July 16, 2025 • 31 mins
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.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
I was thinking recently that I've been at this
ministry of the gospel for quitesome time and I've had the
privilege of seeing things takeplace in various places around
the world, all throughout theUnited States, in Czechoslovakia
, in Canada, in Africa, slovakia, in Canada.
In Africa, there are now, as aresult of this podcast, over 107
(00:29):
countries that are listening towhat's going on just through
this podcast alone and, I think,like over 1,300 cities around
the world, and so there's somemeat and potatoes that we have
to offer, because God has beenreally good and has allowed us
(00:55):
the opportunity to do somethings that, of and by ourselves
, we wouldn't be able to do.
And that's really what I wantin life.
I want to be part of somethingthat is doomed to failure unless
God is in it.
I've seen what I can do on myown and I see what people can do
(01:21):
, you know, without therecognition and aid of God, and
some of the things are, you know, they're okay, and some are
really actually prettyastounding, but in comparison to
what God can do, they are noteven a whisper a whisper.
(01:54):
So I say that to say this thatthere was also a time that I was
living a lifestyle that wasbasically doing the same thing,
but on a different day.
That SSDD type lifestyle, thatSSDD type lifestyle, and also I
was doing things just to get by.
I would live for the weekendbecause on the weekend I would
(02:16):
let my hair down and I would doa variety of things.
Sometimes I would just drinkall weekend and consider that a
good time, you know, and thengoing to work the nine to five
doing the same thing.
But it was a different day andI was.
I was getting by, I wasn'treally necessarily being that
(02:38):
much of an evil guy, but I wasjust not really doing much until
one day the Spirit of God got ahold of my life and revealed
Jesus to me in a verysignificant and powerful way,
(02:59):
and that, right there, made thedifference and began a change in
my life.
The change began with mechanging repenting, meaning
changing my mind and changing myways and asking God to forgive
me.
There's nothing likeforgiveness, and if you've never
(03:24):
experienced forgiveness fromthe weight of sin that comes
along with just being born intothis world and not being free
from that and being born againspiritually, but the weight of
that sin, when it's removed, wethen realize how heavy it is.
(03:51):
But fortunately God allowed meto feel the weight of my
condition and I wasn't blindanymore.
I really saw what was going onand it was Jesus, the light of
the world, that revealed to mewhat was really going on.
(04:14):
He wasn't being mean about it,he just let me see what was
going on.
In fact, he would be mean tosee a person stumbling around
and not tell them that there areobstacles in their way and
reveal what those obstacles areso they can see them and then
(04:37):
have them removed.
That would be mean to justwatch someone stumble around.
So the Lord, in hisgraciousness, revealed to me
what was going on and I askedhim to forgive me and he did.
He cleansed me literally insideout.
It wasn't me trying to polishmyself up.
(05:00):
He cleansed me and within meimparted his life, his very
nature, not just a good thoughtto think about, but literally
his life, the seed of his verylife planted in me.
That life began to grow and asa result, here we are today.
(05:25):
I'm doing more than justexisting.
I'm living the life of anovercomer, meaning I have a
purpose and God has a plan andmy purpose is part of his plan
and in that I'm committed toseeing that fulfilled all the
(05:51):
way through to the end and, inthat respect, becoming an
overcomer, not just one who'sexisting, doing the same thing,
but on a different day.
And that same thing isavailable to you, and that's why
(06:19):
we are continually expressingthings that God gives to us, in
hopes that something is going totouch your life and impart to
you a spark that will bringabout a change, so that you too
can become an overcomer and notjust one who is going through
life existing.
(06:40):
I want to share with you apassage from the book of
Revelation, the Revelation ofJesus, where John, one of Jesus,
(07:10):
which was in direct oppositionto the culture that he lived in
at the time, and the people ofthat culture of that time wanted
to get rid of him, and one ofthe ways that they chose was to
put him on this remote island asa death sentence.
(07:31):
But John, while he was there,received a vision from God and
wrote it down, and that visionthat he received is a revelation
of Jesus.
