Steve Simms's Blog, page 2

I Keep the King of Hearts on My Screen

Daily writing promptHow do you manage screen time for yourself?View all responses

Who’s the King of Your Heart?

God is beyond
Your intellect.
Learn to connect
To His presence
With your whole heart.
Experience
His pure effect.
Let Him inject
You with His love.
Let Him direct
The things you say
And what you do
By His Spirit
(Christ in you)
Throughout each day.
Then you’ll project
And you’ll reflect
The King of Hearts’
Amazing grace
Every place
You go.

Get your eyes off of human personalities and fix your focus steadfastly on Jesus. Christianity isn’t about human personalities whether you call them pastors or any other fancy title.

A Christian’s focus should never be on a popular leader. It should always be on the living, resurrected Jesus Christ! Behold Jesus the Lamb of God. (John 1:29) Follow Him, not mere people. Look unto Jesus (Hebrews 12:2) not to your favorite preachers!

The greatest freedom ìs freedom from the thoughts, feelings, desires, and behaviors that separate you from the conscious awareness of the presence of God. That’s the freedom that matters most to me!

Experience true freedom. Google: Beyond Church Ekklesia.

Take the Time to Find Hope

Take the time to take up weapons that can fill your life with peace and joy. Weapons unused are useless. Regularly, persistently, and consistently take up and use these three weapons that powerfully and effectively overcome the mental and emotional things that are holding you back and pulling you down. (Revelation 12:11)

1) Continually rely and depend only on the blood of Jesus for your access to the power and presence of God, not on self-effort or self-righteousness. (1 John 1:7)
2) Frequently, publicly, and humbly share your testimony about how Jesus has worked and is working in and through your life. (Acts 1:8)
3) Quit focusing on yourself. Deny yourself, embrace the things that crucify your self-focused desires, and faithfully follow and obey the risen Jesus throughout each day. (Luke 9:23)

Rooftop Faith + a Spirit-Directed Lifestyle = Genuine Spiritual Awakening

God wants to make known the glorious mystery of Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27) If Jesus is living inside of you and His Spirit is flowing from your inner most being (John 7:38-39) don’t hide Him. (Matthew 5:15) Shout your testimony (Revelation 12:11) from the housetops (Matthew 10:27) and live your life in such a way that all can see the presence and power of Jesus (Matthew 28:20) and the fruit of His Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) clearly demonstrated in the way you live your daily life. (1 Corinthians 2:4)

“Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.” Jesus Christ said that to His disciples. (Luke 22:46) Perhaps He’s still saying it to those of us who claim to be Christians.

Systematized
Christianity
Has hypnotized
People into
Passivity
And done away with
Spirit-prompted
Spontaneity.
It has ritualized,
Institutionalized,
And depersonalized
Spirituality.
It has disguised
Unbelief
And called it faith.
(Matthew 23:27-28)
(2 Chronicles 7:14)
Lord, have mercy on us.

Perhaps it’s time to withdraw from routine religion (Luke 22:39-46) and to seek first the kingdom of God (the actual presence and the will of God instead of your own will) and His righteousness (not your own). (Matthew 6:33)

Christians, be Spirit-prompted not pride-propelled. Routine rots relationships. Go beyond rote routine and revitalize your relationship with the risen Jesus.

The Secret of Breakthrough?

Daily writing promptWhat will your life be like in three years?View all responses

Almost everybody would like to have a breakthrough in their life. We hope for, long for, and strive for a breakthrough. Unfortunately, after various periods of time, many of us give up on the idea of a breakthrough and settle into a life of drudgery, routine, and hopelessness. Perhaps it’s time to get your hopes us!

Here’s the secret to breakthrough. Surrender to God’s inner wind. Let His Spirit freely flow from within you day and night.

God’s Interior Wind

Many Christians
Don’t even know
That God’s Spirit
Desires to flow
From inside them.
(John 7:38-39

To truly grow
Release the flow
Of the Spirit
From within you.
(Ephesians 4:30)

Boldly say no
To anything
That blocks God’s flow.
Now go and grow!
(1 Thessalonians 5:19)

Those born again
Can let God’s wind
Constantly blow
From deep within.
(John 3:6-8)

Ever enjoy
God’s rushing wind
(Acts 2:2)
That’ll lift you up
On eagles’ wings
(Isaiah 40:31)
Till your heart sings
Unceasingly.
(Ephesians 5:18-20)

God’s inner flow
Is way beyond
The things you know.
It’s a heart that’s
Open to grow
(Matthew 15:8)
And be led by
God the Spirit.
(Romans 8:14)

Organized religion hasn’t produced the unity in the body of Christ that Jesus so passionately prayed for. (John 17:21-23) Instead, it has hacked Christianity up into tens of thousands of independent churches and denominations that disagree with and work against each other in many ways.

