Steve Simms's Blog, page 20

The Object of Life Isn’t Objects

Daily writing promptWhat are three objects you couldn’t live without?View all responses

The object of life isn’t having objects. It’s having peace, joy and gratitude. Those three things require a different approach that securing objects. They require an approach that is led by the Spirit of God. (Romans 8:14)

Being a member of First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Tennessee while I was in high school, I experienced routine religion, but I didn’t know anything about the real presence and power of the living Jesus. However, my first year at the University of Tennessee at Martin I encountered Jesus in a group of about 60 people who met weekly in the lobby of a dorm to spontaneously worship Him, listen to Him, and testify about Him. I have never been the same. Every day since that moment I have walked and talked with and listened to and tried to obey Jesus.

Jesus prayed that His followers be protected from divisiveness “so that they may be one” even as He and the Farther are one. (John 17) Yet here we are 2,000 years later and according to “Christian Website” “there are approximately 45,000 different Christian denominations worldwide as of 2024.” We Christians have walked away from God’s protection and allowed Satan’s divisiveness to separate us and to shred the body of Christ. Unity has become a theme for conferences rather than the reality Christ wants it to be.

How can we find peace, joy, and gratitude? How can we see Jesus’ prayer for Christian unity answered? I believe that we have to find unity beyond the organizational unity of churches and beyond the legalistic unity of creeds. Our unity has to be the humble unity of brokenness and heart-to-heart connection to the risen Jesus and to one another.

One of the main characteristics of a great awakening is the incredible love for one another that Christians experience that makes the walls of separation fall like the walls of Jerrico. I experienced that in the Jesus Movement, the Lay Witness Movement, the early Charismatic Movement, the Full Gospel Businessmen’s Movement, and the 2023 Asbury Awakening.

People whose first priority is actively seeking the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33) radiate Christ’s lifestyle, Christ’s peace, and the joy of His Spirit. (Romans 14:17) They are connected heart-to-heart.

The objects and kingdoms of this world are never truly aligned with the kingdom of God. To experience the kingdom (government) of God you have to search beyond physical objects and human led governments.

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The Experiences in Life That Have Helped Me Grow

Daily writing promptWhat experiences in life helped you grow the most?View all responses

Many experiences in life have helped me grow. Most of them are ongoing experiences (not just once and done) and they continue to this day. I will list them in no particular order:

Writing: I love expressing myself through writing. I blog almost every day and have written six books. Pondering about life: I have always been a deep thinker and pondered the purpose and meaning of life.Being playful and cheerful: Although I am serious about life, I also greatly enjoy it. Innocent silliness and laughter make growth a pleasure for me.Having friendly conversations: Hearing diverse viewpoints about life has greatly broadened my horizons. I’ve grown so much from listen to and making friends with people from various ethnic groups, nations, races, political persuasions, lifestyles, religions, and cultures.Fighting the good fight: I have been consistently resisting, rejecting, and refuting negative thoughts and attitudes since I was a child.Overcoming bad habits: Every time I overcome a bad habit, that experience helps me grow.Forming positive, helpful habits: The more I cultivate and develop beneficial habits, the more I grow.Affirmations: I have repeated positive affirmations (both in my mind and out loud) an astonishing number of times. Reading: All my adult life I have devoured, savored, and absorbed uplifting books about personal and spiritual growth.Collecting quotations: I have filled 33 blank journal books with handwritten quotations from the multitudes of books I have read. Avoiding negative input: Monitoring my media intake helps me avoid the personal and spiritual growth inhibitors that are so widespread in contemporary society. Being married: My wife who strives to grow personally and spiritually as much as I do has loved me greatly and helped me grow more than words can say.Having and raising a daughter (who I love dearly) through all the ups and downs.Meeting the living Jesus: I had a personal encounter with Christ when I was 19 and have never been the same. (Read the prayer on the top right of this blog’s home page.)Reading, absorbing, and implementing the Bible: I’ve read, soaked up, and tried to live out the Bible almost every day since I was 19.Communicating with Jesus: I have been talking, listening to, worshipping, and striving to obey Jesus throughout each day, also since I was 19.Praying in tongues: I have been supernaturally praying in languages I don’t know since I was 20. They instantly make me intimately aware of Christ’s presence, power, love, and reality. The moment I received this gift from God was one of the most powerful moments in my life. Confessing: I confess to and ask for forgiveness from God when I say or do wrong (and anyone else I mistreat). Forgiving: I forgive people every time I am wronged. Once God told me to think of everyone who has done me wrong and to forgive them and ask Him to bless them. I was amazed at the number of people who came across my mind to be forgiven and blessed. Now I forgive and ask God to bless people immediately when they do me wrong. Experiencing, pain, rejection, disappointments, humiliation, financial struggles, and utter brokenness: Some of my most difficult experiences have caused me to grow the most.Heart-connection and accountability with other passionate Christ-followers: The love, support, and spiritual interaction that I have had with so many beautiful Jesus-lovers has been invaluable to my personal and spiritual growth. (You know who you are. Thank you so much!)Accepting the gift of tears: All my life I have been easily moved to tears, but “men aren’t supposed to cry.” I always tried to stop my tears or at least hide them. Then I read in the Philokalia (a collection of writings from ancient Orthodox monks) that tender tears are a gift from God. Quenching them is actually quenching the Holy Spirit. The more I freely let Spirit-released tears flow, the more I grow.Being led by the Spirit: Surrendering my opinions, feelings, and desires to Christ who lives in me and letting Him continually lead me by His Spirit is a wonderful way to live. Gathering in Spirit-led ekklesia: Meeting with other Christians in a Christ-led townhall format where anyone can speak as they feel prompted by the Spirit helps me grow every time that I experience it. Unfortunately, it is hard to find Christians who are willing to go beyond the traditional church format and meet like that. Never-the-less my wife and I frequently find ways to meet with each other and with other with people in a Spirit-led open forum format.

These experiences and behaviors come from deep within me. They aren’t just self-help or self-effort. They are truly the grace of God. I am eternally grateful that He has invited me and empowered me to experience personal and spiritual growth day after day.

Here are a few more experiences that have changed my life and helped me to grow:

Being part of a group of “Jesus Freaks” who were living sold-out, Spirit-led lives while I was in college. Selling Black History books door-to-door during the summers while I was in college and getting to know amazing black people in an open heart-to-heart way.Spending three months in India teaching heart-felt theology to a group of young preachers and experiencing spontaneous passionate prayer with them three times a day. One of them was later murdered for his faith in a small Hindu village. Being a white pastor in a black denomination for about three years. Being the chaplain and counselor for an 86-bed free alcohol and drug rehab facility with The Salvation Army.My wife and I overseeing a multi-racial, Spirit-led, open-mic congregation in inner-city Nashville with The Salvation Army for 10 years. Attending a Spanish language immersion school in Costa Rica for two weeks and when asked how I had been learning Spanish being able to tell people that I read the Bible every night in Spanish. This led to many opportunities to tell people about Jesus. [image error]Pexels.com" data-medium-file="https://hopethoughts.com/wp-content/u..." data-large-file="https://hopethoughts.com/wp-content/u..." src="https://hopethoughts.com/wp-content/u..." alt="" class="wp-image-42822" />Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels.com

The Best Destiny

Daily writing promptDo you believe in fate/destiny?View all responses

The best destiny for a human being is far more than settling into the routine of day-to-day life. Why settle for meaninglessness? Life with a noble purpose is so much better!

The destiny of eternal life is knowing Jesus, not just knowing about Him. When you know Jesus experientially, you won’t say no to Him. Get to know Jesus heart-to-heart, not just as a subject of study, (John 17:3) by continuously immersing yourself in and abiding in His presence. (John 15:4) Experience the consuming reality of life immersed in prayer by ceaselessly talking to and listening to the risen Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:17)

Keep your mind and your heart immersed in Christ. Marinate in His presence until your heart unceasingly overflows with the fruit of His Spirit. Move beyond Bible study and religious analysis. Read the Bible with a tender, open heart. Experience the Bible. Absorb the Bible. Do the Bible. Live the Bible. Let God’s Spirit make the words of the Bible continually burn in your heart and keep you ever immersed in the presence of the risen Jesus.

The authentic version
Of Christianity
Is total immersion
In the presence of Christ.
This is true conversion,
A lifetime excursion
Of being Spirit-led.
Anything less than that
Is a big diversion
Away from Christ’s good news.

The King of Kings is everywhere. We shouldn’t try to keep Him in a church box. If you’re led by routine religion, you’ll get what routine religion produces. If you’re led by the Spirit, you’ll get what God’s Spirit produces. Church attendance should never be a substitute for total ongoing immersion in the presence of the living Jesus.

Here’s an observation: In the Bible Jesus frequently talked about the kingdom (invisible inner government) of God but didn’t tell people to go to church. Today Christians frequently invite people to go to church but rarely tell them about the kingdom of God.

Surrender your All to Jesus not to AI (contemporary culture in a computer). To immerse yourself in contemporary culture is to drown in distractions, diversions, and discouragement. Eat, drink, live, and sleep in the presence of Jesus. Total immersion in Christ is the only way to experience true Christianity.

Jesus is going to tell many people who did mighty things in His name, “I never knew you.” (Matthew 7:21-23) What will He say to you?

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It’s Hard to Say Goodbye to a Life of Self-Focus

Daily writing promptDescribe a phase in life that was difficult to say goodbye to.View all responses

Although self-focus is painful, it’s popular. Instead of being a phase of life that most people eventually outgrow, it has become the definition of life in our Western, materialistic worldview. It has become a life-consuming, life-long obsession. However, our Western culture continues to demonstrate that self-focus isn’t good for our mental health.

Personally, I was never very happy when I was focused on myself. My happiness has come from self-abandonment. Jesus Christ put it this way: “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.” That kind of self-abandonment and total surrender to King Jesus, to His will, and to His kingdom has brought me amazing peace and happiness. (Google: The Joy of Early Christianity.)

As Jesus bled and died on the Cross, He demonstrated and testified of God’s love for the world by laying down His life and completely surrendering His spirit to God. The early Christians fully committed their spirit (their innermost being) to Jesus as their King, Lord, and example. Then they overcame the devil “by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” (Revelation 12:11)

The King of Kings and Lord of Lord now wants to manifest and demonstrate His kingdom by living inside of His true followers and by directing, leading, and guiding them from within. Into His hands will you exclusively surrender your spirit — the depths of your being — to follow and obey “Christ in you,” as your only King and Lord?

The kingdom (inner government) of God isn’t about dead people. It consists of people who are eternally alive and whose first priority is seeking, serving and obeying King Jesus. When a group of people is entirely submitted to King Jesus and actively allowing His Spirit to lead them, there is amazing order and unity in their midst.

The kingdom of God is not about the country you live in. It’s about letting Christ live in, direct, and control you as your King and absolute Master.

Ask not what the kingdom of God can do for you. Ask how you can fully surrender to and obey the risen King Jesus. If King Jesus doesn’t have your full allegiance and obedience, you are working against His kingdom.

The government of the kingdom of God is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” King Jesus has a personal relationship and direct communication with all of His subjects, so He has no need for a hierarchy. The kingdom of God is an absolute monarchy. It has no voting and no parliament. King Jesus is the sovereign Lord. To disobey Him and refuse to be led by His Spirit is to reject God’s kingdom.