Thus we have the book ofRevelation and in Revelation,
(07:54):
chapter 2, verse 7, he writes hewho has an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit says to thechurches, because he wrote a
letter concerning his vision toseven churches, seven different
(08:21):
congregations throughout AsiaMinor.
And he's, and in it thisportion of the message just
grabbed a hold of my heart andit's important for me, for us,
(08:44):
to share this word, the word ofthe Lord, to you because it
carries power to you, because itcarries power.
So again he writes he who hasan ear, a spiritual ear, he who
(09:05):
has an ear, let him hear whatthe Spirit says to the churches
and even though it was writtento them, it carries weight for
us today.
To him who overcomes, I willgive the right to eat of the
tree of life which is in theparadise of God.
(09:28):
Revelation.
Revelation, chapter 2, verse 7.
Again, again, he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
says to the churches.
(09:48):
To him who overcomes, I willgive the right to eat of the
tree of life which is in theparadise of God.
That's a powerful promise, butit's worth noting that the
(10:09):
Spirit didn't say to the personwho just exists and is doing the
same thing, but on a differentday.
I'm going to do this Becausethere's really no reward that
comes in living that way.
(10:32):
You know, there's a notion insome cultures that there are
trophies that are given topeople young, kids for just
participating in a sportingevent.
It's called a participationtrophy.
You get a trophy and I'm not anadvocate of that because I
(10:52):
believe that there are certainthings that are reserved for
those who are in a place, thatgo above and beyond just
participation, but that theyactually exert themselves with
the power of God to become overcomers.
(11:15):
And so I wrote down a fewthings that are keys.
They've been keys in my lifeand I wanna pass them on to you
because they're more than justtheory.
These are things that actuallywork, and if there's one of
(11:43):
these keys that you can takehold of and have it impact your
life and have it impact yourlife, then this is a successful
podcast on two ends on my endand on your end.
And so the keys to overcoming,to being an overcomer, are to
(12:08):
diligently pray number oneNumber two faithfully obey God
Diligently pray to God.
Number one Faithfully obey God.
Number two quietly trust God.
Number three patiently observeGod.
(12:31):
Number four and five thankfullypraise and worship the one true
God.
Now, diligently pray to God.
You see, without faith, it'simpossible for God to be
satisfied.
(12:51):
We can't just kind of maybeconsider the fact that he might
be real.
It's like someone consideringthe fact that you might be real.
It'd be like I'm real.
You can't just consider maybethe fact that I'm real and that
would be satisfying to you.
So, without faith, withoutreally believing that God is and
(13:18):
that he's a rewarder of thosewho diligently seek him, just
casual observance or mentalassent, that's not the same as
believing God.
And prayer, prayer, is the link.
It's called prayer, but it'sreally more relational
(13:41):
conversation with God, bothspeaking and listening, a
two-way thing, like we have withone another as people.
We talk, we listen, we laugh,we cry, we work things out.
That's prayer, but it's donewith God and it's a spiritual
(14:09):
dynamic, because God is spiritand those who worship him must
worship him in spirit and intruth.
And so we engage in a spiritualactivity, not just as something
that we do as a an emergencyyou know parachute but it's the
(14:34):
first thing that we do, not thelast thing that we do, or, in a
case of emergency, we pray.
It's a relational interactionand we diligently do it, not
just passively fire up a prayer,but we are diligently engaged
(14:56):
in it in order to be anovercomer.
And prayer is a link.
Conversation with God is aconduit through which things
flow from the, the kingdom ofheaven, into the earth, into the
world that we live in, and weare the conduit, and prayer is
(15:22):
the pipeline through whichthings flow.
It's the faith connection, it'sthe trust connection.
If you talk to me and youpresent something to me,
whatever it might be, it mightbe a request or it might be an
(15:43):
idea, but you talk to me aboutit.
It means you trust me.
Well, the same goes for God,and even more so because God
does things beyond us and heoperates in a way that is so
faithful, he is so trustworthy.
He's proven himself to betrustworthy to me, and so prayer
(16:10):
for me now is not anafterthought, it is a
forethought, it is a currentthought and it's an afterthought
.
It is a forethought, is acurrent thought and it's an
afterthought.
