Steve Simms's Blog, page 222

Internal clarity / external victory . . .

Our emotions can put so much makeup on facts, that we no longer recognize them and angrily defend our deception. The mind that doesn’t monitor feelings and align them with reality and wisdom, will eventually be mastered by them.

The most important argument anyone can win, is the argument with negative thoughts and harmful desires that happens in their heart. The living Jesus working inside of you, can help you win that argument!

If you let the living Jesus direct your feelings and desires, you’ll live differently than if they direct you. When you let “Christ in you” overcome you’re interior enemies, you’ll have His power to love your exterior enemies.

To finally recognize the risen Jesus, with our internal eyes, is life’s greatest surprise. I know Jesus is alive and present because of the amazing internal things He has done in my heart everyday, for many years. There’s no shortage of sermons in church, but there is a great scarcity of testimonies about inner experiences with the living Jesus.

Its easy to resist the people and situations around us. It’s wiser to resist the temptations that harass us internally. If you’re forceful with your internal enemies (the emotions and thoughts that harass you), you can be kind to your external ones.

You’re the traffic cop between your feelings and your actions. You can pull your feelings over, or you can release them into action.

Biblical Christianity is internal, not outward forms or programs. Let your behavior be birthed by interior interactions with Jesus. He told us to seek first the kingdom of God (God’s internal, invisible government) not any of the world’s governments. When politics divide Christians, we’ve taken our eyes off the living, resurrected Jesus.

He rose
And lives
Right here,
Right now.
Don’t miss
Essential Jesus.

Since the body of Christ split into categories (tribes / denominations), it no longer functions as one body but as many independent organizations. However, when Christ-followers gather heart-to-heart, expressing their love for the living Jesus to each other, divisions fade away.

Christ-followers should be kind, loving, honest, peacemakers — more than any other people on earth. Are we? If not, why not?

Church is a very narrow view of what it means to be a Christian. Perhaps we should graduate to obeying the risen Jesus 24/7/365. I believe Christian graduation is when a believer goes beyond head-knowledge to following and obeying the risen Jesus in daily life. Let’s graduate from sermons to implementation. “Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourself “

Church could use some “commencement exercises” to train us to begin to develop the strength to go live out our faith every day. Graduation releases people from regular lectures, to go apply their learning in the real world — a good idea for Christians. Church needs a higher degree; we need to increase the temperature of our love for Jesus and our willingness to obey Him.

When people aren’t allowed to graduate from church, many settle in for life, however, some set out to follow Jesus on their own. I believe the shared teachings of historic Christianity. We don’t ever graduate from them, but we do need to graduate from hearing about them to daily doing them.

I believe what Jesus said and what His early disciples wrote about Him in the Bible, because His presence in my life confirms it both internally and externally. Since the writers of the Bible were led by the Spirit as they wrote, I find the Spirit leads me to align with their teachings.

It takes much more courage to take off an invisible mask than a visible one

Perhaps the masks that we should protest most, aren’t medical face masks, but the invisible masks that people wear on their heart. If people would refuse to wear a heart-mask with the same energy that some refuse a face mask, we would learn who they really are.

A mask on your heart is a blindfold that keeps you from seeing things clearly. To tighten your inner mask is to strangle in loneliness. It takes much more courage to take off an invisible mask than a visible one.

Your invisible masks reveal the location of your fears. They don’t conceal them. Invisible masks conform to the shape of your fears and outline their form for all to see.

It’s easy to believe we wear no mask, while we hide the truth from self and others. Humility walks without a mask. Pride falsely claims he’s not wearing one.

Mercy creates a milieu where masks can be loosened, and set aside. Then hearts can connect. Effective mask removal requires humility. Without it the mask quickly returns.

Relationships based on social masking are flimsy, false, and frayed. The mask of pride won’t stop the spread of despair. It speeds it up. Often our masks are hidden behind our pride.

Many people wear an invisible mask wherever they go, because they have secrets that they don’t want you to know. It’s a wearisome task to keep a mask over your soul. It’s easy to mask your face, but it takes courage to face the mask on your soul and open your heart to the risen Jesus.

Happiness is a better mask than sadness, but creating genuine happiness within you is best. To mask the difference between fear and caution, encourages people to take unnecessary risks.

Religion too often asks people to wear a mask and to pretend to be something they’re not, but the living Jesus changes people inside. A religious mask can hide a lot from people, but the living Jesus sees right thru it. When Christianity adopted the mask of ministry (the “clergy/laity divide”), it lost much of its power.

