My accomplishments, achievements, all things, cast them before you as though I've done nothing, and I ask you to teach me, o Lord, your ways and show me your paths, that your kingdom come and your will be done. Father, we stand here in the name of Jesus and we pray these things. We say amen, amen, amen, amen. Alright, folks, I love you. If you have any thoughts, questions, concerns, please feel free to drop us a line at liferonthefire, 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.