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The New Me

Daily writing promptIf you could be someone else for a day, who would you be, and why?View all responses

I’m learning to be a new me, not just for a day, but forever. “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24)

I represent another government than the country I reside in. I serve as an ambassador for a King and a government that isn’t the government where I live. The government is the kingdom of God, and the King is Jesus. I’m an ambassador for Christ. My commission is stated in 2 Corinthians 5:20.

When people have been born from above (born again), they have the ability to see beyond human governments and to recognize and surrender to the invisible inner government of God. (John 3:3) They can say that God “has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom” (government) of King Jesus.” (Colossians 1:13) Their “citizenship is in Heaven.” (Philippians 3:20) Regardless of what their passport says, Christians are called to stay focused on and obedient to the kingdom of God (God’s invisible inner government).

When the government of God is allowed to actively operate in and through people’s lives, it’s often called a revival or a great awakening. In reality it is people surrendering their daily lives to the Kingship and direct inner governance of the risen Jesus. Jesus calls it “the kingdom of God.” When God’s government is allowed to fully rule in human hearts, it will work its way like yeast through all their thoughts, desires, feelings, and behaviors, transforming them into contagious carriers of Christ’s presence, salt, and light. (Matthew 5:13-16)

Christians who are scared when God the Holy Spirit begins to take control of a meeting and disrupt the religious program will probably be very uncomfortable in Heaven where God is in full control! Now is the time to get used to be led by the Spirit (Romans 8:14) and to learn to overflow with the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 4:22-23) and the gifts of the Spirit. (1 Corinthians 14:1)

“He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all—how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)

Gifts of the Spirit

Let Christ in you
Begin to do
What He wants to
To make you new
And to lead you
By His Spirit.

Look beyond your routine
And behold the unseen.
Begin to daily lean
And rely on Jesus.
Let Him make your heart clean
And your spirit pristine.

The World’s Toughest Do-It-Yourself Project

Throughout each day I’m actively working on a lifetime do-it-yourself (DIY) project. It’s my ambition to give up my ambitions and to lay down my pride. My spirit (the inner me) wants freedom from ambition and pride, but my human desires, instincts, and nature all want to achieve great success and self-exaltation. (Galatians 5:17)

Every day, I seek the to be inwardly governed by the kingdom of God and His righteousness, (Matthew 6:33) not by my thoughts, feelings, and wants. Jesus put it this way: “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.” (Luke:923) Now that’s quite the project. John the Baptist described it this way: “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.” (Luke 3:4) To make room for the Lord, we must humble ourselves. (James 4:10)

One of the most difficult ways to deny yourself is in the area of forgiveness. Jesus said: “If you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” (Matthew 6:14-15) Now that’s a serious project. How can you forgive?

First realize that forgiveness has nothing to do with your feelings. When you have been deeply hurt you won’t be having sweet feelings about the person who hurt you and you can’t directly change those feelings. However, you can still obey Jesus and forgive.

Forgiveness is giving up your right to hold someone’s wrongs against them. It is blessing those who curse you and praying for those who despitefully use you. (Luke 6:28) You can do that even when you have bad feelings toward someone. Do it now. Think of someone you have bad feelings toward. Now ask God to do good things for them. (You may not feel it, but you can still ask God to do good to them.) Every time that person comes to your mind, pray God’s blessings for him or her. Keep doing that and eventually you will notice that your anger and hatred will gradually diminish. Do it. This DIY project works. It has kept bitterness out of my heart and it will work for you.

Forgiveness Matters

Jesus wants your entire heart
And daily obedience.
Jesus tells us to forgive.
If you sing a holy song,
But still have not forgiven
Everyone who’s done you wrong,
You might trust in religion
But you’re disobeying Christ.

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It’s Not Fine to Use the Word “Mine”

Daily writing promptIf you could permanently ban a word from general usage, which one would it be? Why?View all responses

No person, place, or thing is really mine. It’s meaningless for a slave to say, “This is mine.” Everything a slave has belongs to the one who owns him. We humans are slaves to time. In reality, we own nothing. Soon we will be gone away and the stuff that we talk about by saying, “This is mine,” will still be here. We will take no things with us.

