Keep The Light Burning

As this season of Keepers of the Light comes to a close, we return to one powerful truth: faith is not just something we start — it’s something we sustain.

In this special finale, Dylan Burcham reflects on the journey of the season and brings everything together with a clear and encouraging focus on endurance, consistency, and lifelong faithfulness. Through Scripture and practical insight, this episode explores what it means to keep your spiritual fire burning in every season — not just when it’s easy, but when it’s challenging.

Whether your faith feels strong or stretched, this episode is a reminder that God is faithful to sustain what He has started in you. With a renewed call to stay rooted, stay prayerful, and stay aligned, listeners are encouraged to move forward with intentional faith and lasting commitment.

This isn’t the end — it’s a continuation.

Keep the faith. Keep the fire. Keep the light burning.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Praise the Lord, everybody, and welcome back to Keepers of the Light, the official podcast of Gospel Lighthouse Pentecostal Church right here in Tishmingo, Mississippi. As always, I'm your host, Dylan Bircham, and today's episode is a little bit different. This is episode number 12, and typically a podcast season is for around 12 episodes. So we are actually going to close season one of the Keepers of the Light podcast today. But I want to say this clearly from the beginning: this is not an ending whatsoever. This is just a checkpoint. When you come to the end of a season like we are today, it is a moment to pause. It's a moment to reflect, and a moment to decide what comes next. Because everything we've talked about this season has been special. We've talked about faith, growth, prayer, guarding your heart. We talked about that last week, being available, which is important, staying rooted. And all of these topics have been some pretty great things to talk about. But none of these topics are meant to stay inside the context of an episode. All of these topics are meant to be lived. And now the question becomes personal. Not what did you hear throughout season one? But what will you carry forward into your own life? Leviticus chapter 6 and verse 13 says, The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar. It shall never go out. That wasn't a suggestion, that was a command, a continual fire, a maintained fire, a protected fire. And that's what this life with God is all about. Not moments of intensity, but a lifetime of consistency. Anyone can burn bright for a moment, but can you burn steady over time? And that's what we're going to talk about today. Before we dive right into everything about today's episode, I do want to share with you uh my headspace of where we're at today. So we are concluding season one of Keepers of the Light today. I'm so excited for season two. We are definitely going to do a season two, and I can't wait to get started on that. I do need a couple weeks for planning and decision making for the next season. I have a few things I would like to really accomplish in season two, and I just want to make sure I can do so. So when we conclude today, uh, we will be taking a two to three week break as we prepare a few things, and then we're going to come right back with season two of Keepers of the Light. We're going to jump right back into episodes every single week, just like we are right now. And I'm looking forward to what happens in season two. So be praying for us. Uh, be keeping everything in mind. And I do want to say right now, before we go any further, thank you so much for your support during season one. Your support, your feedback, your prayers, your input, sharing this podcast, everything you've done for Keepers of the Light has been so awesome. And I just want to say thank you, thank you, thank you. We are right now somewhere around 500 downloads, around 60 different cities, four different countries. We're growing. God is good, his hand is in it, and I'm watching him bless this podcast, and it makes my heart glad to see it happening. I do ask that you continue to support us. Uh, again, pray for us, share our podcast, and I don't like to really even do this, but if you want to help us do what we do, you can always support the podcast financially. Uh, if you go to keepers of the light.buzzsprout.com, which is the website for our podcast, there's a small dollar sign icon or it'll say support in the top right hand corner. You can click on that, be a monthly supporter of the podcast. You don't have to do that. You can continue to listen 100% absolutely for free. I'm not asking you to do so, but if you want to, you feel it on your heart to do so, it's greatly appreciated. It does help us get what we need to continue doing what we're doing, as well as grow into what we want to do in the future. Uh, but more than anything, be praying for season two. I expect season two to be awesome, and I thank you so much for your support in season one. Now, I have rambled on long enough. Uh, so again, thank you. But let's move on, let's jump into today's episode because we've got a lot to cover, and I don't want to take a ton of your time to do so. So let's jump back into episode 12, the season finale of Keepers of the Light. It's important that we remember where it started. Not necessarily the show or physically, but let's go back for a moment. Again, not physically, but personally. Where did this start for you? Maybe it was a moment in a church service. Maybe it was a quiet prayer that you prayed by yourself. Maybe it was a difficult season that led you to God. Maybe it was a turning point where you realize that you needed something more. Revelations chapter