Freedom, mental health, & hope

Posted on July 5, 2020 by Steve Simms

Mental and emotional bondage restricts freedom. Freedom that doesn’t reach to your mind and your heart is incomplete. It’s good to celebrate freedom. It’s better to live free — without bondage to thoughts, feelings, or desires.

It’s hard to dance with joy when disappointment, anger, and unforgiveness hold your feet to the ground. People who faithfully self-destruct betray their own happiness. To abandon your conscience is like driving a car with no breaks–you can go fast, but you may not be able to stop. Often the worst tyranny is internal–cravings, compulsions, fear, depression, worry, anxiety, hate, pride, obsessions, guilt, etc.

To abandon hope is to go overboard, into a sea of despair. Instead, abandon thoughts that torment you. Take your mind away from them and don’t look back. Freedom isn’t just a proclamation. It’s a life lived beyond the bondage of tormenting feelings and thoughts.

The living Jesus offers people bondage-breaking freedom from tormenting feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. Jesus taught that knowing the truth brings freedom. Fact checking with humility can set us free from deception.

Genuine love is liberating because it takes your mind off yourself and focuses it on someone else. The undercurrents of evil are continually active in the human heart, but freely flowing with the inner rivers of Jesus brings liberty. A joyful heart discovers daily delights.

I believe that when Christians meet, the absence of a prearranged agenda can allow for the presence of Jesus to lead us. However, the internal Jesus stirring your heart is far more powerful than external Christian meetings ever can be.

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History beyond the myths

Posted on July 5, 2020 by Steve Simms

Like the Pharisees, we can miss what God’s doing in our time, because of our religion. Looking beyond our myths can help us avoid their mistake.

Myths and statues have been used as cover-ups in an ongoing attempt to make historical injustice look honorable. It’s hard to abandon familiar myths that deform the past, especially when they shield us from uncomfortable realities. However, we can’t be honest about history unless we abandon myths, distortions, cover-ups, gloss-overs, and outright lies.

To disrespect other people while expecting them to respect you, is to live in a dark, fantasy world. Freedom of speech is a two-way street. It means that people who we disagree with also have the right to declare their views.

If we disrespect people’s humanity because of their belief or allegiance, we don’t fully value human life.

Race doesn’t have to be so puzzling.
Unscramble the simplicity
Of skin color.

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Examining the Declaration of Independence

Posted on July 3, 2020 by Steve Simms 
Investigating independence
With an honest eye,
Reveals that the beautiful document
That declares freedom from tyranny
And the self-evident truths
Of equality for all and inalienable rights,
Left about 700,000 human beings,
Amazing men, women, and children,
Completely out of the self-evident
And took away their inalienable rights,
By subjecting them to the life-long
Tyranny of human trafficking.

For more light on American history, click here.

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Being mindful of God-words (they’re flowing thru your mind)

Posted on July 2, 2020 by Steve Simms

God-words are thoughts and/or impressions that come directly from God. Human consciousness is sprinkled with God-words. I believe that all people experience God-words, but that few people learn to recognize them and obey them. Most people ignore them.

Too many people want God’s presents instead of His presence. Noticing God-words will awe you with His presence.

God-words are supernatural. Although they rise up from within you, your mind and/or heart are not their source. Most people never learn to recognize the God-words that flow thru them, but falsely assume they are part of their own thoughts. However, to begin to notice and obey God-words that flow thru your mind and heart is to open yourself up to miraculous revelation and insight.

The Bible’s full of God-words that other people have written down for you. Reading it will help you hear what God’s saying to you. The writers of the Bible learned to be aware of God-words. They continually state that God-words came to them.

The Bible’s not the only source of God-words. They also flow thru your heart and mind. God-words include: Word of knowledge (information), word of wisdom (guidance), prophecy (instruction), and discernment (recognition). God is consistent. God-words will not violate His Holy Spirit as revealed in the Bible.

Most humans recognize convictions of righteousness, within their heart and mind, but call them “conscience” instead of God-words. Do you want to hear some words from God? Notice your thoughts and feelings and focus on the ones that call you to purity.

Your consciousness flows with words and impressions from 3 sources: 1) Yourself, 2) Evil spirits, and 3) God (God-words). What you need most is already flowing thru your consciousness. Notice and obey the miraculous God-words that are being sent to you.

Here is hope for those who notice and obey God-words: “He sent His word and healed them and delivered them from their destructions.” -Ps. 107:20. Trying to figure life out is a struggle, but God-words bring clarity and peace.

Jesus said this about God-words: “Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from Him comes to Me.” –John 6:45. Evil tries to counterfeit God-words, but the Holy Spirit, the Bible, and Christ-like people will help you avoid the counterfeit.

