Steve Simms's Blog, page 108

Defeat your demons!

The daily news demonstrates how demons working in and thru people say and do cruel things to people. As humans we need to learn to recognize, refute, and resist the voice of demons when they insert their wrongful thoughts into our mind.

Demons are spiritual beings that strive to deceive and to entrap human beings in destructive, tormenting and/or impure thoughts and behaviors. They like to disguise themselves as a person’s own thoughts, feelings, and desires so that people will freely surrender to demonic bondage. Jesus, the Bible, and the writings of other ancient Christ-followers take demons seriously and call on Christians to resist them and to overcome their influence.

One of the important gifts of the Spirit is “the discerning of spirits” which helps us recognize demonic activity in ourselves and in other people and not be deceived by it. We can also recognize demonic activity because it openly contradicts our conscience, the Holy Spirit, and the Bible.

In the Bible we see Jesus exercising authority over demons to bring freedom to individuals in bondage. This reminds me of the tormenting demons Jesus has driven out of my life (some suddenly and some gradually) and I am re-astounded — amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene! As astonishing as that is, it’s also astonishing that Jesus gives Christ-followers, His agents, authority over impure spirits both to drive them out of their mind and heart and to set other people free from demonic torment. One practical way we can drive out demons is to openly, spontaneously, and honestly pray out loud together and allow our heart-felt, Spirit-led prayers to bring us into deeper intimacy with the living Jesus and cause the demons to begin to flee. When people open up and honestly pray together freedom happens and it’s a beautiful thing to watch!

When statistical Christianity replaces mystical Christianity, we’re counting data instead of relying on the risen Jesus. Demons aren’t afraid of religious statistics, but they’re terrified of Christian mystics who maintain a daily, intimate relationship with the living Jesus.

When Christians gather to take turns spontaneously praying aloud from their heart the presence of Jesus manifests among them. They become aware of Jesus and experience His peace. A powerful way Christians can “forsake not the assembling of yourselves together” is to meet for heart-felt praying. Frequently express what God puts on your heart by praying aloud with people.

If you don’t want an ungodly thought, feeling, or desire to be inside of you, then it comes from another source than you and should be persistently resisted. To believe that you are the only source of the wrongful thoughts, feelings, and desires inside you is to be deceived by demons. The desires and thoughts within us originate from three sources: 1) Self, 2) Demons, and 3) God. The quality of our life depends on which source we train ourselves to follow.

If the actual presence of the living Jesus is rarely the center of attention in a church service, we’ve gotten far off track. Many churches now feature Christless sermons — secular-based motivational speeches disguised as religion.

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The forefront of your mind and the center of your heart

To believe that Jesus rose and is now present everywhere yet neglect to daily interact with Him is to miss the point of Christianity. For Christians to wake-up is to become gloriously aware that we carry Christ’s presence and to begin to let Him freely work in and through us today!

Making churches better and more efficient institutions won’t advance Christianity. Surrendering control to the living Jesus will! You won’t be able to follow the risen Jesus unless you keep Him continually in the forefront of your daily life.

Many Christians let Jesus hang around in the background of their life, but they don’t want Him to be in the forefront. Always keep the living Jesus in the forefront of your mind and the center of your heart!

Some thoughts that you shove into the background of your mind are coming directly from God. Notice them. The faint voice in the background of your mind trying to gently disrupt your plans is often Jesus prompting you to a better life. When a Christian courageously invites Jesus to step out of the background and instead to become Lord and Master everything changes!

Beware! Many churches now feature Christless sermons — secular-based motivational speeches disguised as religion.

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Today experience life with Jesus

Look for Jesus today. He’s everywhere. If you notice Him, listen to Him, and obey His inner promptings, what a day today will be! Today notice Jesus everywhere you go. Surrender to His presence. Rely and depend on Him every moment.

For many Christians, Jesus is like the sky. They believe He’s present, but they rarely notice Him. To keep Jesus out of your today is to keep Him out of your life. The most ignored gift of the present moment is the omnipresent Jesus. Every day that I let Jesus lead me makes it easier to let Him lead me the next day.

Today is the time to experience life with Jesus! The fact that you woke up this morning means that Jesus hasn’t given up on you. When I wake up Jesus is always there to greet me. He can manage my day much better than I can. Today I will keep my attention focused on the risen Jesus.

The next time you pray will be the first prayer of the rest of your life. Make it humble and heart-felt.

The long-ago Jesus and the someday-in-the-future Jesus are both far removed from now. Let the today Jesus live and work in you. Jesus-past and Jesus-future are both unapproachable today. But Jesus-present is now reaching out to you. Respond to Him!

You can hear and/or read about what Jesus did in the past and will do in the future, but you can only experience Him in the now! My best life can’t compare to the life of Christ living in me!

To follow Christ, you need to be daily discipled and led by the living Jesus. When I listen to and obey Jesus, today is never a rewind of yesterday. Make today a day-long encounter with the risen Jesus.

If you allow Jesus to actively live in you today, He will lead you from the inside out. Every day brings more opportunities to interact with the risen Jesus!

I love it when members of the body of Christ meet together as a Spirit-led team. Christians need to interact with the living Jesus together, but you also need to interact with Jesus by yourself.

Spirit-led people are no longer in bondage to the desires of human nature. They’re directed by the Spirit not by their wants.

Instead of pursuing our own desires, feelings, and opinions, Christians are supposed to be daily led by the promptings of God’s Spirit within us. (See Romans 8:14.) We humans don’t know how bad we are and how much we need God’s mercy until we sincerely want and try to be good. It’s human nature to be desire-led, but Jesus wants His followers to be Spirit-led instead.

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Praying with diverse Christ-followers

My wife and I have for years have been praying heart-to-heart with diverse Christ-followers (from various churches and even those who are done with traditional church). On the phone, online, or in person, we meet with one or more other believers and pray with and for each other. It’s a beautiful thing.

Currently God is leading us to reach out to more people. In the past few months, He has introduced us to 4 new couples who are passionate about Jesus — two in their 30s and two in their 60s — who don’t know each other. We’ve been praying individually with all 4 couples, plus we have several other individuals and couples we pray with often. It’s amazing to experience the deep unity and power of the Spirit even though none of us go to church together.

Experience the unity of the body of Christ. Regularly pray with various Christians who don’t go to church with you. The family of God is far bigger than any church. Those who are led by the Spirit are the children of God — true family members. The best way to get to know your brothers and sisters in Christ is to pray with them one on one or in small groups. Try it and see!

Christ’s body encompasses genuine Christ-followers from “every kindred and every tribe.” Go beyond your church and experience amazing heart-connections. Discover the supernatural unity of all true Jesus-followers. Open your heart to pray with and connect with all who follow Him.

I want to see a world-wide move of God awaken millions of church attendees to the moment-by-moment reality of the fruit of the Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit, and daily, heart-to-heart, Spirit-led connection with the risen Jesus. Praying with diverse Christ-followers is a step in that direction.

God wants to give you invisible visions that are seen with your heart awakened to the reality of Christ in you. Learning to pray with others will open the door of your heart.

Do Christians need a defibrillator?

Lord, defibrillate my heart. Revive me to the awareness of Your presence and Your prompts. Cause my heart to begin to beat in sync with You.

Christians need God’s defibrillator! Too many Christians are unaware of and unresponsive to the now presence of the risen Jesus and His inner promptings. We need Christ’s defibrillator to shock and revive our heart!

Your conscience is full of Jesus-prompts. Take some time and notice them.

When we stomp
God’s inner prompts
We choose to tromp
His will with our will.

The tethers of tradition and timidity keep many people trapped in spiritual passivity. As long as Christ in you is like a tethered balloon, you’ll be stuck and unable to freely flow with the wind of His Spirit. When we’re tethered to our desires we’re unwilling to follow and obey the living Jesus. If we neglect to remember to stay intimately connected to the living Jesus, we’re only going thru the motions of Christianity.

Without consciousness of Christ’s presence and daily dependence on His inner promptings we overlook His powerful reality in the now. Learn to be so dependent on Christ in you that He can literally live His life both within and through you every day. The more I surrender my independence and begin to depend on the risen Jesus the more I experience and treasure His reality.

The more you talk about Jesus, focus on His presence, depend on Him, and obey His inner promptings, the more you will treasure Him. Learn to treasure the now presence of Jesus more than life itself.

As long as Jesus is a hypothetical or historical abstraction in your life you’ll miss out on His glorious reality in the present. Dependency on Christ requires that you begin to notice, treasure, and obey the promptings that Jesus is putting inside your heart in the now.

To learn to be led by the Spirit, train yourself to regularly notice and promptly obey Jesus-promptings. Reading the Bible with an open heart shows us how the early Christians followed Jesus and trains us to experience and follow Him today. Unfortunately, many Christians study the Bible like a textbook but are unaware of the Teacher working in and through its words–the risen Jesus!

It’s time for Christians to move beyond just learning about Jesus and move into directly connecting with Him. Remember to experience and be aware of the living Jesus throughout the day.

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No co-pilot necessary!

Jesus is my pilot. I am His passenger. He doesn’t need a co-pilot.

Jesus challenges religious people to open their heart to God and be real. He turns over tables and disrupts traditions. He calls all people to turn away from wrongdoing. He tells the truth that uncovers uncomfortable situations. Unlike the Pharisees in the Bible, religious people today don’t try to crucify Him again. They just strive to avoid His presence and control.

You’re worse than you think you are. “There is none righteous, no not one.” Thank God for His mercy!

Pride empties your grace account. “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Is your life on empty?
Any life that is empty
Of the awareness
Of the presence
Of the living Jesus
Is missing the reality
Of the security
And the adventure
Of this good news:
“Christ in you,
the hope of glory.”
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Questions about American history that need public answers

The history of legalized human trafficking in America is a story that should be widely known and told:

How did it start? What was taught to attempt to justify it and to keep it going? What was it like for its victims and its perpetrators? Why did it last so long? How could such oppression be embraced by a society that treasured liberty? Who were the courageous people who openly opposed it? Why weren’t there more of them? Why are its perpetrators honored while the abolitionists who spoke out against it are forgotten (or even villainized)? Why did so many American churches support and embrace such cruelty?

The Holy Spirit is fiery (not recommended for casual Christians)

The Holy Spirit is fiery. He came with flames of fire at Pentecost. When not quenched, He burns in human hearts. He disturbs casual, lukewarm Christianity. Thus, He’s not welcome and His leadership isn’t wanted or appreciated in most religious settings. Beyond giving Him a token mention from time to time, He’s mostly ignored in Christian gatherings.

Very rarely is the Holy Spirit ever allowed to take charge and disrupt a meeting like He did on Pentecost Sunday, creating the world-wide movement of Christianity. He’d like to get us moving again like a raging wildfire consuming everything in sight but the cold ashes in our heart resist His sparks and put them out before they can burst into flame. And we’re too often content with that. Casual Christianity is a causality of our apathy — a spiritual tragedy. It’s not the will of God!

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Christsanity (Christ-sanity)

Humanity
Has to
Mentally battle
For sanity,
To inwardly fight
To overcome fright
And the dark night
Of the soul.
The risen Jesus
Is the light
Who can lead us
To the delight
Of Christsanity.

Welcoming the risen Jesus into the building called your brain and the house called your heart is much more important than visiting a church building. The more I lose my mind and find the mind of Christ, the more His thoughts fill me with the joy that He designed me for. The best, most effective, and most powerful counselor I’ve ever had is the living Jesus. He continually heals and restores me.

Learn to be controlled by Christsanity (the mind of Christ), not by the chaos of human cravings and desires. Christsanity is to not “be conformed to the world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” It calls out: “March away from madness and into Christ’s gladness!” (Modern Christianity is based on “you-turns” where you turn (or don’t) as you see fit. Early Christianity was based on “U-turns” where you do an about face any time the Lord Jesus commands.)

Christianity without Christsanity is just as confused as secular culture. We need the “mind of Christ.” Christsanity requires ongoing personal connection with the living Jesus, not just hearing religious talks about Him.

Christsanity comes by continually surrendering to the literal Headship of the living Jesus, not by a following religious system. It’s produced by Spirit-led thinking. That’s the best mental health!

A simple hello to God is often the start of a life-long series of Spirit-led steps and supernatural God-sightings. When you feel like you’re losing your mind, look to the risen Jesus and let a daily relationship with Him restore you to sanity.

Christian revival (genuine spiritual awakening) is the spread of Christsanity. Unfortunately, Christianity is often more influenced by secular culture than led by the risen Christ. Christ-followers who don’t fit into religious systems are often rejected by organized Christianity the way the Pharisees rejected Jesus.

Institutional Christianity often gives people a false sense of spiritual security by causing them to believe that their religious affiliation puts them in right standing with God. Christians are supposed to be directed by Christ’s presence within them. The Bible calls that being “led by the Spirit.” See Romans 8:14.

Vanity
Drives sanity
From humanity.
Sanity isn’t offended
By truth.
Vanity is.

To be sane
Let Jesus reign
Within you

The unwillingness to hear and follow the voice of your conscience is a form of insanity. To deny the truth is to choose insanity, but we usually prefer to call it lying. Jesus is the truth. If you’re unwilling to tell yourself the truth, you’ll be uncomfortable around Him.

Lookie! Too many Christians are: 1) medicated by religious methods, 2) sedated by sermons, 3) anesthetized by apathy, and 4) inoculated by institutionalism, instead of being contagious with the fire of God. Lookie! I see Jesus right here, right now, saying: “Wake up!”

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Plug into the presence of Jesus right now!

You don’t need more explanations and information about Jesus. Simply open your heart wide to His presence this very moment! Jesus is available to you right now. No need to wait for a religious service. Open up to Him now.

Churches have neglected to encourage people to stay ever connected with the risen Jesus. So many Christians treat church services like charging stations that they spiritually limp into them hoping for a substitute for direct, daily interaction with Jesus.

The time to be aware of the presence of Jesus is right now. Experience Jesus now — right where you’re reading this. Now. Hallelujah! Open up to Him this very moment. Thank You, Jesus!

Don’t be fooled! Watching a show or hearing a talk about Jesus is nothing like spending time personally interacting with Him. You don’t have to wait for a special meeting or event to plug your phone into a charger or to plug your life into the presence of Jesus!

Christians should never settle for a second-hand relationship with Jesus that goes thru a sermon or a program! Event or meeting focused Christianity easily overlooks and misses out on the now presence of Jesus before and after the program.

I love to write with a now awareness of Jesus, sensing His presence and transcribing what He puts on my heart. Thank You, Jesus, for being real and available now and offering direct access to Your presence to whoever will receive your offer!

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