Steve Simms's Blog, page 51

There’s Another King Than Chocolate (Or Any Other Desire)

Daily writing promptDescribe your dream chocolate bar.View all responses

There is another King than chocolate or any other desire. There’s a king beyond your wildest dreams, who can set you free to enjoy life with inner peace and joyous liberty. Follow Him to victory.

There’s another king
Than Ceasar.
It’s Jesus.
There’s another king
Than politics.
It’s Jesus.
There’s another king
Than pride.
It’s Jesus.
There’s another king
Than nationalism.
It’s Jesus.
There’s another king
Than anger.
It’s Jesus.
There’s another king
Than fear.
It’s Jesus.
There’s another king
Than religion.
It’s Jesus.
There’s another king
Than entertainment,
Than sexual desire,
Than social media,
Than addiction,
Than self-help,
Than hobbies,
Than intellect,
Than alcohol,
Than money,
Than whims,
Than sports,
Than drugs,
Than food,
Than you,
Than me.
It’s Jesus.

All those kings
That control
Your life
Get jealous
Of King Jesus
And want Christ
Off the throne
Of your life.
So they riot within you
Creating turmoil
To keep you under
Their bondage and control.

If you want
To be sane
Claim your pain
Until it
Motivates you
To allow
Jesus to reign
And take control
As your King.

If the damage you’re doing to yourself isn’t causing you to desperately desire healing and freedom, perhaps becoming aware of the damage you’re doing to other people will. Notice when you hurt people and feel the pain you produced. Claim the pain you caused them and let it cause you to continually crown the risen Jesus as the King who reigns in your life.

If you want your vote to matter, you have the deciding vote on what you do with Jesus. Elect Jesus as the Lord (absolute Master) of your life. Always humble yourself by putting His will above your own feelings, desires, and opinions. Listen to and obey Him throughout each day. When you ignore or silence your conscience or the Scriptures that prick your heart, then you’re ignoring or silencing Christ’s will within you.

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I Was Never Much of a Reader Until . . .

Daily writing promptDo you remember your favorite book from childhood?View all responses

I never had a favorite childhood book because I never liked to read. That changed when at 19 I met the living, resurrected Jesus Christ. I suddenly had a strange desire to read the Bible. I picked it up and began to read. I was instantly hooked. The words burned in my heart. I began to read it for hours almost every day. That was many years ago and I still read the Bible every day and it still thrills me and makes me vividly aware of the presence of Jesus.

Saul of Tarsus also had a life transforming encounter with the living Jesus and began to follow and obey Him daily. He used to tell people: “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah.” (Is, not was.) Jesus is alive and active in this world. Let the risen Jesus continually demonstrate His power and reality in and through your life so that others can see and join in your experience with Christ and be fully persuaded to constantly rely on His presence. See act 17:3 in the Bible.

If you want your vote to matter, you have the deciding vote on what you do with Jesus. Elect Jesus as the Lord (absolute Master) of your life. Always humble yourself by putting His will above your own feelings, desires, and opinions. Listen to and obey Him throughout each day. When you ignore or silence your conscience or the Scriptures that prick your heart, then you’re ignoring or silencing Christ’s will within you.

Focus on Jesus. Rely on Him moment by moment. Discover His reality. Live each day as though it were your last opportunity to be kind. It may be.

Yesterday I nodded at a man who was walking by on the other side of the street. A few moments later I noticed that he had stopped and was looking at me. He caught my eye and said, “Did you do this at me?” and then he nodded. I told him that I did and he said, “Not many people do that anymore,” and started a friendly conversation with me. He was obviously lonely and really appreciated my simple jester of recognition and acknowledgement. Kindly let a stranger know that you notice them today.

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Proverbs, Matthew, & Romans (And a Poem About Good Judgement)

Daily writing promptList three books that have had an impact on you. Why?View all responses

Proverbs, Matthew, and Romans are three books that talk about God’s good judgement and have had an amazing impact on me all of my adult life. Here’s a quotation from each one of them.

“A person may think their own ways are right, but the Lord weighs the heart.” Proverbs 21:2.

“I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.” Matthew 12:36.

“You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.” Romans 14:10.

Good Judgment

If there is no
Good judgment,
Then people can say
That every thought, feeling,
Desire, opinion,
And behavior
Is equal
And that no one
Ever does wrong.
If people are silenced
From expressing
What their conscience
Has to say
Then everyone can sing
Their own song
And proudly say
That it is good.
They can proclaim
Their guilt isn’t real
And the same
For the shame
That they feel,
While they loudly judge
And boldly blame
Anyone who quotes
God’s good judgement
To help them along.
When people say,
“I’m a good person,”
They are judging themselves
To be perfectly
Righteous, honest and fair,
When the truth is
We all know
Deep inside
That we’re not.

God’s judgement is good because it exposes the fallacies of our human subjectivity and reveals the reality of His objectivity. Ancient monks writing in a book called “The Philokalia” (Greek for “love of wisdom”) encourage people to continually pray this prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me a sinner.”

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I’ve Overcome Fear by Letting Jesus Out of 4 Bags

Daily writing promptWhat fears have you overcome and how?View all responses

When I let Jesus out of the bag and into the driver’s seat of my heart, my fears began to vanish. He began to fill me with love, power, and a sound mind. His presence transformed (and continues to transform) my relationships, my failings, and my mental health.

Let Jesus out of the bag! People like to keep Jesus in 4 bags: 1) the history bag, 2) the Heaven bag, 3) the church bag, and 4) the privacy bag.

Let Jesus out of the history bag. Continually experience His presence in the present.

Let Jesus out of the take-me-to-Heaven bag. Walk and talk with the living and present Jesus every day.

Let Jesus out of the church bag. Open your heart to Him and interact with Him everywhere you go.

Let Jesus out of the privacy bag. Live in His Light. What He speaks to your heart “shout it from the housetops.” Be His witness and demonstrate His presence all the time.

Christians who say God isn’t speaking to individuals today are displaying their own unbelief for all to see. They have Jesus in a bag. Open the bag and dare to believe God.

It’s tragic when Christian leaders speak out against encouraging Christ-followers to listen to and obey the inner leading of the Holy Spirit. They help keep Jesus in bags.

A couple of weeks ago I was in a meeting where a man who has struggled with addiction heard someone let Jesus out of the bag by giving a testimony about how God speaks directly to people. Yesterday, that man told me that ever since then he has been hearing God speak in his heart. He said he has had similar experiences before, but he thought it was just his own thoughts, but now he knows that it is really God. His face was aglow as he testified about the wonderful things Jesus is saying and doing in his life.

Here are some thoughts to help you let Jesus out of the bag:

Jesus didn’t say that people who are treated fairly are blessed. He said: “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you for My sake.”

Jesus didn’t say that people who avoid persecution are blessed. He said: “Blessed are you who are persecuted.”

Jesus didn’t say that people who stir up anger and hostility are blessed. He said, “Blessed are the peacemakers.”

Jesus didn’t say that people who like to watch entertainment containing vulgarity, violence, and various other forms of corruption are blessed. He said, “Blessed are the pure in heart.”

Jesus didn’t say that people who accuse and retaliate are blessed. He said, “Blessed are the merciful.”

Jesus didn’t say that strong-willed people are blessed. He said, “Blessed are the meek.”

Jesus didn’t say that those who party are blessed. He said, “Blessed are those who mourn.”

Jesus didn’t say that the proud are blessed. He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”

Let the Big Cat (Christ the Lion of the tribe of Judah) out of the bag. Let Jesus be the King of your jungle and turn your life into His garden of peace.

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The Joyous Objectivity of Inner Insight

Daily writing promptDescribe one simple thing you do that brings joy to your life.View all responses

The American Dream is subjective. The kingdom of God is objective. Nationalism is subjective. Inner transformation that gloriously sets a person free from tormenting and self-destructive thoughts, feelings, desires, and behaviors is objective. That’s why testimonies about inner transformation by the risen Jesus are so powerful. They declare and demonstrate the objective reality of the kingdom (government) of God.

The most objective being that exists is the living God. All the rest of us are subject to our own subjectivity. Human rationality can never produce true objectivity because our motives always manipulate our reasoning to some degree. True objectivity is only found beyond human reasoning, in humble and surrendered relationship with God that washes away all self-focus and continually enthralls a person with the presence, power, and reality of their Creator.

True objectivity is to be influenced and led by the living God, not by your own thoughts, feelings, and desires. Although the leadings of God’s Spirit occur within a person’s innermost being, those promptings are not humanly produced. They’re the objective working of the living God.

People who can’t tell the difference between their own thoughts, feelings, and desires and the thoughts, feelings, and desires of God mistakenly believe that being led by the Holy Spirit is a subjective experience. It’s not. It’s the ultimate objective experience because it makes you intently aware of the most objective reality that exists, the presence and power of the Creator Himself.

Testimonies don’t just lecture about what Jesus in the past. They release the awe of His presence in the present moment and make people realize that the everlasting government of God is infinitely more powerful and objective than any temporary government or nation state on earth.

Almost every church in the world has at least one or two people who have been inwardly and objectively transformed and set free (in demonstratable ways) by the living Jesus. (Some churches have many.) Yet the stories of those verifiable transformations are seldom told. Instead, church people sit in silence together and every week listen to the same man talk passionlessly about something Jesus did in the past (or about positive thinking).

O that the body of Christ would return to what Revelation 12:11 reveals. We can overcome our bondage to subjectivity by three things: 1) the blood of Jesus (His sacrifice on the Cross to set us free), 2) the word of our testimony about how the risen Jesus is objectively living, working, and speaking inside of us, and 3) by not loving or focusing on the subjectivity of our own life and self-interest.

The subjectivity of human opinion and human nationalism passes away. The objectivity of God’s perspective and kingdom is forever. Which one are you clinging to for dear life?

When you read the Bible, it’s hard not to notice that the Holy Spirit is sometimes critical. If you reject all criticism, you’ll be rejecting some of the Holy Spirit’s objectivity. Lord, give us ears to hear You when You speak against our unkindness, deception, and sin.

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Unplugging From Human Celebrities

Daily writing promptHow do you know when it’s time to unplug? What do you do to make it happen?View all responses

I believe that it is time to unplug from celebrities. We live in a celebrity focused world. People idolize prominent people. They are constantly looking for people to celebritize, but we’re all human and celebritizing people is a form of deception.

Church people really like to celebritize people. They make celebrities out of ministers, out of worship leaders, out of Christian authors, and out of anybody with any notoriety (good or bad) who calls himself a Christian. This is a big “celebritease.”

I posted what follows in several posts early this morning on a blog I read daily. Today’s post there is about reorienting our world view. It is based on Acts 16:16-30 and is the story of a demonized woman who was constantly trying to celebritize Paul and Silas. It’s about how they handled the attention. My first post there this morning was @ 4:04.

_________________

I woke up this morning with this poem that describes the woman in Acts 16:16 developing within me. When I looked at the clock it was 3:33. There are a lot more people like her than we realize.

Some people act like
They have it made
In God’s shade
When they’re really
Hiding afraid
In dark shadows
Of demonic
Deception.

I’m going back to bed now.

_______________________

I couldn’t sleep so I posted this @ 4:57.

I couldn’t go back to sleep. Another poem formed in me that explains what the woman was doing.

The devil’s drift
Moves in to shift
People away
From the fresh wind
Of God’s Spirit
And put their focus
On human leaders
So he can sift
Them like wheat
And keep them
In defeat.

I still haven’t read today’s WUC. I think I’ll read it now.

________________________

Then I posted this @ 5:55 having no idea what time it was:

Let’s Reorient Our Worldview

The demon in the woman constantly directed people’s attention to Paul and Silas by loudly promoting them as important leaders and men of God. She kept the fake praise going for many days. Paul eventually rejected it and drove the demon out of the slave woman.

There was such a change in her countenance that her owners knew that she could no longer predict the future through sorcery. They panicked, attacked Paul and Silas, and dragged them to the authorities who had them stripped, severely beaten with rods, thrown into the darkest part of prison, and carefully guarded. Their feet were put in chains.

So, what did those suffering and humiliated leaders do? They prayed out loud, put the focus on God, and sang praises to Him. While they were in such brokenness that they could no longer take any credit, God suddenly showed up and showed out. He shook the place, setting all the prisoners free.

Faced with a sovereign move of God, the jailer wanted to kill himself, but Paul and Silas and the other prisoners hadn’t used their freedom to run away and find personal comfort. Paul shouted to him: “Don’t harm yourself! We’re all here!”

Then the jailer trembled and called for lights. He wanted out of his darkness. Why would his prisoners not run away? Then he saw on their faces that the presence of the living God had overcome their fear and suffering. He fell trembling before Paul and Silas and asked with great awe and respect, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved.” They answered: “Believe on (rely on and depend on) the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved — you and your household.”

Paul and Silas begin to passionately tell the jailer, and everyone gathered around, about the living, resurrected Jesus. Then their enemy, the jailer, began to wash their wounds. The scene gripped the heart of the jailer’s family and his prisoners, and they wanted to be baptized to demonstrate their surrender and obedience to the risen Jesus.

Then the jailer took them into his home for a joyful meal. When we get our eyes off of human leaders and constantly fixed on the living Jesus, amazing things will happen! Let’s “reorient our world view.” Let’s quit talking about Christian leaders and exalt no other name but Jesus!

Don’t Hide Your Light Behind Religious Walls and Customs

Don't Just See the Light. Be the Light!

God lights lamps
In people all the time,
Insights and miracles
That would amaze you
If only you could
Hear about them.
I wish that people
Were empowered
To put their testimonies
On a lampstand
For all to see and hear.
I wish that churches
Would give people
A platform
From which to share
The amazing things
That God has done
In their heart
And in their life.
Churches need to stop
Turning Christians
Into spectators
Who hide their light
Under religious
Services and programs.
O that churches
Would be courageous
And let people
Share their light
In the congregation
As God's Spirit prompts them.

This is what Jesus wants His followers to do: "Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house." (Matthew 5:15)

3 P-Word Jobs

Daily writing promptWhat jobs have you had?View all responses

I’ve had (and continue to have) 3 P-Word jobs:

1. Preemptive obedience: That job is to reject the option of disobedience even before I know what God is going to prompt me to do. It is to live by this declaration: “Jesus, I’ll do whatever you say today.”

2. Proactive repentance: This job is about training to be effective at stopping my wrongful thoughts, feelings, desires, words, and actions without waiting for consequences to force me to.

3. Putting away prejudice: This job requires me to never look down on anyone by thinking I am in some way superior to them. It’s a job that all humans need to apply themselves to daily. The Holy Spirit has taken me on a long journey of dealing with my prejudice and it continues to this day. To see where I chronical much of that journey, search for: Off the RACE Track book.

Minds that embrace great humility think alike. Dare to be the faithful Christ-follower who disagrees with the crowd.

Jesus Christ is real, alive, present, powerful, and wants to live and work in and through your life moment by moment. Make it your job to let Him.

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The Quality I Value Most in a Friend is True Greatness

Daily writing promptWhat quality do you value most in a friend?View all responses

Making People Great

There's nothing great
About trying to create
Anger and hate.

There's nothing great
About wanting to escalate
Confusion and misunderstanding.

There's nothing great
About working to aggravate
And berate.

There's nothing great
When your main trait
Is wanting to agitate.

There's nothing great
About slamming the gate
Of your heart on people.

There's nothing great
About refusing to relate
With kindness and respect.

There's nothing great
About filling your slate
With constant accusations.

There's nothing great
About creating a state
Of hostility and bitterness.

There's nothing great
In causing a country to separate
Into a nation of blamers.

There's nothing great
When someone seems to advocate
Replacing debate with violence.

For a nation to be great
We need people who demonstrate
Character and integrity.

If you want to be great
Find ways to generate
Communication and understanding.

If you want to be great
Learn how to arbitrate
And find common ground.

If you want to be great
Open your heart to meditate
On ways to show kindness.

If you want to be great
It's important to graduate
From immaturity and self-focus.

If you want to be great
Formulate and communicate
Ways people can work together.

If you want to be great
Begin to fumigate
Your mind and heart from anger.

If you want to be great
Continually saturate
Yourself with inner peace.

If you want to be great
Absolutely refuse to replicate
Another person's bad example.

If you want to be great
Let Jesus Christ renovate
Your thoughts and emotions.

If you want to be great
Make every effort to radiate
The love of God.

The way to be great
Is to look straight
Into the eyes of Jesus.

Beyond Religion and Beyond Church

Daily writing promptDo you practice religion?View all responses

Rather than following religious rules, leaders, hierarchy, or organizations, I strive to follow and obey the risen Jesus Christ. I listen to His still, small voice in my heart. I actively resist my own desires, feelings, and opinions so I can more freely do what He tells me to. I read the Bible with an open heart asking God’s Spirit to speak to me from its pages and to make its words burn within me. This post explains how I try to get God’s message from the Bible, not my own or the message of any particular church or denomination.

Timothy, the Holy Spirit, and the Letter from Jerusalem’s “Esteemed Leaders”

The message sent from the “sent ones” (apostles) and spiritually mature older believers (elders) in Jerusalem was written in a letter that is recorded in Acts 15:23-29. In Acts 16:1-5, Paul is delivering that letter’s message in the small towns of Derby and Lystra. The message said that Gentle Christians were not to be burdened with any of the Jewish ritual laws “beyond the following requirements. You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.”

That message meant that Gentile believers didn’t need to be circumcised. Yet Paul, when he wanted to invite Timothy (who was uncircumcised) to travel with him “circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area.” Then “they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey.”

What a mystery? Why did Paul circumcise Timothy in order to satisfy the Jewish believers in the area at the same time he was delivering the message that Gentile Christians didn’t need to be circumcised?

In the next section (Acts 16:6-10) we see that the Holy Spirit was actually preventing Paul and Timothy from preaching in certain places until Paul had a vision that told them to preach in Macedonia: “Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia . . . After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.”

It appears that Paul trusted the Holy Spirit and followed the Spirit’s leadings more than he trusted and followed human leaders. Here is another example: Speaking about food offered to idols, Paul says: “We are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.” (See 1 Corinthians 8:8.) Because of that Paul could write this in Romans 14:15-21: “If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. Therefore, do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval. Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.”

Here Paul explains how he saw the “esteemed leaders in Jerusalem. “I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race in vain. Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. As for those who were held in high esteem—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism—they added nothing to my message.” (Galatians 2:1-6.) Since Paul states that he sees all Christ-followers as equally favored by God, he doesn’t appear to recognize the leaders in Jerusalem as a religious hierarchy or clergy class having authority over him.

It is interesting that Paul goes on to add something that isn’t included in the Jerusalem letter at all: “All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along.” (Galatians 2:10.) (They must have asked this separately.)

Jesus Himself, said: “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28.) I believe that Scriptures show that Jesus wants the members of his body to be Spirit-led, not hierarchy led. Paul said: “As many as are led by the Spirit are the children of God.” (Romans 8:14.)

Here is Paul’s summary: “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” (Galatians 5:13:18.)

Paul didn’t just blindly follow what leadership said. He did what the Holy Spirit said. Search for: Beyond Church Ekklesia. Also search for: The Joy Of Early Christianity book.