It's diligently praying,because I am an overcomer, not
just one who's existing.
(16:39):
Number two faithfully obey.
Obedience is better thansacrifice.
It's better to obey God than totry to do something for God.
God doesn't need us to dothings for him.
We're called to obey, and inthat obedience there's something
(17:04):
that transpires in thespiritual world, but also in the
earthly world that we live in.
There's something unique thattakes place when we obey.
We might not see it immediately.
That's an important point totake note.
(17:27):
You might not see the resultsof your obedience and your
diligent prayer immediately.
And it's interesting in America, right now, in year 2025, for
an adult, the average attentionspan is somewhere between six to
eight seconds.
Six to eight seconds meaningthat's how long we think about
(17:50):
things and we're thinking aboutsomething else, and so we can
pray sometimes and forget aboutthe thing that we prayed about
six to eight seconds laterbecause we're onto something
else and we don't really everrealize the answer to it because
our attention span isn't lockedin on God.
(18:11):
We've not learned to meditate,to ruminate, to wait, to wait
upon the Lord to faithfully obey.
And the next point, number threequietly trust, quietly trust.
Once we diligently pray and wefaithfully obey, we quietly
(18:35):
trust.
We don't make a big deal out ofwhat we're doing behind the
scenes.
In fact, it's been told to usto, when we pray, oftentimes go
into a private place and don'tdo it so that other people see
you doing it or hear you doingit, because if you do, you've
(18:58):
already got your reward.
That's your reward.
People say wow, that's prettyspiritual.
But if you go to a place whereyou'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 toundermine what someone else is
(19:18):
doing by saying I really don'tagree with them, but I've been
praying for them, oh man, thatjust throws a fly in the
chardonnay right there.
Man, it's just not good.
But to quietly trust, quietlytrust.
So, number one diligently pray.
(19:40):
Two faithfully obey.
Three quietly trust.
Number four patiently observe.
Four patiently observe.
Remember I said you know thatsometimes things seem like
(20:04):
they're delayed, and you know welive in a time and space
continuum, the realm of time andspace, and so sometimes things
seem like they've taken a longtime, but in all reality it's
not then but a breath, becausein eternity it's always now and
(20:27):
God operates in the realm ofeternity.
But he's given us this place oftime and space so that we can
learn certain things that wecan't learn anywhere else and we
can't grow anywhere else exceptwithin the realm of time and
space.
And it's not always going to bethis way, but it's this way now
.
In fact, this time, this age oftime and space is coming to a
(20:53):
close relatively soon, andthere's going to be something
new that's going to be takingplace after that.
That's interesting.
When that takes place, it'sgoing to seem like it's always
been that way, and yet it'llseem brand new.
And that's the way thateternity works.
(21:14):
It's in the now.
But when we live in time andspace, it seems like we wait and
sometimes it seems like we'rewaiting a long time.
But in all reality we're notwaiting that long, and
especially if our attention spanis six to eight seconds on the
average, waiting, even waiting40 days or 40 years, is not that
(21:38):
long when it's stacked upagainst eternity.
But in the realm of time andspace we need to patiently
observe, because things don'talways happen right away, but
they will happen.
See, that's the part.
If we patiently observe and ifwe quietly trust, if we maintain
(22:01):
our faith, we don't drop offand just say, well, that didn't
happen yet, so it's probably notgoing to happen.
I mean, there's a temptationfor that to take place in all of
our lives.
It hasn't happened yet, it'sprobably not going to happen.
Ah, well, you know, there itgoes.
See, it never happens in mylife.
(22:22):
Well, that just negates what weprayed.
And if someone came up to meand 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 itmight as well not happen, just
forget about it, I'd be likewhat?
Yeah, forget about it, itdidn't happen yet.
You know, I see you don'treally like me, you don't really
(22:44):
care about me.
You care about everyone elsebut not me.
But if we patiently observe andwe quietly trust, we maintain a
position in which we can becomeovercomers and not complainers
or not just people that gothrough things and have a
complex about.
(23:05):
Well, it never happens anyway,it's not going to happen now.
