Prepare the Waze of the Lord

Posted on June 28, 2021 by Steve Simms

Sort thru
The thoughts
Within you
To do
The few
From God
And they’ll
Grow into
Many.

If Jesus was doing His earthly ministry in 2021 He might say, “I am the Waze, the truth, and the life.” (If John the Baptist was alive in 2021, he might say: “Prepare the Waze of the Lord.”)

If you know how to follow Waze, then you know how to follow Jesus. Activate His voice, listen, and then do what He says.

Just because Waze is on your phone and Jesus is in your heart, doesn’t mean you’re listening to and obeying them. Having Jesus in your heart without following His directions is like having Waze on your phone without logging on to it.

The living Jesus is like Waze. The people listening to Him are all getting different directions depending on their spiritual location.

When you’ve got Waze, you don’t need to hear regular talks about it. You just need to follow it. (Same with Jesus.)

When distractions
Become our
Main attractions
We get off track
And lose sight of God.

We have a choice. We can let a disc track habitually distract your mind or you we stream fresh thoughts from God.

Daily following and obeying the inner promptings and proddings of the living Jesus is energizing and refreshing.

I believe your conscience can better instruct you about how to follow Jesus than a preacher can, if you listen to it.

Too often religion analyzes Christianity but neglects to actualize it. If you look back you can see that Jesus was present in your past. If you look around, you can see that He’s present now.

Like fire hoses flowing in my heart, the rivers of living water that Jesus predicted continually energize me. Let the living Jesus innergize you with His power and energy flowing from within you.

Photo by Rachel Claire on Pexels.com
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Awe-sitivity — the wonder of it all

Posted on June 26, 2021 by Steve Simms

When awe sneaks
Into your heart,
Linger.
Wonder.
Gasp.
Let inspired tears
Freely flow.

Make way for awe.
To avoid it
Is to miss
The brilliance
And magnitude
Of life.

Awe for life matters!
Deep and profund
Wonder and respect
For human life
Is momentous.

If you're unwilling
To live beyond self
And be aware
Of vastness
And transcendence,
Awe will be rare.

An inner infusion of awe, can turn an ordinary day into an extraordinary day! Awe’s always available if we seek it. It expands our perception and makes us acutely aware of things that are beyond our comprehension.

When we recognize the significance of our life and the life of all people, a sense of awe will flood our heart. Most people have had a few awe experiences in their life. Few people live in a continual state of awe.

Open, tender people are continually awestruck by life. Cold, hard people are often struck down by their own bitterness and negativity.

It’s painful to see life as awful, but glorious to see life as awe-full. To live unimpressed by life and the glories that surround you, is a tragic lapse into apathy.

To fall into awe is to begin to experience the splendor of life with appreciation and gratitude. The unwillingness to ponder and wonder about things that we don’t understand often prevents us from experiencing awe.

If there’s a shortage of awe and wonder in your life, read the Bible with an open heart. Then get ready to be continually amazed.

Everyday I see God do amazing things that leave me in a state of awe and wonder. An unwillingness to be awestruck by the living Jesus, keeps many Christian from experiencing the victory God that has for them.

Make the living Jesus a daily part of your consciousness. Let Him direct your thinking and you’ll be amazed at where your mind will go!

An aweless church service is a disservice to the majesty and glory of the presence of the living Jesus. To be aware of the immensity of the living Jesus while experiencing the intimacy of His presence, is transformational!

When Christians are unaware of the awesome presence of Jesus, they settle for religious routine. Let the living Jesus make you lighthearted with supernatural insights and the joy and peace of His presence.

Awe-sitivity, being sensitive to awe, was prevalent among the early Christians. When it’s absent, faith is greatly hindered. Take divine awe out of Christianity and all you’re left with is duty and dogma.

The book of Acts shows how the early Christians continually created an atmosphere of awe. Read it and then do what they did. Pushing aside the mystery of God by continually trying to explain Him, has robbed Christianity of much of its wonder and awe.

Christians are taught
How to sit thru a talk
But not how to daily walk
In awe of God.

One day,
I was thunderstruck
By Jesus
And boom!
My life was
Forever changed!

Does Life Matter? People matter, more than any of us realize.

Most governments say
That life doesn’t matter
When it’s on death row,
An enemy combatant,
Or waiting to be born.

Photo by Angelo Duranti on Pexels.com
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Realizing God’s real makes a really big difference in life

Posted on June 25, 2021 by Steve Simms

Because your unaware,
Doesn’t mean
That God’s not there,
Unnoticed in life’s glare.

The realization that God is real will make a really big difference in your life. When you’re unaware of God, you live like He is absent, even when you’re surrounded by His presence.

