Steve Simms's Blog, page 62

The power of unbudgeting

Daily writing promptWrite about your approach to budgeting.View all responses

Somethings can be unbudgeted, for example, the gift of unlimited access to a multibillionaire’s credit card. In that case there’s no need for limits. You’re free to acquire all that you want.

I received the gift of unlimited access to life’s most valuable assets. It was handed to me in a moment, but not by a billionaire. My heart was suddenly touched, and I was made an heir of the risen Jesus Christ. The sacrifice of His death on the Cross brought the unlimited riches of His Spirit into my life. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” I never need to budget any of those things.

I’m not talking about going to church. I’m talking about making room for the risen Jesus to take control of your heart and your life. Jesus isn’t stuck in church. You can be led by His presence anytime. Experience Authentic Intelligence. Learn to listen to and obey Jesus every day.

Christians need Spirit-led gatherings where the living God is allowed to literally take charge and strengthen us with power by His Spirit working within and among us so that Christ can settle in and take active control of our hearts through living faith. Then together we can powerfully experience being rooted and established in and grasped by His love that surpasses human knowledge as we let the fullness of God fill us more and more. That’s God’s unbudgeted community.

Human leaders in the New Testament section of the Bible were called by the Greek word “episkopos” which means “overseer.” It is translated in most English languages Bibles as “bishop.” Overseers lead a Christian worship gathering like officials lead a basketball game. They allow people the freedom to follow and obey the Spirit but keep a close, discerning eye on things in order to return the meeting to the Spirit’s order and control if anyone begins to hijack it with their own feelings, opinions, and desires.

(To hear these unbudgeting ideas in music, ask Alexa to play “Make Room.”)

Church is sermon centered.
A message is heard
But if we’re not trained
To obey God’s Word
With one another,
Then the word we’ve heard
Flies away like a bird.
“Be doers of the word,
And not hearers only,
Deceiving yourselves.”
(James 1:22.)

When church is like a bus
Without any wheels
It won’t go anywhere
No matter how it feels.

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(To hear these ideas in music, ask Alexa to play “Make Room.”)

The Peaceful Purpose of Patriotism

Daily writing promptAre you patriotic? What does being patriotic mean to you?View all responses

To me being patriotic means total loyalty and full, heart-felt commitment and obedience to the highest authority. The nations of the world falsely claim to be that highest authority and convince their citizens to worship them as though they were God. Many nations even use the phrase “God and country,” in order to manipulate people into passionate, self-sacrificing devotion to them.

However, the real purpose of patriotism is much nobler than loyalty and devotion to an earthly nation. It is loyalty and devotion to the eternal, invisible nation — the kingdom (government) of God that is made up of people from “every kindred and every tribe.” Patriots in the kingdom of God are peacemakers who love their enemies and bless those that curse them.

The kingdom of God isn’t about a religious program in a church; it’s about Christ’s presence prompting and directing human hearts. Yet, it seems that the Holy Spirit is rarely given the chance to lead a church service all by Himself without human programming.

I woke up this morning with these thoughts developing in my heart: “There’s so much more to Jesus than church attendance. Discover and delight in His daily presence! I wish that everyone would discover and delight in the presence of ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Then they could begin to personally experience supernatural commitment to the kingdom and direct government of God in their heart and compassionate love for all of humanity.”

Let Jesus be your internal flame that never goes out! To fan the flame, ask yourself: “What’s Jesus doing in me?” “What have I seen Jesus do? Wherever you are, ask, “Is Jesus doing anything here?” Ask a pastor on Sunday morning, “Can you tell me something that Jesus is doing here?” God’s fire on the altar of our heart must come from what Jesus is doing. We can’t light it all by ourselves. However, we can nurture and tend God’s inner fire and stir up His gifts within us by courageously hearing and obeying His still small voice and refusing to quench His Spirit.

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Breaking church laws

Daily writing promptHave you ever unintentionally broken the law?View all responses

I unintentionally (and intentionally) break church laws. That’s because I don’t see church in the Bible.

The word is there in English language Bibles, but I can’t find the tradition-bound religious institution that we call church anywhere in Scripture. Emil Brunner, a world famous, 20th century, Swiss theologian also couldn’t find church in the Bible. He wrote: “The ekklesia of the New Testament, the Christian fellowship of the first Christians, was not a church and had no intention of being a church.”

When I read the New Testament, I see Jesus directly leading and building His body together heart-to-heart. I see people who love and obey Jesus with all their body, soul, mind, and strength and who love and sacrifice for each other as they are continually led by God’s Spirit. I see ordinary Christians being trained to minister to each other. I see 50+ times where they are instructed to show love to one another in various ways. I see them assembling together like the ancient Greek town hall meeting based on open sharing (Christ’s ekklesia) that Jesus said He would build. I see overseers (translated as bishops in English Bibles) collectively watching over to “guard the flock” like officials in football or soccer watch over and guard the players and keep order in the game. They don’t impose their will on a congregation but watch and oversee in order to protect and maintain the direct leadership of God’s Spirit during the meeting as people minister to one another.

No matter how hard I look in the Bible, I don’t see a one-man pastor leading and controlling a body of believers that meets to be a passive audience for his preaching every Sunday morning. I don’t see a church building or a church program or a church service. I don’t see a government recognized, tax-exempt religious organization. Theologian, Emil Brunner, wrote: “The historical church . . . has arisen, in the course of a long and complicated history, through a process of development, transformation and retrogression, out of the New Testament ekklesia.”

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The Jesus Moment Man

Daily writing promptIf there was a biography about you, what would the title be?View all responses

I love Jesus moments. Every moment that I’m aware of Christ’s presence is an amazing moment. I never tire of Jesus moments. I spend my days and nights experiencing as many as I can. My heart longs for more and more of His presence. I continually hunger and thirst for more Jesus moments.

I’ve been so fortunate. Since the moment I first encountered the risen Jesus, I’ve wanted to spend every moment in His presence. My awareness of His presence isn’t fleeting or emotional. It’s deep and sound. It’s not based on my feelings or my surroundings. It transcends all that. Even in my darkest and loneliest moments when I didn’t feel His presence, I’ve still had a deep awareness that He is with me and inside of me regardless of my lack of perception.

The more I surrender my moments to Christ’s control, the more powerful my Jesus moments become. The most marvelous moments in my life are Jesus moments. I persistently pursue His presence.

Jesus didn’t come to create a new religious system called church. He came so people can have a beautiful relationship with Him filled with marvelous ongoing Jesus moments.

The kingdom of God is built on Jesus moments. Let Him build His reign in you throughout the day and night. Jesus said, “I am with you always.” There’s no need to spend a moment without Him. Let the risen Jesus fill the moments in your life with His everlasting presence.

The moments of your life pass by one-by-one. They don’t accumulate. Appreciate them and make them Jesus moments.

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Jesus Is So Much More Than “The Chosen” Shows

It’s time to hear
With your inner ear.
Hear more than
Official preachers
And Bible teachers.
Hear more than
Religious shows
And videos.
Hear the One who knows
All about you.
If you have an ear
Open up and hear
What God’s Spirit
Is saying inside you
So He can guide you.
Let your heart be tender
And conscientious,
Not pretentious
Or Contentious.

The Gospels present Jesus as a historical person who was the Creator in human flesh. He still interacts with people today!

Jesus is the only hero who will never let you down! Hearing the voice of the risen Jesus will thrill you every day! Cultivate and maintain a direct, intimate, heart-to-heart relationship with the risen Jesus.

“Christ in you,” is “the hope of glory”–not a fictional Christ streaming in a video series. Settle for nothing less than His presence.

The series about Jesus that we need to follow is Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and the Jesus they present — His being God in the flesh, His call to repentance, His sacrifice for our sin, His resurrection, His Lordship, and His promise to always be with His followers! Fictional stories about Jesus are dangerous. Because they aren’t true, they are deceptive.

The Bible warns us to be aware of people presenting “another Jesus” than the true Jesus. The producer of a popular streaming series about “Jesus” has said publicly several times that the Mormon Jesus and the Christian Jesus are the same. However, if you will read how Mormons define Jesus (the biological son of the god of planet earth) and how Christians have defined Jesus (as the Creator of everything, in human flesh), you clearly see that they aren’t the same.

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I would like to make war a crime.

Daily writing promptIf you had the power to change one law, what would it be and why?View all responses

If I could change one law, I would make war a crime — not just certain kinds of war, but all of it. War is cruel. War is devastating. War is the failure of peace and love. As a famous American general said, “War is hell.” 

War takes young men (and now young women) and trains them how to kill people and how to destroy their property. Then it abandons them to suffer and die alone.

This is not a new position for me. I’ve hated war from as early as I can remember. As a small boy I used to cry and ask my parents, “Why is there war?” Many decades later, my heart still breaks when I think about war and sometimes, I still cry. it’s hard to see people who are made in God’s image killed by Russian, Ukrainian, Palestinian, Israeli, Yemen Huthi, American, and NATO bombs and rockets.

Just because governments don’t say that war is a crime, doesn’t mean that it isn’t. I can’t stop war, but I don’t have to agree with it, and I can speak out against it. Here are some more things that I have to say about war:

Humanity’s Biggest Failure War Welding Politicians The Answer My Friend Isn’t Blowing People Up in the WindWas Jesus Crazy About War (or Are We)? War’s Off Target. Bombs Away From Cities!If War is Hell, It’s DemonicNothing’s Fair in the Shove of WarSome Accepted War CrimesI’m Calling War a CrimeWarfare’s UnfairQuotes About How War Is Failure[image error]Pexels.com" data-medium-file="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." data-large-file="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." src="https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.co..." alt="" class="wp-image-38948" />Photo by Ahmed akacha on Pexels.com

My favorite people are those who celebrate the true Super Bowl!

