Steve Simms's Blog, page 70
December 8, 2023
I could do less of the things that make a mess.
View all responsesI could do less of a lot of things that make life a mess. Less is often more: The less worry, the more joy. The less anger, the more peace. The less revenge, the more love. The less hatred, the more kindness. The less defensiveness, the more understanding. The less lying, the more trust. The less hardheartedness, the more compassion. The less self-focus, the more freedom to focus on helping others heal. The world today needs less of the things that keep us from peace and from humble heart-to-heart connection with each other.
The world is weaponized.
Violence is mechanized.
People are terrorized.
And we have turned our eyes
From the Prince of Peace.
It’s time to open our conscience to the ongoing, conscious awareness of the presence and reality of the risen Jesus and to begin to hear and to do what the Spirit is saying to us. It’s time to let Christ live in you, direct you, and build you into His assembly (ekklesia) on the rock of intimate personal revelation from God. Beat the swords and spears in your heart into plows and begin to cultivate the gifts and the fruit of the Holy Spirit within you so that they can bring your every thought captive to obey Christ. Open up to His inner rivers of living water so that He, the Prince of Peace, can restore God’s garden to your heart and spread it to people around the world.
Whenever the Prince of Peace is allowed to rule and reign in a human heart peace settles in and drives out worry and fear. A troubled and fearful heart has yet to fully surrender to the Prince of Peace. Dare to receive the gift of His peaceful presence moment-by-moment throughout each day and night.
Let Jesus’ words give you peace right now, in this very moment! “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
May hearts unfold like
Flowers in sunlight
And awaken from darkness
To be merry and bright
And full of God’s light,
“Christ in you,
The hope of glory.”
December 7, 2023
Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem
When active shooters are hiding in a crowded hospital, blowing up the hospital is a horrible way to stop them. Surely a nation can find a better way to defend itself than by killing thousands of children and other innocent civilians.
It’s grievous that the land of the Prince of Peace is acting like King Herod and trying to eliminate a threat to their existence by killing babies (Matthew 2:16). When a nation randomly kills thousands of children and unarmed civilians, it’s acting in revenge, hatred, and cruelty, not in self-defense.
Swords came for the little Christ-child killing the babies in Bethlehem just to get to Him, but that strategy failed. The traumatized land of the Bible needs peacemakers not more and more cruelty. Blasting multitudes of innocent people can compel submission but it can’t create lasting peace.
Children’s lives matter! Killing kids is a terrible way to try to resolve conflict. Bombing babies is a big bang that should never happen. Nothing gives a nation a right to kill children and innocent civilians.
The most effective peacemakers focus on and obey the Prince of Peace. “O Come Let Us Adore Him,” not just learn about Him. Let us adore the risen and ever-present Jesus day and night, continually surrender our will and desires to Him, always listen to His still small voice, and wholeheartedly do what He says.
[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-38259" />Photo by Haley Black on Pexels.comDecember 6, 2023
Nothing’s Stranger Than The Manger Mystery
The Manger Mystery. How did Jesus whose birth bed was an animal feeder & was executed at age 33 become the most famous person ever?
–The Manger Mystery–
A newborn boy
In an animal
Feeding box.
How could that poor boy
Become the most famous
Person in human history?
Many believe He
Was and is
The Creator in human flesh,
Fully God and fully man.
His life went from manger to mangled.
He was despised and rejected
And executed on a Roman cross,
A hopeless beginning and hopeless end.
But then . . .
How did He become so famous
That His birth is celebrated worldwide?
Something convinced
Some off His followers
That He bodily rose from the dead,
Met with them several times,
Promised to be with and in them always
And to ever lead them from within.
They believed that so strongly
That they proclaimed it far and wide
And convinced multitudes
That Jesus Christ is alive
And ready to live in and empower
Whoever will continually
Open their heart and surrender
Their life to Him.
Those who do suddenly
Discover the presence of
“Christ in you, the hope of glory”
And contagiously spread
The awareness of His presence
To others.
The Manger Mystery is the greatest event in human history. The Creator became a human baby!
Wild animals within
View all responsesI see wild animals inside my own heart. They are untamed desires, feelings, and thoughts that tormentingly roar within me, badger me, try to deceive me, and call me to self-destruction. Those wild things can quickly be harmful to me and to the people around me, so I continually resist them and always strive to drive them out.
The wild animals in people are the source of most of humanity’s pain and problems. Untamed desires, feelings, and thoughts need discipline and training. If they are not subdued and overcome, they will release much misery (both internally and externally).
Some people try to use distraction as an attempt to ignore their inner wild animals and pretend that they don’t exist. Others try to sedate their inner wild things with self-medication. Some people simply give in to them and obey their crazy commands and compulsions.