See, these are the things thatGod wants to deal with in our
life and help us get rid ofchange to repent from, to change
our mind and change our ways sothat we can diligently pray,
faithfully obey, quietly trustand patiently observe.
(23:30):
I say quietly and patientlyobserve, again, not making a big
deal out of us observing.
I'm watching you, I'm watchingYou're praying about a situation
, right, and it happens to allthe other people, and we tell
the other people.
I've been praying and I'mwatching now.
(23:50):
Well, man, talk about unhealthypressure and control
manipulation that we place onpeople.
Diligently pray, faithfully,obey, quietly, trust, patiently
(24:11):
observe and, lastly, thankfully,praise and worship the one true
God, even before the answercomes, because the answer is
going to come.
And when the answer comes, yes,praise and worship God, but
(24:32):
throughout the process he isworthy of our praise and worship
.
Our number one call in life isto worship God.
Our highest priority is toworship God.
He is worthy.
He is central.
We're not.
He is he's creator.
We're created.
He is worthy of our praise.
(24:53):
He is worthy of our praise andhe is.
He is so amazing, so wonderful,so faithful, so powerful, so
true.
He has decisions.
He's decisive and in hisdecisiveness they're called
(25:14):
judgments.
He has a final say on things.
A judgment keeps him from beingjudgmental.
Right, that's a different thing.
Being judgmental is a religiousthing, bondage, judgmental.
(25:35):
But having a judgment, havingthe ability to be decisive, have
a final say on something,that's healthy.
God has judgments and they'regood.
They're not flippant.
He's not out to fry people.
He loves us, but he also willcorrect us and, if need be, in
(25:58):
correction there can be thingsthat are uncomfortable.
No discipline or correction iscomfortable for the moment, but
in the end it leads to life, man.
I mean, it goes with children,right, if a parent doesn't
(26:19):
discipline their child and bringcorrection 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, itputs things in place.
It's not being abusive, ofcourse.
(26:41):
Not Abusive is abusive, butbeing correct to provide
correction.
We need that.
I need that, I need that as anadult, and God provides it, and
so he's worthy of our praise andworship.
But especially in the process ofus becoming an overcomer,
(27:02):
having a lifestyle of praise andworship, hallelujah, that is
really a telltale sign of aperson's maturity in their walk
with God Prayer and worship,along with obedience and trust
(27:25):
and the ability to observe,keeping your eyes open.
Now, early on, I putforgiveness in there.
Early on, I put forgiveness inthere.
And forgiveness, man,forgiveness.
Forgive us our trespasses as weforgive those who trespass
against us.
Forgive us our sins as weforgive those who sin against us
(27:49):
.
Forgive us our debts as weforgive our debtors.
Forgiveness, be forgiven and beforgiving, and the list goes on
in the life of an overcomer.
And these qualities are good.
See, that's when you see aperson who has those qualities.
(28:10):
There's a richness and a depthin their life, there's a sense
of being solid and righteous andpeaceful, and they have joy
because things are in theirproper place, they are right.
Hallelujah, hallelujah, sodiligently, pray, faithfully,
(28:36):
obey, quietly, trust, patiently,observe, thankfully, praise and
worship the one through God.
And to him who overcomes, Iwill give the right to eat of
the tree of life which is in theparadise of God, in the
(28:58):
paradise of God, which is in theparadise of God.
Let's pray Father, thank you,thank you, thank you, I love you
.
I love you, I worship you, Ilove you, I worship you.
We worship you, god, and I thankyou for teaching us how to be
(29:23):
overcomers, not just telling usto 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 andyou are our teacher and our
guide, our comforter.
Thank you, thank you forshowing us Jesus, jesus, thank
(29:52):
you for showing us the Father.
Father, thank you for revealingto us the heart of God.
We need you, we trust you, welook to you and we stand here in
the name of Jesus and we inviteyou, holy Spirit, to make us
like him and in his name we prayAmen, amen, amen, amen.
(30:18):
Hallelujah.
Folks, we love you.
If you have any thoughts,questions or concerns, please
feel free to drop us a line atlifearoundthefire at gmailcom,
or type in lifearoundthefire andlook us up on the web.
We would love to hear from you.
In the meantime, god bless you.
