Steve Simms's Blog, page 2

My Respect Goes Frist to the King (The King and Eye)

Daily writing promptName the professional athletes you respect the most and why.View all responses

First things first. As inspirational as many athletes are, they don’t receive my first respect. That goes to The King. I strive to see eye to eye with Him.

In the Sermon on the Mount King Jesus (Revelation 19:16) used the word “first’ twice. First He said to “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” (Matthew 6:33) Second, He said to “First take the plank out of your own eye.” (Matthew 7:5) Matthew sums up Christ’s message by saying that Jesus preached “Repent for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17) To repent is to take the plank out of your own eye. “The kingdom of Heaven is at hand,” means that the will of God and His inner government is available to those who will seek it as their first priority.

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus also said: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7) Jesus asked God the Father: “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” (Matthew 6:10) He said to keep seeking God’s kingdom (God’s will) as the first purpose of your life. (Matthew 6:33) The more you will humbly, sincerely, and persistently knock on God’s door, the closer you will get to His inner kingdom and His will in your daily life. (James 4:6)

Which way will you go? Will you continually seek and passionately pursue the narrow gate and road that leads to life? (Matthew 7:13-14) Or will you casually drift along the broad road that leads to destruction? The risen Jesus is the narrow gate! (John 10:7)

Be very careful because Jesus warned of false prophets who look like sheep “but inwardly are ferocious wolves.” (Matthew 7:15) Jesus said that you can recognize false prophets by their fruit. (Matthew 7:16) If a preacher, teacher, or leader doesn’t bear the “good fruit” of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23–love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) he is a false prophet. (Matthew 7:19-20) It’s not enough to say “Lord, Lord!” Christ followers are called to actually obey the living Jesus and do the will of God. (Matthew 7:21-28)

Fortunately, Jesus, the gate to the kingdom of God, is ready to live inside of you, (Colossians 1:27) empower you, (Acts 1:8) and continually lead you by His Spirit. (Romans 8:28) Never stop seeking King Jesus and His inner government of your life with “all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”? (Matthew 22:37) Always keep the risen Jesus first and center in your daily focus.

Some people think I am crazy for trusting so much in Jesus. Here are the people who I think are crazy. People who trust distracted drivers in parking lots not to accidently hit them when they step right in front of their moving vehicles while focusing on their phone. Stop, look, and listen.

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Pursuing Inner Peace

Daily writing promptHow do you relax?View all responses

I relax by pursuing inner peace. I was an anxious child and as long as I can remember I have hungered for and pursued inner peace. At an early age I began resisting negative thoughts and driving them out of my mind. I’ve worked hard to focus on the good things in my life. I’ve sought to avoid negative emotions and to embrace positive ones. As I got older, I began reading and trying to apply self-help books. (I eventually became a full-time motivational speaker.)

My pursuit of inner peace took a giant step forward when as a college freshman I encountered and surrendered my life to the living, resurrected Jesus Christ. As I began to seek first the kingdom (inner government) of God in my life the Holy Spirit begin to produce more and more peace in me. The more peace I felt, the more I wanted and the more I pursued a closer relationship with Christ.

People don’t seek what they think they already have. If you think your driver’s license is in your pocket, you won’t seek it, but if you think it’s lost you’ll turn your house upside down searching for it. If you think the kingdom of God is something you have already fully experienced, then you won’t hunt for it. It won’t be your first priority to seek it day and night. (Matthew 6:33)

Christianity is about pursuing the kingdom of God as your number one passion in life by hungering and thirsting for righteousness. (Matthew 5:6) It focuses on pressing towards and fulfilling God’s high calling on your life. (Philippians 3:14) It’s all about drawing closer and closer to God. (James 4:8)

Seeking first the kingdom of God is about setting your heart on and pursuing “things above.” (Colossians 3:1) It involves searching for the Lord “with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13) It’s about fighting the good fight, finishing the race, and keeping the faith. (2 Timothy 4:7) It’s about fixing our eyes on Jesus and running with endurance the race that God has set before us.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

True Christianity is about offering your body as a living sacrifice, being continually transformed by the renewing of your mind, and not conforming to the lifestyles of this world. (Romans 12:1-2) It’s about wanting intimacy with the living God more than you hunger for and crave food. (Job 23:12) It’s about letting “the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another.” (Colossians 3:16) It’s about ridding yourself “of all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.” (1 Peter 2:1) It’s about constantly seeking to “lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.” (Romans 13:12)

Are you seeking first the kingdom (the inner government) of God?

