Look Beyond Coincidence to Divine Incidence

Posted on August 28, 2026 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
What’s the weirdest coincidence you’ve ever experienced?
View all responses

Jesus wants to release inner rivers of supernatural revelation to flow from within and through you. Refuse to settle for stagnant puddles of religious rules, rituals, and regulations.

O taste and see that God is good. When constant connection with and real reliance on the risen Jesus Christ is replaced by mere human capability true Christianity collapses into powerless religious formalism.

It’s not enough to conform to an outward form of religion. Let the presence of Christ in you transform you from glory to glory. Allow Jesus to continually renew your thoughts and perspectives with His mind, His thinking, and His eternal point of view.

Flesh and blood — human discipline, effort, and intellect — cannot bring you to divine revelation. It can teach you religious information but without God the Father’s supernatural revelation it can’t reach and transform your heart.

Humbly ask God the Son to open your blind spiritual eyes. Let God the Holy Spirit always shine brightly in your heart and give you so much radiant inner light that you continually cry out with indescribable joy, “I once was blind, but now I see.”

Lord, I need so much more than religious reformation. I need Your moment-by-moment miraculous inner transformation. Capture my heart with Your direct personal revelation. Give me the courage, strength, discernment, and desire to quickly follow and obey Your inner leadings and promptings. Make me a living demonstration of Your presence, power, and love so that I overflow with marvelous rivers of the fruit and the gifts of the Spirit. Cause me to shine with the brightness of Your light so that people can behold the Lamb of God working in and through me and surrender their all to Him.

I don’t end my prayers with “Amen,” because conversation and direct connection with God should never end. “Speak Lord for your servants are listening.”

The Bible and its theology and doctrine are God’s map; direct revelation is the act of exploring and experiencing the territory with the Holy Spirit as your living personal Guide. Many Christians have bragged about God’s map, studied it, heard sermons about it, and even memorized parts of it, but they’ve never even taken the first step of the Spirit-led journey through everyday life.

Look, see! There’s light in the darkness. Pneumatology isn’t mere mind-based theology. It’s ongoing encounter with and surrender to God the Holy Spirit. Christians, instead of getting mad about people who disagree with you, get glad about the bright presence and reality of the risen Jesus.

#revelation #spiritualawakening

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Posted in divine revelation, inner Light, light of the world, revelation, rock of revelation | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I’m Never Finished with an Encouraging Book

Posted on August 27, 2026 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
What’s a book you never finished but still think about?
View all responses

When you’re discouraged, take some time to encourage someone, and your discouragement will disappear. Here are some ways to encourage people:

* Compliment them.
* Thank them for something.
* Spend person-to-person time with them.
* Listen to them.
* Give them a compassionate hug.
* Do something nice for them.
* Surprise them with a gift.
* Write them an uplifting note.
* Send them a hopeful text.
* Take them to lunch or dinner or coffee or ice cream.
* Ask if you can pray for them. If they say yes, pause and pray a heartfelt prayer out loud for them.
* Leave an encouraging comment on their social media page.
* Give them an encouraging book. (Elephants INspiring the Room)
* Recommend an inspiring movie to them. (Brother Sun Sister Moon)
* Go do something fun together.
* Refer them to a hopeful blog. (hopethoughts.com)
* Send them a kind card or note by the postal service.
* Call them and have a friendly conversation.

What else can you do to encourage someone?

#encouragement #EncourageSomeoneToday

The missing link:
https://amzn.to/3aRy9gk
Posted in discouragement, encourage one another, encouragement, hope, inspiration | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Letter to the Real World

Posted on August 26, 2026 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
Which fictional world would be the most fun to vacation in?
View all responses

Ya gotta read this letter!

There is an ancient letter written by a Roman citizen to a rare group of people living in Rome. This group had shifted their loyalty from the Roman Emperor to declare a Lord other than Caesar. They boldly proclaimed that a man who was tortured and crucified by Rome in the distant Eastern part of the Empire had risen from the dead and is greater than Caesar.