People who are truly on the rock of Christ have the freedom to stop playing a role. For those who don’t want to wear a mask, “realing” (making honest and sincere statements) is the best way to avoid it. Sins admitted can be forgiven. Sins masked remain. Grace is light, not a mask.

Agree with me . . .

There’ so much disagreement today. Here’s something simple that maybe we can agree on. Agree with me, please.

When the skin
People are in
Is allowed to
Define who they are,
We’ve gone too far.

Race is a mask
That keeps people apart.
Unmask the past.

Eye color; no big deal.
Skin color; big deal!
Why?

[image error]Get Off the RACE Track here.

“Reals” & lies — which to tell?

Some people treat lies like duct tape and try to hold their life together with them. Reals (honest statements) are much more secure. People often choose to believe in a comfortable and/or familiar lie than in a disturbing real.

To lie is to defy reality with mere words. It’s like standing in front of a speeding train and telling it to stop.

Lies are false statements; reals are true ones. Lies distort truth; reals reveal it. Let’s replace lies with reals. Finding truth lies in the art of separating lies from reals.

People invent lies. Reals (honest statements) report what actually happened. Reals give light. Lies produce deception. Now matter how strongly you deny a real, it remains true.

Lies create guilt. Reals produce guilt-free living. Lies require commitment to deception. Reals require commitment to truth. People who despise lies shouldn’t tell them.

Realing (truth-telling) may feel risky, but lying bets the farm on your ability to deceive. When you’re lying to others, your not realing (being honest) with yourself.

Some people lie all day and then call it real life. Life is more in touch with reality when it is based on reals (truth statements) instead of lies.

Liars have trouble staying anonymous. Truth comes out. People tell lies because we’re afraid to tell reals. Many people will easily accept a lie that agrees with them, but strongly resist a real that doesn’t.

Reals are memorable because they actually happened. Lies are forgettable because they contradict reality.

Conversations (and news media) are a mixture of reals (truth statements) and lies. No wonder we’re so confused. History is also a mixture of reals and lies. It’s difficult to tell the difference.

Here are some free sample reals:

Love is respectful (not rude). When you see love demonstrated, take a moment to appreciate it. Showing love and kindness to your enemy is worth 1000 sermons or social media posts that try to straighten him out.

We can say we love God, but if we really do, we will love the people He loves. “God so loved the world,” (the people not real estate). How we treat all kinds of people, is the measure of how much we love God.

Love doesn’t defend injustice, no matter who it is directed at. Religion permits meanness towards people we disagree with, but biblical Christianity causes us to show love to everybody. For more reals about Christianity, search for: The Joy Of Early Christianity book.

Skin-color valuation, like other preferences, can operate unconsciously and impact the way we see and interpret events. For more reals about race, search for: Off the RACE Track book.

Thinking about lying (and “realing”) . . .

Although very few people will admit that they like lies and enjoy lying, dishonesty is quite common. Liars are fantasy writers, even if they never touch a pen or a keyboard. Some people lie so much that they create a living novel. Their life story is a work of fiction.

A deceiver is a liar. English needs a word for a truth-teller, so I’m inventing one. Be a realer. Realers (truth-tellers) are honest. Lying is much easier than realing. That’s probably why it’s so common.

Creativity can be used to tell lies, but it’s far more effective when it’s used for realing — to convey truth with compassion. Liars try not to let facts interfere with their fraudulent words. Realers do. They fact check. When you catch yourself in a lie, come clean. If you keep going you’ll get lost in self-made mythology.

Your conscience is the best lie detector. However, it sounds an alarm when you lie, not when other people do.

Lying tatters self-esteem, even if you pretend it doesn’t. It requires courage to be a realer when the truth exposes something you want to hide. Those caught in fear won’t do that. To lie is to admit that you’re either ashamed of or afraid of the truth (or both).

Lies were invented when Adam and Eve hid from God and from each other. They were creatively deceptive. Some people enjoy lying, but not as many like to be lied to.

A strong, self-focused agenda tends to hinder realing and to substitute expediency for honesty. To lie is to deny the real world for fantasies of your own making. To align with the real world requires radical honesty. Leaving out facts, to tarnish the truth, is a form of lying.

Lying is the fear-based response of people who tremble at the thought of telling the truth in a particular situation. Lying might deceive the hearer, but it creates guilt in the teller (who then lies to himself to try to cover his conscience). Liars are traitors to truth. Realers are loyal to it.

Jesus said: “The truth shall set you free,” but many Christians act like they think that grace gives them the freedom to lie. Even the best lies are false, phony, and fake, no matter how nice they sound or how effective they may seem. Perhaps the world’s most common lie is: “I don’t lie.”

Lying is easy and may help hide the fear of reality. Realing is difficult because it requires the courage to face reality. Because lies easily erode, everything built on them requires even more lies, and will eventually crumble.

No one has to lie. It’s either a deliberate choice, a habit, or a fearful response. We can choose to be real and honest instead. To get by with a lie is to trash the truth.

“They say,” is hearsay. It is the building blocks for conspiracy theories. Reality matters. It can be covered up, but it won’t go away. Lies are fairy tales told by those who fear the real world. One lie leads to another, creating a chain of deceit that shackles truth. Healthy self-esteem needs no lies; it can boldly embrace realing.

Because people make and write history, some lies wind up there. For some historical realing, search: Off the Race Track book.

[image error]

What is a person?

A human being is amazing,
Making individual choices,
Having feelings and thoughts,
Able to comprehend concepts
And communicate ideas and information.
Learn to appreciate this creature,
For you are one
And so am I.

Inner awe-ability

Ponder the awe
That stirs within you
At the sight
Of nature’s beauty,
Inner glimpses of
Majesty and splendor,
Beyond all reason,
Defying your logic,
Intangible but still
Deeply and delightfully real.
Cultivate that sense
That you feel inside.
Let it grow until
It dominates your day
And overflows through
Continual wonder
And glorious gratitude.

Copyright by Steve Simms 05/06/2020

Word dancing writer

I’m dancing now
As the words
Move around
Before my eyes
And my fingers
Glide with them
On the keyboard —
My writing dance floor.

Everyone’s a writer — writing their life story by the choices that they make as they dance through the years.

Choosing choices worth celebrating

Some choices morph into regrets. Some produce reasons to celebrate. (Even if your past choices weren’t worth celebrating, your future ones can be.)

The choices you choose to make will make or break you. Put the brakes on harmful choices and give the gas to helpful ones.

To let a thought say in your mind, is to choose it. Not to choose is to choose the status quo. If you don’t choose your choices, life will make them for you. To wait until it’s too late is to make a choice by default.

When you look back on your life, it can be said: “You had your choices.” Even when you think that you had no choice, you choose what you thought, what you said, and what you did. You may think that you didn’t choose where you are, but look back and you can see that a trail of choices brought you there.

Sometimes we choose to ignore a lie because it’s easier than telling insecure people the truth and experiencing their hostility. If you don’t choose to be really good, you’ll never know how hard it is to be even a little bit good.

People say, “You don’t choose your life.” That’s not true. You don’t choose your birth, but you are fee to choose your life.

Choose to mind your own conscience. The first step is to listen to it. Wrong choices aren’t always accidents.

Choose to read, watch, and listen to things that will make you mindful, not mindless. Before you choose other people’s choices, examine your own. Your own choices may be better.

I’ve chosen to pray so much that it has become a habit. Now I frequently find myself praying all day.

Choice Words

Every choice
Has a consequence.
They accumulate
And create your life.

And even you don’t
Make the right choice
You can still choose
To make it right.

Life is full of intersections,
Where you can change direction
Or stay your course.
Each one impacts your destination.

Colorism: Overcome fear. Take a fearless look at American history.

History has divided Americans. Ignoring that history won’t bring us together. Facing it with humility, honesty, and justice will. When it comes to reading, I’m a nonfiction guy (and that’s the truth).

Even history that some people don’t want to know about matters. Overcome fear. Take a fearless look at American history.

History sorted us by color. Those assortments still impact us. It’s time to declassify people. Let’s flatten the curve on the skin-color-hierarchy. One millimeter of skin isn’t indicative of who a person is!

Because of colorism, we can have prejudice that is unintentional and subconscious, completely beyond our awareness. Skin tones ring a bell in the subconscious (created by 100s of years of racial lies) and cause us to see people differently.

History produced colorism. It lingers today and let’s skin shade (but not eye color) influence how we see and relate to other people. Colorism is a prism that distorts human vision and decision, allowing skin shade to keep us from seeing who people really are.

Your skin color is good! That’s how God painted you. I appreciate you and people of every shade of humanity! Ideally, we humans shouldn’t care what color we are, since all skin colors are a gift from God. How a person thinks and behaves inside his skin is much more important than its color.

You can’t help but notice a person’s skin color, but you don’t have to be influenced by it. Search: Off the RACE Track book.