Don’t settle for second-hand God-words that come thru a preacher. Notice and obey the God-words being sent directly to you. God-words (flowing thru your mind and heart) are your greatest resource. Too ignore them is to miss out on the true meaning of life.

As you notice and surrender to God-words, they burn in your heart and lovingly propel you to joyously follow and obey the risen Jesus. Search for: The Joy Of Early Christianity book.

God-words are flowing
Right inside of you,
So close, so near, so dear,
If only you will notice and hear.

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Suspicious minds need a suspicion check

Posted on July 1, 2020 by Steve Simms

Suspicions aren’t facts. Suspicion check! Yours might be wrong. Perhaps the best suspicion is the suspicion that many of your suspicions are false.

Suspicion makes for a very uncomfortable atmosphere. In many ways, it hinders happiness.

Be suspicious of the evil in your own heart. It’s not your friend! Some people seem to be suspicious of everybody and everything, except the evil in their own heart.

Suspicion and heart-felt kindness can’t coexist. Suspicious people seldom show joy. Suspicion makes people feel like someone is guilty, even when there’s no proof.

When suspicion overrides trust, a relationship goes down the drain. Jumping to conclusions produces many unwarranted suspicions.

When you let suspicion set up shop in your heart, you’ll begin to find fault all around. Blamestorming releases much unhappiness. If you think shady thoughts and do dark things, you’ll quickly become suspicious of others

Suspicion will shut down your heart and suspend your ability to love. Suspicion will cause you to find the bad you’re looking for in other people, even if you make it up. Conspiracy theories are exalted suspicions, dramatized and packaged to produce maximum fear with minimum rationality.

Suspicions and superstitions both torment the lives of people who give themselves over to them. People who seem to enjoy casting suspicion on others, get upset when people are suspicious of them.

Too much suspicion and a society will crumble. To be suspicious of someone because of skin shade, is shady. Hate usually has shaky foundations; sometimes suspicion; sometimes false accusations; sometimes skin color; sometimes politics. A dynamic relationship with the living Jesus can override your suspicions, disarm your heart, and empower you to love everybody.

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Pride and prejudice against humility

Posted on July 1, 2020 by Steve Simms

Pride brushes aside other people’s opinions. Humility tries to understand them.

Humility is underrated. Pride is over blown.

Proud people blame other people. Humble people accept responsibility for the consequences of their words and behaviors.

Pride can get you stuck. If you’re unwilling to think outside your opinions, feelings, and desires, you’re stuck.

The Bible says that if we turn from our “wicked ways,” God will heal our land, but how can we turn from them if we don’t think we have any?

To pray isn’t just words that you say. It’s also being humble enough to hear what God says and to obey Him.

Few people define Christianity as “exhilarating,” but I do! There’s nothing like hanging out with the living Jesus! The living Jesus daily infuses me with peace, joy, purpose, and hope.

Pride produces unhappiness. Unhappiness isn’t Christian. Joy is! “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” -Jesus

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Is church like a parked bus?

Posted on June 29, 2020 by Steve Simms

Too often, church is like a parked bus. You get on and take a seat. An hour later, you get off at the same place you got on.

Rather than the celebration of the living Jesus, church has too often felt to me like the maintenance of methodical monotony. Going to church isn’t empowering people to love their enemies. Hostile church goers show more is needed — the living Jesus!

I find sermon hearing to be like trying to reach the moon on a step ladder, but the risen Jesus rockets me into God’s presence. Church has failed to demonstrate that biblical Christianity produces “joy unspeakable & full of glory” and leads to continual rejoicing.

The living Jesus wants to heal your hostility toward God and toward people. Hostile people see hostility all around them and are ready to lash out in a moment, but Christ-filled people spread kindness everywhere. Retaliation amplifies hostility, but continual kindness gradually melts it, like sunlight melting ice.

Hostile people are easily offended. Their disdain for others keeps them snared in various degrees of misery.

It’s pure joy when I’m “in the Spirit” and sense the presence of the living Jesus soaring within and around me. I love to sing directly to the risen Jesus (both in English and in tongues). When I do an amazing ecstasy fills my mind and heart.

Experiment with your emotional and mental states, and you will discover that you can improve them by changing your thoughts and behaviors to align with the living Jesus and with the Bible. Moment by moment, thoughts are creating your attitude and your emotions. Consistently let the risen Jesus give you better thoughts and then you’ll feel better.

Learn how to get beyond “parked bus” Christianity. Search for: The Joy Of Early Christianity book.

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People with needy egos vilify others

Posted on June 29, 2020 by Steve Simms

To try to make themselves look and feel important, insecure people will sometimes vilify other people. A needy ego tends to vilify anyone or anything that it sees as a hinderance.