Adios amigos.
I was thinking recently that I've been at this
ministry of the gospel for quitesome time and I've had the
privilege of seeing things takeplace in various places around
the world, all throughout theUnited States, in Czechoslovakia
, in Canada, in Africa, slovakia, in Canada.
In Africa, there are now, as aresult of this podcast, over 107
(00:29):
countries that are listening towhat's going on just through
this podcast alone and, I think,like over 1,300 cities around
the world, and so there's somemeat and potatoes that we have
to offer, because God has beenreally good and has allowed us
(00:55):
the opportunity to do somethings that, of and by ourselves
, we wouldn't be able to do.
And that's really what I wantin life.
I want to be part of somethingthat is doomed to failure unless
God is in it.
I've seen what I can do on myown and I see what people can do
(01:21):
, you know, without therecognition and aid of God, and
some of the things are, you know, they're okay, and some are
really actually prettyastounding, but in comparison to
what God can do, they are noteven a whisper a whisper.
(01:54):
So I say that to say this thatthere was also a time that I was
living a lifestyle that wasbasically doing the same thing,
but on a different day.
That SSDD type lifestyle, thatSSDD type lifestyle, and also I
was doing things just to get by.
I would live for the weekendbecause on the weekend I would
(02:16):
let my hair down and I would doa variety of things.
Sometimes I would just drinkall weekend and consider that a
good time, you know, and thengoing to work the nine to five
doing the same thing.
But it was a different day andI was.
I was getting by, I wasn'treally necessarily being that
(02:38):
much of an evil guy, but I wasjust not really doing much until
one day the Spirit of God got ahold of my life and revealed
Jesus to me in a verysignificant and powerful way,
(02:59):
and that, right there, made thedifference and began a change in
my life.
The change began with mechanging repenting, meaning
changing my mind and changing myways and asking God to forgive
me.
There's nothing likeforgiveness, and if you've never
(03:24):
experienced forgiveness fromthe weight of sin that comes
along with just being born intothis world and not being free
from that and being born againspiritually, but the weight of
that sin, when it's removed, wethen realize how heavy it is.
(03:51):
But fortunately God allowed meto feel the weight of my
condition and I wasn't blindanymore.
I really saw what was going onand it was Jesus, the light of
the world, that revealed to mewhat was really going on.
(04:14):
He wasn't being mean about it,he just let me see what was
going on.
In fact, he would be mean tosee a person stumbling around
and not tell them that there areobstacles in their way and
reveal what those obstacles areso they can see them and then
(04:37):
have them removed.
That would be mean to justwatch someone stumble around.
So the Lord, in hisgraciousness, revealed to me
what was going on and I askedhim to forgive me and he did.
He cleansed me literally insideout.
It wasn't me trying to polishmyself up.
(05:00):
He cleansed me and within meimparted his life, his very
nature, not just a good thoughtto think about, but literally
his life, the seed of his verylife planted in me.
That life began to grow and asa result, here we are today.
(05:25):
I'm doing more than justexisting.
I'm living the life of anovercomer, meaning I have a
purpose and God has a plan andmy purpose is part of his plan
and in that I'm committed toseeing that fulfilled all the
(05:51):
way through to the end and, inthat respect, becoming an
overcomer, not just one who'sexisting, doing the same thing,
but on a different day.
And that same thing isavailable to you, and that's why
(06:19):
we are continually expressingthings that God gives to us, in
hopes that something is going totouch your life and impart to
you a spark that will bringabout a change, so that you too
can become an overcomer and notjust one who is going through
life existing.
(06:40):
I want to share with you apassage from the book of
Revelation, the Revelation ofJesus, where John, one of Jesus,
(07:10):
which was in direct oppositionto the culture that he lived in
at the time, and the people ofthat culture of that time wanted
to get rid of him, and one ofthe ways that they chose was to
put him on this remote island asa death sentence.
(07:31):
But John, while he was there,received a vision from God and
wrote it down, and that visionthat he received is a revelation
of Jesus.
Thus we have the book ofRevelation and in Revelation,
(07:54):
chapter 2, verse 7, he writes hewho has an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit says to thechurches, because he wrote a
letter concerning his vision toseven churches, seven different
(08:21):
congregations throughout AsiaMinor.
And he's, and in it thisportion of the message just
grabbed a hold of my heart andit's important for me, for us,
(08:44):
to share this word, the word ofthe Lord, to you because it
carries power to you, because itcarries power.
So again he writes he who hasan ear, a spiritual ear, he who
(09:05):
has an ear, let him hear whatthe Spirit says to the churches
and even though it was writtento them, it carries weight for
us today.
To him who overcomes, I willgive the right to eat of the
tree of life which is in theparadise of God.
(09:28):
Revelation.
Revelation, chapter 2, verse 7.
Again, again, he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
says to the churches.
(09:48):
To him who overcomes, I willgive the right to eat of the
tree of life which is in theparadise of God.
That's a powerful promise, butit's worth noting that the
(10:09):
Spirit didn't say to the personwho just exists and is doing the
same thing, but on a differentday.
I'm going to do this Becausethere's really no reward that
comes in living that way.
(10:32):
You know, there's a notion insome cultures that there are
trophies that are given topeople young, kids for just
participating in a sportingevent.
It's called a participationtrophy.
You get a trophy and I'm not anadvocate of that because I
(10:52):
believe that there are certainthings that are reserved for
those who are in a place, thatgo above and beyond just
participation, but that theyactually exert themselves with
the power of God to become overcomers.
(11:15):
And so I wrote down a fewthings that are keys.
They've been keys in my lifeand I wanna pass them on to you
because they're more than justtheory.
These are things that actuallywork, and if there's one of
(11:43):
these keys that you can takehold of and have it impact your
life and have it impact yourlife, then this is a successful
podcast on two ends on my endand on your end.
And so the keys to overcoming,to being an overcomer, are to
(12:08):
diligently pray number oneNumber two faithfully obey God
Diligently pray to God.
Number one Faithfully obey God.
Number two quietly trust God.
Number three patiently observeGod.
(12:31):
Number four and five thankfullypraise and worship the one true
God.
Now, diligently pray to God.
You see, without faith, it'simpossible for God to be
satisfied.
(12:51):
We can't just kind of maybeconsider the fact that he might
be real.
It's like someone consideringthe fact that you might be real.
It'd be like I'm real.
You can't just consider maybethe fact that I'm real and that
would be satisfying to you.
So, without faith, withoutreally believing that God is and
(13:18):
that he's a rewarder of thosewho diligently seek him, just
casual observance or mentalassent, that's not the same as
believing God.
And prayer, prayer, is the link.
It's called prayer, but it'sreally more relational
(13:41):
conversation with God, bothspeaking and listening, a
two-way thing, like we have withone another as people.
We talk, we listen, we laugh,we cry, we work things out.
That's prayer, but it's donewith God and it's a spiritual
(14:09):
dynamic, because God is spiritand those who worship him must
worship him in spirit and intruth.
And so we engage in a spiritualactivity, not just as something
that we do as a an emergencyyou know parachute but it's the
(14:34):
first thing that we do, not thelast thing that we do, or, in a
case of emergency, we pray.
It's a relational interactionand we diligently do it, not
just passively fire up a prayer,but we are diligently engaged
(14:56):
in it in order to be anovercomer.
And prayer is a link.
Conversation with God is aconduit through which things
flow from the, the kingdom ofheaven, into the earth, into the
world that we live in, and weare the conduit, and prayer is
(15:22):
the pipeline through whichthings flow.
It's the faith connection, it'sthe trust connection.
If you talk to me and youpresent something to me,
whatever it might be, it mightbe a request or it might be an
(15:43):
idea, but you talk to me aboutit.
It means you trust me.
Well, the same goes for God,and even more so because God
does things beyond us and heoperates in a way that is so
faithful, he is so trustworthy.
He's proven himself to betrustworthy to me, and so prayer
(16:10):
for me now is not anafterthought, it is a
forethought, it is a currentthought and it's an afterthought
.
It is a forethought, is acurrent thought and it's an
afterthought.
It's diligently praying,because I am an overcomer, not
just one who's existing.
