Attention builds identity. That’s the heartbeat of our conversation with Stephen Crews as we explore what it really means to “behold and become.” We start with Psalm 27:4—one thing, one focus, one desire—and trace how a lifestyle of beholding Jesus forms habits of mind and heart that outlast hype and hurry. Stephen shares concrete rhythms for silence, Scripture, and prayer, including a simple image for quieting mental noise: let the day’s thoughts pass like groceries on a belt until the line clears and you can listen. The goal isn’t chasing experiences; it’s cultivating relationship—steady, honest, and deeply transformative.
From there, we dig into grace as power, not permission. Drawing on 2 Corinthians 12 and Titus 2, we unpack how grace meets us in weakness, trains our desires, and enables real change. Sanctification becomes a partnership: God works in us as we align daily choices to His presence. We talk fruit of the Spirit as the public evidence of private abiding—love, patience, and self-control that others can “pick” in real life, especially under pressure. Along the way, we get practical about boundaries, fasting, and the slow work of renewing the mind so Scripture moves from page to personal encounter.
We end with a call to apprenticeship: become like the Teacher by living with Him, adopting His practices, and staying resilient when you stumble. If attention is destiny, this is how to aim yours: guard your quiet, keep your focus, and let grace do what effort alone never could. If this resonates, share it with someone who’s hungry for a steady way forward, subscribe for more conversations like this, and leave a review to help others find the podcast.
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.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:38):
Howdy folks, I want to welcome you to another
episode of Life Run the Fire.
And today in our studio we havea real treat.
There's a colleague of mine bythe name of Stephen Cruz.
And I've known him for reallyjust actually a short while now,
but it seems like I've known hima lot longer.
(00:59):
There's a real koinonia that'sgone on in our relationship.
And uh Stephen is a he's a he'sa gifted teacher, but also a
deep thinker.
And so you're really in storefor something today that's gonna
be a time where it willenlighten you in an area that
we've talked about before.
(01:21):
And it's on this whole notion ofbeholding and becoming that we
actually become like the thingthat we focus on.
And if it's on money, we becomelike what's wrapped up in money.
That type of person.
Or whatever it might be.
In our case, we want to focusour attention on Jesus to become
(01:46):
more and more like him, tobehold him and become like him.
And so, Steven, I want towelcome you and just thank you
for coming on in, man.
SPEAKER_01 (01:55):
Thank you, David.
Thank you for having me here.
Life around the fire.
What a what an opportunity tospeak and share my experience
and my my life in the Lord.
So one when David shared with methe opportunity to be the title
of this podcast to Behold andBecome.
(02:19):
Two things came to mind.
Beholding by King David in Psalm27, verse 4.
One thing I have asked of theLord, that will I seek after,
that I may dwell in the house ofthe Lord all the days of my
life, to gaze upon the beauty ofthe Lord and to inquire in his
(02:42):
temple.
And when I think about becoming,I think about the empowerment of
God's grace.
And so that's what I'm going tobe breaking down a little bit
today, giving you food forthought.
King David had one thing inmind.
(03:03):
He wanted to gaze upon thebeauty of the Lord and to
inquire in his temple.
It was his heart's desire.
He had a singular focus and aheart posture that was desiring
intimacy with God Himself.
And so this isn't aboutreligion, it's about a
(03:26):
relationship, and that's whatChristianity is a relationship
with the Lord of Lord of hosts.
Yahweh Sabaoth.
A lifelong relationship.
David was uh described as a manafter God's own heart.
You know, he was anointed kingwhen he was 13.
(03:49):
He didn't become king until hewas 30.
He had many ups and downs, manybattles, and many mistakes and
failures, but his heart posturewas to seek the Lord always.
And so I think in my look at mylife, you know, it's it's his
desire.
We if we draw close to him, thescripture says he will draw
(04:11):
close to us.
So it's available to everyone,and it's an opportunity.
Well, God's hand is hisoutstretched arm is to each of
us, and it's our job to drawclose to him and take hold of
it.
And so beholding is a lifestyle.
It's not a one-off thing, it'snot a seasonal thing, it's a uh
(04:33):
commitment.
And I think and wrapped up inthat, you got to have spiritual
disciplines.
You need to have healthyboundaries for your own life,
what you will and will not do.
I mean, that includes, you know,every facet of your life, having
a spiritual discipline.
Are you reading the word?
(04:55):
Are you fasting?
Are you praying?
Do you have set times for thesedifferent spiritual activities
that create a healthy lifestyleof seeking the Lord and allowing
him to transf us into the intohis image, the image of Jesus,
(05:15):
Yeshua.
And so when we think aboutbeholding, we we think about
like worshiping and learningGod's ways as we gaze upon him,
as we sit before him, you know,it's not a one-way conversation,
it's a two-way conversation andrelationship.
If if I do all the talking athome, you know, my you know,
(05:38):
there's going to be a problemwith my wife.
I have to be able to sit andlisten to understand what she
has to say as well.
And it's the same thing with theLord.
We have to be able to sit quietenough to hear what he's saying.
And I've always equatedlistening before the Lord, kind
of like at the grocery storewhere you have you put the
(05:59):
groceries on the conveyor beltand they go down to the cashier
and she picks them off the beltand scans them and puts them on
the on the next section of thecheckout line.
Because when you sit before theLord, you'll have many thoughts.
And I I equate those thoughts tothe groceries on that conveyor
belt at the checkout line.
I just let them pass on by.
(06:21):
You may or may not, they may ormay not be from the Lord.
They may just be your naturalthoughts of you know what
happened earlier in the day,what you have coming up, you
know, in the afternoon.
So it may take a little time foryour mind to settle down and let
those thoughts pass on by.
And then they'll come a place,though, where there's a quiet
(06:42):
stillness where your mind willrun out of thoughts.
And then you can just be stillbefore the Lord.
And that takes time, that takesa set apart time to be
disciplined to sit before him.
And so that takes sacrifice,whether it's sleep, usually
you're gonna stay up later oryou're gonna wake up earlier to
make time to sit before theLord, just as David did in Psalm
(07:07):
27.
You know, there's one thing.
It's when you get into thisrelationship and you begin to
start growing and start seeingsome victories, it's it's gonna
be addicting in the sense thatyou're you're gonna want more of
him.
And he will give you more ofhimself.
(07:29):
It's uh that is the word.
He's a man of his word.
He his word does not return voidto him, so he will do his part
if we do do ours, and that isdrawing close to him.
SPEAKER_00 (07:43):
That's that's that's really a good point, Stephen.
Coming from a former addict, me,I've found that to be absolutely
true.
That the Lord's presence, him asa person, it is addicting, but
it's a good one.
It's not like the other thingsthat take away more than they
(08:05):
give.
The Lord gives so much more.
So it's that point of being himbeing and being with him is a
very addictive thing.
I I I kinda like that.
SPEAKER_01 (08:19):
Yeah.
It's uh it's a heavenlyaddiction.
It's good.
You know, there's nothing likebeing in the presence of the
Lord.
It once you experience it.
Now we're not talking aboutchasing encounters with the
Lord.
(08:39):
We're talking about a lifestylewith them, a relationship that
is not new age, not hungry foryou know, what's the word here
I'm thinking of anyway.
I digress.
It's a healthy, just like Davidsaid, it's a healthy relational
(09:04):
connectivity with the presenceof God because the Holy Spirit
is sealed in us, so he's withinus and he's around us.
And so it's just tapping intowhat we already have, yeah and
drawing that out.
And the word says, Apostle Paulsays, be transformed by the
renewing of your minds.
I think we have to becomestudents of the word.
(09:28):
The Holy Spirit speaks to usthrough God's written word, and
so in that quiet time of sittingand beholding him, he's going to
begin to speak to us by hisword.
He's going to be making themrelational.
I remember one time the Lordmade the word personal to me.
And to Naiah, he says, you know,the things of this world are
(09:52):
withering away.
And uh the Lord turned thatpersonal to me and he said,
Stephen, the things of thisworld are withering away, but my
marriage to you will lastforever.
And I remember just breakingdown and weeping because I
remember reading that word, andthen he made alive to me, made
it personal to me.
(10:14):
And that came from justmeditating on him and thinking
about him.
And so I think that's thelifestyle that I'm describing
here is taking him with youwherever you go and at work, at
the workplace, posting thepresence of God, continually
thinking about him andmeditating upon him and creating
(10:36):
an environment where hispresence transforms lives
through us as vessels of honor.
And so that is kind of like thebyproduct of when we behold him.
It's an actual act of sitting.
It's also uh in the doing ofeveryday life that we can we can
sit before the Lord and gazeupon his beauty as we do our
(10:58):
job, as our you know, we do ourchores around the house, our
yard work.
We can we can do bothsimultaneously.
And so when I think about youknow, how do we become one way
(11:19):
really stands out to me, andthat's we have to understand the
empowerment of God's grace.
God's grace uh you know isfreely given, but it's not a
passive gift, it's an empoweringone.
God's grace enables us to liveby his spirit.
(11:41):
So it is you know unmeritedfavor that we don't deserve, but
it's it's also a an empoweringone that teaches us and
transforms us as we seekrevelation on the grace of God.
(12:04):
Um the one scripture that cameto mind regarding this was
Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians12, verse 9.
My grace is sufficient for you,for my power is made perfect in
weakness.
That is the enablement of power.
(12:26):
His grace is equated to divinestrength.
It says, My grace is sufficientfor you, for my power is made
perfect in weakness.
And so when I think about thefrailties of the human life, we
are weak.
And when we boast in ourweakness, we become strong, just
as the scripture tells us.
(12:46):
And so it's being mindful andself-aware of our weakness.
The Bible says not to bepresumed to be wise in our own
eyes.
When we start thinking we'redoing things in our own strength
and we've done something,there's great caution in that
because it does say that pride,a fall becomes you know, after a
(13:10):
prideful man becomes fallenafter that.
And so the grace of God reallyempowers us to live a set apart
life.
And I think about uh, I'm a bigkind of a number guy here,
David.
I've got seven, seven thingshere again.
(13:33):
Seven uh the numbers perfection.
But the first one issanctification, the process of
becoming holy and set apart forGod.
You know, Zachariah says it'snot by our might or our power,
but by the Spirit of the Lord ofhosts that we that we can do
(13:54):
things.
So it's him in us workingthrough us.
And so it's a partnership.
This is all about a relationshipand a partnership.
God wants to see thatwillingness to to abide in him
and allow his power to flowthrough us to see the victory,
to see what his plans are beaccomplished in us and through
(14:17):
us, and to be a faithful witnessin the earth.
And so covenantal transformationis restoring the image of God in
the believer.
We have to understand that wecannot change ourselves.
And so, you know, thesanctification is an ongoing
(14:40):
process until we go home withthe Lord.
And it's a continual, continualempowerment.
SPEAKER_00 (14:48):
That that that statement that you just made,
I'm just gonna highlight it.
The fact that we cannot changeourselves alone.
That it really requires we areable to receive an empowerment
to make change.
So it's not trying to doubledown and do better, but it's
cooperating with thatempowerment.
SPEAKER_01 (15:10):
Yeah, amen.
So I think the big thing withthe Spirit of God and the grace
of God is it enables us toproduce fruit that glorifies
Him.
You know, you think about thefruits of the Spirit, love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness,goodness, gentleness,
(15:32):
faithfulness, and self-control.
We can't produce those in ourown strength.
That comes from having spiritualdisciplines, from doing the one
thing that David was seekingafter was beholding, beholding
the Lord, allowing and being astudent of the word, getting in
the word, reading it, meditatingon it, chewing on it, coming
(15:54):
back to it, understanding thewhole narrative of scripture
from Genesis to Revelation.
And in the doing those thingsand building momentum.
See, a lot of times we want wewant things fast.
We live in a microwave society.
We want to read a scripture andthen produce fruit right away.
(16:15):
Well, sometimes the Lord doesthat, sometimes more than likely
he doesn't, because he's worriedabout our character.
He's concerned about ourcharacter, about hosting his
presence and imaging him well onthe earth.
And so this is a marathon, thisisn't a sprint.
So we have to keep that in mindof bearing fruit.
(16:36):
So one thing to examine is ouris our lives bearing the fruit
of the spirit?
Do we have love?
If love isn't, you know,manifesting in our lives, then
maybe that's an area that weshould should uh seek help on or
guidance or continuesurrendering until the fruit of
(16:58):
love is bearing fruit on our tron our tree.
And so with the fruit of thespirit, the fruit is not for us.
The fruit is for others to pickand eat.
We benefit from walking in love,but the fruit of the spirit is
(17:18):
for us to produce for otherpeople to pick.
And so if I'm bearing the fruitof patience, then the people
around me at my job are gonnaeat that fruit of patience and
loving kindness and the love ofGod.
They're gonna see it.
And so we we have to be separatefrom the world.
You know, how can we livedifferently and show Christ if
(17:39):
we're not bearing fruit?
If we're doing the same thingsthat the world does, we uh we
look just like them.
Why would anybody want to becomea Christian?
Why would they need Jesus?
What's the point of our God?
How is he different from all theother gods on on this earth?
It's it's a relationship.
It all goes back to that of himworking in us, producing his
(18:01):
kingdom fruits so that wemanifest for his glory, not for
our own.
And so this topic of beholdingand becoming is a ever evolving
one.
David and I were praying earlierfor a new revelation, and I
believe that it's coming forthtoday in greater measure of
(18:24):
things that people just aren'ttalking about or teaching on.
And so another aspect of thegrace of God and then the
enablement of the grace is itteaches and transforms us.
Think about in Titus chapter 2,verses 11 and 12, it says, For
(18:45):
the grace of God has appeared,bringing salvation, training us
to renounce ungodliness andworldly passions.
And so the grace of God isactive in our lives if we just
have eyes to see.
(19:10):
And from that place of seeing,we can minister the gospel and
live a set apart life.
Because that's what this is allabout.
Sanctification is the process ofbecoming holy, set apart unto
the Lord.
And so He saved us for a purposethat we would go and bear fruit,
that we would be one with Himand with His people, that the
(19:33):
earth may know.
And so we receive God's grace byfaith.
Everything in the kingdom of Godis by faith.
(19:56):
And when we begin to justreceive it as a free gift that's
freely given, we'll begin towalk in the grace of God daily.
So grace is not just atheological idea.
Grace is God giving himself tous freely, fully, and
(20:16):
faithfully.
In John chapter 1, verse 14, itsays, And the word became flesh
and dwelt among us, full ofgrace and truth.
The grace of God saves us,empowers us, transforms us, and
brings us into union with God.
(20:40):
And so as we begin to just wrapup here and meditate upon, you
know, what it is, what does itmean to behold and become?
This is a I think this is acharge, this is uh an
encouraging word here to to diveinto that and what does that
(21:01):
look like for us as as the bodyof Christ.
You know, Psalm 27, 4 is about arelationship, and it's a
singular focus.
(21:24):
This one thing I've asked of theLord, that will I seek after.
King David is determined, he'smade up his mind of what he's
going to do.
He's going in a singular,one-directional way with his
life's mission.
This one thing I will do.
It wasn't about being king orconquering his enemies.
(21:46):
It was it was singular.
He wanted to dwell in the houseof the Lord all the days of his
life.
He wanted to gaze upon thebeauty of the Lord and to
inquire in his temple.
He had a deep yearning to dwell,to abide continually in the
intimate, manifest presence ofYahweh.
(22:10):
And so I think as we set aparttime and our schedules, I know
it will be hard at first, justlike with anything.
Anything worth doing is noteasy, but as we grow, the Lord
establishes, establishes us, andit becomes second nature, it
(22:33):
becomes who we who we are.
I know at the beginning for me,years ago, understanding this,
finding this scripture and justsitting before the Lord, you
know, it took took a long timefor me to just get to 15
minutes.
And then it next thing you know,I'm sitting there for an hour.
Now, next thing you know, Igotta wake up earlier because an
(22:56):
hour isn't long enough anymore.
And you know, so you're you'reit's funny how things, if you
want to say, become easier, butin reality, we're replacing what
we want to do with what Godwants from us, and that's a
relationship, and that takes ussacrificing what our you know
(23:17):
desires are, and placing thembefore the Lord and allowing him
to replace them because in thatthere's he replaces it with the
fruit of the spirit, and whenwe're manifesting the fruit of
the spirit and the gifts of thespirit from beholding him and
becoming like him, just as Davidsaid at the beginning, who we
(23:38):
behold we become like.
And so do you do you want tobecome like Jesus?
You know, the the uh thetranslation of the word disciple
is Talmudim.
And that means apprentice, andapprentice is is like becoming
(24:01):
like the teacher to replacethem.
And so doing the things thatJesus did, saying the things
that Jesus did.
And again, this takes this takestime, and it's there's nothing
like it.
I wouldn't change anything forthe world.
To uh to to know God and beknown by Him is such an honor
(24:23):
and a privilege to just be to becalled a son of God, to be a you
know the redeemed of the Lord.
And so I hope this encouragesyou today to take ownership, to
take responsibility, to bewilling to make mistakes and get
(24:48):
back up again and continue towalk.
You know, when we fall, we caneither stay down in that that
puddle of mud and roll around init and stay and have pity on
ourselves and live incondemnation and believe the
life of the accuser, or we canchoose to get up and walk.
(25:09):
And as we walk, we'll be madeclean and become like him.
And so, David, we thank you forthe for life around the fire,
and we thank you for uh thistime together.
SPEAKER_00 (25:24):
Stephen, thank you for being obedient and for
opening up not just yourthoughts concerning this, but
your heart, uh, your life, beinga little bit vulnerable as well.
And letting each of us knowthat, you know, it's not
something that was just a oneand done thing for you, and now
(25:49):
here you are.
But it's been a process and acontinual turning to.
And some of you are listening tothis and you're maybe you're
you're you're you're you'redriving a truck across country
and you're catching bits andpieces of what uh is being said.
Cool thing about that is youcan't unhear something.
(26:12):
And so it's like seed that'sbeing planted or sometimes being
watered in your own life.
And there might be some of youin Africa that you're taking
notes and you say, Man, well,how can I how can I get more of
this?
Well, there you get thetranscript from this podcast if
you want to.
So all I'm saying with all ofthat is that there is a lot of
(26:36):
meat that's on the bone here.
And thank you, Stephen, forbreaking this open for us.
But you take a moment and willyou just have a word of prayer
with us, please?
SPEAKER_01 (26:47):
Sure.
Father God, we just come to youin the name of Jesus.
We thank you.
Just for who you are, Lord.
We thank you, Lord, that you soloved the world that you sent
your only one begotten Son, theMonoganesh Yeshua.
Hawashia, we thank you forredeeming us, Lord, with your
(27:12):
outstretched arm, Lord.
Lord, I just lift up our walkwith you, Lord.
May you continue to empower us,Holy Spirit, to let go of what
was behind and lay hold of whatis to come, to press on to the
upper call in Christ Jesus.
(27:32):
Lord, we can only do this by theempowerment and the enablement
of your grace.
Yes.
And so we ask that you wouldpour out your grace in a in a
greater measure in the lives ofyour people.
Yes.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
Amen.
SPEAKER_00 (27:47):
All right, folks, we we love you.
And if you have any thoughts,questions, concerns, please feel
free to drop us a line at lifeare on the fire at gmail.com.
That's our email address.
So you can type in Life Are onthe Fire and look us up on the
web.
We would love to hear from you.
In the meantime, God bless you.
(28:07):
Adios, amigos.
Howdy folks, I want to welcome you to another
episode of Life Run the Fire.
And today in our studio we havea real treat.
There's a colleague of mine bythe name of Stephen Cruz.
And I've known him for reallyjust actually a short while now,
but it seems like I've known hima lot longer.
(00:59):
There's a real koinonia that'sgone on in our relationship.
And uh Stephen is a he's a he'sa gifted teacher, but also a
deep thinker.
And so you're really in storefor something today that's gonna
be a time where it willenlighten you in an area that
we've talked about before.
(01:21):
And it's on this whole notion ofbeholding and becoming that we
actually become like the thingthat we focus on.
And if it's on money, we becomelike what's wrapped up in money.
That type of person.
Or whatever it might be.
In our case, we want to focusour attention on Jesus to become
(01:46):
more and more like him, tobehold him and become like him.
And so, Steven, I want towelcome you and just thank you
for coming on in, man.
SPEAKER_01 (01:55):
Thank you, David.
Thank you for having me here.
Life around the fire.
What a what an opportunity tospeak and share my experience
and my my life in the Lord.
So one when David shared with methe opportunity to be the title
of this podcast to Behold andBecome.
(02:19):
Two things came to mind.
Beholding by King David in Psalm27, verse 4.
One thing I have asked of theLord, that will I seek after,
that I may dwell in the house ofthe Lord all the days of my
life, to gaze upon the beauty ofthe Lord and to inquire in his
(02:42):
temple.
And when I think about becoming,I think about the empowerment of
God's grace.
And so that's what I'm going tobe breaking down a little bit
today, giving you food forthought.
King David had one thing inmind.
(03:03):
He wanted to gaze upon thebeauty of the Lord and to
inquire in his temple.
It was his heart's desire.
He had a singular focus and aheart posture that was desiring
intimacy with God Himself.
And so this isn't aboutreligion, it's about a
(03:26):
relationship, and that's whatChristianity is a relationship
with the Lord of Lord of hosts.
Yahweh Sabaoth.
A lifelong relationship.
David was uh described as a manafter God's own heart.
You know, he was anointed kingwhen he was 13.
(03:49):
He didn't become king until hewas 30.
He had many ups and downs, manybattles, and many mistakes and
failures, but his heart posturewas to seek the Lord always.
And so I think in my look at mylife, you know, it's it's his
desire.
We if we draw close to him, thescripture says he will draw
(04:11):
close to us.
So it's available to everyone,and it's an opportunity.
Well, God's hand is hisoutstretched arm is to each of
us, and it's our job to drawclose to him and take hold of
it.
And so beholding is a lifestyle.
It's not a one-off thing, it'snot a seasonal thing, it's a uh
(04:33):
commitment.
And I think and wrapped up inthat, you got to have spiritual
disciplines.
You need to have healthyboundaries for your own life,
what you will and will not do.
I mean, that includes, you know,every facet of your life, having
a spiritual discipline.
Are you reading the word?
(04:55):
Are you fasting?
Are you praying?
Do you have set times for thesedifferent spiritual activities
that create a healthy lifestyleof seeking the Lord and allowing
him to transf us into the intohis image, the image of Jesus,
(05:15):
Yeshua.
And so when we think aboutbeholding, we we think about
like worshiping and learningGod's ways as we gaze upon him,
as we sit before him, you know,it's not a one-way conversation,
it's a two-way conversation andrelationship.
If if I do all the talking athome, you know, my you know,
(05:38):
there's going to be a problemwith my wife.
I have to be able to sit andlisten to understand what she
has to say as well.
And it's the same thing with theLord.
We have to be able to sit quietenough to hear what he's saying.
And I've always equatedlistening before the Lord, kind
of like at the grocery storewhere you have you put the
(05:59):
groceries on the conveyor beltand they go down to the cashier
and she picks them off the beltand scans them and puts them on
the on the next section of thecheckout line.
Because when you sit before theLord, you'll have many thoughts.
And I I equate those thoughts tothe groceries on that conveyor
belt at the checkout line.
I just let them pass on by.
(06:21):
You may or may not, they may ormay not be from the Lord.
They may just be your naturalthoughts of you know what
happened earlier in the day,what you have coming up, you
know, in the afternoon.
So it may take a little time foryour mind to settle down and let
those thoughts pass on by.
And then they'll come a place,though, where there's a quiet
(06:42):
stillness where your mind willrun out of thoughts.
And then you can just be stillbefore the Lord.
And that takes time, that takesa set apart time to be
disciplined to sit before him.
And so that takes sacrifice,whether it's sleep, usually
you're gonna stay up later oryou're gonna wake up earlier to
make time to sit before theLord, just as David did in Psalm
(07:07):
27.
You know, there's one thing.
It's when you get into thisrelationship and you begin to
start growing and start seeingsome victories, it's it's gonna
be addicting in the sense thatyou're you're gonna want more of
him.
And he will give you more ofhimself.
(07:29):
It's uh that is the word.
He's a man of his word.
He his word does not return voidto him, so he will do his part
if we do do ours, and that isdrawing close to him.
SPEAKER_00 (07:43):
That's that's that's really a good point, Stephen.
Coming from a former addict, me,I've found that to be absolutely
true.
That the Lord's presence, him asa person, it is addicting, but
it's a good one.
It's not like the other thingsthat take away more than they
(08:05):
give.
The Lord gives so much more.
So it's that point of being himbeing and being with him is a
very addictive thing.
I I I kinda like that.
SPEAKER_01 (08:19):
Yeah.
It's uh it's a heavenlyaddiction.
It's good.
You know, there's nothing likebeing in the presence of the
Lord.
It once you experience it.
Now we're not talking aboutchasing encounters with the
Lord.
(08:39):
We're talking about a lifestylewith them, a relationship that
is not new age, not hungry foryou know, what's the word here
I'm thinking of anyway.
I digress.
It's a healthy, just like Davidsaid, it's a healthy relational
(09:04):
connectivity with the presenceof God because the Holy Spirit
is sealed in us, so he's withinus and he's around us.
And so it's just tapping intowhat we already have, yeah and
drawing that out.
And the word says, Apostle Paulsays, be transformed by the
renewing of your minds.
I think we have to becomestudents of the word.
(09:28):
The Holy Spirit speaks to usthrough God's written word, and
so in that quiet time of sittingand beholding him, he's going to
begin to speak to us by hisword.
He's going to be making themrelational.
I remember one time the Lordmade the word personal to me.
And to Naiah, he says, you know,the things of this world are
(09:52):
withering away.
And uh the Lord turned thatpersonal to me and he said,
Stephen, the things of thisworld are withering away, but my
marriage to you will lastforever.
And I remember just breakingdown and weeping because I
remember reading that word, andthen he made alive to me, made
it personal to me.
(10:14):
And that came from justmeditating on him and thinking
about him.
And so I think that's thelifestyle that I'm describing
here is taking him with youwherever you go and at work, at
the workplace, posting thepresence of God, continually
thinking about him andmeditating upon him and creating
(10:36):
an environment where hispresence transforms lives
through us as vessels of honor.
And so that is kind of like thebyproduct of when we behold him.
It's an actual act of sitting.
It's also uh in the doing ofeveryday life that we can we can
sit before the Lord and gazeupon his beauty as we do our
(10:58):
job, as our you know, we do ourchores around the house, our
yard work.
We can we can do bothsimultaneously.
And so when I think about youknow, how do we become one way
(11:19):
really stands out to me, andthat's we have to understand the
empowerment of God's grace.
God's grace uh you know isfreely given, but it's not a
passive gift, it's an empoweringone.
God's grace enables us to liveby his spirit.
(11:41):
So it is you know unmeritedfavor that we don't deserve, but
it's it's also a an empoweringone that teaches us and
transforms us as we seekrevelation on the grace of God.
(12:04):
Um the one scripture that cameto mind regarding this was
Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians12, verse 9.
My grace is sufficient for you,for my power is made perfect in
weakness.
That is the enablement of power.
(12:26):
His grace is equated to divinestrength.
It says, My grace is sufficientfor you, for my power is made
perfect in weakness.
And so when I think about thefrailties of the human life, we
are weak.
And when we boast in ourweakness, we become strong, just
as the scripture tells us.
(12:46):
And so it's being mindful andself-aware of our weakness.
The Bible says not to bepresumed to be wise in our own
eyes.
When we start thinking we'redoing things in our own strength
and we've done something,there's great caution in that
because it does say that pride,a fall becomes you know, after a
(13:10):
prideful man becomes fallenafter that.
And so the grace of God reallyempowers us to live a set apart
life.
And I think about uh, I'm a bigkind of a number guy here,
David.
I've got seven, seven thingshere again.
(13:33):
Seven uh the numbers perfection.
But the first one issanctification, the process of
becoming holy and set apart forGod.
You know, Zachariah says it'snot by our might or our power,
but by the Spirit of the Lord ofhosts that we that we can do
(13:54):
things.
So it's him in us workingthrough us.
And so it's a partnership.
This is all about a relationshipand a partnership.
God wants to see thatwillingness to to abide in him
and allow his power to flowthrough us to see the victory,
to see what his plans are beaccomplished in us and through
(14:17):
us, and to be a faithful witnessin the earth.
And so covenantal transformationis restoring the image of God in
the believer.
We have to understand that wecannot change ourselves.
And so, you know, thesanctification is an ongoing
(14:40):
process until we go home withthe Lord.
And it's a continual, continualempowerment.
SPEAKER_00 (14:48):
That that that statement that you just made,
I'm just gonna highlight it.
The fact that we cannot changeourselves alone.
That it really requires we areable to receive an empowerment
to make change.
So it's not trying to doubledown and do better, but it's
cooperating with thatempowerment.
SPEAKER_01 (15:10):
Yeah, amen.
So I think the big thing withthe Spirit of God and the grace
of God is it enables us toproduce fruit that glorifies
Him.
You know, you think about thefruits of the Spirit, love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness,goodness, gentleness,
(15:32):
faithfulness, and self-control.
We can't produce those in ourown strength.
That comes from having spiritualdisciplines, from doing the one
thing that David was seekingafter was beholding, beholding
the Lord, allowing and being astudent of the word, getting in
the word, reading it, meditatingon it, chewing on it, coming
(15:54):
back to it, understanding thewhole narrative of scripture
from Genesis to Revelation.
And in the doing those thingsand building momentum.
See, a lot of times we want wewant things fast.
We live in a microwave society.
We want to read a scripture andthen produce fruit right away.
(16:15):
Well, sometimes the Lord doesthat, sometimes more than likely
he doesn't, because he's worriedabout our character.
He's concerned about ourcharacter, about hosting his
presence and imaging him well onthe earth.
And so this is a marathon, thisisn't a sprint.
So we have to keep that in mindof bearing fruit.
(16:36):
So one thing to examine is ouris our lives bearing the fruit
of the spirit?
Do we have love?
If love isn't, you know,manifesting in our lives, then
maybe that's an area that weshould should uh seek help on or
guidance or continuesurrendering until the fruit of
(16:58):
love is bearing fruit on our tron our tree.
And so with the fruit of thespirit, the fruit is not for us.
The fruit is for others to pickand eat.
We benefit from walking in love,but the fruit of the spirit is
(17:18):
for us to produce for otherpeople to pick.
And so if I'm bearing the fruitof patience, then the people
around me at my job are gonnaeat that fruit of patience and
loving kindness and the love ofGod.
They're gonna see it.
And so we we have to be separatefrom the world.
You know, how can we livedifferently and show Christ if
(17:39):
we're not bearing fruit?
If we're doing the same thingsthat the world does, we uh we
look just like them.
Why would anybody want to becomea Christian?
Why would they need Jesus?
What's the point of our God?
How is he different from all theother gods on on this earth?
It's it's a relationship.
It all goes back to that of himworking in us, producing his
(18:01):
kingdom fruits so that wemanifest for his glory, not for
our own.
And so this topic of beholdingand becoming is a ever evolving
one.
David and I were praying earlierfor a new revelation, and I
believe that it's coming forthtoday in greater measure of
(18:24):
things that people just aren'ttalking about or teaching on.
And so another aspect of thegrace of God and then the
enablement of the grace is itteaches and transforms us.
Think about in Titus chapter 2,verses 11 and 12, it says, For
(18:45):
the grace of God has appeared,bringing salvation, training us
to renounce ungodliness andworldly passions.
And so the grace of God isactive in our lives if we just
have eyes to see.
(19:10):
And from that place of seeing,we can minister the gospel and
live a set apart life.
Because that's what this is allabout.
Sanctification is the process ofbecoming holy, set apart unto
the Lord.
And so He saved us for a purposethat we would go and bear fruit,
that we would be one with Himand with His people, that the
(19:33):
earth may know.
And so we receive God's grace byfaith.
Everything in the kingdom of Godis by faith.
(19:56):
And when we begin to justreceive it as a free gift that's
freely given, we'll begin towalk in the grace of God daily.
So grace is not just atheological idea.
Grace is God giving himself tous freely, fully, and
(20:16):
faithfully.
In John chapter 1, verse 14, itsays, And the word became flesh
and dwelt among us, full ofgrace and truth.
The grace of God saves us,empowers us, transforms us, and
brings us into union with God.
(20:40):
And so as we begin to just wrapup here and meditate upon, you
know, what it is, what does itmean to behold and become?
This is a I think this is acharge, this is uh an
encouraging word here to to diveinto that and what does that
(21:01):
look like for us as as the bodyof Christ.
You know, Psalm 27, 4 is about arelationship, and it's a
singular focus.
(21:24):
This one thing I've asked of theLord, that will I seek after.
King David is determined, he'smade up his mind of what he's
going to do.
He's going in a singular,one-directional way with his
life's mission.
This one thing I will do.
It wasn't about being king orconquering his enemies.
(21:46):
It was it was singular.
He wanted to dwell in the houseof the Lord all the days of his
life.
He wanted to gaze upon thebeauty of the Lord and to
inquire in his temple.
He had a deep yearning to dwell,to abide continually in the
intimate, manifest presence ofYahweh.
(22:10):
And so I think as we set aparttime and our schedules, I know
it will be hard at first, justlike with anything.
Anything worth doing is noteasy, but as we grow, the Lord
establishes, establishes us, andit becomes second nature, it
(22:33):
becomes who we who we are.
I know at the beginning for me,years ago, understanding this,
finding this scripture and justsitting before the Lord, you
know, it took took a long timefor me to just get to 15
minutes.
And then it next thing you know,I'm sitting there for an hour.
Now, next thing you know, Igotta wake up earlier because an
(22:56):
hour isn't long enough anymore.
And you know, so you're you'reit's funny how things, if you
want to say, become easier, butin reality, we're replacing what
we want to do with what Godwants from us, and that's a
relationship, and that takes ussacrificing what our you know
(23:17):
desires are, and placing thembefore the Lord and allowing him
to replace them because in thatthere's he replaces it with the
fruit of the spirit, and whenwe're manifesting the fruit of
the spirit and the gifts of thespirit from beholding him and
becoming like him, just as Davidsaid at the beginning, who we
(23:38):
behold we become like.
And so do you do you want tobecome like Jesus?
You know, the the uh thetranslation of the word disciple
is Talmudim.
And that means apprentice, andapprentice is is like becoming
(24:01):
like the teacher to replacethem.
And so doing the things thatJesus did, saying the things
that Jesus did.
And again, this takes this takestime, and it's there's nothing
like it.
I wouldn't change anything forthe world.
To uh to to know God and beknown by Him is such an honor
(24:23):
and a privilege to just be to becalled a son of God, to be a you
know the redeemed of the Lord.
And so I hope this encouragesyou today to take ownership, to
take responsibility, to bewilling to make mistakes and get
(24:48):
back up again and continue towalk.
You know, when we fall, we caneither stay down in that that
puddle of mud and roll around init and stay and have pity on
ourselves and live incondemnation and believe the
life of the accuser, or we canchoose to get up and walk.
(25:09):
And as we walk, we'll be madeclean and become like him.
And so, David, we thank you forthe for life around the fire,
and we thank you for uh thistime together.
SPEAKER_00 (25:24):
Stephen, thank you for being obedient and for
opening up not just yourthoughts concerning this, but
your heart, uh, your life, beinga little bit vulnerable as well.
And letting each of us knowthat, you know, it's not
something that was just a oneand done thing for you, and now
(25:49):
here you are.
But it's been a process and acontinual turning to.
And some of you are listening tothis and you're maybe you're
you're you're you're you'redriving a truck across country
and you're catching bits andpieces of what uh is being said.
Cool thing about that is youcan't unhear something.
(26:12):
And so it's like seed that'sbeing planted or sometimes being
watered in your own life.
And there might be some of youin Africa that you're taking
notes and you say, Man, well,how can I how can I get more of
this?
Well, there you get thetranscript from this podcast if
you want to.
So all I'm saying with all ofthat is that there is a lot of
(26:36):
meat that's on the bone here.
And thank you, Stephen, forbreaking this open for us.
But you take a moment and willyou just have a word of prayer
with us, please?
SPEAKER_01 (26:47):
Sure.
Father God, we just come to youin the name of Jesus.
We thank you.
Just for who you are, Lord.
We thank you, Lord, that you soloved the world that you sent
your only one begotten Son, theMonoganesh Yeshua.
Hawashia, we thank you forredeeming us, Lord, with your
(27:12):
outstretched arm, Lord.
Lord, I just lift up our walkwith you, Lord.
May you continue to empower us,Holy Spirit, to let go of what
was behind and lay hold of whatis to come, to press on to the
upper call in Christ Jesus.
(27:32):
Lord, we can only do this by theempowerment and the enablement
of your grace.
Yes.
And so we ask that you wouldpour out your grace in a in a
greater measure in the lives ofyour people.
Yes.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
Amen.
SPEAKER_00 (27:47):
All right, folks, we we love you.
And if you have any thoughts,questions, concerns, please feel
free to drop us a line at lifeare on the fire at gmail.com.
That's our email address.
So you can type in Life Are onthe Fire and look us up on the
web.
We would love to hear from you.
In the meantime, God bless you.
(28:07):
Adios, amigos.
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