two, verses four and five says, Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember, therefore, from whence thou art fallen. That word remember in this source of scripture is very powerful because remembering is what reconnects you. It brings clarity and restores perspective. Sometimes we don't lose passion because God changed, but we lose passion because we drifted from what we once valued more than anything else. I want you to think about how it felt when you first connected with God. That first connection, I want you to think about that for just a second. If you're able to, you're not driving, please don't do this if you're driving. But just close your eyes for a moment. Think about that first connection you felt with God. Think about the emotions that you felt. More than likely, there was gratitude in that moment. There was humility, there was awareness. You didn't take it for granted. But over time, being familiar, we talked about that just a little bit last week in the episode titled Guard Your Heart. If you haven't heard that, go back and listen to it. But being familiar can replace gratitude. Routine can replace wonder, and slowly the fire becomes less intentional. That is why it is important to remember. Because gratitude is what fuels fire. When you remember what God has done, it reignites something inside of you. So take a moment. Remember the prayers he answered. Remember the doors he opened. Remember the strength he gave you. Remember where you were, and then look at where you are now. That memory should not just be reflection, it's fuel. But let's talk just a little bit about a topic that everybody has experienced and everybody has gone through, and that is burnout. Now we're gonna be honest today because not everyone keeps the fire burning. Some people start strong, but they don't finish strong. Not because they didn't care, but because they didn't maintain. I want to remind us today that burnout doesn't happen suddenly, it happens gradually, and most times quietly. Almost unnoticeably does it happen in our lives. You stop praying like you used to, you stop engaging like you used to, you start carrying things along, you disconnect just a little, and then a little more, and eventually what once felt alive now feels heavy. Galatians six and nine says, Let us not be weary in well-doing. That tells us something so important today that weariness is real. Even good people doing good things, they grow weary. But weariness is not failure, isolation is where it becomes dangerous when you disconnect from God or you disconnect from people, when you stop refilling what you're pouring out, that's when burnout begins to take hold. See, God never designed you to run on empty, and he never designed you to run alone, but he designed you to stay full, and he designed you to stay connected. So, how do we keep the fire burning? Not for a week, not for a season, but for a lifetime. How do we keep it burning? Let's make this simple today, but intentional uh in our conversation. The most important thing you can do to keep the fire burning is stay close to God. Stay close to God daily. Not just when you feel like it, not just when things are going good, not just when things are convenient, but stay close to Him daily because consistency builds strength. Next, keep your heart clean. We talked about that last week. Don't let things sit in your heart that God is trying to remove. Get those things out, deal with them quickly, lay them down, get rid of them. Ask God to clean your heart just as David did. Get your life back on track, but keep your heart clean. Stay rooted in the truth. Feelings change, emotions change, circumstances change, but truth does not change. Stay rooted in it. Stay available. Don't become a spectator. Man, I wish so many times in my life growing up in church that I mean, there's been times that I've seen people that were once so fired up become a spectator and kind of take a side seat. And by saying that, I'm reminded of a conversation I had with one of my friends here at Gospel Lighthouse about this specific topic of becoming a spectator, not that they were becoming one in any way, but just the topic of people becoming spectators and taking a side seat. And I remember saying in that conversation, we don't have time for that. I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to grab those people that were becoming spectators and shake them spiritually and sometimes physically to get them back on track with who they were called to be. We don't have time to be spectators. We need to stay available, readily available. The Bible says be instant in season and out of season. Stay available and stay engaged in what God is doing. We need to stay connected also. Ecclesiastes 4 and 9 says, two are better than one. You are never meant to do this alone. I'm going to repeat that for the ones in the back. You were never meant to do this alone. God placed you in a church with a church family if you're in church. And if you're not in church, he wants to place you in a church and in a church family on purpose because we need each other for strength. You were never meant to do this alone. Fire lasts longer when all the pieces are together. I don't know how many of you have fire experience when it comes to the natural, but we like to camp. We like to have, we actually have bonfires at our house with our family. My kids love it. My parents have always loved it. It's something we did growing up. But I don't know about you, but I've never seen a fire of any kind that had just one piece of wood that burned and did well. But typically, it takes multiple pieces of wood stacked in a strategic manner so that the fire can burn and burn well. Your relationship with God is the same way. You need to be interlocked with other pieces so that the fire can burn and burn well. Fire lasts longer together. It burns hotter together. Stay connected with people of like faith. Get in there, get connected, dig into your church, and you will be able to keep the fire burning and keep it burning hotter and longer. So the past few things that I've said have been kind of a review of the last 12 episodes of Keepers of the Light, but there are also steps in keeping the fire burning. These aren't complicated steps, but they do require consistency. And consistency is what builds endurance when it comes to our walk with God. And you need that endurance because there will be seasons when the fire feels low. I told you we were being honest today. So I'm just going to be up front with you that there will be seasons where the fire feels low. Not gone, but low. And in those seasons and moments of life, it's easy to start questioning, did I lose something? Am I drifting? Is something wrong with me? But hear this today. Low fire is not a dead fire. And just because you don't feel it the same way does not mean that it's not still there. 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 6 says, stir up the gift of God. That means that there is something still there. And it just needs your attention. As I've already said about camping and bonfires and things of that nature, a lot of times if a fire gets low and the wood is pretty much burned out, it's not sending flames, you know, 10 to 12 inches above the wood anymore, but it's just kind of simmering there, and there is some smoke, but there's no real flame. And there's just coals and things of that nature. I have found that if you take another log of wood or a fire poker of some kind, and you rake those coals into a pile and you begin to stir them and move them around, that typically they will flame back up. Uh, and all it takes is a little bit of stirring and some fresh wood on top, and your fire will just continue right on to burn. That's what Paul is telling Timothy here. Stir up the gift of God. Get that thing back going. It doesn't mean the fire's completely gone out. In fact, it means just the opposite. It means that there is something still there, even if it doesn't look like it, it just needs your attention. We often expect faith to feel consistent emotionally, but scripture shows us something way different than that. Even strong believers had low moments. David had them, Elijah had them, Paul had them. These weren't weak people, these were faithful people in difficult seasons of life. So if your fire feels low, you're not falling and you're not failing, you're human. So when the fire does feel low, the worst thing you can do is panic. Because panic leads to pressure, and pressure leads to frustration, and frustration leads to distance. Instead of panicking, the Bible teaches us to return. Revelation chapter two and verse five says, Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent and do the first works. Go back, not backward into failure, but back into the source, back to prayer, back to the word, back to worship, back to consistency. And most of the time, you don't need a new strategy, you just need a renewed connection. You don't abandon the fire when it's low. You tend to it and do what you have to do to get it back burning. So let's bring all this together today. This isn't just about personal growth, it's about purpose. You're not just listening to this podcast, you are called to live this podcast. You are a keeper of the light. Matthew five and sixteen says, Let your light so shine before men, not occasionally, but consistently. The world doesn't need more noise, it needs light, steady light, faithful light, enduring light, and that is what you're called to be. Not perfect, not anything like that, but consistent, not flashy, but faithful, not temporary by all means, but lasting. Because this isn't just about finishing a season, this is about committing to what comes next. So wherever you are today, I ask that you take a moment, focus on your heart, focus on your personal fire in your relationship with God. And let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for this day and your many blessings. Thank you for everything that you've done in our lives. Thank you for every moment that you've spoken, guided, and strengthened us. Today, Lord, we make a decision. A decision that we will keep the light burning. Not just in good seasons, but in every season. When we feel strong, Lord, I ask that you keep us humble. When we feel weak, give us strength. When we feel tired, renew us. Help us today and every day to stay consistent, to stay faithful, to stay close to you. And if our fire has dimmed, Lord, I ask that you reignite it. If we've drifted, draw us back, if we've grown weary, restore us and our strength. Let our lives reflect steady faith. Let our hearts remain aligned with you, and let our light shine clearly. Lord, we commit our future to you, our faith to you, our lives to you, and most of all, our hearts to you. And I ask you to help us keep the fire burning. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. As we close this season of Keepers of the Light, again, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for listening. Thank you for growing. Thank you for walking this journey. But more than anything, don't let this be where it stops. Take what you've learned and live it. Because the world doesn't need messages. It needs messengers. It needs light and it needs you to carry it. So as you move forward, stay faithful, stay rooted, stay prayerful, stay guarded, stay available, and above all, keep the light burning. And I'll see you next season.