Instead of honoring Caesar as Lord and as a god (or even as a great man), this letter sent to that rare group of people in the city of Rome (Caesar’s home) completely ignores him. It begins by boldly declaring that Jesus Christ is Lord and reminding the Roman recipients that they are called to belong to and obey Jesus through faith and be His followers — His Spirit-led people. It states that their faith is being reported throughout the Roman Empire and beyond.

Today that letter is part of the Bible. You can read it anytime. It will show you why true Spirit-led faith in Christ is a threat to human governments and their religion. It’s not an alliance with them or reliance on them. The New Testament letter of Romans is a radical call to always focus on, rely on, and obey Jesus as Master and Lord above every human authority.

Human governments are set up by God to maintain order in human society. They should be obeyed but never allowed to cause you to disobey the risen Jesus or to replace Him as your living Lord and Absolute Master.

The Roman government required that all people living within the Empire sacrifice to Caesar and proclaim, “Caesar is Lord.” To refuse to do so usually meant death. However, most Christians would instead proclaim, “Jesus is Lord.” Who is the Lord, the Absolute Master, in your heart and life?

Roman ruler in purple robes seated on an ornate throne
A Roman ruler in purple robes sits on an ornate throne as attendants stand nearby.
Posted in Caesar, Jesus is Lord, Lord Jesus Christ, Roman history, Romans | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I Love to Witness the Joy of Early Christianity!

Posted on August 25, 2026 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
If you could go back and witness any historical event, which one would you pick?
View all responses

Somewhere along the way, Christianity abandoned banding together as a band of sisters and brothers in Christ directly led by the Spirit as they humbly open their hearts to God and to one another. Instead of assembling themselves together to spur one another on to love and good deeds by actively encouraging one another (Hebrews 10:24-25) Christians became a passive audience for a one-man-band juggling a weekly service and giving a religious talk.

Christianity is in crisis. Isn’t it time to strike up the band and begin obeying 1 Corinthians 14:26: “When you come together each one of you has a hymn, a word of instruction, a revelation . . .”

Christianity isn’t about merely making it through another sermon. It’s about letting Jesus within you and through you and continually direct you by His Spirit within you.

Here’s how you can do that: 

If as you pray
You will listen 
To the things that 
God has to say
And live His way
Throughout each day
You'll never stray 
From His presence.
Posted in biblical Christianity, Christian spirituality, Christianity, early Christianity, normal Christianity, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I’ve Never Seen a Tattoo That Says, “I’m Lukewarm.”

Posted on August 24, 2026 by Steve Simms

Lukewarm Christianity is casual and comfortable. The Bible calls it carnal because it promotes human desires, opinions, and feelings. It is words without power. It trains people to be passive church attendees and mere sermon-hearers instead of eager and obedient readers and doers of the Word. (James 1:22)

Jesus doesn’t like lukewarm Christianity. He even says that He will spew it out of His mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16)

Lukewarm Christianity is self-righteous. It teaches its adherents to believe they are good people (Romans 3:23) and don’t need to regularly humble themselves, (1 Peter 5:6) confess their sins, (James 5:16) acknowledge their great need for Christ’s forgiveness, and repent by changing how they think and act in daily life. (Matthew 3:2)

Lukewarm Christianity ignores God’s still small voice. (1 Kings 19:11-12) It trains Christians to quench the inner leadings of God the Holy Spirit. (1 Thessalonians 3:19)

Instead of actually demonstrating (1 Corinthians 2: 4) the presence and power of the risen Jesus, lukewarm Christianity keeps people ever learning sermon-based religious information. Rather than training people to listen daily to and faithfully obey “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” (Colossians 1:27) it makes them satisfied with passive church attendance.

Lukewarm Christianity gives people false confidence. It assures them that if they have ever asked Jesus into their heart, they will go to Heaven when they die as long as they attend and financially support a church. It makes people believe that Christianity is nothing more than a mere spectator religion. (2 Timothy 3:5)

Spirit-led Christianity, however, is radically different. It continually burns like a fire in the heart. (Luke 25:32) It supernaturally changes people from within (2 Corinthians 5:17) and transforms them from glory to glory more and more into the image of Christ. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

Spirit-led Christianity trains people to deny themselves, take up their cross daily, and faithfully follow, listen to, and obey the living Jesus. (Luke 9:23) It releases the fruit (Galatians 5:22-23) and gifts (1 Corinthians 12:1-12) of the Holy Spirit to flow powerfully, like rivers of living water, (John 7:38-39) both within and through people.

Spirit-led Christianity always keeps as its first priority to be inwardly governed and ruled directly by God. (Matthew 6:33) It empowers people to be faithful disciples who live the Beatitudes, the Sermon on the Mount, and all the rest of Christ’s teachings in daily life. It forgives everyone. (Colossians 3:13) It even loves and blesses its enemies. (Matthew 5:44)

Lukewarm, self-focused Christianity is popular. Spirit-led, self-denying Christianity is rare. If you are a Christian, has your love for and excitement about Jesus faded into lukewarmness? Or is it flourishing by being inwardly prompted, empowered, and led by God’s Spirit?

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Posted in lukewarm, Mere Christianity, normal Christianity, Real Christianity, Western Christianity | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Most Significant Other

Posted on August 23, 2026 by Steve Simms

The most significant Other in anyone’s life is the voice of God speaking to the heart. To notice and begin to obey God’s gentle inner whispers is to step into the supernatural dimension of life. The high calling you’ve sensed in your soul is the risen Jesus knocking on your heart’s door.

God is speaking all the time. And all the time, most people aren’t listening. “Most Christians don’t hear God’s voice because we’ve already decided we aren’t going to do what He says.” –A.W. Tozer

Let God train you to tenderly hear and obey Him. Stop shutting down what God’s Spirit is saying to you. When there is no peaceful, joyful melody in your heart, God is telling you something is out of tune.

One word heard directly from God is worth hundreds of thousands of words heard from a mere human mouth. However, doubt denies God’s voice.

Listen. Let God’s still small voice burn in your heart. It will brighten up your life. It may even make your body quake. In England in the 1600s groups of friends gathered to silently listen to and obey God’s voice together. Because they broke with religious tradition (but not with Christian doctrine) multitudes of them were arrested and thrown into prison. To insult them, people called them Quakers.

People who follow and flow with God’s voice are often considered crazy by those who are unwilling to hear God speak. Are you willing to be called crazy? I’m willing. That’s why I rarely get invited to preach in a traditional church. I think it is a miracle when I do!

If you are unwilling to hear what you don’t want to hear, you will miss God’s voice. The quieter, less distracted, and more surrendered you are, the more clearly you will hear Him speak. If you have the courage to persistently, humbly, and obediently listen, you can hear God’s still small voice.

It’s much easier to ignore God’s spiritual promptings than it is to faithfully notice and obey them. Dump the distractions that drown out God’s inner leadings, that dilute your awareness of His presence, and that draw you further from Him.

Refuse to allow anyone or anything (not even your ego) to stifle the Holy Spirit’s still small voice speaking in your soul. The more you listen and step out in obedience, the stronger the sound of His voice becomes. If you’re unwilling to daily walk the Spirit-led walk, (Romans 8:14) hearing another Sunday talk about Jesus won’t do you much good.

If you want to grow
Spiritually strong
Listen to and know
God’s inner voice
Speaking in your heart.

Posted in God's voice, hearing God's voice, inner peace, voice of God | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

I’m Sad That Mutuality Was Replaced by Tradition

Posted on August 22, 2026 by Steve Simms

The institutionally captive church recognizes two kinds of Christians — clergy (ministers/priests) and laity (regular people). However the Bible teaches that all Christ-followers are “kings and priests.” (Revelation 1:6) They are all part of a “royal priesthood.” (1 Peter 2:9)

Christians aren’t just church members. They are all priests called to “encourage one another,” to “spur one another on to love and good deeds,” (Hebrews 10:24-25) and to be a light to the world. (Matthew 5:14-16)

The leaders of the Protestant Reformation taught the priesthood of the believer as a doctrine. However, when they organized their churches they ignored it. They set up their institutionalized churches as a top-down pyramid with clergy on top and laity on the bottom.

