Steve Simms's Blog, page 39
November 3, 2024
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
View all responsesIf 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).
November 2, 2024
Inner Rest Day
View all responsesRest is important. Without it we are overcome by weariness. However, physical rest isn’t enough to relieve the burden of mental, emotional, and spiritual fatigue. That requires a deeper kind of rest, an inner rest of the heart and soul. I propose an everyday holiday. (Who said holidays have to only be annual?) Let’s make every day the “Inner Rest Day” holiday.
It is interesting that the early Christians began to worship on the first day of the week instead of on the seventh. In the New Testament the Sabbath Day (which we call Saturday) was replaced with the first day (which we call Sunday). In the seventh day pattern work comes first. We work and then we get to rest.
In the first day pattern, rest comes first. We rest to realign our heart, our soul, our behavior, and our lifestyle with the risen Jesus (who rose from the dead on the first day of the week) so that He can work His resurrection power in and through us all week long. “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Gathering with other Christ-followers to worship the risen Jesus and to experience and be led by His Spirit together, is supernatural rest and restoration. To minister to one another as directed by the Spirit stirs up the reality of “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” and empowers the people of God to shine the light of the risen Christ throughout the week by always keeping Jesus first!
When Christians gather and are encouraged to be led by the Spirit (to replace religious analysis with restful surrender and humble obedience to the risen Jesus) the rest, the fruit, and the gifts of the Spirit abound. Try it and see!
You can’t work (or medicate) yourself out of guilt. The way out is beyond the work of self-effort or denial. It involves humbly repenting and receiving forgiveness through Christ and continually surrendering to and resting in His presence, His mercy, and His will.
Paul put it this way in Romans 14:5 “One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind.” The bottom line is to continually rest in and surrender to the risen Jesus and let Him live and work in and through you every day of the week.
Religious
Information
Without inner
Revelation,
Deeply heart-felt
Inspiration,
And spiritual
Transformation
Is powerless.
November 1, 2024
I love websites that teach and demonstrate true greatness.
View all responsesMy favorite websites are those that teach and demonstrate where true greatness comes from. Greatness is a rare find.
Greatness comes through:
* Love not disdain (Speak the truth in love.),
* Joy not negativity (Delight in the gift of life.),
* Peace not divisiveness (Be a peacemaker.),
* Patience not hurriedness (Endure with hope.),
* Kindness not rudeness (Be gracious.),
* Goodness not moral abandonment (Obey the risen Jesus.),
* Faithfulness not infidelity, (Keep your word.),
* Gentleness not harshness, (Be tender hearted.),
* Self-control not self-focused desires. (Use self-restraint.)
For true long-lasting greatness continually delight in the Lord. Meditate on His word and surrender to His presence and will day and night. Then you will begin to manifest the servanthood greatness of the fruit of the Spirit that is produced by “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
The fruit of the Spirit can’t grow much in the weeds of self-focus and pride. Where the fruit of God’s Spirit isn’t visibly flourishing there’s a whole lot of Spirit-quenching going on! The key to daily experiencing the abundance of the fruit and the gifts of the Spirit in and through your life is to live by the Spirit, walk in step with the Spirit, be led by the Spirit, and be taught by the Spirit. You can’t truly experience the fruit of God’s Spirit without keeping your heart open to, surrendered to, attentive to, and obedient to the Holy Spirit.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.” Without a deep burning desire to know Jesus better, it’s easy to stay stuck in the routine religion of comfortable Christianity.
Here are ten Americans who have best demonstrated the qualities of true greatness to me in and through their lives:
Top 10 List — The Ten Greatest Americans
October 31, 2024
What is October 31 About?
Today is ALL SAINTS’ EVE. It’s a day to celebrate the people who throughout the ages have faithfully followed and obeyed the risen Jesus with all their heart. If you’re tricked into settling for less, you’ll mess the treat of Christ’s love, power, and presence!
Today is REFORMATION DAY. It’s a day to celebrate the people who were courageous enough to break with religious tradition and explore out of the box ways to worship and obey the risen Jesus. Refuse to settle for less!
Halloween
Is a reminder
Of the unseen
Evil that surrounds us.
