Essential Christianity / Spirit-led orthodoxy

Posted on April 7, 2020 by Steve Simms

Essential Christianity is:
Christ living in you,
Producing glorious hope.

There are some essential behaviors, beliefs, and heart-changes that are required for growing in Christ. It’s not passive and automatic. Spirit-led orthodoxy isn’t an oxymoron, but its the lived experience of millions of passionate Christ-followers around the world.

The essential “assembling ourselves together” involves connecting heart-to-heart with one another and with the risen Jesus. Authenticity is essential to following Christ. “Walk in the light.” Much that modern Christianity promotes and values, is not essential to following and obeying the risen Jesus.

Humility is essential to authentic Christianity. “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” The living Jesus is essential to my daily life. He continually shows me that apart from Him, I can do nothing.

Grace was never intended to make a Christ-like lifestyle nonessential for church goers. Christ, living in you, makes it possible everyday.

The Bible says, “We are fools for Christ.” Perhaps “a little bit of crazy” is essential for wholeheartedly following Jesus.

Jesus walking bodily out of His tomb and being genuinely present with His followers, is essential to biblical Christianity. If we focus on casual Christianity, we might not ever get around to the essential and the radical biblical instructions.

Nonessentials are often distractions. The Bible puts it this way: “Having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.”

Many people believe that pretense is essential to happiness. However, Jesus shows that honesty and humility are. “The truth shall set you free.”

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Think outside your own box of hard knocks

Posted on April 7, 2020 by Steve Simms

Self-focus diminishes joy. Think outside your own box of hard knocks. Take time to notice, appreciate, and be inspired by the marvelous beauty in the nature outside your door.

Many people have their mind full of negative, hostile, and harmful thoughts, but they aren’t mindful of it; they’re unaware. Intentionally fill your mind with uplifting thoughts and your heart with compassion and love.

A mask can be an air purifier, but if you’ll turn on your conscience, it will be a mind and heart purifier. Instead of using profanity to express disdain, perhaps it would be better to use uplifting words to build up and encourage people. Maybe it’s time to introduce antiprofanity into popular language: Praise the Lord, Hallelujah, Glory to God, etc.

Church creates “hearers of the word.” Ekklesia trains, equips, and releases “doers of the word and not hearers only.” Church is a religious institution that gradually evolved from the early Christian ekklesia and was solidified by Roman Emperor Constantine.

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Let’s roll the religious stone away from Easter

Posted on April 5, 2020 by Steve Simms

The most amazing “life sentence” is: “Jesus rose!” Encountering the living Jesus will change your perspective of death.

Biblical Christianity is about “location, location, location”–“Christ in you,” not Christ in a church building. Something’s terribly wrong when spoken prose about the news that Jesus rose, causes church attendees to sometimes close their eyes and doze.

Church tamed the resurrection, created a yearly ceremony and called it Easter, but Jesus, bodily walking out of the tomb, is so much more! To proclaim that Jesus is risen, while refusing to be led daily by His living presence, is inconsistent.

Perhaps it’s time to roll the religious stone away from Easter and to interact with the risen Jesus everyday. Church makes remembering Christ’s resurrection an annual event, but biblical Christianity is based on daily interaction with the risen Jesus. When Jesus’ resurrection was made a spring ritual, mystery, awe, and wonder, were exchanged for bunnies, eggs, and bonnets.

Jesus’ resurrection shouldn’t be annualized institutionalized, and ceremonialized. He’s always alive and available. If Jesus is truly risen, you can encounter Him anywhere on Easter (or any other day), not just in an “Easter service.”

I’ve never cared much for the “liturgical year.” I prefer daily interaction with Jesus, instead of annual ceremonies. To tell about the resurrection of Jesus is one thing; to experience it daily is something spectacularly different. The joy of experiencing the risen Jesus throughout the day is so wonderful, that questions about how He rose are insignificant.

The Expert in the body of Christ is the risen Jesus. All the rest of us equally need Him.

Casual Christianity and a casual approach to Easter creates many more religious consumers than it does committed contributors. Here’s an observation during the 2020 Corona virus pandemic: It appears that “church online” means a sermon online, instead of an interactive, group experience online. (The New Testament concept of Ekklesia is an interactive, group experience with the risen Jesus.)

Perhaps, in a crisis, people need to be compassionately listened to, more than to be preached to. Now’s always a good time to draw near to the living Jesus. No need to wait. Just do it. He’ll listen to you.

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Jesus didn’t own His tomb; He just borrowed it for 3 days

Posted on April 4, 2020 by Steve Simms

On Resurrection Day, Joseph of Arimathea got his tomb back and Christ-followers got the living Jesus back, to be with them forever. What a joy to daily hang out with the risen Jesus Christ!

Seeds drop off of life and then they live again. Perhaps our end is germination, not termination.

One ancient tomb’s purpose was aborted. It failed to hold its resident, Jesus Christ, captive to death. Heart-burning faith in the risen Jesus dispels doubt and vanishes it like the fog.

Too many Christians live in pre-resurrection worry, rather than in post-resurrection reality. Self-sufficiency is a myth that makes us doubt the reality of the risen Jesus. The Corona virus pandemic is revealing the myth of self-sufficiency.

If Jesus is alive (as Easter celebrates), then we can encounter Him, get to know Him, and spend our days enjoying His presence. If Jesus is alive, like Easter proclaims, we no longer have to settle for second-hand, sermonic information about Him.

So, if Easter is what churches say it is, why don’t they let the risen Jesus take active, direct control of their worship meetings? I think many people don’t believe in Jesus’ resurrection, because too often Christians meet in church, as if He’s still dead. After all, when church sticks tightly to a rigid program, it has no need or room for the living Jesus.

What’s invisible, has spread worldwide, and is radically changing lives. It’s the presence of the risen Jesus. When your life is empty like Jesus’ tomb, step outside of your self-focus and into His living presence. Serving a dead Jesus requires continuous effort, but the risen Jesus will live His life in and thru you, carrying you along His way.

When the stone is rolled away from your heart, you can get mad because it’s exposed, or step aside and let the living Jesus move in. The empty tomb illustrates that the rocks that have pinned you down, will indeed roll away, if you let Jesus live within you. It shouts that your heart need never more be empty. Jesus rose to free you from self-enclosure, a lifetime of solitary confinement.

I believe that Christ’s tomb is empty because I continually experience His presence. It’s okay to marvel at what you don’t understand. You don’t need to explain everything. I continually marvel at the presence of the risen Jesus in my life!

We humans exit life for the tomb. Jesus exited the tomb, to bring us back to life. God didn’t create us to be dead. He created us to be fully alive!

People still try to burry truth, but Jesus’ empty tomb shows that it won’t quietly remain in a grave. Looking back to the empty tomb seems mystical (or mythical) if Christ isn’t living and active in your everyday life.

I believe that life is stronger than death. If life can come into existence, it can endure when it appears to be gone. Jesus’ death left His disciples so distraught, that without His resurrection, Christianity would have never existed. The early Christians didn’t settle for sermons about the risen Jesus. They let Him boldly live within them.

The early Christ-followers were fully convinced that Jesus had literally risen from the dead. Are you? The absence of Christ’s body from His tomb didn’t convince His early disciples of His resurrection. His living presence did!

Academic Christianity is anemic. Red-hot Christianity spreads like a pandemic. Have you been exposed to fervent love for the risen Jesus? Mental wonder analyzes information.

Heart wonder is enraptured in awe. Early Christianity embraced heart wonder. Wonder and awe at the glory of God, can’t be programmed. It happens spontaneously when individual hearts open to the living Jesus.

The uplifting “unbelievable” has happened in my life so many times, I’ve begun to expect it. The living Jesus makes my heart crackle with hope.

It takes courage to surrender to and obey the risen Jesus, but anybody can verbally acknowledge the historic Jesus. The modern world has aborted human life millions of times. Jesus aborted death once and for all.

When liturgies, services, and hierarchy began to replace the literal leadership of the living Jesus, ekklesia turned into church. “Christian” books full of doubt, seem to be popular. I prefer the Bible and historic Christian books that are aflame with faith!

Are you having trouble faithfully following Jesus? Let Him live inside you. Christ in you, can keep the commandments, even when you can’t.

Spiritual boom,
Empty tomb,
Christ worldwide
Living inside
Whosoever will.
Be tender;
Surrender
To His power
This hour.

“The Savior is working mightily among men; every day He is invisibly persuading numbers of people all over the world, both within and beyond the Greek-speaking world, to accept His faith and be obedient to His teaching.” –Athanasius (296 – 373 AD)

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The “man upstairs” or “Christ in you”

Posted on April 4, 2020 by Steve Simms

Religion is about “the man upstairs.” Biblical Christianity is about “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” God is Light. Light allows us to see. The closer we get to God (and the less we regulate Him to the concept of “the man upstairs,” the more we see the flaws and shortcomings in our life.

The idea that everything came from nothing can’t be rationally explained, nor can the idea of a creator. Both are acts of faith.

The call to good and the woo of evil continually compete for our choices. At any moment, we can sway either way. Choose well.

Every time truth is told to deceive, another lie has been conceived. History shows that people who can arouse a crowd to be hostile about politics, can stir them up to commit atrocities.

To approach God rationally, as a subject to be continually analyzed and evaluated, can’t compare to daily experiencing Him with an open, honest heart. To change your mind and begin to look at your opinions more objectively is a powerful tool for growth that Jesus called “repenting.”

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Efforts don’t always equal results; some results come with little effort

Posted on April 3, 2020 by Steve Simms

My life’s been full of tremendous efforts with little results and no-efforts with tremendous results. Jesus, replace my presumption with humility, my self-promotion with service to others, and my worry with trust in You.

Life is more than hard work and unaided self-effort. Everyday is unearned — an undeserved gift. When you can’t see hope, search for it. It’s inside of you, somewhere.

What’s happening in your mind, your heart, your inner being, is more important than your circumstances. Win within! Fresh insight is often frightening because it can be very disruptive of the security of our own opinions.

Holding angry, hostile opinions can make your mind and heart opaque. Let Christ’s light shine inside you. Life’s greatest mysteries can’t be explained logically; they require the language of the heart. Even Jesus used parables.

Jesus knows the things about you that you don’t want anyone else to know, yet still reaches out to you with mercy and forgiveness. Experiencing God’s love doesn’t make your flaws disappear from your awareness. It makes your sins disappear from your life.

Some impulses are helpful; some are harmful. It’s good to distinguish the difference before you act on them.

Evidence of the supernatural abounds. Unfortunately, hyper-rationality believes that it has explained the miraculous away.

Some people ignore Jesus because they say He is mystical. But all that we see is mystical — electrons orbiting empty space at the speed of life, pretending to be solid and tangible. We lovingly interact with our pets. We don’t dissect them. Why not lovingly interact with Jesus and not theologically dissect Him?

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Creating a healthy mental atmosphere within

Posted on April 1, 2020 by Steve Simms

There are thoughts that will infect your psyche with abusive pain. Quarantine them. Force them out and forbid future entry! Too many people allow people who don’t know what they’ve talking about, to tell them what to think.

Some thoughts are like viruses — destructive, anxiety-infusing, pain-inflicting, contagious. Frequently wash your mind of them.

The thoughts and pictures that you allow to stream inside you, gradually mold your desires and behaviors into their likeness.

All people have both helpful and harmful things inside them that they are unaware of. Few are curious enough to explore their own heart and mind.

Your future isn’t a blank sheet; much of it’s been shaped by what you’ve done, thought, said, and believed in the past and present.

To close your heart to people is to commit yourself to misunderstanding them. Heart-change is more difficult than behavior-change and often requires supernatural help.

Photo by Maksim Goncharenok on Pexels.com
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Replace my presumption with humility . . .