Daily writing promptWho are your favorite people to be around?View all responses

I want the true Super Bowl. I want my heart to be the bowl that overflows with the presence, power, and love of the risen Jesus Christ. Let Jesus fill your bowl today and make you whole!

Too often Christianity is presented like a boring bowl of oatmeal instead of with the excitement of the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl is a party bowl, but Jesus is a hardy bowl (empowering you to endure and overcome difficult situations with hope and faith).

When you daily follow and obey the risen Jesus, you feel no need to spike life’s punch bowl. Life is rarely a bowl of cherries, but your life can be continually filled with the fruit and the gifts of God’s Spirit if you will always surrender to the risen Jesus.

Don’t put Jesus in a fishbowl so you can look at Him now and then. Keep Him in the center of your heart as your Lord and Master!

If you’ve never let the living Jesus bowl you over, you don’t know what you’re missing! Don’t sell out your invitation to a glorious relationship with Christ for a bowl of meaningless distractions.

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I have a dream!

Daily writing promptWrite about your dream home.View all responses

My dream home is a place where people’s desires, feelings, and decisions don’t define or determine their attitude, words, and behaviors. Instead, they surrender to and are led by the supernatural love and presence of God. My dream home goes far beyond domesticated religion and embraces sacrificial love, heart-to-heart connection, and ongoing obedience to the risen Jesus.

I have a dream
Of home as a place
Where people replace
Self-seeking focus
With a face-to-face
Relationship with
The living Jesus.

Christ and religion
Are not the same.
One is powerful,
The other tame.

Human analysis
With heart paralysis
Leads people to neglect
To behold and reflect,
To daily ponder
And surrender to,
The life changing wonder
Of the risen Jesus.

"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Corinthians 3:18.)

Jesus Christ is the most exciting reality in the world! It’s sad that church so often presents Him in a boring way. Just because an organization calls itself a church doesn’t mean that it obeys or represents Jesus. Come home to a daily personal relationship with Christ.

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I Love Good News!

Daily writing promptYou get some great, amazingly fantastic news. What’s the first thing you do?View all responses

I love to hear good news. It thrills me and fills me with joy. The first thing I do when I get amazingly fantastic news is to say with great gratitude and electric enthusiasm; “Thank You, Jesus!”

My favorite source for good news is a collection of books called the New Testament. Accept no substitute! The only reliable series about Jesus Christ is The Gospels and the rest of the New Testament! The first 4 seasons are amazing. Choose Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Read them over and over with an open, humble heart and their good news will fill you with glorious views of Christ. Soon you will be saying with great gratitude and electric enthusiasm; “Thank You, Jesus!”

God’s good news
Will give you clear views
Of the nature
Of sin city
And set you free
From the demise
Of its cruel traps.
Evil tries
With many lies
To disguise
It’s destruction.
It gives us false highs
And blinds our eyes
So we don’t realize
Its corruption.
We need to hear
The warning cries
Of our conscience
So we can arise
And revise
Our thinking,
Feelings and desires
To align with
What truth requires.
It’s unwise
To surmise
That you’re immune
To sin city’s
Evil lies.
Now is the time
To avoid the things
That evil tries
To emphasize
And to fully embrace
God’s good news
With your heart and life!

Thank you, Jesus! I’m so grateful for God’s good news!

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I’ve lost interest in trying to fit into an institutional church.

Daily writing promptAre there any activities or hobbies you’ve outgrown or lost interest in over time?View all responses

How we need Spirit-directed Christi-followers and Spirit-led gatherings! When the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, He empowered Christ-seekers to live Spirit-directed lives and to participate in Spirit-led assemblies. Now the members of the body of Christ don’t have to stay stuck in our own thoughts, feelings, desires, opinions, traditions, and institutions. Now we are free to follow and obey the risen Jesus as He lives in and through us and seeks to direct us by His Spirit so that He can establish His Lordship, His mindset, His intentions, and His kingdom-government in our heart, mind, and daily life.

There’s no church as usual in the New Testament. When Christians gathered, they followed God’s Spirit, not a program! Enough church as usual! It’s time to make room for the risen Jesus to take control. (Religious institutions seem to have the tendency to push the living Jesus out and to rely on programs and organization instead.)

The idea that church attendance causes people to grow spiritually seems like a deception. Just look at the millions of immature believers who attend church regularly yet are still tossed about and held captive to the sin and influence of this world. Could spectator church be the millstone that’s hung around Christians’ necks and casts them into the sea of superficial religion?

However, wherever you are you’re not alone! Jesus is present and speaking to you. Listen to His still small voice in your conscience. Read the New Testament with an open heart (not a critical mind) and you will soon become aware of Christ’s presence with you and love for you.

I love experiencing the Spirit-led community of fellow Christ-seekers. I look for it everywhere I go.

If you want to have
A beautiful day
Let Jesus lead you
In His way.

Faith’s not something
To mentalize,
Systematize,
Or analyze.
Open up your heart.
Take off your disguise.
Let Jesus arise
Inside of you.
Look into His eyes
Until you realize
His presence is
Life’s greatest prize.

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