Reformation Day
And All Saints Eve
Are reminders
Of the courageous
And passionate
Christ-followers
Who overcame the evil
Within them and around them
By obeying Jesus
The living Way!
The thing is,
All three are on the same day.
I Re-Live My Aha Moments and Keep Them Ever Fresh in My Perception
Human nature tends to prefer perception over reality. It takes courage to abandon your perception and replace it with aha moments of truth.
Aha!
True freedom is
The reception
Of perception
That aligns with
Reality.
Anything less
Is a bondage
To deception.
If I’m not open
To revelation
Of the deception
Of my perception
I’ll stay stuck in it.
You won’t perceive what you’re unwilling to see and to admit. Perception depends on the kind of person you are. An unkind person perceives threats. A kind person perceives possibilities.
First perceptions are often deceptions. Look deeper. An unmanaged mind will be full of false perceptions. Honest people realize that their perception has often been wrong in the past and will continue to be in the present and future. The limits of your perception are not the limits of reality.
Some people say, “Perception is reality.” The truth is that human perception is often deep deception that has abandoned reality. Perception is often a projection of a person’s thoughts, feelings, and desires that has little basis in reality. The false idea that “perception is everything” causes people to believe their feelings instead of seeking the facts.
Elon Musk said: “Perception will match reality over time.” The truth is that deception often lasts a lifetime (even millennia). I do some amazing illusions. (If you ever want a show let me know.) Those illusions prove that perception isn’t reality.
With mind management you can adjust your perception and align it closer to reality. By mind management you can control your thoughts. Without it your thoughts will control you and lead you into misperception.
Kind thinking is the kind of thinking that will make the world a kinder place. Train your mind to be kind both to yourself and to others. Whether prenatal or postnatal, unkindness and cruelty are not good things.
Jesus said to deny yourself because true perception has to humbly cast aside self-deception and meet with God. Religion often “masks the real absence of a true meeting with God.” “Predictable devotional patterns” do not guarantee a meeting with God. Humbly seeking Jesus first (with all your heart) “and moving in response to the presence of the Lord,” does. Shake off religious coziness and open your entire life to the awesome God of Mount Sinai.
Talk to Jesus. Don’t just listen to a weekly talk about Him. Listen to what He is personally saying to you throughout each day.
Crying cheater before an election is even finished is an attempt to intimidate people and to shift the blame for feared loss to other people. It’s very immature and selfish to try to destroy the trust Americans have in their 50 (one in each state) presidential elections every four years. It also put election officials and workers in danger.
No matter how hard you try to persuade someone, people won’t perceive truth that their mind isn’t open to receive. However, many people believe that arrogantly presented faulty arguments have a lot of power to persuade.
October 30, 2024
The Historical Event That Empowers Me Today
View all responsesCausal religion offers little real hope. That’s why comfortable Christians can be unkind. However, when we have immediate awareness of the presence of “Christ in you,” we are filled with “the hope of glory.” Kindness is part of the fruit of the Spirit.
Immediate awareness of the presence of Jesus comes from personally experiencing the historical reality of His resurrection. I sense His presence throughout each day. That keeps me focused on, humbled by, and immeasurably grateful for the wondrous glory that He rose from the dead and now lives in me.
Whether prenatal or postnatal, unkindness and cruelty are not good things. Be kind to all of humanity!
Where hope goes
Kindness grows
And it shows
In the way
People act.
Unkindness
Is a sign
Of hopelessness.
It sees Christ
As just a story
Not as the hope of glory.
October 29, 2024
Statements That Challenge Traditional Thinking
Here are statements that challenges traditional thinking and comfort zones:
The choice between prenatal care and prenatal cruelty is a personal choice. The government can’t force a woman to care about her unborn child.
Every prenatal human life is valuable, however, often they are not valued. No prenatal human life deserves to be disposed of like trash in a garbage can.
When Jesus spoke the truth both the Pharisees and the Sadducees were offended. When the truth is spoken today both sides will probably be offended.
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To “do everything the Lord has said,” requires that we abandon our comfort zone. Now that’s a challenge that requires great courage.
When things are done in God’s order, they are often beyond our human comfort zone. Break out of your zone of comfort by seeking to follow and obey the living Jesus instead of your own thoughts, feelings, and desires.
Discomfort is a powerful blessing if you let it motivate you to improve your life. To repent is to go vice versa from your comfort zone inertia and to begin to move beyond the thoughts, feelings, desires, fears, worries, and behaviors that are keeping you stuck in familiar routine far away from the Christ-led zone. When people say or do mean things, it often means that they’re afraid and are desperately clinging to their comfort zone.
When church settled into being a comfort zone, Christianity lost its Spirit-led zeal. Comfortable Christians fear the Christ-led zone. However, if you’ll follow the risen Jesus off the exit ramp of your comfort zone you’ll begin to experience “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Amazing spiritual awakening occurs when people are willing to step into the Christ-led zone by opening their heart to His presence and obeying His inner promptings.
Your comfort zone is the place where the weeds of passivity, complacency, and mental vacancy are grown. When a crisis zone disrupts your comfort zone don’t stay there. Greatness comes when you let crises zones lead you to live your life in the Christ-led zone. Discipleship is to abandon your comfort zone and begin to daily live in the Christ-led zone.
Comfy zones
Make us clones
Who live like drones
Staying lost
In our phones.
To experience full-blown
Spiritual awakening
Be a yielded living stone,
Built together in God’s love
With others who daily live
In the thrilling Christ-led zone.
If you keep your heart
As hard as stone
You’ll never find
The Christ-led zone.
You’re never alone
In the Christ-led zone.
The risen Jesus
Is always with you.
Since I abandoned
My comfort zone
I’ve gradually grown
To learn to love
The Christ-led zone.
The Christ-led zone
Trains me to
Always enthrone
The risen Jesus
As the living Lord
Of my daily life.
Let the pain that’s sown
When your peace is gone,
When you’ve been thrown
Into a crisis zone,
Lead and guide you to
The Christ-led zone.
If you’ve always flown
Like a mindless drone
Within your own
Comfort zone
You’ve never known
The joy of
Being shown
The Christ-led zone.
When you feel alone
And outside of
Your comfort zone
Open your heart
To the risen Jesus
And step into
The Christ-led zone.
When you’re thrown
Into the cyclone
Of a crisis zone
And begin to groan
What you’re being shown
Can lead you into
The Christ-led zone.
The Christ-led zone
Has to be found
Outside of
Your comfort zone.
October 28, 2024
The Freedom to Spontaneously Delight in Wonder and Goodness
View all responsesHelp is here! There’s a way out of the pressure of adulting that frees people up to be a kid at heart and gives them the freedom to spontaneously delight in wonder and goodness.
The body of Christ was designed by God to help (minister to) one another and to demonstrate the wonder of His reality, love, and joy to the world. However, the traditional church model hasn’t been very good at doing that because the work of the ministry isn’t designed to be done by one person in a congregation. Every member of the body of Christ is called to manifest, demonstrate, and spread His word, His love, and His presence.
When ministry is left in the hands (and mouth) of one person the Holy Spirit’s freedom to use and speak through various members of the body is quenched. Perhaps, like Jethro told Moses, “What you are doing is not good.” King David said: “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.” Maybe we need to obey the New Testament’s 50+ one another commands that tell us to encourage, exhort, and comfort one another.
When Christ-followers gather to all listen to and be directed by the risen Jesus as their Head, the awareness of His presence fills the place where they are and brightly radiates from their faces. When Christians meet as “ekklesia” (the name of the Greek town hall meeting where any citizen could speak, that Jesus used to describe what He is building) the Holy Spirit begins to prompt people to speak up, and those gathered become conscious of God’s supernatural presence and leading. Let promptings from Christ’s presence be the path maker and pacesetter of your life.
First century Christians were thrilled about Jesus. Contemporary Christians are sometimes so bored that they joke about sleeping in church. Let’s shut down the snooze alarm! It’s time for the body of Christ to wake up to the reality of the risen Jesus and to all begin to daily demonstrate His presence and power.
Let God embolden you to go:
Beyond pride to humility,
Beyond fear to vulnerability,
Beyond deception to honesty,
Beyond defensiveness to compassion,
Beyond self-righteousness to kindness,
Beyond religion to being led by Christ’s Spirit.
Beyond name-calling to “speaking the truth in love.”
Don’t just sit and listen to religious talks. Daily splash around in Christ’s joyous living water!
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