Steve Simms's Blog, page 24

When I Was Five, I Had a Strange Love in My Heart

Daily writing promptWhen you were five, what did you want to be when you grew up? View all responses

When I was five, I had a strange love in my heart. I loved an invisible friend. I frequently talked to my unseen friend. All these years later, my invisible friend is still with me and continues to be the most important person in my life.

When I would ask my parents questions about my unseen friend it would make them uncomfortable. They wanted to avoid the subject of God because they were non-religious and didn’t attend church. But I couldn’t stop thinking about Him and talking to Him.

Although I continued to believe in God, as a teenager I rejected Jesus Christ and Christianity. Then one day in college I heard people share how Jesus had radically changed their life. Suddenly, in an instant, something happened within me, and I have never been the same. The living, resurrected Jesus Christ showed me that He is real, alive, present, and working in the here and now. Ever since that moment Jesus has been my all and all. He keeps me overflowing with love, joy, peace, and all the rest of the fruit of the Spirit.

True spirituality, true discipleship, true Christianity abandons self-focus and fully surrenders to the Headship, Lordship, and Kingship of the risen Jesus Christ who said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23)

God has given Jesus the name above all names. (Philippians 2:9) “There is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) To truly encounter and surrender to the presence and reality of the risen Jesus is to exalt no other name than His. If any name is in your thoughts or in your words or in your promotional or social media material more frequently than the name of Jesus, something is way out of line.

Let the name of Jesus be always on your lips and ever burning in your heart. Passionately pursue Jesus. Radiate His Reality.

Kenneth Collins said: “Even religion and the sacred can be made to do the bidding of self-absorption.” True spirituality, true discipleship, true Christianity abandons self-focus and fully surrenders to the Headship, Lordship, and Kingship of the risen Jesus Christ who said, “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23)

The “church texting service” you’ll love is the Bible. Read the Bible’s texts with a humble, open heart and quickly obey them. Let them burn in your heart and make you aware of the power in the name of Jesus.

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Invisible Things Can Be Seen

Daily writing promptWhat’s something most people don’t understand?View all responses

Invisible things can be seen with the eyes of the heart. Love’s invisible, but I can see it. Hope’s invisible, but I can see it. Faith’s invisible, but I can see it.

God’s kingdom is invisible and supernatural, but it can be “seen” and experienced with the eyes of faith, both day and night! “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, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.’” (Luke 17:20-21)

Jesus said: “Stop judging by appearances but instead judge correctly.” (John 7:24) Things often aren’t the way they appear to us. As humans we can easily be deceived. We need to learn to be like Moses who didn’t fear the king’s anger because he “saw Him (God) who is invisible.” (Hebrews 11:27.)

We need to “fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18) We need to spend our life “looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith,” (Hebrews 12:2) not unto a mere human leader.

We need to allow the risen Jesus Christ, Himself to be our King and our Lord (Revelation 19:16) and to govern our thoughts and actions from within. Like Abraham, we need to be looking not at what human power and ability can do. We need to be looking to God’s inner, invisible, and supernatural kingdom — “the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God,” (Hebrews 11:10) — “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27)

Are you ready and willing to see the invisible presence and reality of the risen Jesus? Look and see!

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Seeing Lots of Hope!

Seeing Hope from Armenias, Costa Rica

Watching eagles soaring
As my heart’s adoring
The risen Jesus Christ–
Volcano behind me
Fresh water lake ahead.
The Lake Nicaragua islands
Seem to rejoice with me
Along the horizon.
May all people and lands
Join both hearts and hands
And soar with God’s Spirit
With Jesus as their Head.

Jesus Is Everywhere!

Open your
Inner eyes.
Recognize
The presence
Of Jesus!

You can train
Both your heart
And your brain
How to gain
And maintain
Ongoing
Awareness
Of Jesus.

Do more than
Say a prayer.
Learn to be
Christ aware.

No matter
Where you go
Stay aware
Christ is there.

There Is So Much More to See

If you look at things
As they appear
You won’t be near
God’s point of view.

