Steve Simms's Blog, page 240
October 19, 2019
October 18, 2019
October 16, 2019
It’s impossible to find good people
Humans like to divide people into the “good guys” and the “bad guys” and proclaim themselves to be part of the “good guys.” However, if we are good, why do we consistently think, say, and do bad things?
Good and evil are in every human heart. No one is evil-proof. If you want to fight against bad people, begin with the badness in your own heart.
It’s easy to believe you are a good person, until you have consistently tried to obey your conscience and actually be good. It’s easy to follow your heart and to do whatever you feel like. It’s hard to follow your conscience and to do what is right.
If we were good people, we wouldn’t think and do bad things. We all need God’s forgiveness and mercy, not self-congratulation.
Some people try to be good; none of us completely succeed at it. Believing that you are a good person isn’t the same thing as being one.
If we’re not good 24/7/365, we’re a mixture of good and bad. A good person never thinks or does anything bad. According to the Bible, Jesus is the only one who accomplished that.
The answer to our badness isn’t to call ourselves “good people.” It’s to repent of our badness and live in Christ’s forgiveness. The early Christians’ hope wasn’t in convincing themselves that they were good people, but “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Perhaps the term “toxic people” refers to people who we are unwilling to love, forgive, pray for, and bless.
It’s good to avoid cruelty (both prenatal and postnatal)
If there can be prenatal care, there can be prenatal cruelty. If society can dehumanize the unborn because they aren’t “viable,” what’s to stop the dehumanizing of the unviable elderly?
Both racism and abortion are cruel. Racism is postnatal cruelty. Abortion is prenatal cruelty.
October 12, 2019
Is modern Christianity the same as biblical Christianity?
Biblical Christianity recognized that God is love. However, they also knew that doesn’t mean that He cancels the consequences of everybody’s bad choices.
Biblical Christians live like this: “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good” and “Speaking the truth in love.” They also do this: “Putting away lying, ‘Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor.'”
Modern Christianity sometimes tries to use the concept of God’s love as an attempt to excuse, justify, or sanction wrongful behavior. It can mistake love for approval.
Biblical Christians “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” instead of dividing over politics, race, or doctrine. In the New Testament they resisted the temptation to divide into tribes. Modern Christianity split into thousands of distinct groups. Modern Christianity seems to be trapped in hearing tame teachings while having little interest in doing what’s clearly taught in the Bible.
“Earnestly contend for the faith that was once delivered to the saints (the early Christians).” Anytime you have refused to obey a temptation, you have engaged in successful spiritual warfare. Now use it to contend for the godly things your read about in the lives of the Christians.
Need help? Search for: The Joy Of Early Christianity book.
Get joy (not barely, but in abundance)!
When people have joy they get along. When they don’t, they don’t.
You can passively wait for joy or you can learn how to release it from within. The voices you listen to will influence the choices you make. Choose joyful voices!
When you harbor anger you open up to the worst part of your human nature and drive away joy. Without joy, life is a burden.
If Americans were as passionate about emotional and spiritual well being, as we are about politics, we’d be #1 in mental health and #1 in joy. Don’t let statistics or politics steal your joy. Search Amazon for: The Joy Of Early Christianity.
[image error]“How am I supposed to have joy
when the cubs won’t let me read?”
Looking beyond self-colored glasses
Too many people are like a broken collideoscope, locked in a single viewpoint. They’re missing the beauty of other perspectives. There are none so blind as those who adamantly refuse to see from any viewpoint but their own.
When your personal perspective blocks the big picture, what you see will only be a fraction of the truth. We all tend to see the world thru self-colored glasses.
Without curiosity the human mind tends to settle in a valley and feel threatened by whatever’s on the other side of the hill. To look at a situation from only one point of view and demonize those who see it differently, is dangerous.
If our unhappiness is self-produced, we have the power to overcome it. If it is produced by others, we’re at their mercy. When emotions, desires, and opinions override reality, society is in trouble.
Self-focus is painful because it exposes dissatisfaction. Christ-focus is glorious because it exposes amazing love and mercy. Focusing on self is like focusing on corrective lenses. Look through self, not at self, and you will behold the astonishment of life.
When I lose myself in Jesus, I find incredible joy. When I try to find myself, I find that my joy has declined. Self-seeking produces little joy, but seeking Jesus releases “joy unspeakable.”
Once you’ve seen the light of pure joy shinning through someone’s face, you want to ignite that joy in everyone you meet. Search Amazon for: “The Joy Of Early Christianity.”
October 10, 2019
Self-motivation frequently falters, but Spirit-motivation is an inner fire
Jesus calls us to Spirit-initiated behavior, not self-initiated behavior. Being led by the Holy Spirit is radically different than being led by our own desires. It’s vital to know the difference.
When we ignore the Holy Spirit’s leadership, we’re left to the control of our own opinions, desires, and feelings. Romans 8:14 says that those “led by the Spirit” are God’s children. Being led by the Spirit isn’t optional for Christians. To be Spirit-led we must be attentive to and obedient to the Spirit.
Biblical Christianity shifts people from a self-steered lifestyle to Spirit-steered living. Repentance is making that switch from being self-steered to being Spirit-steered.
Self-motivation frequently falters, but Spirit-motivation is an inner fire that never goes out (unless we quench it). To be self-led is to languish in a mix of good and evil. To be Spirit-led is to journey toward joy, peace, and purity. The Holy Spirit won’t take the wheel in your life as long as self clings to control.
If Christians were trained and released to individually hear and obey the Holy Spirit, spiritual awakening would spread far and wide. Since the Bible says that Christians should be led by the Spirit, perhaps we should learn how. (Romans 8:14.)
Christians are also commanded to “walk in the Spirit.” To do that we have to ignore our own desires and follow the Spirit instead.
When we shut down our heart and our conscience, we shut down the Holy Spirit’s communication and step out on our own. If our thoughts, words, and behaviors aren’t becoming more and more Christ-like, we’re not being led by the Spirit. If we’re always doing what we want to do, we’re not being led by the Spirit.
Desire is deceptive and dangerous. What we desire is often destructive to our well being. It’s much safer to follow our conscience.
Self-focus stymies joy. Christ-focus stirs it up! God offers us an amazing replacement for self-focus: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Search for: The Joy of Early Christianity book.)
Christian leadership & godly character
New Testament leadership trains people to listen to the risen Jesus and releases them follow and obey Him. I wonder if Christians will be surprised when they find out the pastor wasn’t the only one God wanted to speak through in church.
Christianity that doesn’t produce godly character and Christ-like behavior, falls far short of the biblical example. If Christians can’t or won’t keep profanity out their thoughts and words, how will they bring every thought captive to Christ?