A mature leader takes responsibility. An immature one engages in “blamestorming”–accusing and vilifying other people. It’s best not to glorify someone who vilifies others, because if you do, some of his hatred will stick in your heart. After all, there’s nothing “great” about berating and denigrating people.

You can’t change people by vilifying them, but you can by touching their heart with kindness, humility, and love. However, When demeaning attitudes are bolstered in society, something will eventually burst. Be careful. Confidence can easily expand into arrogance and before we know it, we’re looking down on others.

Here’s an example of how vilification was used in American history: Attempting to justify slavery and Jim Crow, blacks were vilified for centuries. That demeaning propaganda hasn’t been fully overcome.

If we vilify people who disagree with us, we lay aside Christian love and will soon be dominated by hostility and self-righteousness. Anybody can vilify people, but it takes courage and faith to love and be kind to people who disagree with you. The Bible tells me to, “Consider others better than yourself,” not to demean any other individual or group.

To say that people who disagree with you are evil, is to overlook the evil in your own heart and mind. If we lose sight of the evil in our own heart, we can falsely assume we are better than others. (However, the Bible says: “All we like sheep have gone astray.” God’s forgiveness will refurbish and renew your broken life, if you ask for and humbly receive it.)

Instead of demeaning people, Christians are called to be friends in “low places” and to demonstrate Jesus’ spiritual “oasis.” However, before we can be fully aware of the living Jesus, we have to look beyond our own feelings, desires, and opinions.

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What does “Jesus is Lord,” mean?

Posted on June 28, 2020 by Steve Simms

For many Christians, Jesus is merely a subject of systematic theology, instead of the living Lord who they humbly obey. Until our desires, feelings, and opinions have been freely surrendered to the authority of the risen Jesus, we won’t understand His Lordship.

To say, “Jesus is Lord,” while following your own desires, feelings, or destructive thoughts and behaviors is a contradiction. Jesus wants to disconnect us from harmful and/or destructive thoughts and behaviors, but too often we keep trying to hook up with them again.

Academic Christianity makes church a school and Jesus a lesson. It puffs up the mind, but leaves the heart anemic. Jesus didn’t die and rise again to be a visitor in your heart, but to take it over and fill you with passion and strength to obey Him daily.

Christianity’s not an entitlement program with benefits to suit your fancy. It’s a call to surrender your desires, feelings, and opinions to Jesus. Conforming to religious expectations isn’t the same thing as daily following and obeying the risen Jesus.

Whether you’re right or you’re wrong, if you don’t show love, you’re off target. The risen Jesus calls His followers to love people who hate. Our current situation is revealing the church’s failure to train Christians to love all people and to bless those who curse us.

Christ, living in me, makes me love everybody. (I don’t agree with everybody but I want health, happiness and well being for all.)

If there’s a hot spot in your heart for the living Jesus, now is the time to log on and stay logged in 24/7/365. (If not, get one.)

Dim light can be dangerous because it makes people think they see better than they really do. History shows that when Christianity gets entangled with politics, rather than bringing politics up, it gets pulled down. When political views become a greater focus than love for Jesus, Christians turn against each other. If you can’t or won’t see things from another point of view, you’ll be stuck with your own.

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Beware of backwards Christianity

Posted on June 26, 2020 by Steve Simms

Too often we get Christianity backwards. We expect Christ to follow and bless our desires, feelings, and opinions.

If asking Jesus into your heart doesn’t lead to following Him instead of your own opinions and desires, you’ve stopped short of Christianity. We humans like to follow our invisible thoughts, feelings, and desires, but the invisible Jesus calls us to follow Him instead.

To follow the living Jesus, it’s important that you don’t go faster than He does. To follow the living Jesus, we need to: 1) Become aware of His presence, 2) Hear His voice, 3) Do what He says.

Your own desires can deceive you. People may mislead you. But if you follow “Christ in you,” He’ll lead you to true freedom. People who are convinced they’re right, often have no scruples about doing wrong, to defend what they think they’re right about.

The greatest freedom isn’t found in pride and confrontation. It’s found in humble and loving obedience to the living Jesus. If you follow people who wallow in arrogance, you’ll gradually embrace their hollow pride.

Say and do what’s right, with kindness and compassion, whether anyone follows you or not. Before you follow your heart, make sure it’s telling you the truth. It’s an expert at leading you astray. Jeremiah 17:9

When I let the living Jesus tell me what to do and do what He tells me (even when I don’t want to), He steps in with miracles.

Hype and emotion don’t necessarily equal truth. They can easily sweep us away from wisdom and into blind acceptance of deception.

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