Joy Gets Me Through Life’s Hard Times

Posted on July 10, 2026 by Steve Simms

When I pursue happiness in happenings nothing much happens. O, I might experience a laugh or two and a little pleasure here and there but nothing long lasting. Years ago, when I quit seeking happiness and began to seek first the kingdom (inner government) of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33) something amazing happened. I discovered gladness in the Lord. (Psalm 32:11) I became joyful in God. (Isaiah 61:10) The joy of the Lord became my strength. (Nehemiah 8:10)

I discovered that true joy is in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17) It is produced by embracing and surrendering to God the Holy Spirit living in and through you (Galatians 5:20-21) and allowing Him to prompt and lead you moment-by-moment. (Romans 8:14)

Now anything that I do without conscious awareness of God’s presence is quite boring for me. However, as long as I stay continually aware of Christ living in me and directly leading me (Colossians 1:27) joy flows from within me like rivers of living water. (John 7:37-39) That’s why I don’t like group activities that distract my attention from God, but I love it when people come together to keep their focus firmly fixed on the reality of the risen Jesus!

I love to rejoice in the Lord always (Philippians 4:4) and to inwardly overflow with His “joy unspeakable and full of glory.” (1 Peter 1:8) Whenever I stop rejoicing in the Lord joy begins to drain from my heart, but as long as I stay focused on Jesus, He fills me with His joy (John15:11) even in painful and difficult circumstances. (Habakkuk 3:18-19)

If you have wondered why I am so focused on and can’t stop writing about the presence of the risen Jesus, now you know. I invite you to do the same so that you too can experience such incredible ongoing inner joy!

Posted in happiness, joy, joy of the Lord, mental health | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Real Deal Christianity

Posted on July 9, 2026 by Steve Simms

Real deal Christianity is about learning to set aside everything that distances you from God. It’s about avoiding anything that hinders your awareness of the living presence of King Jesus. It’s God’s kingdom ruling and reigning within you on earth as it is in Heaven.

Authentic Christianity is doing what Jesus tells you to throughout each day. It’s not a religious service that you sit through once a week. It is a lifetime of inner transformation that aligns your thoughts, word, beliefs, and behaviors with the will of God.

Actual Christianity is not about human effort or human understanding. It’s about God’s grace, revelation, and power deposited directly into an individual’s heart and mind.

Genuine Christianity is open and available to whosoever will personally and fully surrender his or her will and daily obey Christ. All who are willing to be graciously led by God’s Spirit instead of by their own desires, feelings, and opinions are invited to freely “taste and see that God is good.”

Spirit-led Christianity isn’t a religious institution. It’s not a church hierarchy. It’s not just being lectured every week about Bible information. It is Christ living in you and directing you day by day. When doing what God’s Spirit prompts you to do is replaced by passive sermon-hearing, Christianity is left undone.

God’s original Christianity is people who assemble themselves together in the name of Jesus (Matthew 18:20) — not in the name of a religious organization or denomination — to encourage one another and to “spur one another on to love and good works.” (Hebrews 10:24-25) It is Spirit-led meetings (Romans 8:14) where everyone present is free to speak (1 Corinthians 14:26)

Information without the humility of inner transformation will lead you to pride. “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Authentic Christianity is a never-ending, living experience with Jesus. Are you ready for that kind of real relationship with the risen Christ? If so, surrender your all to Him now.

If you are in the Nashville, Tennessee area you can experience such a Spirit-led meeting of “actually following Jesus” on Saturday mornings at 8:30. Just waze and go to Chile Burrito, 330 Franklin Road, Brentwood, TN 37207. It’s just past Five Guys and everyone is welcome.

Posted in biblical Christianity, Christian spirituality, Christianity, Mere Christianity, normal Christianity, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Make God Your Chief Chef!

Posted on July 8, 2026 by Steve Simms

God is a chef who is looking for people to be His Spirit-prompted ingredients. (Romans 8:14) He wants to bring Christians together to demonstrate His glorious presence and power. (1 Corinthians 2:4)

Be an interactive ingredient in the body of Christ, not just a cold vegetable passively chilling in a religious fridge. Humbly receive and surrender to God the Holy Spirit. Allow Him to continually direct and empower you (Acts 1:8) to testify about what He is saying and doing in your life. (Revelation 12:11)

One ingredient can’t make a delicious recipe. One persona alone can’t fully empower people to “taste and see that God is good.” However, when a group of Spirit-led Christians allows God to connect them heart-to-heart and mold them together in His presence as a living demonstration of the body of Christ, if unbelievers come in, ‘the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God exclaiming ‘God is really among you!'” (1 Corinthians 14:24-25)

A few songs and a one-man sermon aren’t God’s recipe for meetings in the body of Christ. The Bible says that when Christ-followers meet together, everyone has the opportunity to say something. (See 1 Corinthians 14:26) If you have been redeemed by the Lord, speak up and openly say so! Go beyond the Sunday morning wall of silent, frozen passivity.

Christ-followers,
When you meet
Let the Light
Of Christ shine
Through each person
Like sky blue holes
Of Heaven’s light
Breaking through
A forest
And reflecting
Off the trees.

Posted in house church, simple church, Spirit-led, ekklesia, Cooking | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I Want to Live in Faith Upsized

Posted on July 7, 2026 by Steve Simms

Upsize Your Faith

When faith is downsized
People are paralyzed.
They’re too proud to do
What Jesus says to.
Faith without works is
Only empty words.

Learn to be Spirit led,
Not spiritually dead.
Let Jesus be your Head.
Listen to His voice,
Then go do what He said.

When pride is upsized, true faith is downsized.

Let humility be your healing tea.

Blue cup labeled FAITH with a healthy green plant and grey cup labeled PRIDE with a drying plant
Two cups labeled ‘FAITH’ and ‘PRIDE’ with thriving and withered plants inside.
Posted in by faith you are saved, faith, faith and politics, faith healing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Was Your Faith Merely Taught You?

Posted on July 6, 2026 by Steve Simms

Christianity is
More than just being taught
Ideas from the Bible,
And acting as you ought.
Let your whole heart be caught
By Christ living in you
And bringing every thought
To align with His will.

How did you get your faith? Is it just something that you were taught? Or is it something that has supernaturally caught your heart?

God wants to give you infinitely more than mere information about Himself. He wants to touch, reveal, and mold your heart. He wants to rescue you from chaos.

Biblically aligned sermons and Bible studies are good. They target your mind and teach you what the Bible says. But Bible knowledge isn’t enough. Allow your heart to be continually captured and controlled by Christ.

A Spirit-led support group based on 1 Corinthains 14:26 does far more than teach religious information. It connects people heart to heart with the risen Jesus and with one another.

If you are in the Nashville, Tennessee area you can experience an environment where Christ can catch your heart and pull it out of chaos. Come and encounter His presence in the Christian support group that meets at Chile Burrito, 330 Franklin Road, Brentwood, TN 37207 @ 8:30 every Saturday morning.

Posted in Bible study, Christ in you, Christian spirituality, Christian support group, experiencing God | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Do You Really Want God to Bless You and Your Country?

Posted on July 5, 2026 by Steve Simms

If you hang around Christians, you might hear the word “blessed.” They will sometimes say things like “I’m blessed and highly favored,” and “I’m too blessed to be stressed,” and “God bless you.” On the fourth of July in the USA, they will often sing “God Bless America.” But what does it mean to be blessed?

Are you blessed? Is your nation blessed? Here is how Jesus defines the term in the part of the Bible known as the Beatitudes. (Matthew 5:3-12)

* To be blessed isn’t to have pride. It’s to have deep humility because humble people allow God to rule and direct them from within.

* To be blessed isn’t to be superficially happy. It is to morn because people who feel the sadness of grief are being called to open their heart to God’s comfort.

* To be blessed isn’t to be stubborn. It’s to be pliable and meek so that God can bend your thoughts, beliefs, feelings, and desires to match His will.

* To be blessed isn’t to be well satisfied with your life. It is to be inwardly filled with hunger and thirst to live a life that is morally aligned with God and His commandments.

* To be blessed isn’t to blame and accuse people. It is to show them mercy, compassion, and forgiveness so that you, yourself, can receive God’s mercy and forgiveness.

* To be blessed isn’t to have a tempted, tormented, and shame-filled heart. It is to allow God to lead you to inner purity so that you can see Him more clearly.

* To be blessed is not to stir up hostility. It is to be a Spirit-led peacemaker — a true child of God.

* To be blessed isn’t to be praised by people. It is to be persecuted and falsely accused because of aligning your heart, mind, and behavior with God the way the ancient prophets did. It is to experience the ability to rejoice and be glad when you are being persecuted for speaking the truth in love.

Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels.com
Posted in American patriotism, blessed, Blessed are the pure in spirit, blessings | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Think About True Greatness on America’s 250th Birthday

Posted on July 4, 2026 by Steve Simms

Happy 4th of July. Read this if you truly want a great America.

The way to release greatness in America isn’t the way we are being told. The Bible’s way to heal a country and raise it to greatness is quite different than the political way. It’s based on two letters — “if.” That “if” hangs on the behavior of the people who claim to be lovers of God.

For a country to experience genuine greatness the people in that country who identify themselves with God have to do 4 things: 1) humble themselves, 2) pray, 3) seek direct, intimate, heart-to-heart connection with God, and 4) turn away from their “wicked ways” such as self-righteousness, arrogance, and all their sins including those that they think they are hiding from people. (2 Chronicles 7:14) If the people who say they are God’s people refuse to do those 4 things, nothing else will make their country great.

Are you personally ready to begin doing all of those things throughout each day? If not, perhaps we should stop talking about greatness.

Photo by Taha u00c7endek on Pexels.com
Posted in American patriotism, American politics, American values, Fourth of July | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Power of a Compliment

Posted on July 4, 2026 by Steve Simms

A compliment
Is better than
A tasty mint.
Pass one on to
People who you
Talk to today.

Be a blesser not a curser. Jesus said, “Bless those who curse you.” (Luke 6:28) Three practical ways you can bless people with your words are 1) Give them a heart-felt compliment, 2) Thank them for something, and 3) Ask them to let you pray a blessing over them.

Compliments and kind words can sooth and help heal a hurting relationship. Almost everybody appreciates a sincere compliment. Surprise someone today with a genuine compliment and watch his or her face light up. Be generous with your compliments.

Words of gratitude are powerful. Every time someone does something to help you, say “Thank you.” Even if someone is saying something that you don’t like, thank them for sharing their point of view with you.

Asking God to encourage, comfort, and help someone as you pray out loud with them, frequently touches their heart with the blessing of inner spiritual awareness. Ask someone, “Do you mind if I pray a blessing over you?” Even if they turn down your offer, it will amaze them that you asked.

Photo by Mizuno K on Pexels.com
Posted in acts of kindness, Bless those who curse you, compliments, praying together | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What’s in Your Tank?

Posted on July 3, 2026 by Steve Simms

When you pray and your prayers aren’t answered in the time and manner that you want them to be, reject frustration and embrace inspiration. Keep praying, keep trusting, keep relying and depending on the risen Jesus. Let Him keep your heart and mind full of the fruit of His Spirit. Let faith be your evidence of the things you haven’t seen God yet do. Keep hope in God alive within you. Let the testing of your faith boldly testify to your steadfast trust in God and inspire others to rely on Him too.

What’s in Your Tank?

No matter what is
Your situation
Don’t fill your think tank
With frustration.
Fill it instead with
Inspiration.

Profile of a bald man with a short beard looking forward on a city street with blurred people and lights in the background
A contemplative bald man stands amidst a lively urban scene.
Posted in faith in God, frustration, inspiration | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

A Walk of Faith Is Many Steps

Posted on July 2, 2026 by Steve Simms


Faith isn’t a religious tool to get what you want. It’s the courage to surrender your life to what God wants.

It takes much more and greater faith to trust in and rely on God when prayers don’t appear to be answered than it does when a prayer is quickly answered with a miracle, a conversion, or a healing. “I believe, help my unbelief.” (Mark 9:24)

“Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1) Abraham relied on and trusted God in faith for many years before his prayers were answered and God’s promise was fulfilled in the birth of Isaac.

Trust God when you don't see 
The things you want to see. 
Rely on God always; 
Both good days and bad days.
Never stop depending 
On what God is doing, 
Because if you love Him,
He will make all things work
Together for your good. 
(Romans 8:28)
Photo by Kampus Production on Pexels.com
Posted in by faith you are saved, faith, faith healing, faith in God | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment