Steve Simms's Blog, page 16

I Watch and Listen to Someone Special

Daily writing promptHow do you unwind after a demanding day?View all responses

I love to watch and listen to someone special. But not just to unwind after a demanding day. I do it all the time. Keeping my eyes and ears attuned to this person keeps me from getting wound up in the first place. You’ve probably heard about Him, but have you seen and heard Him?

The early Christ-followers proclaimed what they had seen and heard. (1 John 1:3 & Acts 4:20) That was the key to their success. They had personally seen and heard Jesus. They hadn’t just heard about Him.

Today multitudes have heard about Jesus but aren’t personally experiencing and hearing Him as their absolute Lord, King, and Master throughout each day. Instead of listening to and beholding the risen Jesus we try to understand Him by listening to someone analyze and explain him week after week. That’s the difference between the supernatural power of the first Christians and the religious programming that we settle for today. We need to persistently surrender to “the unprecedented category of reality” called “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

I know Jesus lives because I hear Him and behold Him moment by moment. He leads me by His Spirit (Romans 8:14), keeps me aware of His presence, and transforms me from within. (Romans 12:2) I can’t help but speak the things I see and hear from the living Jesus.

We are often prevented from seeing and listening to the living Jesus by various distractions such as political Christianity. Political Christianity is frequently and persistently puffed up with pride and entrapped in ego. It is dangerous and can be cruel. In the past it embraced racial hatred, slavery, forced segregation, KKK terrorism, and even lynching. Learn more @ Off the RACE Track–From Color-Blind to Color-Kind.

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I Use Social Media to Announce Resurrection

Daily writing promptHow do you use social media?View all responses

Resurrection!

Something has happened to a lot of people worldwide for the past 2,000 years. An invisible fire and passionate love for Jesus that won’t go out has entered their heart. I love to meet people like that!

You don’t have to stay
Entombed by your guilt
The stone’s been rolled away.
Now you can live in
Jesus’ bright new day
And walk in the light
Of resurrection.
(1 John 1:7)

Be transformed
From dead wrong
By Jesus’
Living song.
He’s risen!
(Matthew 28:6)

Wrongdoing kills life
But Christ is God’s gift
Who can end your strife
And replace it with
His eternal life.
(Romans 3:23)

To be dead in sin
Is to be empty
And troubled within,
Again and again,
And feel like you’re lost,
Inside your own skin.
But then again, when
You open your heart
To the risen Christ
You can be made whole
Deep down in your soul.
(Ephesians 2:1)

I’m so glad Jesus is living every single day and that I can see Him living in and through His passionately sold-out followers! Pastors and church leaders: If you truly believe that Jesus is alive, then step aside this morning and let the risen Christ personally lead and direct the service. Open up the mic and let people share as the living Jesus prompts and leads them. (1 Corinthians 14:26)

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When Jesus Was Dead

Daily writing promptJot down the first thing that comes to your mind.View all responses

When Jesus was dead, He was put into a new tomb that had been carved out of a rock. Then it was closed by a large stone and sealed. However, Jesus wasn’t “gone but not forgotten.” On the morning of the third day the stone was miraculously rolled away and Jesus walked out of the tomb alive and radiant with power and glory, to live forevermore.

Jesus isn’t dead today so we shouldn’t try to confine Him to a tomb of religion or history or theology or myth or a holiday or irrelevance or nationalism or any other burial ground. At this very moment Jesus is alive, present, and active in human hearts. Is He in complete charge and total control of your heart? Have you brought “every thought captive to the obedience of Christ?” Is “Christ in you the hope of glory?”

Persistently ask God to miraculously roll away your inner stoniness and hardness of heart. Let the risen Jesus be the constant and absolute Lord, Director, and Master of your every thought, feeling, and desire!

The Resurrection of Jesus isn’t coming this Easter. He rose from the dead about 2,000 years ago and has been living ever since. He doesn’t die on Good Friday and rise again every Easter. Jesus is alive 24/7/365! Celebrate and surrender to the risen Jesus every day of the year.

The Bible calls people to an active faith, not to a passive faith. Yet week after week, year after year, Christians are brought together and trained and entombed to sit and be passive spectators year after year. “Be doers of the word and not hearers only.” Christians today are presented sermon after sermon, but where is the passionate love for the ever-living Jesus that burns in our heart day and night?

If you can see it coming, it’s not the kingdom of God. “Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, ‘The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed.'” (Luke 17:20) Look for Christ working invisibly inside of you, not in the activity of some human leader.

Christians are called to focus on the greatness of God and on the living Lord Jesus, not to make a particular nation great. “Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised.” (Psalm 145:3)

Is Christ really risen indeed? Then live every moment of your life like He is.

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My “Random” Encounter with a Stranger Named Jesus

Daily writing promptDescribe a random encounter with a stranger that stuck out positively to you.View all responses

“Surely this man was the Son of God.” These words were spoken by the Roman Centurian (the commander of 100 soldiers) who stood at the foot of the Cross and watched Jesus die. Something happened to this hardened military Commander whose troops had just crucified Jesus. Instead of disdain and hatred for someone so humiliated, despised, and rejected by the Roman Cross, this callous warrior expressed awe and admiration. Christ’s death touched him deeply. A veil in his heart was torn and he caught a glimpse of Jesus with new eyes of revelation. Was his life changed? Did he become a passionate, sold-out follower of the risen Jesus? I don’t know.

I do know that such a moment happened to me many years ago. I didn’t believe that Jesus was the Son of God, but as I watched and heard people excitedly testifying about how Christ had changed them, a veil in my heart was torn and with new eyes of divine revelation, I caught a glimpse of Jesus living in and through them. I have never been the same. I have been passionately in love with Jesus and sold-out to follow Him ever since that moment. My full-time focus has continually been on daily listening to, following, and obeying the risen Jesus.

“Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) Begin “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2 NKJ) Let the living Jesus open wide your inner eyes and release His rivers of living water to continually overflow within you and through you. (John 7:37-39) Fully and continually surrender your all to the Son of God, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27)

The Resurrection of Jesus isn’t coming. He rose from the dead about 2,000 years ago and has been living ever since. He doesn’t die on Good Friday and rise again on Easter. Jesus is alive 24/7/365! Celebrate and surrender to the risen Jesus every day of the year.

I Decided to Persistently Pursue Bibledos

Daily writing promptDescribe a decision you made in the past that helped you learn or grow.View all responses

The veil of the Jewish temple that separated the presence of God from people was torn in two from top to bottom when Jesus died on the Cross. Now we can have direct access to God, Himself. We don’t have to rely on priests or preachers to teach us the Bible or on our own study to figure it out. We can now personally and directly hear and obey God’s voice. (Mark 15:37-38) We can go beyond Bible study and Bible teaching to Spirit-led Bible doing.

Are You Ready for a Bibledo? It’s odd how people will take a lot of time and effort to get a hairdo but prefer to avoid a Bibledo.

Bible studies and Bible teachings are common, but it’s rare to have a Bibledo. (James 1:22) It’s much more powerful and effective to do what the Bible says than it is to merely study the Bible or listen to teachings about it.

Here’s how you can go beyond Bible study and Bible teaching and experience a brand new Bibledo. It’s simple. Read it (or hear it) and then actually and persistently do what it says.

A Bibledo is powerful. Here’s an example: Anthony (born in the third century) was the son of wealthy landowners in Egypt. When he was about 20 his parents died and left him with the care of his sister.

Sometime later Anthony heard this Bible verse: “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven. Then come, follow Me.” It touched him so deeply that he sold what he had, provided for his sister, gave the rest to the poor, and became one of the first Christian monks. He eventually moved into the desert and became a hermit.

Although Anthony didn’t want attention or fame, people would hunt for him and find him. Over many decades God used him to do miracles and to heal people.
Athanasias, a famous Christian leader of the time, wrote a biography about him, “The Life of Saint Anthony,” that became very popular. It inspired so many people to become monks and nuns that Anthony is known as the “Father of Monks.”

Perhaps Anthony’s Bible verse is too much for you to do. That’s okay. You can begin your Bibledo with easier verses: “Love one another,” “Humble yourself,” “Seek first the kingdom of God,” “Draw near to God,” “Forgive as the Lord forgave you,” “Confess your sins one to another,” or many more. Pick one and do it today!

Here’s a Bibledo that will really help you. “Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” Ready, set, do!

Starting now, “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Forcefully and consistently drive everything that’s contrary to God’s will out of your mind and heart. Make every thought within you fully obey Jesus. Don’t just do it for a minute. Do it every moment for the rest of your life. How? “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Never allow any thought, feeling, or desire that’s not in line with God’s will to remain in you unresisted and uncontested.

Dare to be a Bible doer. Your new Bibledo willl look good on you.

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The Place of Religious Pride

Daily writing promptWhat place in the world do you never want to visit? Why?View all responses

It’s humbling to admit, but I’ve been in the place of religious pride many times. It’s such an easy trap to fall into without even realizing that you are caught up in it. I pray that God will show me my religious pride and help me leave it behind in the present and steer clear of it in the future. I never want to visit or live in the place of religious pride again.

