Steve Simms's Blog, page 33

The Pruning and the Fertilizing Produce Wonderful Fruit

My daily routine includes cultivating my character. I try to nurture these qualities in my daily life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. It’s not easy being like a fruit tree and traying to cultivate the fruit of the Spirit in my life.

The fruit of God’s Spirit is always in season, but it grows best out on a limb that has been pruned many times, not in our comfort zone. It requires God’s pruning and cutting away many of our desires, feelings, and opinions. It requires standing still and not running as He allows stinky fertilizer to be piled around our roots. But I know it is all for our good. God is seeking to change our heart little-by-little so that we can reflect His image and His presence.

Discipleship that cultivates the fruit of the Spirit is heart-to-heart, not brain-to-brain. It is inner transformation, not religious information. There’s a huge difference between learning details about a language and learning to communicate in the language. There’s also a huge difference between learning details about Jesus and learning to communicate heart-to-heart with Jesus and letting Him produce His fruit in you.

Without an ongoing abundance of the fruit of God’s Spirit, Christianity becomes lifeless like a bowl of plastic fruit. When it comes to the fruit of the Spirit, too many Christians have empty fruit bowls. Continually cultivate your heart so that it can flourish as the orchard of God’s Spirit and fill your life with His beautiful spiritual fruit. Let God keep your fruit bowl fresh and filled with the fruit of the Spirit and it will lighten your emotional load. O taste and see!

The fruit of the Spirit can’t grow in a heart that shuts out God’s light. “God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” –1 John 1:5-7.

Where there’s no fruit of God’s Spirit, there’s no spiritual life. Jesus said: “By their fruit you shall know them.” Let God make your life a beautiful fruit of the Spirit salad that feeds all who meet you with the essence of His presence.

Protect your heart from bad fruit. Don’t let it spoil what God is trying to do in and through you. The fruit of God’s Spirit never rots. Any rotting fruit in your heart isn’t from God. Quickly throw it out. Never let it stay. If you let rotten fruit stay in your heart, your life will always be in a bad jam.

God’s thoughts are the healthy trees that produce the fruit of the Spirit in your heart. Your thoughts are the birds and insects that devour it. Bring “every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” See 2 Corinthians 10:5. You can reach the low hanging fruit of discouragement and frustration all by yourself, but only God can develop the fruit of His Spirit within you.

Honesty and humility bear the good fruit of God’s Spirit. Pride bears bad fruit of deception.

The tree of life produces the fruit of God’s Spirit. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil produces human analysis.

If Christians want strong, straight forward speech, perhaps we should direct it toward ourselves and our churches instead of toward the politicians we disagree with. The things that Christians are saying and doing aren’t working to love our enemies, to bless those who curse us, and to change hearts and empower multitudes to daily follow and obey the risen Jesus. Let’s drain the swamp of being stuck in routine religion and make Christianity great again and overflowing with the fruit of the Spirit.

Let’s begin to actively and radically obey 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Without the shed blood of Jesus, I could never have a relationship with God or taste and see that He is good. I would never be able experience the fruit of the Spirit.

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Famous, Infamous, or Unknown — All People Need Heart-to-Heart Connections

Daily writing promptWho is the most famous or infamous person you have ever met?View all responses

The human heart is lonely, confused, and rebellious. It is a fountain of pride and self-focus that needs (but aggressively resists) caring and compassionate connection with other hearts. When isolated and unregulated it produces much pain. Jesus said, “Out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.” (Matthew 15:19.)

However, when a human heart experiences open connection with other human hearts, an interior light begins to shine, and inner healing begins. (That’s why support groups are effective. Perhaps churches could be more testimony, confession, and support group than lecture-listening.) The realization that you’re not the only person chained to the pain and fears of self-absorption, is liberating and hope-giving.

The human heart desperately needs to be healed, transformed, and humbly yielded to the presence, power, and authority of “the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” That invisible kingdom begins in human hearts, not in outward rules.

Christ came to fulfill God’s promise to all who fully surrender to Him: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26.) Overcome your hesitation. Fully accept Christ’s invitation. Completely open your heart to His presence, power, and control for the rest of your life.