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The Word I’ll Never Give Up

Daily writing promptIf you had to give up one word that you use regularly, what would it be?View all responses

There’s a word I’ll never give up. I love the sound of it. It thrills my heart and fills me with hope, encouragement, and peace. That word is the English translation of an ancient name. It’s Jesus. I ponder, say, pray, write, and post His name day and night. Why? Because I love Him because He first loved me. Jesus Christ is my best friend — a present reality who makes the impossible possible in my day-to-day life.

Matthew 5 shows how the impossible Christian life can become the normal Christian life. Christ-dependency replaces impossibility with Christ’s ability. That’s the process that the Bible calls sanctification. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-24)

To let God’s inner government (His Kingdom) rule and reign inside of us we must set aside our pride and allow God the Holy Spirit to show us our poverty of spirit so that He can be our constant inner guide. (Matthew 5:3) Then we begin to mourn over our inability to fully obey God, and we continually look to Him for forgiveness, comfort, power, and inner healing. (Matthew 5:4) We become meek and moldable to the Spirit’s inner influence. (Matthew 5:5) We hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness. (Matthew 5:6) We show mercy to others and God’s mercy fills us. (Matthew 5:7) Our heart is purified by Christ’s presence and power, and we begin to see God as a present-moment reality instead of as religiosity. (Matthew 5:8) We begin to demonstrate God’s presence and peace wherever we go and are called the children of God. (Matthew 5:9) Our Spirit-led lifestyle makes many people uncomfortable (Romans 8:14) and they begin to persecute us, insult us, and falsely speak against us because of our love for and obedience to the risen Jesus. (Matthew 5:10-11) That’s how people treated the Old Testament prophets so we can rejoice and be glad that we are following in their footsteps. (Matthew 5:12)

When we through total Christ-dependency embrace the impossible Christian life as our normal way of life we become the salt of the earth and the light of the world. It’s vital that we don’t allow persecution to cause us to lose our saltiness or hide our inner light. Instead, we need to openly shine our light by living a radiant lifestyle so that others can see our Spirit-led behavior and glorify God. (Matthew 5:13-16) The Sermon on the Mount is Christ’s call to daily depend on the Lord so that we can continually experience the impossible sanctified Christian life and mount up with wings like eagles (Isaiah 40:31) through our constant surrendering to Christ in us the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)

When Christ-dependency was replaced by pastor-dependency Christianity stopped relying on the presence and power of the risen Jesus and began instead to rely on human effort and human knowledge. Jesus is too often celebrated as “Savior” (an unconditional free ticket to Heaven someday) but rejected as “Lord” (the absolute Ruler, Head, and Master in daily life).

A series of two questions impacted my life more than all the other questions I have ever been asked. I wasn’t asked those two questions by a human being or by AI. They seemed to come from nowhere. One day they just popped into my mind.

The first was: “If you were born a Hindu, what would you be today?” The next one was: “Why do you think you’re a Christian?” As I thought about those two questions, I realized that my religion was based on nothing more than where I was born and raised. I was only a birthright Christian, not a true one. That led me to reject Christianity and its teachings and to become an agnostic. It led me to the place that I could encounter the risen Jesus Christ without religious indoctrination. The rest is history and testimony!

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It’s Tempting to Hold Grudges

Daily writing promptAre you holding a grudge? About?View all responses

Grudges grind away at the mind and eat up the heart. Plainly put, grudges are painful. They cause much more pain to the person who holds them than they do to the people they are being held against. Nonetheless, our human pride makes it very tempting to cling to and carry around the heavy burden of grudge holding.

The Bible calls a grudge “a root of bitterness” and says that it “grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” (Hebrews 12:15) Observe the life of a bitter person and you will see the truth of those statements. The good news is that the temptation to hold a grudge, like any other temptation, can be fought and overcome.

Tempting thoughts
Can be fought
And they ought
To be.
In Matthew
Chapter four
Jesus shows
How He fought
Tempting thoughts.
He brought
The written
Word of God
Into play
By quoting
What it has
To say
Until the
Temptations
Went away.
(Matthew 4:1-11)

Jesus taught
Repentance:
Align with
The kingdom
And the will
Of God.
Have you sought
First of all
To be caught
In God’s will
and kingdom?
(Matthew 4:17 & 23)

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Hope for Homesick People

Daily writing promptShare a story about the furthest you’ve ever traveled from home.View all responses

Loneliness is a form of homesickness, of being far from home whether that distance is physical, relational, or emotional. There is hope for homesick people. An ancient hermit came out of hiding to announce that hope to the world. His name is John the Baptist.

John’s message was to tell people to get out of God’s way and make room for Him to work in and through you. “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight paths for Him.” (Matthew 3:3) Later Jesus Christ confirmed John’s message when He told His followers, “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23)

John the Baptist also said to, “Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance.” (Matthew 3:8) Jesus confirmed that by saying, “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit.” (Luke 6:43-44)

Then John told how we humans can produce good fruit. He said that Jesus will, “baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” (Matthew 3:11) This Spirit baptism isn’t just a dip into religion. It’s never-ending saturation that always produces the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) as long as people don’t quench the Spirit. (1 Thessalonians 5:19) Jesus put it this way: “Remain in Me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me.” (John 15:4)

King David wrote: “Lift up your heads, you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is He, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty— He is the King of glory.” Psalm 24:9-10 Here’s the challenge of Christianity: Stay ever saturated with Christ and allow Him to continually abide, rule, and reign within you as your Lord and God (John 20:28) and “hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27) Welcome home!

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Home is

Daily writing promptWhat does your ideal home look like?View all responsesHome is housed in the heart.
Home is close relationships.
Home is kindness.
Home is caring family.
Home is dear friends.
Home is true community.
Home is belonging.
Home is tender compassion.
Home is a heavenly atmosphere.
Home is forgiveness.
Home is encouragement.
Home is companionship.
Home is great joy.
Home is inner healing.
Your heart can hear home calling.
Jesus is waiting for you.
He wants to tell you:
"Welcome home."

Wow! Now This Man Had a Dream!

Daily writing promptWhat brings a tear of joy to your eye?View all responses

Martin Luther King, Jr. had a powerful dream. It changed the way black people are treated in the USA. Another man had a powerful dream around two thousand years earlier. His name was Joseph, and he was engaged to a young woman who told him that she was pregnant while still a virgin, but Joe didn’t buy the woman’s alibi. Instead, he decided to quietly move on.

That’s when Joe had the powerful dream that changed his life and the future of the world. His dream featured an angel appearance. The angel told Joseph 4 things: 1) that his fiancée, Mary, was pregnant by the Holy Spirit, 2) that she will have a son, 3) that Joseph is to name Him Jesus, and 4) that Jesus will save people from their sins.

The remarkable thing about his dream is that Joseph literally believed and obeyed what the angel told him. The supernatural thing about Joe’s dream is that millions of rational people around the world have believed deep in their heart that Jesus Christ was virgin born. I must confess. I believe it (but I didn’t always).

As a teenager I rejected the incredible claims of Christianity like Christ’s virgin birth, His being “Immanuel” which means “God with us,” the miracles that He did, and His rising from the dead after being crucified. However, as a freshman in college I heard people excitedly talking about Jesus like He was alive, and like they had a close personal relationship with Him. As I heard them talking about how real Jesus was to them, something happened deep inside me. It was like a flip switched and Jesus was suddenly real and present with and in me. I’ve never been the same since that moment. In an instant Jesus began to save me (and to this day continues to save me) from my sin and bondage.

Experiencing Jesus as a nonbeliever made me deeply curious about what was happening inside of me. I began to read and devour the Bible that I had rejected as mere fiction. The more I read it the more it burned in my heart. Over the next couple of years, little by little, I gradually began to believe what the Bible teaches because it was working inside of me and transforming my life. Decades later the Bible and God the Holy Spirit have never stopped working in and through me. It’s a wonderful life.

I’m so glad that Mary said yes to the angel who told her that she was going to give birth as a virgin. I’m so glad that Joseph believed and obeyed his dream. I’m so glad that Jesus is “Immanuel” (“God with us,”) and that death wasn’t able to hold Him down. I’m so glad that Christ lives in me, leads me by His Spirit, and is my hope of glory. The risen Jesus frequently brings tears of joy to my eyes.

For more about Martin Luther King’s dream, google: Off the RACE Track book. For more about Joseph’s dream, search for: The Joy of Early Christianity book.

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I Blog Because . . .

Daily writing promptWhy do you blog?View all responses

I blog because I’m happy and I want to share my joy and inner peace with everyone. I blog because I wake up every morning overflowing with thoughts and ideas that make my life better and I want to share them with as many people as I can.

Look beyond routine
And the way things seem.
Behold Christ unseen.
Let His Spirit stream.
Then your face will gleam
With the light of God
And your life will teem
With love, joy, and peace.

Daily immerse
Your heart and mind
In the Bible
Verse after verse.
It’s not enough
To analyze
Or memorize
The word of God.
Go disperse
God’s living words
Throughout your life.
Let them reverse
The way you live
Until Jesus
Consumes your heart.

The Unusual Interview

Daily writing promptInterview someone — a friend, another blogger, your mother, the mailman — and write a post based on their responses.View all responses

When I was a child and with a small group of other children in a classroom setting, we were asked who we would like to meet and talk with if we could meet any person who has ever lived. The kids each named someone that they would like to interview (mostly historical figures). When it came my turn, I said Jesus Christ.

As the teacher in that Sunday School class commented on each person’s choice, ignoring His resurrection she acted like Jesus was just like the other historical figures — dead and long gone. I assumed she was correct and although I believed in God I never thought much about Jesus. However, as a freshman in college I had a shocking experience. I heard some people passionately talking about Jesus like He is alive and present today. Suddenly something changed in me. I sensed that Jesus was present with and in me. I’ve been talking to Jesus and interviewing Him ever since then. His comments and answers to my requests always astonish me.

When I ask Jesus to speak amazing thoughts come into my mind — things that I wouldn’t come up with on my own. Almost every morning when I wake up Jesus greets me with a series of thoughts about things that I have wondered about. As I notice and savor those thoughts, they fill me with hope and encouragement. I write them down and post them on my blog and on social media.

I know this may sound strange to you, but the Bible says that Christ-followers “have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:16) Jesus Himself said: “My sheep hear My voice.” (John 10:27) You too can interview the risen Jesus. It’s simple. Ask Him a question. Then notice what happens inside of you the next few days. Be patient. At some point a powerfully hopeful thought, feeling, impression, memory, insight, picture, or Bible verse will come to your awareness. When it does, notice it, ponder it, and cultivate it. As you do, other thoughts from Jesus will come to you.

As thoughts come to you, check them out with the Bible. You can use Google and search, “What does the Bible say about (a particular thought or idea).” If it isn’t confirmed by the Bible, then an inner counterfeiter is trying to imitate the voice of Jesus. Reject any counterfeit thoughts. Genuine words from Jesus will align with the Bible.

If you believe that Christ is in you, (Colossians 1:27) live like He is. Focus on Him, enjoy His presence, and do what He says. Begin to interview the living Jesus and you will never be the same.

I have to say
I’m not the way
I used to be.
Jesus changed me
And set me free.

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People Who Keep Me Feeling Great

Daily writing promptHow are you feeling right now?View all responses

I’m feeling great right now because I have been thinking and writing about the true encouragers in my life. Those people lift me up, inspire me, and motivate me. They keep me going even when I feel like giving up.

I often see Jesus. I see Him living in and through certain people. The way that they live shows me Christ at work in them. The things they say and do reveal His reality to me. Their lives exemplify and exhibit His existence. They radiate and demonstrate the risen Jesus. I see Christ in them.

Christ-revealers are my favorite people to be around. They are true encouragers. They don’t just explain Jesus. They present His presence. They soften hardened hearts. When you find Christ-revealers and welcome them into your daily life, you’ll begin to experience the body of Christ functioning in Spirit-led action and demonstrating the fruit and the gifts of God the Holy Spirit.

Who are the people who make you feel closer to Jesus? Make a list of them. Then begin to spend more time with them.

There are a lot of Christ-explainers but few Christ-revealers. Be one!