Steve Simms's Blog, page 157
January 27, 2022
Hope less or hope more?
There’s no happiness in hopelessness but a heart full of hope sings with happiness. When we neglect to cultivate hope in our heart, we give up on happiness. Hopelessness is a form of blindness–a lack of insight, a closure of the eyes of the heart.
Every injection of hope is a vaccine that helps fight despair. How to live with hope is a skill that is seldom taught. If we want to learn it, we have to search for it and learn it on our own.
Kindness offers people a glimpse of hope. Freely pass it around.
Your words and actions can bring people hope or make their hope dissipate. Be a hope-giver, not a hope-stealer.
If we set aside the hopelessness of anger, bitterness, blame, and profanity, we’ll feel better. Forgiving restores hope!
Hopelessness happens when we refuse to see beyond our self-focus. When people are overcome by hopelessness, they often turn to anger, hostility, and even violence.
Profanity is the language of hopelessness. The less hope people have, the more they cuss.
Tormenting thoughts are trespassers in your mind. You have the right to demand that they leave. Use it.
Here’s hope: When you feel like there’s no way out, or confused by lies, or hopeless, Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life.”
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January 26, 2022
“Jesus 1st,” says it all!
The invisible Jesus empowers me like a windmill
Invisible doesn’t mean imaginary. Like the wind, the unseen Jesus continually flows thru my heart. I’m often in awe about the way that what the invisible Jesus says and does within me matches outer reality.
Jesus is invisible, but far from imaginary. Everyday His unseen presence heals and sets people free from inner bondage. The invisible Jesus is encountered through experience, not by analysis. By humility and brokenness, not by pride.
Jesus is my invisible friend. He amazes me every day by continually demonstrating His reality. Nothing I can imagine can come anywhere close to being as real in my life as the invisible Jesus is.
Millions have Jesus as their invisible friend. When we tell each other about our experiences with Him they match.
Like the thoughts and emotions inside our mind and heart, Jesus is invisible, but very real. The human heart’s both encouraged and tormented by much that’s invisible. The invisible Jesus can guide you to encouragement.
If you’ve somehow abandoned joy along life’s way, the risen Jesus can help you rediscover it. I find what Jesus says within me to be far more encouraging than what I hear being said around me.
(After posting this, I was reading a book by Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf and came across the phrase the invisible Jesus, a phrase I’ve never seen or heard anyone but me use before. See the bottom two pictures.)
Jesus givesInner powerEvery hour![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-30133" />Photo by Kindel Media on Pexels.com
January 25, 2022
Many people have never given Jesus a chance.
Give Jesus a chance to speak to you. Notice His thoughts in your head.
Give Jesus a chance to lead you. Do what He tells you to.
Give Jesus a chance to make the Bible come alive. Read it daily with your heart open to Him.
Give Jesus a chance to set you free from guilt. Confess your sins to Him.
Give Jesus a chance to answer your prayer. Ask Him to help you or someone you care about.
Give Jesus a chance to heal you. Tell Him about your pain and let Him comfort you.
Give Jesus a chance to live inside of you and to change you from within. Invite Him to come into your heart and to take over your life.
Give Jesus a chance to inhabit your praises, with His presence. Frequently sing worships songs directly to Him.
Give Jesus a chance to connect you heart to heart with other people. Often pray out loud together with them.
Give Jesus a chance to warm your heart. Tell Him that you love Him and express adoration to Him.
Give Jesus a chance to fill your heart with love and kindness for all people, whether you agree with them or not. Lay down any unkindness or bitterness and turn away from it.
Give Jesus a chance to use you to encourage other people. Tell them about how you are experiencing Jesus in your life.
Give Jesus a chance to bring the Word to your remembrance. Find a Scripture that encourages you and memorize it.
Give Jesus a chance to demonstrate His reality. Gather with other Christians and follow Jesus instead of a pastor or a program.
Give Jesus a chance to defend you. Be kind to your enemies instead of fighting with them.
Give Jesus a chance to touch you deeply. When tears come to your eyes, let them freely flow.
Give Jesus a chance to heal a broken relationship. Forgive and ask Jesus to help a person who has hurt you.
Give Jesus a chance to do a miracle. Ask Him to give you supernatural help when something is beyond your ability. Then trust Him to come through as you take action in faith.
You’re tired. It’s time! Give the living Jesus a chance to take over your life. He’ll do a better job than you can imagine.
[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-30119" />Photo by Yan Krukov on Pexels.comJanuary 24, 2022
Sermon fatigue . . . can go on and on
A religiously informed mind without a transformed heart is counterfeit Christianity. Christians need more than a Sunday talk. We need to meet together, all listen to the risen Jesus, and then say and do what He tells us.
Many Christians don’t mature because they’re compelled to listen to a talk about Christianity 101 every Sunday. See Hebrews 6:1. All sermons and no hands-on discipleship training won’t produce spiritually strong Christians.
If a gym or a church only gives lectures and ignores strength training, its members will be weak. Now that Christians can listen to sermons anywhere and anytime, the Sunday morning sermon model of Christianity seems ineffective.
No sermon can ever take the place of personally listening to and obeying the Holy Spirit. See Romans 8:14. If there’s anywhere a Christian should feel completely free to obey the Holy Spirit, it is in church.
