Steve Simms's Blog, page 142

Confession: I never set aside a regular “devotional time”

I don’t set aside a special time to spend with the Lord or to do formal “devotions.” Instead, I seek to keep my heart continually set “on things above” and to listen to and interact with the living Jesus throughout the day, no matter what I’m doing. I try not to exclude Him from any of my activities or thoughts but to make Him Lord of all of them. “In Him we live and move and have our being.” There’s no “on-off switch” with God! Jesus calls His followers to always be on the clock with Him.

If you focus on continually being led by the Spirit and keeping your spiritual engine running 24/7/365 (even in your sleep), there’s no need for a pregame warm-up. I’ve read the Bible with an open heart almost every day for decades. (I might miss a day or two a year.) For me, Bible reading isn’t a special time of devotion to spend with the Lord, but a continuation of the time I spend with Him day and night.

To “set your heart on things above” means to stay continually online with the living Jesus–to keep conscious connection with Him going throughout the day as long as we’re physically awake. We need a devotional lifestyle, not just a time set aside for morning devotions. A practical example of a devotional lifestyle is demonstrated in the autobiographical book, “The Way of The Pilgrim.” In that book an anonymous Russian tells about his attempts and experiments in trying to “pray without ceasing” as he wandered across parts of what are today Ukraine and Russia. His goal was to repeat the Jesus Prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner,” over and over until it began to automatically repeat in his heart throughout the day. His efforts and experiments to continually focus on the living Jesus were amazing! That book had and continues to have a mighty impact on my life! I say the Jesus prayer often and it is one of the things that helps me keep my focus on Jesus.

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What about rules?

Rules require choice. They often threaten our desires and our comfort zone. They compel us to decide to either obey or disobey them, but even when we choose to obey rules, they don’t have the ability to empower us to align our heart to them. Thus, even our obedience is reluctant and less than whole-hearted.

Naturally, I’m pulled in both directions. I want to follow the rules, but I also want to think, speak, and live spontaneously from my heart, so I tend to be a stretch for people. I especially have trouble with protocol–rules that have nothing to do with morality. I’m not good at following religious rules and programs. As a pastor in a denomination that printed a Sunday “order of worship,” I had trouble properly following the rigid program every Sunday. Sometimes I would throw in an unprogrammed comment or activity. I would unintentionally get things out of order during the service. One Sunday morning I got so frustrated that I tore up the bulletin in the pulpit and said, “Let’s just be led by the Spirit this morning.” Afterwards, many in the congregation weren’t too happy with me.

I’m so glad that Jesus gave us an alternative to rule following and self-choice. He says, “Follow Me.” I think He means for us to live 24/7/365 by playing “follow the leader” with Him–to observe what He says and does in your heart (often through your conscience) and obey Him. To do that, we have to die to our own wants, opinions, and feelings and follow Him instead. Fortunately, He does much more inside crucified believers than just show and tell us what to do. he lives in us and releases His supernatural power through us, unless we quench His Spirit.

The Christian choice is not between obeying or disobeying rules. It’s between self-rule and surrender to the rulership of the living Jesus. Unfortunately, that isn’t a once-and-done, like the sinner’s prayer. Paul said, “I die daily.” To be led by the Spirit of Christ, we must look beyond the rules, continually die to our own wants, opinions, and feelings, and then actively obey Jesus instead. For me, that means an ongoing challenge to faithfully surrender to my Ruler, the risen Jesus, moment-by-moment.

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Spirit-led fieldtrips

When you’re led by the Spirit, you’re on God’s fieldtrip. Jesus takes you to special places and guides you to amazing encounters. When Christians gather to all be Spirit-led, Jesus finally has the opportunity to be the literal Head of His body, not just the figurehead.

Modern Christianity is full of “idle notions” (ideas without implementation). It often produces religious pride that masquerades as “false humility” by trying to prove its closeness to God through theological knowledge, religious titles, church attendance, and/or special experiences. However, hearing about Jesus without actually doing what He says is disobedience. It breaks our connection with Him as the Head and quenches the Spirit. Thus, it undermines His literal Headship and control of His body and makes Him a mere figurehead (like the Queen of the United Kingdom).

The Bible defines the children of God as “all who are led by the Spirit of God,” not as “all who claim to be led by the Spirit of God.” Those led by the Spirit will live in ways that are humbly aligned with the Bible. They will obey the Head, the living Jesus, instead of their own desires, feelings, and opinions. There’s no good reason for any Christian not to be continually thrilled about the risen Jesus!

When you resist your conscience, you resist the living God who is reaching out to you through it. View ungodly desires as challenges to overcome, not as something to cater to. Every day go experience, interact with, & obey the living Jesus throughout the day.

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The present tense Jesus will give peace to those who are tense

Try the lifestyle of a disciple for an hour: Deny yourself and your desires and try to be continually led and empowered by God’s Spirit. If you meditate on Jesus, you’ll begin to anticipate the presence of Jesus, and if you anticipate the presence of Jesus, you’ll begin to experience His reality.

True messengers of the living Jesus demonstrate the reality of His presence. They don’t just delineate doctrines about Him.

Let the present tense Jesus give you peace when you feel tense. The present tense Jesus can blast you past the pain of your past!

Religion often quenches spiritual expectations and replaces joyous anticipation with dull passivity. When systematized, institutionalized, and formalized Christianity is substituted for direct interaction with and obedience to the living, resurrected Jesus, Christians become a passive weekly audience instead of a powerful spiritual army that seeks to follow Him with all their heart. Perhaps it’s time to de-systematize, de-institutionalize, and de-formalize Christianity and be led by the Spirit instead!

It takes much less time to sit through a weekly religious routine than it does to daily interact with and obey Jesus who is unseen. I’ve been swept away by inner rivers of living water that continually invigorate my soul with passion and love for the living Jesus and with the fruit and gifts of His Spirit.

Expecting life to change while you stay stuck in a rut leads to much disappointment. Let Jesus raise your reasoning out of your favorite ruts and into His rivers.

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Ask a lawyer: Freedom from sin, “de jure” or “de facto”?

Sin no longer has the legal right (de jure) to fence people in. The Cross made all humans legally free. Now we are all (whosoever will) invited to be led by the living Jesus across the fence of sin and to be trained and empowered by Him to live in genuine forgiveness from our past sins and to humbly walk in His presence and power to avoid present sins. This is the glorious liberty of the children of God that we are called to demonstrate to the world (de facto).

Make Jesus’ freedom de facto in your life. Try the lifestyle of a disciple for an hour: Deny yourself and your desires and try to be continually led and empowered by God’s Spirit.

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Ask a lawyer: Freedom from sin “de jure” or “de facto”?

Sin no longer has the legal right (de jure) to fence people in. The Cross made all humans legally free. Now we are all (whosoever will) invited to be led by the living Jesus across the fence of sin and to be trained and empowered by Him to live in genuine forgiveness from our past sins and to humbly walk in His presence and power to avoid present sins. This is the glorious liberty of the children of God that we are called to demonstrate to the world (de facto).

Make Jesus’ freedom de facto in your life. Try the lifestyle of a disciple for an hour: Deny yourself and your desires and try to be continually led and empowered by God’s Spirit.

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Enjoy healthy mental programming

Healthy mental programming
Trains your mind
To continually find
Hope.

If you feel weary
And life seems dreary
And a theory
Won’t make you cheery,
It’s time to flood your brain
With healthy mental programming.

Reprogram your mind
To see where you’ve been blind
So you can be aligned
With truth.

Nature’s full
Of “burning bushes”
That can enlighten
Your mind
And brighten
Your life.

It’s a challenge to overcome unhealthy mental programming, but it can be done! The more you fill your brain with healthy mental programming, the more your thoughts, desires, and feelings will align with hope.

Healthy mental programming may be the most neglected programming in the world. The continual pursuit of healthy mental programming will help protect you against tormenting thoughts, emotions, and desires. Positive and persistent self-reprogramming is a powerful tool for recovery, inner peace, and happiness.

Avoiding unhealthy mental programming is critical to wellbeing. Before you watch, read, or listen to something, ask yourself: “Is this healthy mental programming?” Modern media is saturated with unhealthy mental programming. Consuming it without discernment is dangerous to mental health.

Unhealthy mental programming makes happiness seem unreachable. Much of the pain in the world is caused by unhealthy mental programming. Many of the thoughts, feelings, and desires that compete within us are viruses that attack and destroy healthy mental programming.

If you’re not satisfied with the way your mind is programmed, train yourself to reprogram it. Make healthy mental programming a high priority in your life. Positive mental programming is a process that proceeds slowly but gradually produces powerful results. Start reprogramming now.

The Bible abounds with practical ways to reprogram your brain. Read it every day. Also, faithfully working the 12-steps is a practical way to fill your life with healthy mental programming.

For a practical tool for healthy mental programming, search for: Elephants INspiring The Room.

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Astounding, abounding (and amazing) grace

To grow in grace
We must
Continually and humbly trust
In the working of God,
Knowing that our effort
Is mere dust.
It’s not enough to discuss
“Christ in you.”
We must readjust
Our lifestyle to His presence.

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If you want to feel better about your life, search for: “Elephants INspiring The Room.”

The bullseye of pragmatism

Let’s be emphatic!
Continually repeating
What doesn’t work
Isn’t pragmatic!

Uncontrolled self
Is chaotic
And erratic.
Self-discipline
Is pragmatic.

Truth is pragmatic. You can’t deal with a problem if you don’t know what it is. Dishonesty and denial are dysfunctional.

Surrendering to your thoughts, feelings, and desires isn’t the most effective way to live. If your attitude and behaviors aren’t enriching your life, change them.

Self-focus is a distraction from everyone and everything else. Life offers so much more to care about than self!

Improving your circumstances without improving your thoughts, desires, and emotions isn’t a practical way to overcome misery. If you work to get what you want, but neglect what gives you inner peace and joy, you’re not being pragmatic.

Idealism is pragmatic. Without some form of idealism, life tends to be discouraging and unmotivating.

Faith is powerful and pragmatic idealism. The most pragmatic thing you can do for inner peace is to spontaneously follow and obey the living Jesus.

It's not pragmatic
To live by habit
And stay ever stuck
In painful thoughts,
Behaviors, and emotions.It's pragmatic
Being ecstatic
About Jesus
The more enthusiastic
I am about Him,
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