I love things that touch my heart — movies, music, books, testimonies. If it doesn’t warm my heart, I’m not much interested. Heart-connection occurs the instant when two or more people recognize their deep kinship and commonality as fellow human beings and begin to humbly step out from behind the walls that divide them.

To “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,” isn’t a passive concern. It’s the all-consuming pursuit of a new heart! Now is the time to bring your heart to the living Jesus and to keep it in continual submission and obedience to Him.

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Pets Reveal that Humans Need to Open Their Heart

Daily writing promptWhat is good about having a pet?View all responses

People love to open wide their heart to their pet. Every time I walk in a park, I see both pet owners and passersby showing great affection and kindness to pets. I also see passersby humbly opening their heart to babies, toddlers, and little children. Why is that?

People need and long-for innocent and open heart-to-heart connections. But in this stressed-out world it takes a lot of courage to honestly open your heart to an adult (or a teenager or an adolescent). You can quickly get burned by doing that. However, for the most part, it’s safe to be open, humble, and even silly with pets and with tiny children.

I believe that pets are used as a substitute for the human desire for heart-intimacy. We give and receive sincere affection to and from a pet because it’s easier and safer (and we perceive it as more rewarding) than doing so with a human. We tend to trust our pets to return our kindness more than we trust people to. I’ve even seen married couples who show more warmheartedness, attention, and tenderness to their pet than they do to each other.

However, I’ve also discovered that kindly and compassionately opening your heart to people is an amazing thing and produces incredible results. When people perceive you to be sincere about genuinely hearing their heart, they begin to open up to you (sometimes gradually and sometimes all at once).

I was the counselor in a rehab center for 5 1/2 years and caringly listened to about 1,400 men open their heart to me one-to-one. I listened compassionately as they shared their pain, their self-destruction, their brokenness, and the pain they caused others. I was amazed at their honesty. Their heart-revealing stories touched my heart. Sometimes we cried together. We often laughed together. Almost every one of them wanted me to pray with them. We became friends and during their stay they would come to me and open their heart. They would hug me. And they would thank me.

About 12 years after I left that rehab center a homeless man passed by me on the street. Suddenly he turned around, called me by name, and hugged me. He said thank you several times. Then he let me go and told me that he had been in the rehab center. He said, “I’m homeless again but I still remember you and how much you helped me.” I was deeply moved.

Human heart-connection is extremely powerful. How we lonely (or superficial) humans need more of it! Let’s be more open to people than to pets. But how?

Be courageous. Be a risk taker. Genuinely care about all people. Approach people with warmth and kindness. Express heart-felt concern about them. Listen to them with compassion. Be vulnerable. Don’t let it be one-sided. Share your own struggles with them.

Human governments
Rise and fall
But the government
Of the Lord of All
Will never fall.
The kingdom of God
Is within you.
Hear His inner call.
Let Him train your heart
To be Spirit-led.
With the risen Christ
As your living Head.

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The Cost of Insight

Although it can’t be purchased, insight is a very costly item. It requires that you see things that you don’t want to see and comprehend things that you don’t want to understand. It requires setting aside your own opinions, feelings, and desires and replacing them with the reality of what is really going own in your life and surroundings.

Look beyond the crowd. See things that the majority is unwilling to see. Be careful not to side with those who don’t see the unseen.

Let God reveal to you by His Spirit what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, the things He has prepared for those who love Him (1 Corinthians 2:9-10). Let the One who shined out of darkness shine in your heart (2 Corinthians 4:6) so that you can see Him who is invisible (Hebrews 11:27) and look not at the things that are seen but at the things that are unseen (2 Corinthians 4:18) by looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2) and beholding the Lamb of God (John 1:29).

Humbly reading the Bible with an open, hungry heart will help you see the unseen wisdom and invisible will of God in your daily life. It’s called revelation. It occurs when you let the words begin to burn in your heart. “O taste and see that the Lord is good.”

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The Podcast in my Heart Says . . .

The body of Christ is simple and vibrant. Its Head is the living Jesus working directly in and through each individual member.

Jesus first! Always keep the risen Jesus alone as the living and acting Head, Master, Lord, and Director of your individual life and of His gathered body.The still, small voice: Always pay close attention to the presence and the promptings of the Holy Spirit (“Christ in you, the hope of glory,”). Let Him convict you of sin and tell you what He wants you to do. Promptly do what He prompts you to.The burning Word: Daily devour the Bible with humble openness until it burns in and cleanses your heart and gives you supernatural insight and revelation. Let it constantly mold your thinking and your behavior.Love, love, love — not just with words but in how you live your daily life: “Love God.” “Love one another.” “Love your neighbor.” “Love your enemies.” Speak “the truth in love.” “Consider others better than yourself.” “Love never fails.” Like the song says: “They’ll know we are Christians by our love.”Inner cultivation: Continually cultivate your heart and mind. Weed out your human desires and the inner deceptions and temptations that try to get you to think, say, and do wrong things. Nurture and tend the fruit of the Spirit until its 9 characteristics begin to grow and flourish in your heart and mind. Always let both the fruit and the gifts of the Spirit brightly shine in and through your daily character and behavior.

Throughout history God has saved Christianity, not by politicizing it, but by revolutionizing it. Some of the most amazing Christ-followers in history were the “Desert Fathers.” When Roman Emperor Constantine began to politicize Christianity, they went searching for “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” and surrendered the control of their lives to His will. Let’s do the same!

Simple Christianity isn’t about drawing lines to box people in and make them behave. It’s about drawing on the life of the risen Jesus to demonstrate the heart-changing reality of His presence and character!

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The Subject on Many Minds — What Now?

A hostile election is over. The winner is clear. Many are gloating. Many are saddened. Religious fervor was a major factor in many voters’ minds. Will that religious fervor carry over into a “self-righteous crusade mentality” or to a “speak the truth in love mentality”? We will soon find out.

Many believers want a pastor to preach to them, but they don’t want to hear God personally speak directly to their heart. That second-hand approach to God’s word seems safer to them than reading it with humility and honesty and letting the Scriptures burn deeply in their heart and convict them of their sin. JD Walt wrote: “Relating to God through an intermediary like Moses is not workable. We must know God directly.”

If My people blame and accuse and seek to proudly use political power to force their way, instead of humbly seeking My face and turning from their wicked ways, then their land will be a place of captivity to hatred and hostility. Now is the time for humble prayer and for “speaking the truth in love.” Now is the time for the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The only person who can heal (fix) our land is the living God, Himself. Humbly put your trust in Him alone. See 2 Chronicles 7:14.

Now is the time for Christians to: “Humble themselves and pray,” to “Fear God and keep His commandments,” to “Love your enemies,” to “Bless those who curse you and pray for those who despitefully use you.” Doing what’s right doesn’t always get what you want. Doing what’s wrong might sometimes get you what you want but, your conscience, God, and the fear of being caught and punished, won’t ever let you fully enjoy it.

Just like 2020, it was a free and fair and close election. I bet they’ll be no false accusations of cheating this time around.

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What’s On the Screen in Your Heart?

The prophet Ezekial describes Christ’s rock of revelation: “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.” (Ezekial 11:19–20)

The Rock and the Church (The Heart of the Matter)

“On this rock I will build My church.” The rock isn’t a religious leader or a political leader — not a pope, a preacher or a president. The church isn’t religious institutions or political alliances. It’s not millions of separate and/or independent religious organizations disagreeing with each other and doing their own thing.

The rock is direct personal ongoing revelation from God. The church is Spirit-led sharing — Christ-followers actively obeying the risen Jesus and the 50+ New Testament “one another” commands.

Let’s look at some Greek words. “This was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter (“Petros” — the name Peter which means stone or a small rock), and on this rock (“petra” — a huge rock or a rock cliff), I will build My church (“ekklesia” — the gathering of citizens in ancient Greek cities where anyone present could speak).