It’s so easy to be like the religious leaders in the Bible who said this about Jesus: “This man is performing many signs. If we let Him go on like this, everyone will believe in Him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” (John 11:47-48) So those religious leaders manipulated the Roman government into crucifying Christ.

Even today religious leaders are threatened by the risen Jesus and are afraid of losing “both our place and our nation.” If church members begin to put all their focus on daily following and obeying the living Jesus, religious leaders will lose much of their power and authority. Because of that threat religious leaders feel the need to keep Jesus contained and controlled in religious structures, programs, services, activities, ceremonies, sermons, and institutions.

One of the two thieves being crucified with Jesus relied on his own pride, self-focused desire, and obstinate opinion. He demanded: ““Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” The other one humbly admitted his great need for a Savior and with a surrendered heart called Christ by name and said: “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” (Luke 23:39-43)

Is there Christian unity? Yes, there is. All true Christ-followers worldwide are united. We are one in God’s Spirit. We are connected to the risen Jesus and to each other. Yet we hide our unity behind religious pride, self-focused desires, obstinate opinions, and organizational walls.

Isn’t it time that we humbly admit our great need for a Savior and with a surrendered heart consistently seek first the kingdom (inner government) of God and His righteousness? (Matthew 6:33) If we Christ-followers truly believe that Jesus is risen from the dead then we need to listen to and obey Him day and night.

To be a member of the body of Christ is to be united through the Holy Spirit with all the other members of the body of Christ worldwide. Christians are called to follow and obey the living Jesus, not a particular church or nation. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

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I’ve Been Helped to Look at Life Differently

Daily writing promptDescribe a positive thing a family member has done for you.View all responses

Your life will look different when you look at it differently. You don’t have to keep looking at your life the same way day after day. You can look at things differently.

God the Holy Spirit wants to show you things that eye hasn’t seen, and ear hasn’t heard. Open your heart and begin to receive His direct revelation. (1 Corinthians 2:9-10) There are things that flesh and blood can’t reveal to you — that no mere human being can teach you. Only the Spirit of God the Father can show you those things. (Matthew 16:17)

Let Jesus build your life on His rock of supernatural revelation not on the shifting sand of human understanding. (Matthew 16:18) Many things are hidden “from the wise and learned,” but God has “revealed them to little children.” (Matthew 11:25) Jesus said: “Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom (come under the government) of Heaven.” (Matthew 18:3)

God wants to reveal to you the areas where your thinking is different than His thinking. Will you let Him? (Philippians 3:15) If you will listen to your conscience (Romans 2:15) and do what Jesus wants you to do, He will reveal Himself to you. (John 14:21)

A mystery that was hidden throughout the ages has now been revealed to God’s people. That mystery is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:25-27) Open your heart and allow that glorious mystery to be revealed directly to you and powerfully in and through you.

God’s intent is that now through Christ’s faithful followers, His wisdom should be made known. (Ephesians 3:10) God wants to “strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:16-19)

The Holy Spirit has come to personally speak to you and to give you direct supernatural revelation from God. Jesus, Himself, said: “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come.” (John 16:13) You don’t need to rely on anyone else to teach you about God. Listen to, follow, and obey the inner voice of God the Spirit. (1 John 2:27)

God the Holy Spirit wants to teach you and to remind you of the things that Jesus has said. (John 14:26) It’s vital that you pay close attention to Him. (John 16:13) He wants to show you unseen things that are eternal, not the seen things that are temporary. (2 Corinthians 4:18)

The first Christians didn’t speak “in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.” (1 Corinthians 2:13) That’s the teaching we need today! We need to be directly taught and led by God the Holy Spirit. (Romans 8:14)

Direct, personal revelation from God is available to all Christ-followers. It’s not just for special people. (Hebrews 8:11 & John 6:45)

Bible analysis
Leads to spiritual
Paralysis.
Bible application
Leads to spiritual
Revelation.
(James 1:22)

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Spiritual Food

Daily writing promptWhat is your favorite restaurant?View all responses

“O taste and see that the Lord is good.” Relational, heart-to-heart spirituality is much more powerful than institutional religion. Jesus needs to be experienced, not explained, analyzed, and studied.

Everything you hear in a sermon isn’t Bible based. Much of it is mere human opinion. Read the Bible for yourself and let it burn in your heart. Christians need to hear more from God’s Spirit and the Bible than from the microphone and the sermon!