Posted on April 1, 2020 by Steve Simms

Pride makes truth harder to find and honesty harder to express, because our self-interest and self-protection keep getting in our way. For people who value their own opinions more than truth, any statement that disagrees with them is fake news. Jesus, replace my presumption with humility, my self-promotion with service to others, and my worry with trust in You.

The reason we need revelation: Reason only explains to the mind’s satisfaction but revelation exposes the heart’s dissatisfaction and pride. Revelation is the opposite of pride and denial.

If Jesus Christ isn’t actively working in and thru you on a daily basis, then perhaps you only have a head knowledge of Him.

Mystery, mysticism, miracles, and manifestations or the risen Jesus, happen a lot, but are often missed because of closed hearts. Biblical Christianity flows from the inside out. It was never intended to work from the outside in. If Christians were trained to interact with and obey the risen Jesus, we’d never be home alone, but always enjoying His presence.

The most powerful event in my life happened in a moment (like a flash of light) when suddenly I perceived Jesus to be alive and present.

Dishonesty impacts reality like a child playing peekaboo. You’d think people would outgrow it. It’s really hard to understand what you don’t want to know.

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Jesus is my inner engine, not my outward religion

Posted on April 1, 2020 by Steve Simms

When things in your life shut down, open up to the risen Jesus. It’s always a great time to connect with the risen Jesus and to learn to hear and obey His voice. If there’s no outpouring of Christ from your heart, perhaps there has yet to be an inpouring.

Your life is a gift of grace–undeserved and unearned. You’re free to use it well or mess it up–to improve it or to abuse it. Talking to yourself (directing your thoughts) is a key to inner health. Continually coach yourself to joy and peace, not to misery.

The living Jesus seldom seems real to those who have spiritually self-quarantined themselves. When you let intimacy with the risen Jesus take over your inner life, you’ll never be content with just outward religion. Historically, biblical Christianity has often grown the most when institutional churches have been shut down. Jesus told His disciples, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel.” He didn’t say, “Go to church and listen to preaching.”

Jesus builds His body (ekklesia) on the rock of revelatory heart-connection, not on the rift of religion. Jesus is my inner engine, not my outward religion

Dear Jesus, give courage and hope to all who are worried, and comfort and strength to all who are suffering or grieving.

Jesus says that the Holy Spirit flows “out of your innermost being,” not out of the teaching of religious leaders or institutions.

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Distraction-distancing opens life up to the things that really matter.

Posted on April 1, 2020 by Steve Simms

Many people are unaware of their own inner story, the condition of their heart, because they’ve never taken an internal inventory. It’s easy to toil and search for things and substances to give us what can only be found in our heart — peace, joy, love, hope.

Distractions separate us from self, from the awareness of what’s going on inside us. They hide the workings of our heart in haze. Second-hand beliefs (learned from others) are only borrowed, yet they often prevent us from discovering what we truly believe.

When distractions are more important than purpose, life becomes a stampede thru sugar coated meaninglessness. When something doesn’t really matter, too many people give a drama about it. However, when distractions are deleted, much can be completed.

Distraction-distancing opens life up to the things that really matter. If you’ll stay six feet away from your bad habits and addictions, you’ll stop them. This is called “recovery distancing.”

Memory looks backwards. Imagination looks forward. Focus them both on what builds you up and fills you with joy, peace, love & hope.

Perhaps hijacked thinking, that merely goes with a crowd, really isn’t thinking at all. Uplifting wisdom leads to a much better quality of life than compelling distractions do. Find wisdom thru open-hearted Bible reading.

The human heart isn’t a waiting room between Heaven and Hell. It’s a spiritual battlefield where evil attacks to overcome good.

Sometimes life distracts us from our daily schedule to reorient us to what really matters. Distractions have a strange attraction that causes spiritual inaction and keeps us from personal interaction with the living Jesus.

To avoid wasting time: Think of practical ways you can make your life better, rank them by effectiveness, and then start working on number one.

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