Steve Simms's Blog, page 58

Saying “no” to self-focus

Daily writing promptHow often do you say “no” to things that would interfere with your goals?View all responses

The thing that interferes most with my happiness in life is self-focus. Every day I strive to say “no” to it. I want to keep my eyes and my heart fixed on the risen Jesus Christ so I can be one of His disciples.

Jesus defines discipleship by saying: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” In our world there seems to be a great absence of the three requirements that Jesus gives for discipleship.

1) Self-denial. We can’t follow self and Jesus at the same time because they are going in different directions. To be a disciple of Christ we must deny (ignore) our own desires and continually choose His will instead of our own.

2) Cross-bearing. The cruelty of the cross was the popular means of execution in the Roman Empire. Rather than avoiding pain and suffering, true discipleship requires freely taking it up. Paul described his own discipleship by saying: “I am crucified with Christ,” and “I die daily.”

3) Obedience to the Holy Spirit, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Jesus says: “If you love Me, keep my commandments.” Being led moment-by-moment by the Spirit of Christ is essential to discipleship. There’s no other way except to daily follow and obey “the way, the truth, and the life,”–Jesus, the risen Lord and Absolute Master.

Yearning

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

I have an inner yearning that I can’t explain. I didn’t seek it. I didn’t choose it. I didn’t cause it by my own effort or training. It’s been working inside me for as long as I can remember. It a deep longing to know God better and to align with His righteousness.

One day, in a moment, that yearning greatly intensified when Jesus Christ suddenly became real to me as I heard some people testify about how He had revealed Himself to them. Ever since that moment I have hungered and thirsted and sought to know and obey Jesus better and better.

I discovered that because Jesus isn’t confined to a building or to a religious organization, I can interact heart-to-heart with Him anywhere and anytime. I found out that when I’m truly connected heart-to-heart with Jesus, I experience deep spiritual kinship with each other people who are also connected with Him.

Christianity isn’t just about learning. It’s about a deep inner yearning to continually follow and obey the risen Jesus. The essence of Christianity isn’t a head full of notions. It’s Spirit-led motions.

Every Christian needs to be planted and anchored in the risen Jesus. He’s the only foundation that will never let us down! The body of Christ isn’t an organization. It’s Spirit-led by Jesus its Head and includes every true Christ-follower in the world.

Organizations divide the body of Christ into independent institutions, but Jesus wants His followers to be one. They’ll know we are Christians by our love (not by our church attendance). I yearn to better focus on “speaking the truth in love.”

Most religious leaders of the day didn’t like Jesus. The Pharisees even pressured the Romans to crucify Him. I long to see more people openly yearning to follow and obey the risen Jesus!

Repentance includes a real effort to make restitution. It involves sincerely seeking to reconcile, repair, and restore broken relationship with God and with people. This becomes possible when we receive the mercy and forgiveness of God that was purchased by Christ on the Cross and let the risen Jesus live within us and continually empower us to love God and to love our neighbor.

I want to be
Where God’s Spirit’s free
To directly lead
The gathered body
Of Jesus Christ.

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Sonshine in my Heart!

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

My favorite weather is when I let the Son of God shine in my heart! Here’s how I do that:

Christ-followers are called to no longer live according to their human desires but to live according to the desires of the Spirit. Christ’s sin offering and the life-giving presence of God’s Spirit who gives life, have the power to set us free from the condemnation of the law and from spiritual death. They actively empower us so that we can continually focus on, listen to, obey, and adore the risen Jesus. (See Romans 8:1-4 in the Bible.)

I’m aware that I am. I can focus my attention as I choose. There’s no biological explanation for my consciousness. I’m a supernatural being living in my physical body. “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Because of Christ’s death on the Cross, I can now choose moment by moment to die to my sinful desires and instead live according to God’s Spirit by making Him always welcome to daily live in, work in, empower, direct, and shine in and through me.

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Whatateacher!

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

My most influential teacher was and is and will always be the Holy Spirit. He taught me and continues to teach me, not by lecture but by demonstrating His presence, power, and love in my heart. When I start to go off track, He lovingly leads me back to Himself. One of the Holy Spirit’s teaching methods is godly sorrow.

It’s good to be sorry, to truly be sorrowful, to experience godly sorrow–to be sorry for any wrong you’ve thought, said, or done (not just to feel sorry for yourself because you got caught). Godly sorrow sounds the alarm that we need to repent and where possible to make amends. It makes us ready and eager to make things right with God and with other people.

Godly sorrow happens in our heart when we allow the Holy Spirit to convict us of wrong. When we’re willing to humbly pray like King David: “Test me, Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind,” and “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me,” we experience it.

Healing happens when a human heart opens up to godly sorrow. Both history and current events clearly display the evil that is part of human nature. If you were an alien visiting the planet, would you consider earth people to be good? Or would you agree with the ancient prophet Isaiah? “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way.”

Will we be like the Pharisee in the temple whose religion kept him from seeing his own sin, but clearly saw the sin of other people? Or will we be like the tax collector and cry out with godly sorrow, “God have mercy on me a sinner,”?

Accept the call of godly sorrow. Embrace the responsibility to repent. Any time you sin in thought, word, or deed, quickly admit it, confess it, renounce it, turn away from it, and receive God’s mercy and forgiveness.

My most influential teacher resides within me in an objective, non-material way. He speaks clearly to me through the objective conscience He has given me. (If my conscience is subjective, why does it disagree with me so often?)

Language is immaterial, it is so much more than sounds and letters. Language creates order in our mind and enables us to comprehend and communicate the immateriality of information. Through the inner objectivity of Spirit-given rationality and supernatural revelation we can connect heart-to-heart with the Word (the eternal Communicator) who spoke all that exists into being. (See John 1:1-18.)

Science and technology can transmit information artificially, but they have no information about how information originated. My most influential teacher does!

“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26.)

“As for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in Him.” (1 John 2:27.)

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Reasons Jesus Didn’t Rise

Jesus didn’t rise to be honored with a holiday. He rose to make every day and every moment special with His supernatural presence.

Jesus didn’t rise to be honored with words in religious meetings while ignored by human hearts throughout the day. (See Matthew 15:8.)

Jesus didn’t rise so we can hear weekly talks about Him. He rose so He can have direct, ongoing, inner conversations with us.

Jesus didn’t rise to be represented by routine religion. He rose to actively live in and build His kingdom within you.

Jesus didn’t rise to hide behind a religious disguise. He rose to save us from the lies that try to lead us to our own demise.

Jesus didn’t rise to be a spectator in church. He rose to build His followers together heart-to-heart as His Spirit-led body.

Jesus didn’t rise so we can follow Christian celebrities. He rose so we can be set free from our impurities and iniquities.

Jesus didn’t rise just to make you wise. He rose so that through “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” you can rise to whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy and let Him empower you to put it into practice.

Jesus didn’t rise to hide in distant skies. He rose so you can gaze at Him with your inner eyes and make His presence your prize.

Jesus didn’t rise so we can go to church once a week. He rose so we can follow Him 24/7/365. Do you realize that Jesus really did rise?

What No Tatoo Can Do!

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

No tattoo can:

Heal your hurting heart; Fill you with inner peace;Assure you that you’re forgiven; Set you free from guilt;Restore broken relationships;Thrill you with a fountain of joy;Make you feel valued and loved;Get rid of loneliness;Create mental health;Drive away all shame;Make your life meaningful;Give you a powerful purpose;Be the anchor for your life,Cause you to feel better about your body.

But the risen Jesus can! Jesus has done all of those things for me. Why would I want a tattoo?

Excitement about Jesus can’t be taught to the mind or tattooed on your arm. It is caught by a humble, hungry heart.

Feel your pulse. If it’s pumping, it’s proclaiming that you have a purpose.

Religious explanation instructs the mind. Inner revelation heals the heart. “Hear what the Spirit is saying.” Let the living Jesus tattoo your heart with His eternal presence!

Make it your goal
To always surrender
To Christ’s control.

Religious thought
Can be taught
But relationship
With the risen Christ
Needs to be sought.
With all your heart.

When the rooster crowed defeat
And Peter saw his faith retreat
He wept bitterly,
Broken hearted by his denial
Of Jesus the Christ.
Peter’s failure is universal.
We all have denied Christ,
If not with words action.
Not it’s time for reversal.
Like Peter we can turn back
To Christ’s love and forgiveness
And follow Jesus with passion
And Spirit-led interaction.

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Holy Spirit Led Zooming

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

I would love to do more Holy Spirit Led Zooming every day! I love to gather with a few people and let God’s Spirit lead our interaction. So, I’m going to host a Spirit-led Zoom gathering every Thursday night @ 6:00 pm. Central Time USA. You’re welcome to check it out @ this link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81866658021?pwd=9cRRYJOczpRuzp2wS7kxsjpN6PcFK2.1

Forgiven

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

I am forgiven even though my pride used to tell me that I didn’t need forgiveness. I thought I was a good person, better than most people. The church that I attended when I was a teenager used to have a time of silent prayer for forgiveness and most of the time, I couldn’t think of anything I needed to be forgiven for.

Then one day I encountered the risen Jesus and His light began to shine more and more in my heart as I eagerly read the Bible for hours each day. I was shocked at the wickedness I began to see in my own heart as I read: “There is none righteous, no not one,” and “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” I began to agree with Paul, the writer of much of the New Testament, who said: “O wretched man that I am,” and “I am the chief of sinners.” I realized that though outwardly I had tried to obey human laws and my conscience, inwardly I was a mess full of wickedness and like the prostitute who wept at Jesus’ feet, I had been forgiven much — more than I could have imagined possible.

Though completely unworthy of Christ’s love and deserving to be forever separated from God’s presence, God has forgiven me, cleansed me, and embraced me as His friend. Many years later I still rely on Christ’s death on the Cross and not on my own worthiness. I still say: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner,” and rejoice in amazement that I am forgiven!

I love Galatians 2:20 that says: “I am crucified with Christ.” To “be crucified with Christ” is to “live by faith in the Son of God.” It is to rely every moment on the inner presence of the risen Jesus. It is a shift from relying on my own efforts (or imagined goodness) to living by staying continually aware of and obedient to the presence of Christ living in me even though I could never earn or deserve His love.

Are you forgiven? You can be. And you can daily experience the reality and the activity of the Spirit of Jesus Christ living and working within and through you.

Mental drift
Will sweep you
Off a cliff
And make you think
You don’t need to
Be forgiven.
Make a shift.
Let Jesus lift
Your heart to Him
And heal the rift
You have with God.
Embrace His gift
Of “Christ in you.”

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Tears of Tender Gratitude

Daily writing promptWhat was the best compliment you’ve received?View all responses

The best compliment I have ever received has come as tears of tender gratitude. My wife, Ernie, and I love to pray with and for people. As we pray out loud for people, we feel God’s love for them (even when they are strangers to us). Compassionate words flow from deep within us (often with tears) and people receive them like a sponge. They usually thank us with deep gratitude and often tears run down their cheeks.

Praying out loud with and for other people as you open your heart to be led by Christ’s presence is powerful. Words of love begin to spontaneously flow from deep within you and tender compassion fills your heart. The atmosphere fills with awe as everyone becomes aware that Jesus is there. Then humble, Spirit-led prayer begins to spread as other people are prompted to open their mouth and let God fill it with words that freely flow from their heart. But for this process to start someone needs the boldness to open their heart and let God’s presence flow through their brokenness. Will you?

Jesus said not to pray to be seen by men. Pray with brokenness and humility, being led by the Spirit. Then people will be so aware of and touched by the presence of God that they will see Him, not you! When people witness the Spirit-led flowing of one another’s heart in prayer they experience deep spiritual connection with each other and with God.

Taking turns praying out loud with people is a powerful way to experience the moving of God’s Spirit together. When people take turns humbly praying out loud from their heart, a sense of community fills the air. Praying together in humility with other people and openly testifying about what Jesus is doing within us allows God’s light to come out from under our pride so other people can be impacted by His shinning within us.

True prayer is about connecting heart-to-heart with the living God, not about demanding that He do what you want Him to. Amazing things start to happen when people pray together from their heart. Spirit-led prayer enlightens my heart like the mystical glow of bright sunlight.

Prayer is heart-connection with God. Don’t just tell Him what you want. Talk with your Creator from your heart. (The concept that nothing caused the creation of everything is contrary to logic and common sense.)

Words that honor God are an empty echo to a heart that’s far from Him. (See Matthew 15:8.) Don’t miss the healing power of free-flowing, Spirit-led prayer.

Take time to pray
With someone every day.
Chase your pride away.
Let God’s Spirit give you
The words to say
And turn your heart like clay
So Christ can display
His presence and love.

To gather for prayer
Is so much more than
The words people share.
It’s to open up
And let your heart care
That Jesus is there.

Starting Later This Week: Spirit-Led Zooming — a weekly time to celebrate, testify, and pray as prompted by God’s Spirit.

The World is Cross-Country

Daily writing promptYou’re going on a cross-country trip. Airplane, train, bus, car, or bike? View all responses

The word is Cross-country, the land where inner healing was purchased by Christ’s Cross. I began my Cross-country trip standing in the lobby of a dorm when in a moment Christ became real to me. Since that moment, I’ve been on a Jesus-trip as He seeks to lead me from within day-by-day and I strive to let Him be my Savior and tour guide.

Everybody needs a Savior because “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Because of our inclination to sin all people make varying degrees of a mess in their life, in their relationships, and in the world we inhabit. Then we search for a savior. We look for a politician to be our savior, for the government to save us, for education to be our savior, for a career to save us, for a love interest to be our savior, for a therapist to save us, for money to be our savior, and on and on.

With the mess we’re in, we definitely need a Savior but there’s only One! His name is Jesus. He’s the Creator of all that exists who became a man, shed His blood on the Cross to pay the penalties for our sins, rose from the dead, returned to the right hand of the Father, and sent the Holy Spirit so that whoever is willing can now be filled with His presence and be personally guided and directed from within by Him moment-by-moment. (I wrote this last paragraph when I first woke up this morning before coming to and reading today’s Wake-Up Call blog and seeing the words, “We are sinners in need of a Savior.” Here’s the link.)

As human beings we will secretly struggle internally until we find and devote ourselves to the reason for our existence — to have an intimate, personal relationship with the living God. Ignoring God causes us to make something or someone else our god — the focus of our life. Christians are called to conform to Christ, not to a human culture or to our own cravings.

When we truly follow Jesus, off we go into the Spirit-led wonder! Have you started your life-long Cross-country trip yet?

The more a person connects heart-to-heart with God, the more he is able to experience heart-felt community with other people. When people gather for a religious meeting, but neglect to connect heart-to-heart with God and with one another, we have neglected “the assembling of ourselves together.” (See Hebrews 10:25.)

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