God sees the heart
Of everyone.
You only see
A tiny part
Of what they say
And what they do.

The things unseen
Make humans lean
The way they do.
Let God give you
Insight that is
True, pure, and clean.
Then you won’t be mean.

You’ll have God’s love
For everyone,
A precious gift
From Father, Son,
And Holy Spirit.

God Has Cleared Your Way

The fallen tree
That blocked your way
Is cleared away
And all that’s left
Is some debris.
Advance with glee.
Like a small child
Celebrate Christ
And go forward
In His victory.

Holy Spirit Hearers

When Holy Spirit hearers
Meet to listen and obey
The things that God has to say
There is amazing order.
Jesus Christ, the living Head,
Directs and leads His body
And demonstrates His kingdom.

Go Deeper!

Tattoos on the skin
Are superficial.
What matters most is
Christ living within!

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My Job and My Purpose Never Change

Daily writing promptHow has technology changed your job?View all responses

There is a job I do for free. Day after day it never changes. It’s more than just a job. It’s a purpose. It’s a mission. It’s a calling that continually burns deep withing my heart. My most important job is to continually surrender to Jesus and to always proclaim and demonstrate the glorious reality and joy of His presence.

No matter where they live Christians are called to be counter-cultural — to be ambassadors of Christ who continually represent and demonstrate by a Spirit-led lifestyle a culture that’s not of this world — the kingdom (inner government) of God. When Christ-followers gather to be led by the Spirit they are an embassy of the kingdom of God where people can experience His government in action in this wayward world.

Here is how the kingdom of God works. King Jesus tells His followers what to do. Then they deny themselves and obey Him instead of obeying their own thoughts, feelings, and desires. Unless you dress for Spirit-led success, pride will make your life a mess! “Clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” (Colossians 3:12) When the risen King Jesus is allowed to rule and reign in a person’s heart as their absolute Lord and Monarch, the kingdom of God has come to that person.

In the early days of Christianity when the body of Christ functioned organically, before there were institutionalized churches, the risen Jesus was allowed to directly and personally lead His body. To refuse to let the Holy Spirit have full control of a worship meeting because of the fear of “lack of order” or “a free for all,” is to misunderstand how the Holy Spirit leads.

It’s time to let the living Jesus be the literal Head and Director of His body once again! Christians can’t truly, effectively, and powerfully work together as long as the body of Christ is divided into many tens of thousands of independent religious institutions controlled by traditions and human leaders. Unfortunately, Christ-followers who don’t like attending institutional church services are often scolded, shamed, and treated like rebels.

Christians are called to demonstrate the supernatural power of God’s love. History shows that when Christians have had access to political power, they have used it in authoritarian and violent ways — from Constantine to the Crusades, from the Inquisition to Protestants using the government to persecute and kill Anabaptists, from Cromwell’s authoritarian government in England to the present day.

Like a huge fallen tree that is blocking the way, our own thoughts, feelings, and desires impede and mislead us. God is ready to move them aside if we will step to the side and let Him. Unleash “Christ in you,” “for such a time as this,” now and forever more!

Political Ability Isn’t Your Answer

Daily writing promptWhat’s a secret skill or ability you have or wish you had?View all responses

The most important ability isn’t political ability. It’s the ability and willingness to surrender to and obey “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” not just in words but in day-to-day reality. The living Jesus is the answer to what your heart is longing for.

Biblical Christianity is about the fruit of the Spirit and the Sermon on the Mount. It’s not about national or political pride.

The kingdom (invisible inner government) of God and the kingdoms (nations) of this world are in conflict with each other. It’s best not to confuse the two different kinds of government.

Routine religion can produce spiritual blindness that makes people think that they see clearly when all they see is custom and tradition and their own desires. The ability to see things as they really are is essential if we want to avoid deception. That ability is called discernment, and it is a gift from God. Open your heart to the risen Jesus and let Him show you the things that you aren’t seeing.

If you want people to know that you are prolife treat them like their life is important to you. Ask God to give you the ability to be kind and loving to your enemies so that you can be a true disciple of Jesus and obedient to His enemy-loving command. Radiate Jesus in all you say and do!

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My Favorite Weather is Sunshine in my Heart

Daily writing promptWhat is your favorite type of weather?View all responses

My favorite weather is sunshine in my heart. I enjoy that kind of beautiful inner weather day and night by letting the Son of God continually shine in and be the literal King to rule over my thoughts, feelings, and desires and by gathering with other Christ-followers in a King Jesus group.

Does much of Christianity betray King Jesus? To betray people is to be disloyal to them. To put our desires, feelings, or program ahead of the risen King Jesus and His will seems to me to be a form of disloyalty to Him. When we gather for worship are we loyal to the living King Jesus and His presence in our midst or have we shifted our loyalty to a religious format that we feel comfortable with?

A King Jesus group goes beyond an outward “form of godliness” (2 Timothy 3:5) by allowing everyone present to listen to, follow, and obey King Jesus during the meeting. (Romans 8:14 & 1 Corinthians 14:26) It opens the door for the kingdom of God where the risen Jesus can literally be the reigning and ruling King, not just a mere figurehead King whose leadership and authority has been replaced by human leadership and human authority.

A King Jesus group is hard to find. It is a group of Christ-followers who gather to focus on, listen to and obey the risen King Jesus. If you find one and participate in it, it will help you grow closer and closer to Christ. A King Jesus group isn’t led by a program, by an agenda, or by a pastor, but by the Spirit of Christ.

If you can’t find a King Jesus group, you can open your home to one. Invite a few people who love Jesus to gather with you. Ask Jesus to take charge and be the Head (the King) of the gathering. Then have everybody be still and listen to Jesus. He said: “My sheep heart My voice,” so take Him at His word and have everybody present listen to what He is saying to them and then say and/or do what He is telling them to.

The results will be powerful. Instead of confusion there will be amazing order. Instead of dry religion there will be vibrant spiritual life. Instead of isolation there will be beautiful heart-to-heart connection with Jesus and with one another.

In a King Jesus group, instead of listening to someone mentally analyze the Bible, we absorb it with our heart as King Jesus prompts us to quote, read, and share insights about passages of Scripture. It’s always amazing how it all comes together in a beautiful mosaic of understanding the Bible.

King Jesus groups can change a nation. If all the Christians in the USA (or any other nation) would continually listen to and radically obey the risen Jesus it would truly make the nation great. If you make your country more religious but you don’t personally get closer and more obedient to the risen Jesus, you’ve missed the whole point of the kingdom of God. However, when your inner self-kingdom surrenders fully to the kingdom of God, the outer kingdom (country) where you live will be greatly impacted by the radical changes in you!

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The King of Hearts

Daily writing promptWho was your most influential teacher? Why?View all responses

The King of Hearts is my most influential teacher. I love Him because He first loved me and has taught me so much. He wants to be the King of your heart. Let Jesus welcome you into His deck of cards (the body of Christ) and shuffle your priorities until they align with the kingdom of God. Always follow His lead and obey His call. Refuse to discard Jesus (even for a moment) from your thoughts, words, and actions.

The first-century Jews didn’t recognize who Jesus was because they wanted a political Messiah who would make Israel great again. They didn’t want the invisible, supernatural, heart-transforming kingdom (inner government) of God that Jesus came to give them. They wanted a leader and a visible government that would physically overthrow the Romans and drive those without Jewish documentation out of the land. The end result in 70 AD was disaster — the flattening of Jerusalem and its temple that Jesus had predicted in Matthew 24.

Freedom: If people aren’t governed from within by wisdom, kindness, and righteousness, turns into conflict and chaos. The kingdom of God isn’t built by forcefully taking away people’s freedom to do wrong. It’s built by cultivating an environment where God can change people’s heart and give them the desire and the power to be led by His Spirit instead of by their own opinions, desires, and feelings. It’s built by Christ-followers radiating such joy, peace, love, and hope that they cause other people to want to be governed from within by Jesus. When Christians radiate self-righteousness and pride, they cause other people to want nothing to do with their religion.

The kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world don’t mesh. One is led by the Spirit, the others by human opinions and desires. “The flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh.” (Galatians 5:17)

Expecting the kingdom of God to come through the actions of a human political leader is to confuse the human with the divine. Nations rise and fall, but the kingdom of God is forever. Put your trust in God’s eternal kingdom, not in temporary ones built by humans. A Christian’s first and most committed patriotism needs to be to the invisible kingdom (inner government) of God and to Christ’s Kingship and Lordship.

To “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” is to continually cultivate your mind, your will, your desires, and your emotions causing them to align more and more with the risen Jesus. It is to remove everything from your heart that hinders the fruit of Christ’s Spirit from flourishing within you and radiating through all you say and do.

When Jesus is truly your King people will see the kingdom of God in action when they look at how you live and what you say. Take the kingdom of God by force! (Matthew 11:12) Compel your every thought, word, and action to align with King Jesus. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

Be a mustard seed person. Let King Jesus take full moment-by-moment control of your life so He can grow you from a tiny seed into a great tree. Mustard seed people realize that by laying down their own minuscule strength and by surrendering their all to the risen Jesus, the kingdom of God will grow within them into a mighty tree. Too many Christians are content to remain an itty-bitty mustard seed instead of growing into a powerful demonstration of the kingdom of God.

“The kingdom of God comes without observation.” (Luke 17:20) Until Christ is reigning as absolute King, Lord, and Master in your heart and in your daily life, you won’t be able to see His kingdom anyplace else.

“All we like sheep have gone astray.” “There is none righteous, no not one.” All of us human beings deserve Hell. Christ came to offer to rescue us from Hell. The question isn’t whether or not you desire Hell. The question is whether or not you want Christ to rescue you from Hell.

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Tattoos Decorate the Skin, but God Heals and Changes the Heart

Daily writing promptWhat tattoo do you want and where would you put it?View all responses

The Pharisees wouldn’t hear or see what Jesus was truly saying and doing. Will you?

You can be a hearer and a seer. Set aside your opinions. Look beyond borders. Listen to God’s inner voice. View from His perspective instead of from your own point of view. Cultivate fertile ground in your heart for God’s seeds to grow and flourish. Humbly receive direct impartation and immediate revelation from God.

Ask yourself these questions:
* What am I not seeing?
* What am I seeing distortedly?
* What have I been unwilling to see?

To surrender to God’s inner winds (instead of to the winds of society) is to soar in the Spirit to ever greater clarity. Ride God’s inner wind not your own self-effort. Refuse to be distracted by the clouds that are passing by. Set your eyes and your heart on eternal things.

Look deeply into your own heart. Notice the overlooked and hidden things that are unaligned with God. Let Jesus have full access to your heart and mind. Allow Him to continually realign every thought, feeling, and desire that is in any way apart from His will.

Human coercion, laws, and physical force can often change peoples’ behaviors, but they can’t transform peoples’ heart. They can’t build the kingdom of God. Only Spirit-empowered love can do that.

It’s easy to be deceived. The Pharisees believed that they were representing God when they pressured Rome to kill the King of Kings. The Zealots thought that they could establish God’s kingdom by using physical violence to overthrow Rome. Instead, the city that Jesus wept over, and God’s physical temple, were both leveled to the ground in 70 AD.

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I Want to Demonstrate the Kingdom of God Better Every Day

Daily writing promptWhat do you wish you could do more every day?View all responses

The kingdom of God is close by and available to all people, but it is invisible and can’t be seen with the eye because it occurs in human hearts (not in visible institutions or governments). When Jesus is allowed to rule as the supreme Lord and Master in a person’s heart, that person begins to live by and demonstrate the wonderful fruit of the Spirit and the characteristics of the Beatitudes. Refuse to settle for anything less in your life.

The kingdom of God isn’t somewhere beyond you in societal structures and organizations. It’s within you. If you won’t let Jesus be your King and Commander and govern your life from within, you’ll won’t experience the kingdom of God.

You will know that the kingdom (inner government of God) is within you when you see and sense the fruit of the Spirit and the characteristics of the Beatitudes growing and flourishing within you. When the fruit of the Spirit is missing the kingdom of God has been abandoned. When you don’t see the Beatitudes in people’s behavior and words, they aren’t seeking first the kingdom of God.

The traditional church service trains people to receive information from one person week after week. It neglects to train people to connect (and stay connected) heart-to-heart with King Jesus and with one another.

The kingdom (inner government) of God begins to manifest when Christians gather to let King Jesus be the Head and Director of the meeting as they each one follow and obey the inner promptings of the Holy Spirit. If we follow our own programs, agendas, order of worship, opinions, feelings, and desires, we’re focusing on our own kingdom instead of on God’s kingdom.

For far too many Christians the Bible is like a recipe book. They set it on a counter but seldom pick it up and read it. When they do pick it up, they read a couple of recipes and then quickly walk away without following them. They would rather hear a man talk about the Bible once a week instead of ceaselessly following its instructions and cooking up a marvelous relationship with the risen King Jesus.

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Seeker

Daily writing promptWhat is one word that describes you?View all responses

I am a seeker. I am always seeking and pursuing personal growth. I chaise after mental and emotional health. I hunt for inner peace. I search for what Jesus called the “kingdom of God” — God governing and ruling from within my heart.

To know the one, true, living God and to love Him with all that you are — with all your heart, mind, and strength — and to actively work for and care about your neighbor’s wellbeing as much as you work for and care about your own, means that: “You are not far from the kingdom (inner government) of God.” Jesus also said that loving God and others “is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” It is more important than all the religious things you can do.

To passionately love God enough to allow Him to continually rule and govern you from within is to draw close to and to begin to experience the kingdom of God. To actively and persistently show love for God and for people (even people who disagree with you, argue with you, and/or insult you) let your life be consistently governed by the presence of God’s Spirit within your heart.

Let all the obstacles in your life that are keeping you distant from the inner government of (hardheartedness, superficiality, and self-focused desires and opinions) be swept away by God’s Spirit. Then His light can sine brightly in and through you.

Unpackage “Christ in you.” “Loose him and let Him go so that He can fully rule and reign inside of you, no matter the consequences to your emotions, relationships. and self-esteem. Put the crown of your inner Kingdom on Christ’s Head and let Him be the Head of your life. Give Him the scepter. Crown Him as your absolute monarch and King. Then let Him have all the reigns so He can continually reign supreme in all you say and do.

Remove human tradition from the presence of the King of Kings. Make His paths straight. Dethrone your delights and distracting desires.

Look deeply into your own heart. Notice the overlooked and hidden things that are unaligned with God. Let Jesus have full access to and control of your heart, mind, and behavior. Allow Him to ceaselessly realign every thought, feeling, and desire to His will. To refuse or neglect to let the risen King Jesus personally lead you from within is to avoid the kingdom of God.

To take the kingdom of God “by force” is to courageously use the non-physical weapons of denying yourself, carrying your cross, and radical obedience to “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Taking the kingdom of God “by force” requires constantly confronting your ungodly thoughts feelings, and desires with great and persistent inner force. Soldiers of God’s kingdom fight with spiritual weapons instead of physical ones.

To “seek first the kingdom of God” is to always make hearing and obeying King Jesus your moment-by-moment, number one priority. If you are a citizen of the kingdom of God, then think like it, talk like it, and act like it.

Human coercion, laws, and physical force can often change peoples’ behaviors, but they can’t transform peoples’ heart. They can’t build the kingdom of God. Only Spirit-empowered love can do that.

It’s easy to be deceived. The Pharisees believed that they were representing God when they pressured Rome to kill the King of Kings. The Zealots thought that they could establish God’s kingdom by using physical violence to overthrow Rome. Instead, the city that Jesus wept over, and God’s physical temple, were both leveled to the ground in 70 AD.

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