(16:39):
Number two faithfully obey.
Obedience is better thansacrifice.
It's better to obey God than totry to do something for God.
God doesn't need us to dothings for him.
We're called to obey, and inthat obedience there's something
(17:04):
that transpires in thespiritual world, but also in the
earthly world that we live in.
There's something unique thattakes place when we obey.
We might not see it immediately.
That's an important point totake note.
(17:27):
You might not see the resultsof your obedience and your
diligent prayer immediately.
And it's interesting in America, right now, in year 2025, for
an adult, the average attentionspan is somewhere between six to
eight seconds.
Six to eight seconds meaningthat's how long we think about
(17:50):
things and we're thinking aboutsomething else, and so we can
pray sometimes and forget aboutthe thing that we prayed about
six to eight seconds laterbecause we're onto something
else and we don't really everrealize the answer to it because
our attention span isn't lockedin on God.
(18:11):
We've not learned to meditate,to ruminate, to wait, to wait
upon the Lord to faithfully obey.
And the next point, number threequietly trust, quietly trust.
Once we diligently pray and wefaithfully obey, we quietly
(18:35):
trust.
We don't make a big deal out ofwhat we're doing behind the
scenes.
In fact, it's been told to usto, when we pray, oftentimes go
into a private place and don'tdo it so that other people see
you doing it or hear you doingit, because if you do, you've
(18:58):
already got your reward.
That's your reward.
People say wow, that's prettyspiritual.
But if you go to a place whereyou'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 toundermine what someone else is
(19:18):
doing by saying I really don'tagree with them, but I've been
praying for them, oh man, thatjust throws a fly in the
chardonnay right there.
Man, it's just not good.
But to quietly trust, quietlytrust.
So, number one diligently pray.
(19:40):
Two faithfully obey.
Three quietly trust.
Number four patiently observe.
Four patiently observe.
Remember I said you know thatsometimes things seem like
(20:04):
they're delayed, and you know welive in a time and space
continuum, the realm of time andspace, and so sometimes things
seem like they've taken a longtime, but in all reality it's
not then but a breath, becausein eternity it's always now and
(20:27):
God operates in the realm ofeternity.
But he's given us this place oftime and space so that we can
learn certain things that wecan't learn anywhere else and we
can't grow anywhere else exceptwithin the realm of time and
space.
And it's not always going to bethis way, but it's this way now
.
In fact, this time, this age oftime and space is coming to a
(20:53):
close relatively soon, andthere's going to be something
new that's going to be takingplace after that.
That's interesting.
When that takes place, it'sgoing to seem like it's always
been that way, and yet it'llseem brand new.
And that's the way thateternity works.
(21:14):
It's in the now.
But when we live in time andspace, it seems like we wait and
sometimes it seems like we'rewaiting a long time.
But in all reality we're notwaiting that long, and
especially if our attention spanis six to eight seconds on the
average, waiting, even waiting40 days or 40 years, is not that
(21:38):
long when it's stacked upagainst eternity.
But in the realm of time andspace we need to patiently
observe, because things don'talways happen right away, but
they will happen.
See, that's the part.
If we patiently observe and ifwe quietly trust, if we maintain
(22:01):
our faith, we don't drop offand just say, well, that didn't
happen yet, so it's probably notgoing to happen.
I mean, there's a temptationfor that to take place in all of
our lives.
It hasn't happened yet, it'sprobably not going to happen.
Ah, well, you know, there itgoes.
See, it never happens in mylife.
(22:22):
Well, that just negates what weprayed.
And if someone came up to meand 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 itmight as well not happen, just
forget about it, I'd be likewhat?
Yeah, forget about it, itdidn't happen yet.
You know, I see you don'treally like me, you don't really
(22:44):
care about me.
You care about everyone elsebut not me.
But if we patiently observe andwe quietly trust, we maintain a
position in which we can becomeovercomers and not complainers
or not just people that gothrough things and have a
complex about.
(23:05):
Well, it never happens anyway,it's not going to happen now.
See, these are the things thatGod wants to deal with in our
life and help us get rid ofchange to repent from, to change
our mind and change our ways sothat we can diligently pray,
faithfully obey, quietly trustand patiently observe.
(23:30):
I say quietly and patientlyobserve, again, not making a big
deal out of us observing.
I'm watching you, I'm watchingYou're praying about a situation
, right, and it happens to allthe other people, and we tell
the other people.
I've been praying and I'mwatching now.
(23:50):
Well, man, talk about unhealthypressure and control
manipulation that we place onpeople.
Diligently pray, faithfully,obey, quietly, trust, patiently
(24:11):
observe and, lastly, thankfully,praise and worship the one true
God, even before the answercomes, because the answer is
going to come.
And when the answer comes, yes,praise and worship God, but
(24:32):
throughout the process he isworthy of our praise and worship
.
Our number one call in life isto worship God.
Our highest priority is toworship God.
He is worthy.
He is central.
We're not.
He is he's creator.
We're created.
He is worthy of our praise.
(24:53):
He is worthy of our praise andhe is.
He is so amazing, so wonderful,so faithful, so powerful, so
true.
He has decisions.
He's decisive and in hisdecisiveness they're called
(25:14):
judgments.
He has a final say on things.
A judgment keeps him from beingjudgmental.
Right, that's a different thing.
Being judgmental is a religiousthing, bondage, judgmental.
(25:35):
But having a judgment, havingthe ability to be decisive, have
a final say on something,that's healthy.
God has judgments and they'regood.
They're not flippant.
He's not out to fry people.
He loves us, but he also willcorrect us and, if need be, in
(25:58):
correction there can be thingsthat are uncomfortable.
No discipline or correction iscomfortable for the moment, but
in the end it leads to life, man.
I mean, it goes with children,right, if a parent doesn't
(26:19):
discipline their child and bringcorrection 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, itputs things in place.
It's not being abusive, ofcourse.
(26:41):
Not Abusive is abusive, butbeing correct to provide
correction.
We need that.
I need that, I need that as anadult, and God provides it, and
so he's worthy of our praise andworship.
But especially in the process ofus becoming an overcomer,
(27:02):
having a lifestyle of praise andworship, hallelujah, that is
really a telltale sign of aperson's maturity in their walk
with God Prayer and worship,along with obedience and trust
(27:25):
and the ability to observe,keeping your eyes open.
Now, early on, I putforgiveness in there.
Early on, I put forgiveness inthere.
And forgiveness, man,forgiveness.
Forgive us our trespasses as weforgive those who trespass
against us.
Forgive us our sins as weforgive those who sin against us
(27:49):
.
Forgive us our debts as weforgive our debtors.
Forgiveness, be forgiven and beforgiving, and the list goes on
in the life of an overcomer.
And these qualities are good.
See, that's when you see aperson who has those qualities.
(28:10):
There's a richness and a depthin their life, there's a sense
of being solid and righteous andpeaceful, and they have joy
because things are in theirproper place, they are right.
Hallelujah, hallelujah, sodiligently, pray, faithfully,
(28:36):
obey, quietly, trust, patiently,observe, thankfully, praise and
worship the one through God.
And to him who overcomes, Iwill give the right to eat of
the tree of life which is in theparadise of God, in the
(28:58):
paradise of God, which is in theparadise of God.
Let's pray Father, thank you,thank you, thank you, I love you
.
I love you, I worship you, Ilove you, I worship you.
We worship you, god, and I thankyou for teaching us how to be
(29:23):
overcomers, not just telling usto 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 andyou are our teacher and our
guide, our comforter.
Thank you, thank you forshowing us Jesus, jesus, thank
(29:52):
you for showing us the Father.
Father, thank you for revealingto us the heart of God.
We need you, we trust you, welook to you and we stand here in
the name of Jesus and we inviteyou, holy Spirit, to make us
like him and in his name we prayAmen, amen, amen, amen.
(30:18):
Hallelujah.
Folks, we love you.
If you have any thoughts,questions or concerns, please
feel free to drop us a line atlifearoundthefire at gmailcom,
or type in lifearoundthefire andlook us up on the web.
We would love to hear from you.
In the meantime, god bless you.
Adios amigos.
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