Almost every Christian denomination and nondenominational church has followed suit and embraced two kinds of Christians — professional pastors commissioned to function like a one-man priest and control passive laymen and laywomen during an hour or longer religious service. Then the laypeople are sent home satisfied that they have done a good thing by being part of an audience of inactive attendees — hearers but not doers of the word. (James 1:22-25)

If any ministry needs to be done during the week lay Christians have been trained to call their professional pastor. They’ve been taught by example to rely on him to pray, to answer all religious questions, to explain the Bible, to evangelize, and to encourage people in the faith while they as laymen and laywomen remain silent.

However, when Jesus sent out His disciples He told them to go and make disciples of all nations and to teach their disciples to do everything that Jesus had commanded them to do. (Matthew 28:18-20) According to the Bible the role of leadership in the body of Christ is to train all Christians to do the work of the ministry. (Ephesians 4:11-13)

The Bible doesn’t support the traditional clergy laity divide. It teaches that all Christians through the blood of Jesus have direct access to God the Father and to the Holy Spirit. However the Bible does recognize two kinds of Christians — spiritual and carnal. Spiritual Christians obey and are led by the Spirit. Carnal Christians follow and obey their own thoughts, feelings, and desires. (1 Corinthians 3:1) Which are you?

Who is the head of a church — Jesus or the pastor. Jesus is supposed to be, but who plans the church service? Who controls it? Is it Jesus or the pastor?

Photo by Julion on Pexels.com
Posted in discipleship, mutual ministry, New Testament church, priesthood of the believer, royal priesthood | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The Institutional Captivity of Christianity

Posted on August 21, 2026 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
If you could relive one day from your past, which day would it be and why?
View all responses

The Bible tells how Judea (the ancient Jewish nation) was taken and held in captivity by Babylon. Church history shows that a similar thing has happened to Christianity. Throughout the centuries, spiritual awakenings and revival movements of spontaneous, Spirit-led Christianity have been taken captive and quenched by institutionalized religion.

I’ve seen that happen in my own life. The Jesus Movement of the 1970’s ignited and spread contagious, heartfelt, cage-free, Spirit-led Christianity around the world. Then the institutional captivity set in as churches drew spiritually ignited people into the passive religious routine of systematized programs and traditions.

The institutional captivity of Christianity has misled people to believe that faith in Christ is about little more than faithfully attending and financially supporting the church of your choice. It has been effective at compelling people to come and sit through church services, but very ineffective at empowering people to continually listen to and obey the risen Jesus in everyday life.

Instead of letting the living Jesus continually amaze us, Christianity has been caught in a maze of religious routine. The institutional captivity of Christianity has kept Christ-followers dependent on a human pastor and a religious organization, instead of on the present reality of the living resurrected Jesus.

Cage-free Christianity trains and releases Christians to freely roam as they are inwardly led by the Holy Spirit. (Romans 8:14) Go beyond the Sunday morning spectator routine and begin to daily follow and obey Christ the inner King.

Jesus isn’t a topic for a sermon or a religious study. He’s the present, living Lord and Savior. Follow Him.

Superficial Christianity is artificial. (2 Timothy 3:5) Spirit-led Christianity is authentic. (Romans 8:14) According to Mark 3:5, hardhearted people make Jesus angry and sad. Open up your heart to the tenderness of God the Holy Spirit. 

Testify. 
Don't forget 
Or deny 
Miracles 
Christ has done. 
Magnify
God the Son!
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Posted in Babylonian captivity, church burn out, churchianity, spiritual awakening | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Where’s Waldo and Where is Jesus?

Posted on August 20, 2026 by Steve Simms

There’s a famous children’s book called “Where’s Waldo?” or “Where’s Wally?” depending on the country it’s published for. It is full of images of various situations containing hundreds of people and objects. Waldo is somewhere in each crowded picture, and readers are challenged to find him. In the busy illustrations, that isn’t an easy task. Finding Waldo requires diligent seeking and persistence.

Two women went to look for someone they thought was dead and found an empty tomb. They were told, “He’s not here. He is risen. Why do you seek the living among the dead?” To find the risen Jesus, you need to see Him beyond dead religious routine, “having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.” (2 Timothy 3:15)

The Bible teaches that Christ lives in (Colossians 1:27) people who have been supernaturally transformed and made new by His presence and power. (2 Corinthians 5:17) In the crowded, self-focused situations of humanity, those people can, like Waldo, be hard to find.

However, when you find someone who is daily being led by Christ living inside of them, you’ll get a beautiful view of Jesus! I love encountering people like that. I seek out Christ-radiating people everywhere.

Like Waldo, Jesus can also be found through a book. When I open the Bible, I don’t just read it. I persistently search for Jesus until the words begin to burn in my heart, making me aware of His presence in and around me.

It’s fun to finally find Waldo in a “Where’s Waldo?” book, but it’s also easy to give up and quit seeking him. It’s incredible to experience Jesus through the Bible and encounter Him living in and through other people. However, it’s also very easy to give up, quit seeking Christ, and settle into dead religion.

When you find Jesus and His supernatural love, don’t just walk away. Take Him with you all lifelong, not as a mere memory, or as a historical person, or as a religious figure. Continually carry Christ’s presence and love in you as your absolute Master, Lord, and Savior. Listen to and obey Him throughout each day. Be always led by His Spirit, (Romans 8:14) and you will begin finding the living Jesus everywhere you go.

#whereswaldo #whereswally #wheresjesus

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Posted in Christ in people, Christ in you, Christ's presence, Christian community, Uncategorized, Where's Waldo | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I Wish I Could Erase All Cruelty Done in Christ’s Name

Posted on August 19, 2026 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
If you could erase one event from history, what would it be?
View all responses

I wish I could erase all the cruel words and actions that people, churches, and countries who call themselves Christian have done throughout history. If all the war, persecution, torture, killing, racism, lying, theft, deception, terrorism, genocide, and slavery done in the name of Jesus could be erased, world history would be so much kinder.

I believe that is why individuals, churches, and nations try so hard to sanitize their history by rewriting and reframing it to remove religious ruthlessness and brutality from their story. However, just because Christian cruelty is often left out of history textbooks, doesn’t mean that it didn’t happen.

Honestly and humbly admitting the sin in our corporate history is important. Christians like to celebrate, embrace, and boast in the events that make them proud of their nation’s history even though they personally had nothing to do with those events. Yet, they prefer to distance themselves from the injustices done by their nation and supported by their churches by saying things like, “I had nothing to do with slavery.”

That is a double standard. If we are going to own up to and take pride in what we see as the good things our nation, churches, and ancestors did in the past, shouldn’t we admit and be sorry for the evil that they did while boasting about being Christian?

I’m not just making this up. History shows that it is characteristic of all nations and people groups. Here’s a concrete example. I’m an American. We Americans love to glorify, celebrate, and Christianize our Founding Fathers and our founding documents, even though we had nothing to do with them. We also like to deny the tremendous evil of race-based slavery and the horrible crimes against humanity of widespread genocide against the Native Americans by proclaiming that we personally had nothing to do with those things.

We present-day human beings can’t change cruel historical events. However, we can admit them and be sorry for them. We can learn about the cruelty in the past instead of ignoring it by pretending it didn’t happen or by reframing it as something necessary or even good. We can show kindness, compassion, and understanding to the decedents of the victims. And we should? Why?

By remembering the cruelties done in the past, especially those done in the name of Christ, we can help prevent those cruelties from being repeated in our generation or in future generations. History shows that when past inhumanity is covered up, justified, or ignored, it eventually recycles to the present. We can’t change the cruelties committed by Christians in the past, but we can be reminded by the past not to embrace self-righteous, self-justifying Christian cruelty in words or deeds in the present.

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Posted in American history, black history, church history, history, slavery | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment