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April 26, 2025 31 mins

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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.

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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.

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
there are quite a few people that are going to be
listening to this podcast, thatare going to be at some point
agreeing with what I'm saying ona very significant level,
because there is a hunger.

(00:24):
There is a hunger that'sgrowing in the hearts and of the
body of Christ, who are filledwith the Holy Spirit, and inside

(01:03):
of your belly that we haven'treally reached the pinnacle of
things yet concerning ourpurpose on planet Earth.
We are living in a day and atime in which God is making his

(01:26):
presence known more and moreacross the nations and it's
going to increase, because Godloves us and he wants
relationship, real relationshipwith us, and he is in hot

(01:53):
pursuit of you.
His love compels him, itmotivates him to reach you To
the point that he Took your OwnPenalty For the wrong that you

(02:17):
have done and the things thatwere Within your own life by
virtue of the fact that you wereborn in a fallen world, and he
brought them to the cross, to aplace of death, to put them to
death, so that we could be freefrom the bondage of living a lie

(02:44):
and experience the truth foundin relationship with him.
The only satisfying factor inlife is relationship with God
Hands down without a doubt, with.
God hands down without a doubt,and in that relationship, it's

(03:17):
our privilege and ourresponsibility to become more
and more like him, because hehas given to us his very life,
in covenant with us.
The depth of relationship thathe has secured is unbreakable.
The bond is unbreakable.
There is no height, there is nodepth, there is no creature

(03:45):
known that is capable ofseparating us from the love of
God that's in Christ Jesus.
We are secure in his love.
He has saved us, he is keepingus and he will complete the work
within us.
And he will complete the workwithin us.

(04:06):
Notice that it's not us beingsaved and then our
responsibility to get thingsdone by being good.
Now, a changed life andbehavior is part of repentance,
granted, but it's a work ofGod's Spirit within us that is

(04:32):
achieving these things.
He is faithful.
The one who called us isfaithful to not only save us,
but to bring us to the end, notfor us to be left to do things
in the middle.
Now we can cooperate with him,and that's the beauty of this

(04:55):
whole thing we are learning tocooperate with the very life
form of God, form of God, thevery life of God and his forming
us into his image, not usforming ourselves into his image

(05:16):
by behaving, but our behaviorchanges as a result of him
working within us and uscooperating with him in that
process.
That's profound, that's grace,that's a gift, that's God,

(05:41):
that's the love that he has forus and the fact that now things
are unfolding.
He has for us and the fact thatnow things are unfolding.
This is where things get ratherrich, at least as a result of my
own life experience with Jesus,experience with Jesus.

(06:04):
Now I've been born again,literally by His Spirit, by the
Spirit of God.
I've been born again into theKingdom of God for over 50 years
, but it was about 40 years ago,give or take, that something

(06:24):
really took place within my lifeand it has changed me.
It's affected me and it's stillaffecting me to this very day,
and that is, I became acquaintedwith the understanding that I
wasn't born again just to begood and wait until I get to

(06:46):
heaven when I die, in order toparticipate in the life of God.
Being good was what I had heard, if not by direct teaching, by
the example of other people, andgranted again, that's a

(07:13):
powerful thing, especially forsomeone who's lived a life of
real sin I mean really lived inthe darkness and to be free from
that and to live a life that isclean.
Oh man, amen, amen, may thattribe increase.

(07:36):
But that's not the highwatermark, and that's what I'm
getting at.
Not the high watermark, andthat's what I'm getting at.
I learned that there issomething more involved in being
born again than being good, asgood as that is.

(07:57):
That's not the high watermark,that's not the pinnacle of God's
purpose for taking me out ofdarkness and bringing me into
the light of his life.
It's so that I can become acitizen of his kingdom, the

(08:21):
kingdom of God.
The kingdom of God is sosignificant in the understanding
not just the mental,intellectual understanding of
the kingdom, but theexperiential reality of walking

(08:42):
in accordance to the culture andways of God's kingdom,
empowered by the Holy Spirit andutilizing the things, all of
the things, all of the thingsthat God has made available to
us now.
Not us waiting until we die inorder to participate in them,

(09:05):
but to participate in them now.
And there's a hunger.
There is a hunger that is aGod-given hunger for people to
grasp, to lay hold of theseprecious promises, to find out
what they are to find out whatthey are and actually live them

(09:29):
out, not just talk about them ingroups and then go home and
basically live life the same old, same old but to literally be
transformed by the renewing ofour minds so that we become
people that function in thepower of God's Spirit, as

(09:52):
citizens of His kingdom andimpact the world that we live in
.
That power, those things thatare available to us as a result
of us being taken from the realmof darkness into the kingdom of
God, is so significant that wehave, in many respects, at times

(10:18):
undersold what's available tous.
We've sold ourselves short, andthere is a cry going out to God
from the hearts of his peoplefor more, and God is answering
that cry.
In fact, he placed that crywithin us and answering it at

(10:42):
the same time.
There is more.
There is so much more availableto us than what we've been
walking in.
There's so much more availableto you.
Now, if you are bored with yourwalk and relationship with Jesus

(11:06):
, it's because you're stuck indead religion, dead works.
You're stuck in doing the sameold, same old, because somehow
the thought of more has been abit too elusive, not necessarily

(11:28):
emphasized, nor givenopportunity to learn how to, and
even learn by making mistakes,but nonetheless learning how to
function with the gifts of God'sSpirit.
Because we live in a world,basically, of smoky mirrors,

(11:52):
meaning that we see things inpart and we know in part.
It's like looking in a mirrorthat is an old-fashioned mirror
that was just polished metal andit was hard to see the exact
image, kind of a smoky glass,mirror or metal.
That was just not as easily.

(12:14):
It didn't really give the clearpicture.
Well, in this world that we livein, that's comprised of time
and space, in that continuum,it's like living with dark
mirrors.
Everything is not all thatclear, because one day it's

(12:37):
going to get clearer and we'llbe able to see clearly.
We'll know as we are known, butright now we are given the
opportunity to trust God andhave faith, even when we can't
see.
But we can see.
It's not that we can't seenothing, we just can't see
everything.
It's not all perfect.

(12:59):
That's why we need to havepatience with each other,
because that's all of us who arein that place.
There are no superstars.
We are all people who need torely upon Holy Spirit to be our

(13:23):
guide, our teacher, to show ushow and to empower us to live it
out.
And when he empowers us, heempowers us with such great
power.
If you don't know whether ornot you've been empowered by the
Holy Spirit, you haven't yet,but we can, and there is so much

(13:52):
available.
It's unfolding.
God is unfolding it to us.
The beginning of the churchwasn't the high watermark, it
was the beginning.
The book of Acts wasn't the endof the church age.
It was the beginning of thatage, of this age, and it's been

(14:17):
unfolding.
It didn't stop unfolding, it'sbeen unfolding, and now we're
seeing the unfolding take placein a very pronounced way again.
And when it unfolds, morebecomes clear and what's
available becomes clearer and weare capable of functioning on a

(14:42):
higher level, which is far frombeing boring.
It's the most engaging way ofliving known to mankind, and we
get to be part of it.
We are called to participatewith God in it, to co-operate

(15:04):
with him, to be empoweredsupernaturally 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

(15:29):
workers, things that areliterally ways in which God uses
us to demonstrate himself inhis place.
Like Jesus did we become likeJesus, but now we're multiplied

(15:57):
and it's God's intention that wegrow and that we continue to
grow and that we are vibrant inour growth because of the
empowerment that comes by hisspirit and our participation in
his kingdom.
To know the kingdom of God isreally, really, really to

(16:18):
function in it In that way.
Know it, that type of knowingthe functioning.
That's where life takes on awhole new meaning.
It's not boring, in fact, as Isaid, it's very invigorating.

(16:41):
But also it's very attractivewhen we see people that are
filled with confidence.
Insecure people don't reallyattract other people to come and
be part of that.
Or people that don't like eachother and are continually
squabbling about and pointingout the problems in each other's

(17:05):
lives.
What is attractive to becomepart of?
Who wants to be part of that?
That's far too often thecommentary that we have provided
for the world to readconcerning what it means to be a

(17:26):
follower of Jesus.
Kind of an empty, dull life.
Certain things that we don't do.
We don't smoke, we don't chewand we don't go with girls that
do right that old clotheslineChristianity living life by what

(17:55):
we don't do as a sign of ourspirituality, as opposed to what
it is that we do function withand in how we go about living
and the love that we demonstrateto each other.

(18:17):
I'm emphasizing this becausewhen you're hearing it,
something inside of you, if youare called by God to participate
in his kingdom and those of uswho are born again, we are there
is a cry coming up from withinyou and you wonder is that

(18:37):
really real?
The answer is yes, it's real.
You're hearing it here.
There's more, and God isproviding it If we will allow
him to remove the limitationsfrom our lives.

(19:00):
You see, the way to train anelephant not to run away is to
get the elephant as a baby andput a bracelet on its ankle and
chain it to a post, and when itwould try to move away, it

(19:28):
couldn't move away, it wouldjust stop.
It was limited and soeventually it just stopped
trying, and so eventually itjust stopped trying.
Well, later you could take andremove that chain and just keep

(19:53):
the bracelet on, and theelephant wouldn't try to run
away and be free, because it wasconvinced that it was useless.
It would not even try.
That limitation is somethingthat many people who are

(20:15):
followers of Jesus experienceand encounter and are right now
struggling with, and I'm here tosay that that bracelet that's
on your ankle, that limitationthat's been placed upon you, is
a lie and you are free.

(20:35):
That's good news.
That's what the evangel is.
The prison doors are open andyou can come on out.
You're not limited Like anelephant with an ankle.

(20:55):
Bracelet is limited because itjust gave up.
We are not limited.
God has given us great andprecious promises and they are
available to us and they areactivated by faith.
They are activated by believingGod and taking him at his word

(21:23):
and doing something with him.
Even if we do it wrong to beginwith, it's easier to move, it's
easier to steer a moving vehiclethan it is a parked car, moving
vehicle than it is a parked car.
We often don't do thingsbecause it's not perfect.

(21:47):
You know we don't want to do itwrong.
Well, why?
I mean that would limitanything from being invented and

(22:10):
then developed.
In fact, there are entirecompanies that have sections
that are devoted just totestings and try to break them

(22:32):
until they can't.
We, of all people, can givethat type of understanding to

(22:54):
one another.
Should we make a mistake in theprocess of trying, research and
development.
Come on, man In the body ofChrist.
We need a good research anddevelopment.
Come on, man In the body ofChrist.
We need a good research anddevelopment department where we
can research things, we candevelop them and we can try to
break it.
Make mistakes, be free to makemistakes, not for the purpose of

(23:17):
highlighting the mistakes, butto eliminate them so that we can
function according to the lifewithin us, like Jesus did.
He is our perfect example andthat cry within us is the cry

(23:40):
for us to mature and become thesons of God, is the cry for us
to mature and become the sons ofGod.
The nature within us is cryingout for that maturity.
Not just nature itself, but ourown very human nature is crying
out to develop, praise God andfor us to encourage each other

(24:12):
in the process, as opposed todiscouraging each other and or
criticizing each other becausewe haven't done it perfectly.
There's more, there's more,there's more, and God is

(24:35):
providing more, it's unfolding,and that cry within you is not
just you.
That's a cry that's come fromGod and he is going to meet that
need.
That's good news.
It might set you apart as beingdifferent for a while, but I
guarantee you you will not bebored.
In fact, uniquely enough, youwill be aligned with and find

(25:04):
other people who feel the sameway and you'll be joined
together with, because God ispositioning people to function
in ways and in groups that aresuitable to who we are best
suited for who we are.
That might require some change.
That's why no leader ownsanybody.

(25:28):
We don't own people.
We are overseers undershepherds.
God is one who owns.
He can freely align people indifferent places and move people
around.
Now it's unfortunate thatoftentimes we go away versus

(25:52):
being sent, and that's a wholenother topic.
Waiting to be sent versus justgoing away because things got
rough.
I get it.
Sometimes we need to for thesake of body and soul, so to

(26:12):
speak.
We need to move, and that too,is the work of the spirit.
But I love to see the sendingout, because that means that
relationships are still good andGod is relational and he wants
us to have good relationships,not just with him, but with one

(26:34):
another.
What did Jesus say?
God is who he says he isbecause we love each other.
Love is that thing that we havebeen given more of than we are

(27:06):
utilizing.
Love, because the power of loveand the power in love involves
signs and wonders, healings.
It's all love, a demonstrationof love, peace, joy,

(27:29):
righteousness.
It's all love.
Forgiveness, forgiveness,Patience, long suffering, long
suffering, long suffering.
God is doing something greaterthan what was done before and

(27:59):
he's doing it now and he's doingit again and he's going to
continue to do it until it'scomplete, Until his plan is
complete, until his purposes aredone.
It's going to continue tounfold and we get to be part of
it.
And this is just anencouragement for those who are

(28:23):
listening that you're not nuts,you're not crazy, you're not a
malcontent for wanting more.
If you're not satisfied withthe way things are, it's because
you might be stuck in the rutof dead religion, meaning dead

(28:44):
works, just the same old, sameold, as opposed to something
that's unfolding and empowering.
And God wants us to be in thatplace of grace, his grace, his
empowerment.
Let's pray Father, first of all, I thank you again for who you

(29:14):
are and for what you're doingand how you're doing it and the
fact that you're using us.
You've called us, you've calledus and I'm so glad I responded.
I'm so glad others haveresponded and I said Lord, enter

(29:35):
into my life and give me yourlife.
I want relationship with you.
Yes, lord, yes, have your way,lord, yes, have your way.
Lord Father, there's so muchmore available than what we've
been living out.

(29:55):
I ask that that would bemanifest, that we'd be made
visible to us and through us, sothat your kingdom would be
demonstrated and advance andcover the earth as the waters

(30:16):
cover the sea.
We honor you, god, we worshipyou and we present ourselves as
living sacrifices in the name ofJesus.
Amen, amen, amen, amen.
All right, folks, I love you.
If you have any thoughts,questions, concerns, once again,

(30:42):
please feel free to drop us aline at liferonthefire at
gmailcom, drop us a line atlifearoundthefire at gmailcom,
or just type inlifearoundthefire and look us up
on the web.
We would love to hear from youIn the meantime.
God bless you.
Adios amigos.
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