We are free to ignore the presence of God and fill our life with distractions, if we choose. Tormenting thoughts often require extended mental combat, otherwise they can last a lifetime.

The more you pursue awareness of God, the more you will experience His presence. God-seekers grow in closeness to Him. Since Jesus lives in the present, you can continually enjoy His presence while living on earth and not have to wait until you die.

Often drowned out by mental and emotional noise, the still, small voice of the living God steadily speaks within human hearts. It’s hard to find the living God in objects when He’s actively working in your heart to show you His presence. “Be still and know . . .”

I love it when spontaneous, joy-filled celebrations of God’s presence break out in my heart. God’s presence amidst His people is not a myth. I’ve experienced it many times.

It’s easy to ignore spiritual awareness–the inner indication that there’s more to life than organic mechanics–or we can pursue it. If you look within you, you’ll notice something that’s trying to lead you to better behavior, even when you don’t want to follow.

Your awareness overflows with thoughts, feelings, and desires. The ones you accept and focus on will shape your life.

Photo by Artem Podrez on Pexels.com
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The idea of a human color hierarchy is a myth

Posted on June 24, 2021 by Steve Simms

My fellow human beings, thru all their struggles and faults, have beauty within. I’m glad to be part of the human race!

Unfortunately, a cruel focus on skin-color has filled centuries with indescribable pain. Let’s focus on kindness. 21st century humanity needs a break from colorism.

Skin color is real. However the centuries old concept of a skin color hierarchy is a myth that needs to be busted.

We aren’t suspicious of dogs, cats, hamsters, horses, cattle, or chickens because of their color. It would be nice if we had the same respect for people.

It’s nonsense to define who people are by their eye color (or by their skin color). If you classify people by the color of their skin, you’ll overlook who they are within.

Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.com
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Can we stop hurting & devaluing human life?

Posted on June 24, 2021 by Steve Simms

Anyone who devalues any human life has failed to recognize the most valuable thing in the world. If your life matters, then so does all human life in all of its stages.

The greatest failure is the failure to appreciate and respect the value human life. Every failure to value human life is a form of insanity.

The most valuable thing on earth is human life, from its beginning in conception to the last heartbeat. To devalue any stage of human life is to devalue all human life.

Murder is cowardice. For a person to make himself the executioner of a human life is the ultimate arrogance.

Hurt people, hurt other people. Forgive so you don’t remain in pain and spread it around. Memories you allow to stream thru your consciousness can bring great joy or painful torment. Select them wisely.

Inspired people, inspire other people. Open your heart to hope. When you complain about circumstances, you plant pain producing seeds in your heart. Instead ask: “What’s good about my life?”

To forgive is to give yourself the gift of healing from the pain that people have caused you. To hurt someone back is to back yourself into the claws of vengeance.

Hurt can produce hate.
Wounds can produce wisdom.
You get to choose.

People who want
To cause pain
Have let their conscience
Go down the drain.

Pain makers
Are cruel takers,
Running over people
To get what they want.

If you’ve ever pretended
To be mended,
You know that
Faking it
Isn’t really
Making it

Love doesn’t chuck
Morality
To applaud,
As people go amuck
And begin to self-destruct

Photo by Tatiana Syrikova on Pexels.com
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Give me eyes that deracialize

Posted on June 23, 2021 by Steve Simms

People can’t be divided
Into superior
Or inferior.
We all struggle
In our interior.

Let’s give the clearance.
There’s no need
To evaluate people
By natural appearance.

See eyes.
Brown, hazel or blue,
Doesn’t matter.
Also skin
Doesn’t show
What’s within.

God give me eyes
That deracialize,
That see
Everybody
As equal to me.

A colorful face
Or a face
That’s pale,
Learn to see them both
With kindness and grace.

To replace
The human race
With the idea of races
Displaces community
With disunity.

There’s been so much sin
In judging skin.
It’s time we begin
To find love within.

Light skin is
Mere biology,
But a heart full of light
Is true delight!

I deduce:
The racialization of humanity
Created an excuse
To set loose
Much abuse.

America needs the lost art
Of listening with compassion
To other people’s heart.

Instead of reading America’s history of injustice with a skin-color focus, read it with a fairness focus. Then it will look different to you.

Racial differences are a myth. Under the skin we humans are made of the same stuff. Any behavioral differences between people of different skin tones, are cultural, not physiological.

The people who you think are of a different race than you, actually belong to the same human race that you do. Too often we’ve shaded our eyes from the fact that the various skin shades of humanity are as meaningless as the color of our pet.

Racism is like using profanity. It’s often habitual and without an intent to do harm.

Check out: Off the RACE Track–From Color-Blind to Color-Kind. Thank you.

Photo by Yaroslav Shuraev on Pexels.com
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ppprrraaayyyeeerrr is bigger than we think it is

Posted on June 22, 2021 by Steve Simms

When you speak a prayer,
Or think a prayer,
Something in your heart
Begins to care.

Prayer’s more than
A part you play,
Words to say
In a holy way
Or on a special day.

When prayer
Freely flows,
It grows
Stronger.

When prayer becomes
A mere formality,
True spirituality
Becomes a casualty.

To pray
Or not to pray,
That’s never been
The question
For me.

Prayer's not just
How you communicate
Or what you articulate.
It's also about how you meditate
On the living God.

I don’t write prayers, but I do find that praying rights me. Praying increases my faith because it empowers me to hear God’s voice and makes His words burn in my heart. (Romans 10:17.) The whole world is my pray-ground.

Biblical prayer is more about maintaining a relationship with God than it is about getting answers from Him. To pray is not a way to force your will on God, but to surrender your will to His.

Prayer is more than words occasionally spoken to God. It’s a lifestyle. Where there’s awareness of God, prayer happens.

Prayer and worry don’t get along. When one comes in, the other goes out the door. No matter what or how you pray, God knows whether you mean it or not.

Prayer that falls short of personally encountering God, is just words. True prayer is relating to God. The time for prayer is now–every moment of the day. “Pray without ceasing.” Prayer (like breathing) isn’t just for special times.

I like to pray with my eyes open — to converse with God about what I see thru out the day. A programmed, prearranged talk with a good friend would seem strange. That’s the way reading programmed prayers seems to me.

The power of prayer is in God’s ability to answer, not in how you ask. Trust in Him, not in your own religious efforts. To pray is not a way to force your will on God, but to surrender your will to His.

You can be praying without saying. Sometimes that’s the most powerful prayer–listening, hearing, and obeying God’s voice. Interactive prayer lets God do some of the talking.

Christians need to be visible examples of Christ-centered living. A living relationship with Jesus takes place within you, not in outward ceremonies or meetings.

People who deny that they have done wrong, deny their need for forgiveness, mercy, and grace. They don’t realize that they need to pray.

God is only away
If you’re astray.
You can stay
With Him.
“Abide in Me.”

Photo by Michelle Leman on Pexels.com
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

A quick & deracialized look at slavery

Posted on June 22, 2021 by Steve Simms

Let’s deracialize slavery and judge it by the content of it’s cruelty, not by the color of anyone’s skin. See history without racial eyes. Slavery was evil, regardless of the color of the slaveholders.

Read about violence and injustice in American history, without noticing skin-color and you’ll be shocked at what people did to people. A non-racial view of American history doesn’t see white and black. It sees much human trafficking and abuse done to innocent people.

Historical facts
Aren't "racist" or "divisive."
They're just reality.
It's important
To be in touch with reality.
You can handle the truth.

To deny
The humanity
Of any person
Or developing human life
Is cruel, no matter the color.

For America to heal, we need to get out of the box of race and examine the slavery and injustice in our history with the light of truth. I try to do that in this book.

Photo by Polina Tankilevitch on Pexels.com
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Taste & see the reality of the living Jesus

Posted on June 21, 2021 by Steve Simms

Let God be the chef of your life. His menu is your key to happiness. Freely embrace what He’s cooking up for you. O taste and see that the Lord is good.

There are invisible places–spaces inside your heart where you can meet with God. Christianity can’t be explained by logic, but once it reaches the inner recesses of the heart, it releases ongoing floods of joy.

Jesus lights my heart
With supernatural fire
That ever burns
Within me.

Christianity is supposed to be all about Jesus–His presence, His active leadership, His glory! True Christianity is what you let the living Jesus do in your heart and in your daily life. It’s not sitting in church.

When Christians gather to seek the living Jesus, without hierarchy, the result isn’t anarchy, but the kingdom of God. If the living Jesus isn’t our active and direct leader, we’ve abandoned the kingdom of God. Faith without follow through is empty through and through.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Verses for heart healing

Posted on June 21, 2021 by Steve Simms

Words that touch your heart,
Can heal pain
That your brain
Doesn’t understand.

Your heart
Can be cultivated
To grow with fruitfulness
Or allowed to overflow
With weeds.

Don’t just spectate
While your heart
Pumps and palpitates.
Think and participate.

I like conversations
Where people share
Matters of the heart
With compassion and care.

Don’t just go thru what you’ve been thru before. Go beyond it. Before you follow your feelings and desires, look ahead to the consequences.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment