“Upon This Rock . . .” — The Light Rock!

Posted on July 21, 2023 by Steve Simms

The Light Rock!
(Revelation Rock)

Direct revelation
From God
Is:
A flash of inner light
Full of God’s insight
That gives a blind heart
Supernatural sight.
It’s the rock foundation
The risen Jesus uses
To build His assembly
Of living stones
As a bright light
To every nation.

The Light Rock is more than “easy listening.” It’s listening that releases awe! Sometimes it’s delightful; sometimes it’s deeply convicting!

Direct revelation from God is the reception of His gift of truth and light that empowers us to perceive with His perception instead of with our own. It is to see and to understand something from God’s perspective.

There are two sides to God’s direct, personal revelation. 1) Conviction of sin, and 2) Astonishment about Jesus. You see them both in Peter’s interactions with Jesus, but that didn’t make Him the rock that Jesus uses to assemble His people together as living stones.

Peter, after fishing all night and catching nothing was both astonished and convicted when Jesus directed him to a huge catch of fish. He fell at Jesus’ feet and said: ““Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” Peter had encountered the light rock — supernatural revelation of the awesomeness of Jesus and of his own sinfulness.

Jesus once asked His disciples: “Who do you say I am?” Peter declared, “You are the Christ (the Messiah) the Son of the Living God!” Jesus replied, “This was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in Heaven.” Jesus then goes on to say that on this rock I will build My assembly (mistranslated as church in English Bibles–it was the proper name of the interactive town hall meeting in ancient Greek cities).” So, what is “this rock”? The largest institutional church in the world claims that the rock was Peter. However, from the context, I believe that the rock is what “flesh and blood” can’t reveal. I believe that the rock that the living Jesus is using to build His assembly of living stones today is the rock of direct, personal revelation from God that the Holy Spirit uses to call Christ-followers into deep, open, and honest relationship with Jesus and with each other. That is God’s Light Rock!

Christ builds His body on the rock of direct, personal revelation from God, not on religion or on preachers’ quotations! The purpose of preaching should be to lead people to receive direct revelation from God and personally encounter and surrender to the risen Jesus, not just to teach religious lessons. Sermons and studies without direct personal revelation from Jesus can educate Christians, but they aren’t very good at empowering them to continually listen to and obey the risen Jesus.

Although Jesus taught that He would build the members of His body together on the rock of direct personal revelation from God, you almost never hear that mentioned in church. See Matthew 16. What the living Jesus is telling you today is infinitely more powerful than any preacher’s quote that you post or read. Dare to listen to Jesus and to share what He tells you.

What the living Jesus is telling you today is infinitely more powerful than any preacher’s quote that you post or read. Dare to listen to Jesus and to share what He tells you. What have you allowed God to reveal to you in the last 24 hours? He has been giving me revelation about revelation.

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Posted in founding of the church, I will build my church, prophetic insight, rock of revelation, spiritual insight | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

To “only imagine” isn’t enough!

Posted on July 20, 2023 by Steve Simms

It’s not enough to “only imagine.”
When Jesus speaks
He can’t be heard
By human ears.
They can only
Imagine.
But open hearts
Sense the soundings
Of His living word
Enlightening
Their surroundings
And changing them
From deep within
Through amazing
Revelations.

Go beyond imagination! Experience the everyday reality of the risen Jesus!

You don’t need to rely on your imagination. You can walk by Christ’s side throughout each day, surrounded by His glory, with His face ever before you and His presence always alive in you constantly empowering you to live now on earth as it is in Heaven!

Righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit are not obtained by human effort or imagination but by a humble openness and by an inner hunger and thirst that is willing to receive direct revelation from God by seeing and hearing supernaturally. Human eyes and human ears can “only imagine” But what eye hasn’t seen, and ear hasn’t heard has been revealed to us by the Spirit (not by flesh and blood).

Human imagination should never be a substitute for supernatural revelation. To behold and experience righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit is to lose your appetite for the things of this world as you hunger more and more for the inner government of God, the Headship and Lordship of the risen King and Lord Jesus, in your daily life.

Revelation is God’s gift of supernatural perception that focuses a human heart on the presence and reality of the living Jesus. It’s not about right and wrong. It’s about rivers of Christ’s spiritual life flowing from deep within you! Direct revelation from the living God is infinitely more powerful than human imagination.

Jesus didn’t abandon His followers to “only imagine.” He returned in the person of the Holy Spirit to lead, comfort, protect, and to reveal and demonstrate His presence and power to His people!

Why settle
For imagination?
If you’ll boldly
Taste and see,
You’ll experience
Christ’s reality
And great victory!

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Posted in contemporary Christian music, Gospel music, I can only imagine, I can only imagine song, imagineering, rock of revelation | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Declaration of Dependence

Posted on July 19, 2023 by Steve Simms

The risen Jesus is my Lord. I am daily dependent on Him. Apart from Him I can do nothing. He is my foundation, my strength, and my hope. I proclaim my dependence on Christ.

Jesus sets me free from my captivity to the control of self-focus. I am no longer driven by my desires, feelings, thoughts, and opinions. I continually celebrate my Christ-dependence and the care and compassion He shows to me. I rely on His presence living in and through me and directing me moment-by-moment. He never lets me down! Thank You, Jesus! I can never say it enough!

Independence from God leads to bondage to self-focus. To reject dependency on the living Jesus is to embrace dependency on habits, distractions, and substances. To “wait on the Lord” is to acknowledge and to fully submit to your dependence on Him.

The only dependency that doesn’t lead to bondage is dependency on the living Jesus Christ. Conscious dependency on the risen Jesus raises life to glorious levels! Christ-dependency brings freedom from every other dependency! Awareness of self-insufficiency opens the door to receive God’s help.

The more you depend on yourself the less you depend on God. Pride proclaims independence while it is enslaved to its own desires, feelings, and thoughts.

Revival occurs when Christians learn to depend on the present reality of risen Jesus, instead of on religious programs and hierarchies. The world’s greatest revolution is when someone shifts away from the rebellious independence of their self-will to daily dependence on and surrender to the living Jesus.

God’s looking for open hearts. Open your heart to and dependent on Him day and night. Help other people do the same!

Jesus said: “Follow Me.” He never said for us to be dependent on a program, a preacher, or a liturgy.

Give your alliance
To the risen Jesus,
Your compliance
To His will
And put your reliance
On His presence!

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An invitation to “Zoom” in on ekklesia!

Posted on July 18, 2023 by Steve Simms

This gallery contains 1 photo.

My wife and I are overseeing a Zoom ekklesia experience the next 4 Mondays from 10:00 am to 11:30 Central Time. To participate in one (or all) of them go to: http://okmtraining.org and click on “Join A Class.” Then click … Continue reading →

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A fresh rendition on the subject of benediction

Posted on July 17, 2023 by Steve Simms

God-given revelation
Will change your destination.
Open your heart to God
Without hesitation.

I don’t believe
In benedictions.
Worship should be
Without time restrictions.
Rejoice in the Lord always!

Here’s a prediction:
If churches would break their addiction
To an on-time benediction
And allow people to linger long
In heart-felt worship and song
Until they become fully aware
That Christ-purchased forgiveness
Makes them belong
In God’s presence
What miracles we would see!

A benediction too often means that church is over and it’s now okay to shift focus away from God to your own personal choices. It signals that it’s time to move on, but it’s never time to move on from God. No benediction should ever be used to shut down God-given revelation and heart-felt worship. Instead of a benediction, Christians need Christ-centered ignition!

Relationships are the Christian mission — “Love one another.” To move beyond superficial relationships to vibrant, intimate, and deeply caring relationships requires honest, heart-to-heart interaction. However, an audience gathered around social attraction and passive listening is almost never allowed to engage in humble, openhearted sharing.

Too often Christians either ignore the 50+ one another commandments in the New Testament or try to obey them in a forced, obligatory way. If only we would take the time and humility to gather to open our hearts to each other, we’d begin obeying those commandments out of love and compassion.

To beat the blues, follow the rhythm of God’s heartbeat! God gives us binary choices. We can live by the tree of life or by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We can obey Him or obey our own knowledge, thoughts, feelings, and desires.

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Freedom quiz

Posted on July 17, 2023 by Steve Simms

Freedom quiz: How many of these life-traps are you free from?

  • Discouragement,
  • Frustration,
  • Anger,
  • Guilt,
  • Tormenting thoughts,
  • Grumpiness,
  • Unforgiveness,
  • Bad habits,
  • Addiction,
  • Anxiety,
  • Shame,
  • Cheating,
  • Self-righteousness,
  • Sexual obsession,
  • Drug abuse,
  • Hatred,
  • Blame,
  • Depression,
  • Self-focus,
  • Bad attitude,
  • Worry,
  • Unkindness,
  • Name calling,
  • Profanity,
  • Drunkenness,
  • Controlling desires,
  • Overeating,
  • Hostility,
  • Verbally attacking people,
  • Dishonesty,
  • Stinginess,
  • Rebellion,
  • Pride,
  • Deception,
  • Hopelessness,
  • Bitterness,
  • Hardheartedness,
  • Distressing feelings,
  • Self-justification,
  • Greed,
  • Lust,
  • Envy.
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Jesus talks to me

Posted on July 16, 2023 by Steve Simms

If you have ever
Experienced the glory
Of the risen Jesus,
Tell the story.
If you’ve found His peace
Instead of worry
Tell the story.
Refuse to merely be
A repository
To safely store
Christ’s story.
Your revelatory
Experiences with Him
Need to be told.
Be articulatory
About what Jesus
Has done for you,
Tell the story!
If people are derogatory,
Be kind and keep on
Telling the story.

The silence of Christians about their personal encounters with the living Jesus causes people to think that Jesus is silent and inactive. To silence Christians when they gather for worship and make them little more than an audience shuts down their amazing stories of how God is working in and through them.

Jesus is talking directly to His people every day. However, because it’s rare for Christians to admit that they hear Him, it’s easy to believe that Christ is silent and His inner voice is only imagination.

Jesus frequently speaks to me with an inner voice deep inside me. It’s sometimes words, sometimes a sensation, sometimes a prompting, sometimes a flash of understanding and insight, sometimes an image, sometimes my conscience, sometimes a memory, sometimes a Scripture burning in my heart. I’ve even heard Him call me by name. The more I pay attention the stronger the voice of Jesus grows. If I resist, reject, or ignore His inner voice it fades away. When I listen and obey, amazing things happen. Listening to the voice of the living Jesus gives me incredible peace and powerful encounters with Him.

I’m so glad that Jesus said: “My sheep hear My voice,” and that He continually demonstrates those words to me. Listen carefully deep inside of you and you too can hear Jesus personally speak to you!

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Lessons from Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship and their early meetings

Posted on July 15, 2023 by Steve Simms

Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship was amazing! In its early days it met monthly, setting aside the Christian tradition of institutional identity and celebrated leaders. They gathered passionate Christ-followers from various backgrounds to meet in hotel conference rooms around the world in order to focus on the presence of the living Jesus.

In 1974 I had a traveling sales job and was able to attend Full Gospel Business Men’s meetings around the USA. They were marvelous. Christians gathered without caring about anyone’s church identity or the lack thereof. Their attention was on hearing from the risen Jesus, not just from prominent Christian leaders. They worshipped Jesus with goosebump-raising passion. People would excitedly testify about how Jesus had set them free and how He was presently working in them. Sometimes the whole room would sing in tongues together in supernatural unity and glorious harmony.

Strangers embraced each other with heart-felt love. People prayed out loud with and for one other. Miracles happened. Joy filled the atmosphere.

Unfortunately, as time went by the group became institutional and began to focus on organizational identity, human hierarchy, and celebrity leaders. Eventually it splintered into multiple organizations and faded into obscurity. Here are some lessons from their early days:

  • Revival ignites when Christians intentionally ignore institutional identities and instead focus on the risen Jesus.
  • The Holy Spirit is capable of doing amazing things if we will get institutionalism out of His way.
  • When Christ-followers gather without institutional identity and controlling hierarchy, Christ is free to carry the meeting.
  • When you want Christ’s presence more than His presents, your spirit will soar!
  • The Creator is the One who has the right to identify us. Self-identifying brings division not unity.
  • Guilt isn’t removed by self-justification, denial, or medication. It’s removed by humble acknowledgement, honest confession, sincere repentance, and the undeserved forgiveness purchased by Christ on the Cross.
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3 random thoughts about life and meaning

Posted on July 14, 2023 by Steve Simms

To believe that God isn’t real, that there’s no Creator, is to believe that you (and everything else that is seen, felt, thought, or desired) is merely an accident.

Materialists say nothing is real but matter, but they ignore the reality that an atom, the smallest material thing, is almost exclusively empty space inside a ball of energy that masquerades as real.

Almost no one lives like they believe that their life is only a marvelous but meaningless mingling of atoms and electrons.

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Christians, let’s lose our snooze!

Posted on July 14, 2023 by Steve Simms

The time you use
To spiritually snooze
Will cause you to cruise
With culture currents
And gradually you’ll lose
Your desire to unite
With the armor
Of God’s light.

Self-focused desire gratification causes us to rely on human effort and our own perceptions rather than daily depending on and relying on the risen Jesus. We may acknowledge that Jesus exists, but we don’t believe in Him enough to continually surrender our life and our choices to His control. Our everyday life is self-driven rather than Jesus-driven and spiritual slumber keeps us from understanding and encountering the present time reality of the living Jesus.

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