Steve Simms's Blog, page 135

Apparent inconsistencies in pro-abortion arguments

Legal or notIt seems inconsistentTo say that . . . "Cruelty to animalsIs morally wrongBut cruelty toPrenatal human lifeIsn't.""Prenatal human lifeIs disposableBut postnatal human life Isn't.""Siamese twinsEach have their own bodyBut an expectant motherAnd her developing childHave only one body,Hers.""I believe in God,But I believe people,Not God,Have the rightTo chooseWhich prenatal lives liveAnd which onesAre eliminated."Pro-abortion argumentsSeem to depend onDenying the humanityOf prenatal human lives.It's not unreasonableOr unkindTo sincerely believePrenatal human lives matter.

Speaking hostile words is like throwing stones

Words are like stones
That we throw
Into the lake of life.
When they’re
Heard or read,
Their ripples spread
In people’s hearts
And heads.
Make your splash
In life’s lake
Kindness,
Not hate.

For many decades, I’ve found my best source of uplifting words is the Bible when read with my heart open to God’s Spirit. When Christians are unwilling to hear God’s Spirit, we’re directly disobeying Scripture. (Revelation 2:7,11,17,29, and 3:6,13,22.) When we consistently read the Bible with an open hungry heart (like we would read a love letter) it will lead us to directly encounter the living, resurrected Jesus.

All countries and organizations contain some degree of systemic wrongdoing. There’s no perfect human society. We need to follow the Scriptures and God’s Spirit, not human opinions. Religious activity without God’s light actively shinning in your heart is a formality without the power to bring inner freedom.

Those who choose to follow their own feelings, desires and opinions need to be loved, because they’re not hearing and obeying the words that lead to joy and peace. Try this: Read the NT every day for 21 days for at least 5 minutes a day, with an open heart, and at some point along the way you will have an amazing encounter with the risen Jesus.

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The self-focused choice is seldom the best choice.

To choose
To accuse
Others
Is often
An attempt
To excuse
Yourself.

To choose
To excuse
Your conscience
Is to fuse
Yourself
To bad choices.

Choice means responsibility. We’re all accountable for the choices we make.

Selfish choices are often unjust. Choices made while ignoring conscience and compassion are often cruel. Too much focus on personal preference causes people to make unwise and selfish choices. Selfish choices are rarely caring and compassionate toward others. The self-focused choice is seldom the best choice.

The choices we make create consequences we have to cope with in our life. Choosing to destroy the unwanted consequences of a choice you made is often a self-focused coverup. For example, people often think that taking the life of their unborn child will put their ducks in a row but instead it can cause them to wade thru a lifetime of guilt.

God’s creation/God’s choice. Become conscious of your conscience and you will hear the voice of God. If you have to talk your conscience into accepting a decision, you probably should make another choice.

Christ-followers’ job is to let God’s Spirit be their guide, not to make their own choices–to follow His will, not their desires. Church tends to train Christians to focus on what Jesus did in the past (and of course knowing who Jesus is and what He did is vital) but that’s not enough. We also need to learn to focus on what Jesus is doing now (moment by moment) and cooperate with Him.

Sitting down beside a troubled person and compassionately asking their name can calm them with your show of concern. It can open their heart to your kindness. It distracts them from their angst and refocuses them on a caring connection with a fellow human.

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When you can’t do it, be God’s conduit

Somewhere between
Eager excuses
And excessive effort
We can surrender
To the Lord
And let His spiritual gifts
Overflow with
The fruit of His Spirit
From within us
As we open our heart
As a conduit
To graciously give
What we have
Flowing through us.
(Can’t do it?
Be God’s conduit.)

The living, resurrected Jesus Christ needs to be experienced, not analyzed. The true nature of Christianity is relational, not informational. Let the living water of the Holy Spirit freely flow through you so that it refreshes and enlivens everyone you encounter.

Desires you accommodate
Ever persist.
Those you resist
Gradually desist.

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The body of Christ & accountability

Christianity should be a contemporary Jesus movement, not a religious monument where people are lectured about what Jesus did in the past. Christians are supposed to be experiencing God’s glory to an even greater degree than Moses did because Christ, the hope of glory, lives inside of us!

If Christianity is a relationship, not a religion, Christians should focus on interacting with Jesus more than on going to church. If a church will surrender continual and complete control to the living Jesus and actively train their members to do the same, God’s town hall meeting, Spirit-led ekklesia, will gloriously appear!

In the New Testament, the body of Christ is a Spirit-led interactive group accountable to the living Jesus, not a man-controlled audience. If you believe that God doesn’t hold you accountable for your words and actions, you’re ignoring His justice.

God doesn’t offer approval
Of your sins.
He calls you to their removal.

If we want people to give us their attention, we must align our lifestyle with the risen Jesus. We must sincerely look at people and be open to connect with them humbly, heart-to-heart, otherwise any interaction we have with them is mere formality. Compassionate caring is costly.

If Christ in you
Is just a story,
You’re missing out
On God’s glory.

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Praying below the ceiling

Even when you feel
Like your prayers don’t go
As high as the ceiling
That’s okay because
The Spirit of Christ is
Lower than the ceiling,
Working inside His followers
And actively revealing
His presence and power
On our level.
In the name of
Jesus Christ of Nazareth
Rise up and walk in His Spirit!

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You might be a fake Christian if . . .

Jesus said that there will be many false prophets. Today people like to accuse journalists who disagree with them of presenting fake news. Maybe we need to be aware of fake Christianity.

You might be a fake Christiam if . . .

You use your faith for political gain.Jesus is little more than a religious, historical figure to you.You think that going to church regularly makes you a Christian.You can sin without feeling remorse.You think that you have never done anything you need to repent for.You rarely interact with and surrender to the risen Jesus.You put your nation first ahead of God.You assume your nation is always aligned with God.You’re a once-a-weeker for God.You admire the Pharisees. You’re comfortable telling lies.You think you can work your way into Heaven.You think the Bible is a book of suggestions. You want people to think you’re the best Christian ever.You like to insult people.You’re known for your road rage.You throw a big fit in a customer service line.You confuse God’s love with God’s approval.[image error]Pexels.com" data-medium-file="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." data-large-file="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." src="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." alt="" class="wp-image-32010" />Photo by Luis Quintero on Pexels.com

Illusionary living or beyond church Christianity?

When we see small stuff as big stuff, we misrepresent reality by stuffing our mind with distorted proportions. Every lie is big stuff. It’s a loser’s lost cause because even if it appears to win, it loses truth and integrity.

Much of our human perspective is illusionary, but we carry it proudly and refuse to see beyond it. An average person with clear vision will see better than a genius with a skewed perspective. Ongoing concern about what someone thinks about you will compromise your perception of truth.

Every lie you tell (every untruth you quietly go along with) warps your perception of reality. People who are unwilling to change have great difficulty seeing truth. To call irrational thought a sickness is the hopeless declaration that people’s thoughts are beyond their direct control.

If you’re insulted when someone tells you the truth, you’re stuck in your own opinions, desires, and emotions. The mind can rarely see what the angry heart rejects.

Anybody has a right to disapprove of what I say or do. The reverse of that is also true.

From God’s perspective all makes sense, but when I hold on to my blindness, I stay confused. Being in the kingdom of God is to live from God’s perspective with inner peace and joy through the presence and action of His Spirit.

The transition all humans need is to see life from God’s perspective instead of from our own–a heart change, not a body change. Make seeing life from God’s perspective your number one pursuit–the passion of your heart! If you don’t believe that the Creator’s perspective matters, why would you believe that yours does?

The Bible’s written from God’s perspective, not a human one. That’s why even many Christians resist reading it with an open heart. Open the door of your heart to God’s perspective. Let the Son shine within you.

Make it your first priority to see things from God’s perspective and to let Him hold you accountable to His ethics. Self-righteousness is blindness to your own sin. God’s righteousness shows you your sin.

MCEA
God’s perspective first!
Make Church Ekklesia Again.

Where there’s heart-felt unity, people are seeing from God’s perspective. Where there’s conflict, they’re seeing things from their own perspectives.

The word church isn’t magic. Both a passive audience that gathers for a few songs and a sermon once a week, and the building where they meet are called church. Any group can call themselves a church. Calling a meeting a church service doesn’t make it a gathering of the body of Christ.

What is the source of church hurt? Almost every church attendee has been hurt in the process. They think their hurt was caused by a particular church or pastor. However, church hurt is so universal that I think it’s the fault of a broken religious system. Saying the church, when there are thousands of independent churches and denominations, seems deceptive.

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Unlock unlimited heart connection!

To unblock unlimited heart connection, activate your heart on God’s network! This will help.

Unlimited heart connection
Overcomes all rejection.
As bearers of God’s image,
Any two human hearts
Can connect.
Let everyone you meet
Have the attention
Of your heart
And be a part
Of your inner circle
At least
For the few moments
(Or however long)
You walk along
With each other.
Really be there,
Not just incidentally
But heart-to-heart.
Let Jesus set up
So much love
In your heart
That it knocks down
All the walls that divide.

When
God’s Spirit
Comes in
Like a mighty
Rushing wind,
Then
You’ll begin
To overcome sin.

I’m being changed
For the better
From within,
Not by my power
But through
Inner miracles.

When you read the Bible, instead of wondering if a story really happened, focus on what it does in your heart. Don’t buy the lie that mistranslations stop the Holy Spirit from speaking through God’s written word.

Miracles abound
All around me
That I don’t
Even see.

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The measure of a miracle

How you see
May not be
The way things are.
Optical illusions
Lead to
Incorrect conclusions.

The idea of miracles is controversial. Some people say that miracles can’t happen–that there’s nothing outside of nature that can act on nature–nothing supernatural. They insist that everything has a natural cause. Of course, if that’s the case, then even their words and opinions have a natural cause–the mere outcome of nervous energy working in their brain cells.

Perhaps the measure of a miracle isn’t the way that something happened, but the impact it has on your mind and heart. Inner miracles are as amazing as miracles in the physical world. Changing a human heart requires assistance. Where does that inner assistance come from? I believe that it is supernatural, from outside of the natural world.

Some people deny the existence of the devil, but no one denies the existence of deception. We’ve all been tricked by the cruel devil of deception.

The intrusion
Of illusion
Brings delusion
And causes
Truth decay.
Perception matters.

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