Steve Simms's Blog, page 79

Mother Mary’s advice . . .

Daily writing promptWhat’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?View all responses

The best advice I’ve ever received came from Mary, the mother of Jesus. She told a group of people: “Whatever He (Jesus) says to you, do it.”

Mary’s advice is often stated as “Just do it.” Unfortunately, our society likes to leave Jesus out of our thinking. However, for me, life doesn’t go well if I “just do” whatever I desire. I’m much happier if I stay aware of Jesus and do what He prompts me to do. He often uses my conscience to nudge me along, so I try to closely listen to and obey it.

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The boldness of Stephen in the Bible book of Acts!

In the Bible book of Acts Stephen was charged with continually speaking “against the law” (the religion of the Pharisees) and saying that Jesus wants to change things. Rather than directly answering “the charges,” Stephen began to boldly testify and proclaim God’s actions in the history of Israel. He ended his “defense” by telling the Pharisees, that they murdered Jesus, “the Righteous One.” He declared: “You have received the law that was given through angels, but you have not obeyed it.”

Stephen faithfully proclaimed God’s life-giving story to those who considered themselves to be its experts. He boldly rejected their lifestyle and religiosity and the way they sucked the life out of God’s story and how they turned it into dry religious formalism and self-righteous legalism. His “defense” made the experts of the law so furious that they covered their ears and yelled at the top of their voice and then stoned him to death. But Stephen looked beyond the outward circumstances and saw “the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

As Christ-followers we need to look beyond Christian experts who often spin God’s story to make people comfortable. We need to look to the living Jesus, “the author and finisher of our faith.” We need to know the story directly from the Bible like Stephen did and let it burn within us. We need to be able and willing to tell it from our heart, not from a religious curriculum or from sermon notes. We need to look beyond religion and behold the risen Lamb of God “who takes away the sin of the world” and to bask in and proclaim Christ’s glory regardless of the outward circumstances.

Heart-felt adoration of and interaction with the living Jesus shouldn’t be seen as the prelude to a sermon. It’s the main reason Christians are called to gather together.

Churches and Christian conferences have often launched ministries centered around one man or woman. Very few have launched a movement focused on Christ alone.

Stephen’s boldness and courage was founded on the three spiritual weapons revealed in Revelation 12:11:

1) Rely on Jesus’ blood;
2) Testify from your heart;
3) Set aside self-focus.

My energizer is an inner presence, not a thing.

Daily writing promptWhat things give you energy?View all responsesI love the kinetic energyOf God's spiritual motionEmpowering my heart.It's more thanA mental notionOr a human emotion.It's an inner flowThat makes me growAnd causes me to knowThe reality ofChrist's presence and power.Throughout the dayJesus energizes meHour by hour. Make your heart ever attentive to Christ's still small voice. Open up to the inner energy of God's free flowing Spirit. It's important for Christians to go beyond mere religious formalism and tradition into being Spirit-led disciples of the risen Jesus. But we need to be careful that we don't distort or reject the scriptural truths about Him. Too often what people call "deconstructing their faith" is the act of abandoning the basic beliefs of New Testament Christianity.[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-37469" />Photo by Ertabbt on Pexels.com

I live in order to be able to:

I live in order to be able to:

Find wisdom and share it.Experience joy and spread it.Dispense kindness wherever I go.Encourage people.Be a living example of hope.Speak the truth in love.Resist and overcome temptation.Proclaim liberty to the captives.Make the world a better place.Warn of the deception of self-focused desire.Open my heart to people and to God.Align my thoughts, feelings, desires, beliefs, and behaviors with God.Call people to ekklesia (Christ’s Spirit-led town hall meeting).Communicate the reality of Jesus in creative ways.Focus on the risen Jesus and do what He says.Praise, worship, and adore Jesus throughout the day.Be a Jesus-writer; to focus my attention on the risen Jesus and write what He puts on my heart.

(I don’t always succeed at these things, but they are written on my heart and are always my goal.)

Neglecting to find a healthy focus for your life will blur your days with boredom and bind you with blinding distractions. There must be a purpose for your pulse — a reason for your respiration. Finish this sentence: I live in order to be able to . . .

Aimless activity and a mind mired in meaninglessness alienate people from a sense of purpose. Thoughts, desires, and actions that have no purpose produce an aimless life. Finding something meaningful to live for will make your life something amazing!

People need a purpose, and we need kindness. Making it your purpose to spread kindness everywhere you go is a pathway to a meaningful life. A little kindness goes a long way and touches people’s hearts is ways we can’t imagine.

God is a personal being. Throughout the Bible He interacts with and communicates with people. For a meaningful life open your heart to Him.

Here’s an amazing paradox: The more I surrender myself to the living Jesus, the more I find myself. The key to overcoming guilt isn’t to call wrong right. It’s to stop doing wrong.

As humans we all crave a focus other than self. That’s why we put so much time, money, and energy into sports and entertainment. God so loved the world, and we are made in His image. We are the happiest when we focus away from self and put our focus on the risen Jesus.

One of the reasons I so treasure ekklesia (Christ’s Spirit-led town hall meeting) is because people are free to open up and share from their heart. Then we begin to see that we are all facing basically the same struggles and we are encouraged and empowered by each other. As we see other people surrender to Christ right in front of our eyes, we begin to trust that we, too, can do the same. Then we begin to grow from glory to glory.

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Basic Christian beliefs

If you’ll listen to your conscience and let it show you where you’re off track, it will lead you to truth with the aid of God’s Spirit. (See Romans 9:1.)

By our sin we have separated ourselves from God, but He has lovingly made a way for whosoever will to be restored to intimacy with Him before we die. For 2,000 years Christianity has taught that sin broke the human connection with God and alienates us from Him. Jesus came and died so that whosoever will can have that connection restored.

Some people say that sin is a myth, but the evil, cruelty and self-focus in human hearts is no myth. It’s a destructive reality!

Christianity is based on these scriptural concepts:
* Jesus is the Creator in human flesh.
* He was born and lived as a man.
* He lived a life without sin.
* He was crucified to save us from our sins.
* He rose from the dead.
* He’s present and active in His followers today.
“Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

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I’d like to know more about happiness . . .

Daily writing promptWhich topics would you like to be more informed about?View all responses

I’d like to know more about happiness, not just in my mind, but in my heart. I want to know more about inner peace, not as a topic but as an ongoing reality.

More information without inner transformation isn’t what I desire. I long to be aligned with hope and joy so that I can be pure in heart.

Rather than filling my head with more and more data, I want to know the Alpha and Omega — the mystery of “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” For me Jesus isn’t just an ancient story, or a religious curriculum designed to make church goers comfortable.

Christ is the source of all the beautiful things my heart longs for and the power to resist and reject the feelings, thoughts, and things that try to wreck my happiness and inner peace. For me, there’s no topic that can compare with letting the risen Jesus light the wick in my heart and brightly burn within me day and night.

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The Jesus Zone (aka the kingdom of God)

The Jesus Zone is transformative! Living in the Jesus Zone makes life marvelous (even with all of its troubles). I woke up this morning with these thoughts about the Jesus Zone (aka the kingdom of God):

Step out of your comfort zone and into the Jesus Zone. Be led by Christ in you! Let the Jesus Zone come with power and release His presence within you! Once a person is born of the Spirit and surrenders all to the risen Christ, the Jesus Zone becomes a daily, ongoing reality.The Jesus Zone is the kingdom of God where Christ the King is allowed to reign supreme. The Jesus Zone doesn’t operate by human knowledge, effort, and organization, but by the leading of Christ in you. Christ-followers are called to forcefully overthrow all our inner resistance to the Jesus Zone and to let Christ rule within us.Seek first the Jesus Zone and Christ-led living and everything you need will be added to you. The Jesus Zone is within you. The Jesus Zone is not in word but in power! Use the keys of the Jesus Zone to unlock your heart for Christ and to lock out and bind all wrongful thoughts, feelings, and desires.Align your thoughts and actions with Christ for the Jesus Zone is at hand! Blessed are those who are persecuted for Christ-led living for theirs is the Jesus Zone. Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the Jesus Zone.The Jesus Zone is the straight gate and narrow way. To enter the Jesus Zone you must receive it like a child. It is the Father’s good pleasure to give to you the Jesus Zone. Will you enter in? Let God lead you out of the dominion of darkness and into the glory and delight of the Jesus Zone.You’re never alone when you’re living in the Jesus Zone. Christ-followers are led into the Jesus Zone. It’s their spiritual home. The Jesus Zone is like a mustard seed. It seems insignificant, but when it is cultivated and allowed to grow inside a human heart it becomes huge!In the Jesus Zone no one throws the first stone. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Jesus Zone. The Jesus Zone isn’t about eating and drinking. It’s about Christ-led living, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. The Jesus Zone is the pearl of great price.Christ still sends out His followers to proclaim the good news of the Jesus Zone. Let Him send you! The good news of the Jesus Zone needs to be proclaimed as a testimony throughout the whole world.Religious Pharisees shut the Jesus Zone in people’s faces. They neither enter themselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Open wide the door of your heart to the Jesus Zone. Do it for yourself and for others.

When Christians begin to live in the Jesus Zone that’s called revival. Come Lord Jesus!

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Christ’s call to be uncomfortable

Jesus doesn’t call people to be comfortable and entertained. He calls His followers to go beyond the conventional religious wisdom and church structures of our age and to become a living demonstration of His presence and power.

I woke up this morning with these thoughts about Christ’s calling stirring in my heart before I got out of bed:

* The best pastor (shepherd) is Christ in you. He will lead, guide, and disciple you from the inside if you will let Him.

* The risen Jesus is the most effective Bible teacher. He makes the words burn in your heart.

* When people are aware of Christ’s presence, they don’t need a program about Him.

* Jesus is the best worship leader. Awareness of His presence releases spontaneous adoration!

Calling all Christ-followers: Let’s begin to continually notice, appreciate, surrender to, and obey the presence of the risen Jesus. Sermons make people an audience. Christians are called to make disciples.

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I sing because I’m happy.

Daily writing promptWhat would your life be like without music?View all responses

Before there was music
In my soul
I never felt whole.
I had no real goal.
I was only
Playing a role.
It took a toll
Until one day I heard
The sound of Jesus
Singing in my soul.
Earbuds never
Brought me such joy!

For me, every day is a holiday!

Daily writing promptHow do you celebrate holidays?View all responses

The word “holiday” came from the Old English word “hāligdæg,” which means “holy day.” Today “holiday” means a special day set aside to celebrate something and to focus on having as much fun as possible.

Of course, every day can’t be focused on maximizing our level of fun. We all have needs and responsibilities that we have to tend to. But every day can be seen as holy — as a gift from God of another 24 hours of life and opportunity.

Someone has said: “Every day above ground is a good day.” I concur and I choose to celebrate each one of them with gratitude, hope, and adventure as I rejoice in the presence of the risen Jesus.