So why wait for time to claim everything we think that we own? Why not admit the truth that all we have is only temporarily loaned to us? A young man, J.W. Van DeVenter, was struggling with that issue during the 1890s. After 5 years, he finally surrendered all to Jesus Christ and in 1896 he wrote the famous hymn, “I Surrender All.” Here are some of the lyrics:

All to Jesus, I surrender
All to Him, I freely give
I will ever love and trust Him
In His presence daily live.

All to Jesus, I surrender
Humbly at His feet, I bow
Worldly pleasures all forsaken
Take me, Jesus, take me now.

I surrender all.
I surrender all.
All to Thee, my blessed Saviour
I surrender all.

Embrace God’s Will and God’s Ways

Spirit-led ways
Will release
God’s inner waves
Of living water
And empower you
To surrender all!

The Spirit’s willing
But the flesh is weak.
Don’t let temptation
Compel you to seek
The things that you want
Instead of God’s will.
Be humble and meek.
Diligently seek
To follow Jesus.
Whatever you do
Listen to Him speak
Directly to you.

Be someone who prays
In Spirit-led ways.
Rejoice in the Lord
And give Him the praise.
Obey Him always.
Look beyond earth’s haze
And let your heart gaze
On Christ all your days.
Bask in the bright rays
Of His inner light.
Let Spirit-led ways
Release God’s great waves
Of living water
Within and through you.

Jesus didn’t die and rise from the dead so you can put your faith in and rely on a religious organization. Surrender all. Trust and rely on Him alone!

True success isn’t about accumulating things. It’s about inner peace, contentment, gratitude, mental health, and lasting happiness. The risen Jesus empowers people for that kind of success. Surrender and see!

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The Challenge of Escaping Self-Focus

Daily writing promptWhat is the biggest challenge you will face in the next six months?View all responses

My biggest challenge has always been escaping from self-focus. My thoughts, feelings, and desires continually clamor for my attention. However, one day the person who was the focus of the most shocking week in human history shocked me by stepping in to grab my focus. Although myself still clamors for my attention, the presence and glory of the God-man keeps drawing my attention and awareness to Him.

The God-man (John 1:1 & 14) was cheered like a king as He rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. A few days later He was crucified because the religious leaders didn’t like the things He said and did. Then to end the week and begin a new one, He rose from the dead to live forevermore.

Before He was taken to be condemned to death and crucified, Jesus prayed this shocking prayer: “Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name!”

About 1,920 years later, the God-man shocked me by riding into my heart and capturing me with the dazzling beauty of His presence and love. Ever since then He has been leading me and empowering me to take up my cross, to deny my own thoughts, feelings, and desires, and to follow and obey Him instead. I am continually in awe at the glorious journey Jesus has me on as I seek to surrender my all to Him as my Lord, King, and Master, day by day.

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I’d Tell Teenage Me How to Effectively Learn a Language

Daily writing promptWhat advice would you give to your teenage self?View all responses

The most effective way to learn a language is by immersion into the language, not by forcing yourself to study it, memorize vocabulary, and obey grammar rules. That’s how we learned our mother tongue. We first caught it by hearing it over and over. Then a few years later we were taught in school what we had already caught.

There’s a grammar that my teenage self needed to know. It’s God’s grammar. That grammar is better absorbed when it’s heart-caught by lots of exposure than when it’s head-taught by tedious, analytical lecture. Immerse your heart in Scripture in an open, humble, and tender way. Read the Bible every single day as a love letter written personally to you. Absorb it with your heart, don’t analyze it with your mind.

When Jesus is allowed to indwell and to take full control of a human heart He inspires, and He empowers. He implants and grows an abundance of the fruit and character of His Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23) Surrender your all to Him and begin to listen to and obey Him in all you think, say, and do.

Hang around people who are filled with exuberance for Jesus–who talk about and celebrate Him day and night — who radiate His love, humility, holiness, and presence. Ask God to lead you to those kinds of people (because they can be difficult to find). Immerse yourself in their presence, no matter where or whether they go to church. Make them your very best friends. Gradually you will catch their exuberant love for Christ.

The language of Spirit-produced exuberance is beyond words. God often produces such exuberance in me that I “ooh” and “aah” with glee and amazement in His presence. (Romans 8:26)

The exuberant “joy unspeakable and fully of glory” (1 Peter 1:8) that the Bible talks about is supernaturally produced by Christ in you. (Colossians 1:27) It’s not memorized by your mind. It’s soaked up by your heart. When you begin to sense God’s exuberant presence, go with Him — don’t hold back. (1 Thessalonians 5:19)

Spirit-produced exuberance made visible through people’s unrestrained surrender and obedience to Christ’s inner promptings powerfully demonstrates His reality. (Acts 1:8) Exuberance for Jesus will fill your life with joy and delight. Let the Holy Spirit make you aware of His amazing wonders and release Christ’s exuberance in and through you. (Psalm 47:1)

Most Christians have experienced an exuberant moment, but Jesus wants to empower His followers to live a joyfully exuberant lifestyle even in difficult times. (Matthew 5:12) He wants to make your life a holy, pure, enduring, and exuberant expression of His Spirit living in and through you.

Jesus keeps me exuberant. My heart overflows with His unrestrained joy. (John 7:38). I spontaneously wave my arms, (1 Timothy 2:8) dance around, (2 Samuel 6:21) and make joyful sounds. (Psalm 100:1) His grammar freely flows from within me.

(Back to language learning: I took 2 years of French in high school and learned nothing (although I tried) but a very few random words. Two years ago, at 71, I began to listen to Spanish videos for an hour or two every day and to read the New Testament in Spanish each day. After two years I can have nice spontaneous conversations with Spanish speakers.)

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Things That Don’t Have Heart-Healing Impact Bore Me

Daily writing promptWhat bores you?View all responses

I want to feel good and to overflow with inner peace, love, and joy. However, daily life often hurts. It tries to break my heart and to make it as hard as stone. My self-focused life seeks to steal and destroy my peace and happiness by filling me with such things as anxiety, worry, guilt, and fear.

I want much more than to merely be temporarily distracted from the pain in my life only to have it come roaring back again and again. I want to be completely healed and delivered from it. Therefore, I don’t have time for things that don’t impact my heart with hope and healing. Those empty and temporary distractions bore me. However, the things that heal my hurting heart excite and restore me. I love to go beyond boredom to heart healing.

To experience heart-healing impact:
* Listen to and obey your conscience. It’s there to heal and protect you, not to condemn you.
* Embrace humility. Let it set you free from the heart-chains of pride, comparison, and self-focus.
* Whenever you mistreat anyone, apologize to them. Then ask for their forgiveness. If they say they forgive you, receive it. If they won’t, at least you did your part.
* Forgive everyone who has ever done you wrong. Pray for God to bless them. Refuse to accuse them anymore in your mind. Forgive and you will be forgiven with amazing heart-healing impact.
* Talk to Jesus and let Him talk to you. Let Him lead you by His Spirit and direct you day and night.
* Read the Book that Jesus inspired. Read it like a love letter, not like a textbook. Let it burn in your heart until you begin to consistently do what it says instead of obeying your own thoughts, feelings, and desires.
* Gather with other Christ-followers in a Spirit-led support group to open your heart to each other and obey the 50+ Bible one another commands.

Everybody is wanting something that or someone who can make a heart-healing impact on their life. That impact is available to all. Sell out to the risen Jesus. He can direct, manage, and lead your life better than you or anybody else or any government or organization can. Let Him!

Refuse to be distracted by things that only offer temporary relief. As ambassadors for Christ, Christians are called to focus on, obey, proclaim, and demonstrate God’s inner invisible government. True relief is spelled: J-E-S-U-S.