All talk and no application makes Christianity a mere shadow of what God wants it to be. The Bible says that Christian testimonies overcome the devil, but you rarely hear testimonies in church. Every Christ-follower has a powerful testimony. We shouldn’t make people stay silent in church. “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.”
The Bible says that Christians need to meet together. We are told to minister to one another when we come together. See I Corinthians 14:26. Christians need to gather to do the 50+ Bible one-anothers, not just to sit in rows and hear sermons about them. See James 1:22.
The Bible says to be “doers of the word, not hearers only,” yet every Sunday most churches turn people into sermon-hearers, not doers. A constant flow of Sunday sermons creates informational Christianity, but doesn’t nurture heart-to-heart, Spirit-led Christianity.
Having one pastor is like being stuck with the same teacher from kindergarten through college. It’s very spiritually limiting. A dead god needs a religious professional to speak for Him. The living Jesus speaks for Himself! See John 10:27.
Sermon-hearing is easy and passive. Following the living Jesus is a daily pursuit. See Matthew 6:33.
Church can easily become a substitute for a relationship with Jesus. If you behave better in church than you do in your everyday life, you’re putting on a show. If you only know Jesus thru going to church, there’s a good chance you’ve never met the risen Jesus.
To center church around one man’s talk is to take our eyes off of the risen Jesus. Jesus is speaking to every member of a congregation. They should be allowed to share what Jesus is telling them.
When you love people, you don’t want to just hear a weekly talk about them. You want to interact with them. I love Jesus!
Too many churches fill a pastor with pride. Then they wonder why he gets off track.
If church would begin to implement the clear instructions of 1 Corinthians 14:26 and the 50+ New Testament “one anothers,” we’d see a fresh contagion of the Spirit usher us into unbelievable revival and spiritual growth. Interacting with other Christ-followers, as led by the Spirit, continually shows me many powerful demonstrations of His presence.
Let’s walk together
With the risen Jesus.
We need more than a
One-man-talk
About Him.
Here are some practical ways to get beyond sermon hearing.
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High on hope
Hope can
Renew your
Belief in
The future.
Train your brain to hop out of hopelessness by replacing destructive thoughts with constructive ones. Poor thought selection and neglected emotion management frequently lead to hopelessness.
Hope and compassion are twins. Hopeless people don’t care. Hoist high your hope!
Let every breath fill your lungs with hope. As long as breath continues, you have possibilities.
Discouragement is morale corruption. Encouragement is morale eruption.
If you neglect to find pleasure in the things that you already have, it will do you little good to accumulate more things. The Bible is my hope handbook.
High ho,
High hope,
It’s fun
To be high
On hope!
Takin’ the brakes off of church
Church is like driving with the emergency brake on. I want to pour my heart out in worship, but protocol and procedure hold me back. Let’s take the brake off!
Anyone who has experienced glimpses of Heaven has yearnings that can never be satisfied by church entertainment. They long for more and more interaction with God. They realize that Christian-based idols aren’t holy.
The more I surrender to Jesus, the more He takes my brakes off and causes hope to grow and flow inside of me. Make hope in Christ a habit.
[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-30085" />Photo by Lex Ger on Pexels.comJanuary 22, 2022
Inspired by a flying, Titans pajama guy
When my wife and I were flying home from Sarasota, Florida last night, there was a guy across the aisle from us who was wearing what looked like light blue pajamas covered with the Tennessee Titan’s name and logo. He was on his way to attend the Titans/Bengals playoff game. He told us that he has season tickets and flies to Nashville for every home game.
Sports fan enthusiasm is passionate, even outlandish. That’s how I feel about the risen Jesus!!! (Maybe I should jet somewhere in Jesus pajamas.)
Sporting events allow fans the freedom of bold, enthusiastic expression. Church would rather people sit in unexpressive silence. If Christianity generated as much heart-felt enthusiasm and commitment as the NFL play-offs and other major sporting events do, it would transform the world.
Church lines people up in rows for a never-ending lecture series. Jesus fires people up with never ending love! Be empowered by the living Word, not bored by wordy religious lectures!
Jesus is like outlandish sports fans. He often does things outside of the normal, human comfort zone. If you won’t let Him make you uncomfortable, you’ll miss out on much that He’s doing.
The titles, Lord and Christ, deserve much more praise and enthusiasm than the title, world champions. Goooooooo for Jesus!!! He’s the real world champion!
January 21, 2022
What a beautiful view can do in you
Close your eyes
And remember
What a beautiful view
Can do inside
Of you.
Search your
Inner panorama
For peace,
Not drama.
The purer your heart, the better your view of life will be.
When you open your mind to become a room with a view, you begin to notice the elephants in the room. The biggest elephant in the room is the panorama of nature’s beauty that surrounds us all and declares the glory of the Creator.
I love to let the living Jesus fill my heart with breathtaking panoramas.
When you have eyes
To see the risen Jesus
You become declergized
By His inner light.
From bucket list to bucket ministry
What is your bucket ministry? What are the ways you want God to use you before you die?
Crossing items off of your bucket list should never replace humbling yourself at the Cross.
The most important item to cross off any bucket list: * Have my sins forgiven through Jesus’ death on the Cross!
How full is your bucket ministry? Here’s something to help you add to it:
To be
Spirit-led
Is to let
Christ in you
Tell you
What to do.
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