I choose to resist and drive out the wild animals that try to sabotage me from within, but I don’t do it alone. There’s an animal removal expert who rescues me from untamed desires, feelings, and thoughts. The more I surrender to His authority and align myself with His will, the greater grows my freedom from tormenting wild things. My wild animal remover is the risen Jesus. Christ in me is my hope, not just to cope with badgering wild things, but to gloriously overcome them. Thank You, Jesus!
I’d rather soak up and absorb the love of Christ than hear a talk about it. A hardened heart permits people to do horrible things; a tender heart promotes peace. Unless there’s peace within people there won’t be peace among people. Jesus has the best wildlife removal service!
Never give up
And close the cover
Because your story’s not over.
Whatever path you took,
If you’re still alive,
It doesn’t have to be
The last page of your book.
Open your heart
And give Jesus a look.
Let His light show you
How He can make you new.
If you want to know
The peace of God,
Let the inner flow
Of His Spirit grow
Ever stronger
Within you.
To be at odds with God
Is self-sabotage
Because it keeps us from
His supernatural peace.
December 5, 2023
My Hope-Filled Place
View all responsesMy Hope-Filled Place
My hope is near.
My hope is here.
My hope is nothing less
Than to live in the presence
Of Emmanuel, God with us.
The risen Jesus is now
The ever-present
Hope of glory,
The Great Shepherd
Of the sheep,
Powerfully living inside of
And personally directing
Whosoever will surrender to
And abide in His presence.
Open your inner ear
And begin to daily hear
And to faithfully obey
What Jesus has to say
Directly to you.
Let Him steer
You from within.
“Be of good cheer,”
Because His perfect love
Casts out fear.
My favorite place to be is in the presence of the living, resurrected Jesus Christ. No matter where I visit throughout the day, in His presence is the place I want to stay.
Jesus in reality is much more powerful than Jesus in religion! The more you focus on the risen Jesus the less you’ll be controlled by your feelings and desires.
Jesus is continually revealing Himself to people, but we too often re-veil Him. Christianity without the living, resurrected Jesus Christ is a hollow shell.
The body of Christ is called to be a Spirit-led community where people are prompted and directed by the risen Jesus. That’s the unity of the Spirit.
[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-38231" />Photo by Aaron Burden on Pexels.comDecember 4, 2023
You can receive downloads from God!
Insight requires more heart-sight than eyesight. A humble human heart can open up and receive direct downloads from God. Christians need more than preaching and teaching. Each one of us needs direct, personal downloads from God.
God’s direct downloads into your heart can be accepted or rejected. They can be blocked or stocked. “Quench not the Spirit.” Unless and until you have experienced a direct download from God, your belief in Him is only hearsay. When people become regular church attendees before they personally experience the risen Jesus and surrender their daily life to Him, they tend to put their trust in religion instead of Christ.
Religious analysis can never satisfy the hunger for God in the human heart. Listening to religious information without receiving God-given revelation has little effect on how people live. God is not comprehensible to the human mind, but he can be experienced by an open, humble heart. The less we analyze, systematize, and categorize God, the more we can experience His presence with our heart.
If you will honestly and humbly look into your own heart, you will discover internal evidence for the reality of God and for your need for His healing and transforming presence. Begin to expect, look for, and listen for inspiration and revelation. God’s not hiding. He’s trying to make Himself known to you.
There is a higher revelation than the human mind can understand. Beyond reason or logic, Jesus Christ speaks to and transforms human hearts. When the things that are seen give you no hope, dare to look with your heart at Christ’s unseen presence. Revelation makes people want to repent and to live by God’s standards, not by their own feelings and desires.
Aha! Epiphany!
Let my heart see
Hope that my eyes
Can’t see!
A flash
Of inspiration,
A dash
Of encouragement
Can bash
Your despair
And give you
Fresh air.
That’s the power
Of God-given
Revelation.
Because of Jesus
Living inside me
I can know things
That my mind
Can’t explain.
Because of God’s
Revelation
I can see
What my eyes
Can’t see
And I can hear
What my ears
Can’t hear.
–1 Corinthians 2:9-10
Christ Came to Stay in Our Broken World
The presence
Of Emmanual,
God with us,
Jesus Christ,
The Creator
In human flesh,
Is continual,
Not annual.
Christ doesn’t go away
And come again
Each Christmas Day.
He came to stay.
Jesus said:
“I am with you always!”
Although Jesus is now
Seated in Heaven
At the right hand
Of God the Father
He now also lives,
Present and active,
Inside His true followers,
And what we do
To the people
We consider to be
“The least of these”
We do to Jesus.
December 3, 2023
Santa’s not the most amazing Christmas character
“Pa Rum Pum Pum Pum”?
Christ is not a yo-yo.
He doesn’t come
Every Christmas
And then go-go
Like Santa
And his “Ho. Ho. Ho.”
That kind of thinking
Is a no-no.
It turns Christmas
Into a show-show
To row, row, row
The world’s economy,
But “Christ in you”
Is “the hope of glory.”