A sermon is a human speaking out in an attempt to explain God. Praying in tongues is God the Holy Spirit speaking and flowing directly out of your innermost being. Which is more powerful? Sermons should train people not to rely on a mere human’s speaking but on the voice, presence, and actions of “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

When I pray in tongues I am strengthened by an amazing awareness of Christ’s presence and power flowing in and through me. (1 Corinthians 14:4) It’s a glorious experience and a special way to pray! I do it many times a day. If you would like to have a greater consciousness of Christ’s presence, I highly recommend asking God for this supernatural ability, humbly receiving it, and using it frequently.

Paul who wrote much of the New Testament, thanked God that he spoke in tongues more than anybody else. (1 Corinthians 14:18-19) In public meetings he spoke in Greek (the common language that he used to write the New Testament) but in private he loved to speak in tongues. If you have received the ability to pray in tongues, use it frequently so that you won’t miss the blessings that God has for you through that wonderful spiritual gift.

According to Paul it’s important to pray in a language that people understand but it’s also important to pray in tongues. He wrote: “If I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding.” (1 Corinthians 14:14-15) To speak in tongues is to “utter mysteries by the Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 14:2)

Paul said: “I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified.” (1 Corinthians 14:26) Speaking in tongues is a wonderful ability for everybody to use to strengthen their personal awareness of the presence, power, and reality of “Christ in you.” However, when Christians are meeting together in a group, the supernatural ability of prophesying (speaking words directly from God in a common language) is even more powerful (unless the tongues are interpreted into a common language).

Christians often resist the idea of praying in tongues because of pride. It’s humbling to surrender your voice to God and to speak words that you don’t know. It’s not easy to accept a gift that appears foolish to your mind and your flesh. But it’s so worth it. Go ahead and humble yourself. Ask God for the gift of speaking in tongues. Then begin to use your own voice to speak but not in a language you know. At that moment you will be met with an inner supernatural flow of both unknown words and an incredible awareness of the presence and power of “Christ in you.” “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” (Acts 2:4) The disciples used their own voice and spoke. The words they said came directly from the Spirit.

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My Heart is Stirred

Daily writing promptWhere do you see yourself in 10 years?View all responses

My heart is stirred
By a noble theme
As I write these verses
About the King of Kings.
(Psalm 45:1)

Christ’s not a creed
For you to read.
Jesus isn’t
Information.
He is risen,
Risen indeed,
To bring you His
Transformation.
Cultivate Christ
Inside your heart.
He is the seed
The Word of God.
You have the need
To daily feed
On “Christ in you”
So He can lead
You by His Spirit.
(Matthew 28:6, Romans 12:2,
Luke 8:11, John 1:1 & 14,
Colossians 1:27, Romans 8:14)

Jesus isn’t a study.
He wants to be your Buddy.
He said: “I have called you friends
For everything that I’ve learned
From my Father I’ve made known
To you.”
It’s not enough
Just to study!
We need to do
The Bible’s stuff.
It’s time to obey and do
All the things Christ that has shown.
Let Jesus empower you.

Everyday Jesus Brings Me Happiness

Daily writing promptWhat are 5 everyday things that bring you happiness?View all responses

Is Jesus More Than a Stranger to You?

Let Jesus be more than a stranger. Like anyone who is famous, people know a lot of information about Jesus. Much of His life is common knowledge. Most preachers share something about Jesus in their sermons. Church creeds that many people have memorized list fact after fact about Him. Bibles overflow with many details about Christ’s life. Yet for many people, even for multitudes of faithful church attendees, Jesus remains a stranger. Many people today who know a lot about Jesus don’t actually know Him. They lack an ongoing, intimate, heart-to-heart relationship with Him.

Whatever you plant, nurture, cultivate, and fertilize in your mind and heart will sprout, bud, bloom, and bear fruit. Refuse to sow damaging thoughts, feelings, and desires that will grow to dominate and destroy your inner seedbed. Weed out all of the bad seeds that steal your peace. The Bible is powerful farm equipment. Devour it daily so it can plow and cultivate your heart and continually grow God’s living Word — the risen Jesus Christ — inside of you. “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

How did Jesus become a stranger to so many Christians? Over time Christianity was formalized into an audience of passive Sunday morning religious spectators that abandoned the presence and demonstrations of the risen Jesus.

Christians don’t need more religion or more ritual. We need more revelation. We need the eyes of our heart opened. Open your heart to the risen Jesus. An open Bible won’t help a closed heart.

It’s not the presence of preacher, pastor, or pulpit that matters. It’s the presence and direct Headship of the risen Jesus. Have you discovered the daily joy and happiness of interacting with Jesus Christ? I let Jesus continually cultivate happiness in my seedbed!

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