True Christian unity only comes by the wind of God the Holy Spirit not through institutional churches. It’s time to give spontaneous, heart-to-heart, Spirit-led Christianity a chance. It’s time to go beyond letting the control and opinions of one man dominate church services week after week. It’s time to let God the Holy Spirit take control so that He can speak and testify (Revelation 12:11) in and through as many people as He wants to during a worship gathering. (1 Corinthians 14:26)

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Most People Don’t Know That America Needs King Jesus Demonstrations!

America needs King Jesus demonstrations! Christ-followers are called to demonstrate light that dispels darkness. The good news of Jesus Christ can only be powerfully proclaimed and demonstrated by the Spirit of God, not by religious works of the flesh or by politics.

Jesus, Himself, said: “Apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) Today, let Jesus baptize you afresh with the Holy Spirit and fire (Luke 3:16) so that Christ in you can be your hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)

Go illuminate everybody you meet with Christ’s light. Consistently live and behave in ways that demonstrate the presence, power, and love of Jesus everywhere you go. (Luke 8:16 and Matthew 5:14-16)

Jesus is looking for people who will show other people His love by letting the truths of the Bible come alive and burn in their heart so powerfully (Luke 24:32) that they are supernaturally empowered to surpass the rituals of the pharisees and the religion of the church experts (Matthew 5:19-20) and to actually demonstrate the reality of the risen Christ. Jesus is calling for His followers to demonstrate His love by the presence of the fruit of His Spirit, not by religious works of the flesh. (Galatians 5:19-26)

My favorite fruit is the fruit of the Spirit. It’s fun and exciting to share it with people!

Appreciate people.
They’re made in God’s image.
Compliment people.
They are amazing.
Encourage people.
They can do good things.
Pray with and for people.
God will move on their heart.
Show people Jesus Christ
By the way you treat them.
Be kind to people
Till they’re kind to you.

The human race
Needs more space
For great kindness
In every heart
And true joy
On every face.
Slow down your pace
And make a place
For pure release
Of God’s peace.

An Easier Way to Live

Daily writing promptDo lazy days make you feel rested or unproductive?View all responses

Someone said that lazy people look for an easier way to do things. Perhaps all of us humans need an easier way to do life. Instead of constantly stressing and striving to feel better about our self-image, perhaps we should allow the One who promises inner peace to take full and absolute control of our life.

Jesus Christ wants to immerse you with the Holy Spirit and fire and purify you (Luke 3:16-17) so that He can clearly and brightly shine through you and make you (yes you) a light to this world like a city on a hill that cannot be hidden. (Matthew 5:14-16)

Receive the word of God that is coming to you in your wilderness, not like a textbook that speaks to your mind with information, but like a love letter that speaks to your heart with life-transforming passion. Receive this word from the living Jesus now. Receive the never-ending power and presence of God the Holy Spirit in the depths of your heart! “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

To be an effective witness for Christ learn to flow in loving obedience to the still small voice (1 Kings 19:11-13) of the Holy Spirit’s inner rivers. (John 7:38-39) Let God’s living water produce and overflow the fruit of His Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) within you until all can see Christ only always living in and through you. (Acts 1:8)

To be an effective witness for Jesus, instead of trying to talk people into making some kind of religious decision, simply approach them with such great love, kindness, and caring that it warms their heart and enables them to feel and see Christ, Himself, living in and through you. Witnessing about Jesus isn’t about talking somebody into making a religious decision. It’s about personally showing someone such amazing love that they know that it couldn’t be coming from you but could only be coming from God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

“Blessed are the pure in heart.” (Matthew 5:8) Let Jesus purify you from deep within. Fully and continually surrender your heart and life to God. Church attendance without Spirit-led, heart-to-heart community (Hebrews 10:25) misses the main point of Christianity. (2 Timothy 3:5)

Be a Holy Spirit soaker,
Not a Holy Spirit choker.
Constantly soak up His presence.
Be led by the Holy Spirit.
When He speaks in your heart hear it,
Obey it, and do not choke it.
(Revelation 2:7, 1 Thessalonians 5:19, Matthew 13:22)

This is “Successful”

Daily writing promptWhen you think of the word “successful,” who’s the first person that comes to mind and why?View all responses

When I think of the word “successful” this comes to my mind. Taxing situations can be God’s way of getting you where He wants you to be. (Luke 2:1-4) God used a census called by ancient Roman Emperor Caesar Agustus to get Jesus Christ’s pregnant mother who lived in Nazareth to travel to Bethlehem with her husband Joseph so that Jesus could be born there like the ancient prophesy said: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” (Micah 5:2)

God the Father somehow makes all things work out for good for those who love Him, hear His call, and align with His purpose. (Romans 8:28) Cease resisting God. Success is to stop kicking against the goads. (Acts 26:14) Let Him get you where He wants you through His various machinations. God doesn’t want people to be a passive audience. He wants heart-to-heart personal relationships with people. He wants you to live open and surrendered to His presence and His will.

Use your inner ear
So that you can hear
What God the Spirit
Is saying to you. (Revelation 3:22)
Then step out and do
What He tells you to. (Romans 8:14)

People build shelter. Everyone needs shelter, not just from physical things like wind, rain, and cold. We humans need shelter from mental, emotional, and spiritual things as well. Without adequate inner shelter we experience a mental health crisis, emotional trauma, and spiritual torment. I find true success of inner shelter, safety, strength, and salvation in Jesus Christ, my risen, present Lord and my God. (John 20:28)

When a Christian movie wants to show that someone is a successful Christian, they usually picture them sitting silently in a church service listening to a preacher. Surely there are other behaviors that more effectively show that a person is a genuine success at being a Christian. How about showing them laying hands on someone and praying over them out loud? (James 5:14) Or telling someone how much they love Jesus? (Revelation 12:11) Or lifting their hands to God as they passionately worship Him? (1 Timothy 2:8) Or confessing their sins to one another? (James 5:16) Or blessing those who curse them? (Luke 6:28) Or humbling themselves? (James 4:10) Or praying in Jesus’ name? (John 14:13) Or forgiving one another? (Ephesians 4:32) Or bearing one another’s burdens? (Galatians 6:2) Or comforting one another? (2 Corinthians 13:11) Or encouraging one another? (1 Thessalonians 5:11) Or teaching each other? (Romans 15:14) Or serving one another? (1 Peter 4:10) Or exhorting one another? (Hebrews 3:13) Or washing each other’s feet? (John 13:14)

Neighborly Advice

Daily writing promptWhat makes a good neighbor?View all responses

There is still hope and joy in this world. Caring and compassionate neighbors can help you find it.

Focusing your fixation
On positive expectation
In a negative situation
Will change your narration
And minimize frustration.

Strong faith-filled evaluation
Will bring hopeful expectation
To a difficult situation.
Align your evaluation
Always with the Word of God.
When you can’t change your situation
You can change your evaluation.
There’s no impossible situation
When we yield to God’s animation.

In every situation
I seek a saturation
Of Jesus living in me.
(Matthew 6:33 and
Colossians 1:27)

Try Faithfulness

Daily writing promptWhat could you try for the first time?View all responses

Faithfulness? Faithfulness is repeatedly and consistently doing what is right. Being continually faithful to God in small things produces great strength. This is how faith works. Faith is faithfulness. When faithfulness is the hardest rise to the occasion. Persistently seek to be faithful to Jesus Christ in all things, big or small.

If you will faithfully and actively keep the stones rolled away from the entrance to your heart (Romans 8:14) God will continually overflow you with Christ’s resurrection life and power surging from within you as living water. (John 7:38-39) Daily put the Book of Acts into courageous loving action. “Be a doer of the word, not a hearer only.” (James 1:22)

My life with Christ has never been a dull documentary. It’s always a power-packed action adventure. (Acts 1:8) There’s nothing more exciting than being a Spirit-led child of God. (Romans 8:14)

Every distraction
From stepping out
In Spirit-led action
Is a subtraction
From genuine faith.
True satisfaction
Comes from actively
Relying on God.
(1 Thessalonians 5:19)

Here is faithfulness. Christians are called to give our full allegiance, devotion, and obedience to King Jesus and to the invisible kingdom of God ahead of any other nation or national leader. (Matthew 6:33)

Christianity isn’t about any particular nation. It’s about people “from every kindred and every tribe.” (Revelation 7:9)

I Want to Love Like Mother Teresa

Daily writing promptWhat principles define how you live?View all responses

Mother Teresa
Was a walled-in nun
In a pain filled world.
When she left the walls
To help heal the pain
Person by person,
The world took notice.
I try to go
And do likewise.

I believe that Mother Teresa was a true evangelical. I’ve never found anything hypocritical about her even though I have read many books and watched many videos about her.

Mother Teresa humbly demonstrated Christ’s love to everyone she met. She radiated kindness, peace, patience, joy, and the rest of the fruit of God’s Spirit. She didn’t try to force people to change by manipulating them through words, legalism, or self-righteousness. She just loved, loved, loved.

Mother Teresa and I would have disagreed about numerous Bible passages. Still, I greatly admire how she helped make multitudes of people around the world aware of the love, compassion, forgiveness, and healing of Jesus Christ. I wish more people who call themselves evangelicals would do likewise.

Evangelicals, if you really believe the Bible when it says, “God is love,” and when it says, “Humble yourself,” then show your confidence in the Bible by doing what it says. Humble yourself to the point of openly loving your enemies and publicly blessing those who curse.

Why are many Christians so angry and defensive? Why do so many of us ignore some of Christ’s commands and act like they don’t exist?

If Christians would obey Christ’s commands to “Bless those who curse you,” (Luke 6:27-28) “Love your enemies,” (Matthew 5:44) “Turn the other cheek,” (Matthew 5:39) and to forgive people “Seventy times seven times,” (Matthew 18:22) there would be a lot less anger, accusation, and hostility in society. However instead of obeying those hard commands from Jesus, Christians seem to be some of the loudest and angriest spreaders of accusation and hostility. Why is that?

Jesus didn’t die and rise again to start a weekly Sunday morning religious performance. He died and rose again to bring about the transformance of human hearts from cold to compassionate. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Does anybody know of a church that will stay centered on the presence and active leading and Headship of the risen Jesus when they meet instead of being centered on a sermon? I want to worship with people who will do that and will strive to obey Christ’s commands to love. O see can you say, Jesus Christ is “my Lord and my God.” (John 20:28)

Jesus wants Christianity to be hierarchy-free. He said: “You are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:8-12)

It’s Easy to Put Off Observing

Daily writing promptWhat have you been putting off doing? Why?View all responses

You can’t appreciate what you won’t observe. You are probably overlooking a lot of things. Look and see!

True faith is much more than merely believing in the existence of God. True faith is to continually observe, experience, rely on, and obey God’s presence and reality. To dare to courageously see what you’ve been unwilling to see about where you stand with God is the first step to a better life.

Train yourself to observe, obey, and openly surrender your heart to God. No one can explain or understand God, but everyone is invited to surrender to and daily rely on His presence.

When you begin to notice, observe, and cooperate with what God is saying and doing within you, your life will soar to a new level. By using the power of observation, you can see God tracks all around you and even within you. Look and notice! No one can explain or understand God, but everyone is invited to surrender to and daily rely on His presence.

Dare to set aside your agenda, your plans, your program, and your desires. Then observe what Jesus does. God observers are overcome with awe and love for Him. Be one. Be aware. Listen, wonder, ponder, and observe what God is saying to you.

Observe what religion (not the Bible) calls “The Lord’s Supper.” It was a full meal that Jesus shared with His 12 closest disciples. It is described in four books in the Bible — Matthew, Mark, Luke, and 1 Corinthians.

The meal took place around a table not at an altar. Jesus spontaneously interrupted the meal to use two of the items to describe His coming crucifixion. He took bread, blessed it, broke it, and passed it around the table for His disciples to eat. He told them that the bread represented His body.

Next Jesus took wine, thanked God for it, passed it to His disciples, and they all drank some of it. Then He told them that the wine represented His blood of the covenant (a reality shifting commitment that God made to humanity) which was about to be poured out for many. Jesus also told His disciples that He wouldn’t drink any more wine until He drinks it in the kingdom of God, but He told His disciples to do so in remembrance of Him.

Jesus interrupted His final supper with His disciples and focused on the bread and wine as a way of helping them to observe and notice the significance of His coming death. Two thousand years later interrupting a meal to savor some bread and wine could be a powerful way to remember Jesus and how He used a meal to help prepare His disciples for His coming death.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone spontaneously interrupting a full meal (like Jesus did) to use bread and wine as a way to help people focus on and remember Christ’s sacrifice. Perhaps we should try it.

What do you think people would do if in the middle of a meal someone said: “Hey everybody. Let’s remember what Jesus said about the bread and the wine. Let’s take a moment to focus on them. Let’s pass them around and partake of them together so that we can remember Jesus and His death. Let’s also remember that He rose from the dead and is present both inside of us and with us at this very table.” Perhaps routine religion has over formalized what Jesus did with bread and wine.

What you observe
You will preserve.
Always reserve
Room within you
For awareness
Of God’s presence.
Refuse to swerve
Away from His love.

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