Let the living Jesus
Daily empower you
To stand toe-to-toe
Against depression
And to never
Allow your life
To be so-so.
The word Christmas begins with Christ. How can such an obvious fact be so widely ignored? I went to a Christmas concert yesterday and heard a very entertaining band exclusively play Christ-less Christmas songs.
One of the band members asked the audience, “Who are the three main characters in Christmas?” Of course, someone said Santa and the band member smiled. But then two people yelled out Jesus, and the band member appeared to be shocked. He said, “Well, yea,” and stumbled over his words so much that I didn’t hear his second character. Then the band sang a song about his third character, the Grinch. (Too often Santa and the other holiday characters ship Jesus out of Christmas on Santa’s sleigh.)
Can Christ-less songs truly be Christmas songs? Let’s be honest and call a holiday song a holiday song.
Christmas (along with every other day of the year) is a great time to sing about the living and ever-present Jesus Christ! O, come all ye faithful; let’s sing about and celebrate the risen Jesus — God in human flesh! Let’s go tell it on the mountain and honestly answer the question, “What child is this?
When someone doesn’t have a heart that is kept rigorously ablaze with praise for Jesus, “Christ in you” is replaced by the haze of routine religion and dispelled from daily life. Christ came into the world so that He can live in and through you. If that doesn’t raise your heart to blaze with passionate praise for Jesus, what will? Continually gaze at Jesus with the eyes of your heart so that He can amaze you day and night. Follow His ways, not your own!
[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-38201" />Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.comI’d dump my fear
View all responsesIf I could change one thing about myself, I’d dump my fear and intimidation of personally talking to people about Jesus. I’m bold in talking about Jesus with my blog and my Facebook page, but when it comes to talking about Him with the people who I encounter throughout the day, I’m usually too afraid to do it.
Being free to talk to people about Jesus as openly and freely as I can talk to them about the weather has been a deep desire of mine for many decades. Yet, I’m still a long way from doing it.
[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-38193" />Photo by Ricky Esquivel on Pexels.comDecember 2, 2023
Talking to Jesus (I do it day and night)
Talking to Jesus will change your perspective and give you hope. Talking to the risen Jesus is a beautiful way of life. It’s not just for emergencies. When people humbly and honestly talk to Jesus together they become connected heart-to-heart.
Talking with Jesus is supernatural therapy. When you talk to Jesus with a humble, sincere heart you discover the reality of “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Now is the best time and wherever you are is the best place to start talking with Jesus.
Who needs to talk to Jesus? The more we’re aware of the darkness within our own heart, the brighter Christ’s light will be to us and the more we’ll feel the need to continually talk to Jesus.
Continually talking to the living Jesus will help you make wise choices so that you don’t wind up stuck in bad circumstances. To get started talking to Jesus, finish this sentence: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, . . .”
When people start talking to Jesus together, they begin to be led by His Spirit and His presence is manifest among them. The family that talks to Jesus together stays together. One of the most powerful things Christians can do is to spend a lot of time talking to the risen Jesus together. When Christians talk to Jesus together their faith grows stronger. I love talking to Jesus with my friends (and even with strangers).
True thanksgiving is about talking to Jesus and telling Him thanks. The best way to celebrate Christmas is by talking to Jesus.
Talking to the living Jesus is habit forming. I’m addicted to ongoing conversation with the King of Kings.
Start talking to Jesus.
Let the words roll
From deep in your soul.
Spend some time
Talking to Jesus.
Soon you’ll start
To hear Him
Speaking in your heart.
Talking to Jesus,
Saying His name,
In my heart
He burns as a flame.
Talking to Jesus
In openness,
How glorious!
There’s a huge difference between Spirit-led speaking that flows in the moment from a heart touched by God’s presence and scripted speaking. Christians are called to be Spirit-led (Romans 8:14), not office, position, or title led. Christians need to function as apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers so that they can help train all believers to freely and boldly live their daily lives talking to the living Jesus and doing Spirit-led ministry.
[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-38185" style="width:689px;height:auto" />Photo by Darya Grey_Owl on Pexels.com
![[image error]Pexels.com](https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/pexels-photo-6230961.jpeg){kind=link}
![[image error]Pexels.com](https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/pexels-photo-2087387.jpeg){kind=link}
![[image error]Pexels.com](https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/pexels-photo-2449543.jpeg){kind=link}
![[image error]Pexels.com](https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/pexels-photo-3850212.jpeg){kind=link}
![[image error]Pexels.com](https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/pexels-photo-7806173-1.jpeg){kind=link}
![[image error]Pexels.com](https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/pexels-photo-716658.jpeg){kind=link}
![[image error]Pexels.com](https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/pexels-photo-2627060.jpeg){kind=link}
![[image error]Pexels.com](https://stevesimms.files.wordpress.com/2023/12/pexels-photo-17834459.jpeg){kind=link}