The living Lord Jesus wants to be the Head and to build His followers together on the solid rock of direct personal ongoing revelation from God and on the intimate heart-to-heart connection with Him and with one another that comes from that supernatural revelation rock. Meanwhile, the stumble stones of human pride, organization, control, and competition continue to divide His body.

Where’s Your Fruit?

When love is missing
A Christian’s off track.
When joy is absent
A Christian’s out of whack.
When peace has vanished
A Christian’s faded away.
When patience’s lacking
A Christian’s abandon God’s way.
When kindness is gone
A Christan’s disappeared.
Where there’s no goodness
A Christian’s been sheared.
Without faithfulness
A Christian’s aimless.
Without gentleness
Christians show rudeness.
Without self-control
A Christian can’t be whole.
Jesus said: “By their fruit you shall know them.”

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It Takes Time to Devote

Daily writing promptDo you need time?View all responses

DEVOTE!

Christians, devote yourself to continually surrendering your choices, behaviors, and desires to the risen Lord Jesus with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength and radiate His love to everyone! Cast “down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God,” and bring “into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”

Here’s a practical challenge straight from the mouth of Jesus: “Love your enemies,” and “Bless those who curse you.” Obey Him and say something kind today about somebody you don’t like.

Your most important vote
Is to fully devote
Everything that you are
To the living Lord Jesus.
Let Him be the antidote
Who heals your hurting heart.

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The Waterdown Name of “Christian”

The name Christian came from the ancient Greek term “Christianos” meaning follower of Christ. Today many people claim the name who follow their own opinions, feelings, and desires instead of following and obeying “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” and His written words. Perhaps we need a more accurate name for a Christ-follower, such as:

A Christ-disciple (“Whoever does not carry their cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple.” –Luke 14:17.),A Christ-revealer (“You are the light of the world.” –Matthew 5:14.),A Christ-listener (“My sheep listen to My voice.” –John 10:27.),A Christ-obeyer (“If you love Me, keep My commandments.” –John 14:15.)A Christ-sheep (“I know My sheep by name.” –John 10:14.),A Christ-firster (“Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.” –Matthew 6:33.).

I Hope Life Will Be Kinder

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

If liberals invited me to their table, if conservatives cared to consider my concerns, here’s what I’d say. We all need to be kinder to each other and disagree without demonizing one another.

* The American Constitution wasn’t written for majority rule. It is set up with checks and balances and a Bill of Rights that limit what any one party can do so that one side can’t get everything they want, and political leaders will be forced to work together in bipartisan ways.

* The government can’t pay for everything both liberals and conservatives want (unlimited social programs and bigger tax cuts for example). We’ve been trying that for decades and dangerous debt demonstrates that it isn’t working.

* Healthy, respectful disagreement is a good thing but attacking (especially without convincing evidence) the character and integrity of political leaders and institutions that you disagree with destabilizes a nation.

* Calling people who disagree with you, “haters” or “phobics,” or constantly insulting them in political speeches and rallies, is a very ineffective way of trying to get your point across.

* Throughout its history America has been a mixture and example of both great freedoms and great injustices. It’s important to be honest and open about both.

* Government has the right to require people to treat each other fairly, but not to require people to agree with or approve of how other people live.

* Much racism has been overcome in America; however, every trace of racism hasn’t been completely eliminated. Much has simply become more subtle and passive.

* Abortion cruelly takes an innocent human life, but because it happens inside a woman’s body the government can’t completely control it. A middle ground that acknowledges both that prenatal human life isn’t a disposable body part and that the mother-to-be has legitimate concerns needs to be found.

* No one should be forced to applaud, approve of, or be silent about what they believe to be morally wrong, but all people should kindly respect each other’s right to behave in ways they disapprove of. For example, unlimited sexual confusion (from premarital sex to pornographic thoughts and images to adultery to physiology ignoring surgery) is widespread and constantly being promoted by media, government, and education while villainizing those who disagree.

* The American Constitution guarantees the freedom of religion, but it doesn’t mention Christianity or make it the official religion. According to the Constitution it’s not less American to adhere to another religion or to be an agnostic or an atheist.

The only thing I hate is hate itself (and the evil it produces).