Closenessing — connecting heart-to-heart

Posted on March 19, 2020 by Steve Simms

Heart-to-heart closenessing replaces the feeling that nobody really cares about you, with the joy of feeling truly loved. Without openness, honesty, and compassion, heart-closeness with others won’t happen.

Love is closer than you think. It’s in your heart, waiting for you to release it and let it flow out to others. There should be no closure to heart-to-heart closeness. Love never fails.

Emotional closenessing isn’t built by a process of figuring people out. It’s developed by consistently showing people heart-felt love and kindness. Also, persistent prayer for people will cause your heart to care about them.

Heart-to-heart closenessing lets you see thru life’s fog and recognize the image of God in other people. Empathetic closenessing requires meaningful, heart-felt listening and sharing, not just small talk. Closenessing requires intimacy — the willingness to open up my heart and let someone “into-me-see.”

Heart-closenessing causes our soul to create and soar! Heart-distancing causes it to stagnate and sour.

Heart-distancing, emotional quarantining, and spiritual isolation, atrophy your soul to the point that you ignore (or deny) its existence. Many of our problems are caused by heart-distancing that is motivated by fear of discovery. Heart-closenessing is healing.

You can’t see heart-distancing with your physical eyes, but you can tell when it’s happening. You can feel the coldness. Hiding secrets behind walls to protect your heart from hurt, is a lonely life-strategy, stopping the healing power of honesty and humility.

Perhaps we need an inner-quarantine to keep our heart and mind away from contagious, destructive thoughts and emotions (not to keep us away from other people). Negativity, fear, discouragement, anger, and wrongful desires, can easily infect you if you don’t avoid them.

Instead of anger, accusation, and/or panic, perhaps we should try some contemplation, spiritual seeking, and wisdom reading.

Hatred is a dangerous road, littered with wrecks and crashes. Some cultures call cruelty that maintains (or maintained) their dominance a virtue, but cruelty is always evil.

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Life is a journey, not a parking garage

Posted on March 19, 2020 by Steve Simms

Life is designed to be travel — a journey to wisdom. It was never intended to be a parking garage. The way you live is up to you. You have the power to use your life for love or hate, happiness or sadness, right or wrong.

Too many people speed up when they’re on the wrong road, when turning around would be much more effective. If you say you’re going one direction, but you’re walking the opposite direction, you’re not fooling anybody. Why not be honest?

Here’s an honest statement: When public profanity is approved but public prayer is taboo, things are backwards. Talking to God is a start. Listening to and obeying Him completes the circuit and let’s the Spirit freely flow. Then you can journey even closer to Christ.

It does little good to download the Bible onto a devise, if you don’t download it into your heart and apply it in your daily life. Try it.

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Roadblocks can be God-stops

Posted on March 19, 2020 by Steve Simms

Roadblocks in your life are sometimes God-stops, changing your direction for your protection. Surrendering yourself to God’s construction will make your life so much better than giving in to self-destruction.

If you show love and kindness to those who hate you, they’ll be too confused to berate you, and won’t know how to debate you. Pride keeps us going in the wrong direction. Humility whispers, “Turn around.”

Relocating your life changes your circumstances, but without improved thoughts and emotions, your inner-stances stay the same. Don’t “collect your thoughts.” Evaluate them. Throw out the destructive and tormenting ones. Put the helpful ones into action.

Years go by like miles on the highway, but unlike miles, they’re gone for life. You can’t turn around and make them up.

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Getting close to Jesus will improve your thinking

Posted on March 19, 2020 by Steve Simms

Distance yourself from negative thoughts, feelings, words, and images. Isolate from them. Then you’ll be less likely to catch anxiety and discouragement. Open your mind to thoughts that are true, uplifting, caring and pure. Close it to those that are false, destructive, hateful and evil.

Too many people practice spiritual distancing — keeping plenty of space between their heart and personal contact with Christ. As you use social distancing to avoid disease, use spiritual closenessing to improve your relationship with the living Jesus.

For peace of mind, prayer is more powerful than panic-buying toilet paper. It’s hard to panic and pray in the same moment. You can alternate between them, but it’s difficult to do both at the same time.

In a panic attack, counter-attack panic with peace, love, knowledge, wise caution, and faith in the risen Jesus. Panic is when caution gets drunk with worry and anxiety.

If Christians won’t listen with compassion to those who disagree with them, we’ve somehow gotten off track.

Scrimp on sin. Feast on holiness.

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Don’t quaranteen your mind. Download “Off the RACE Track” for FREE.

Posted on March 16, 2020 by Steve Simms

Make your time stuck at home, meaningful, inspiring, and educational (for free). Quaranteen and isolation may be necessary for Covid 19, but don’t let the Corona Virus quaranteen your mind. From now thru Friday, March 21, 2020, you can download and read Off the RACE Track–From Color-Blind to Color-Kind for free at this link.

Israel Gaither, former national commander of The Salvation Army USA says: This is a rare account of a man who literally takes action on his belief in the worth of others. Interested in discovering what you can do to address America’s racce problem? Then you must read Steve’s story!

Eric Wilson, New York Times best selling author of Fireproof and Facing the Giants, says: This is a book that should be read by everyone. It is a vital clanging of the bell, a wake-up call, and points us to-ward the power of love which can change generations to come. Simms writes with unsurpassed passion and grace.

Larry Britton, pastor in the Church of God in Christ says: Steve Simms’ book, Off the Race Track, is thoroughly informative and creative in its approach to sharing many of the details of the African American experience. The profound insights, regarding some of the salient facts of the African American experience, are awe-inspiring. (Especially since he is Caucasian.) The ‘Bill of Rights’ section is profound.

Search Amazon for: Off the Race Track Kindle.

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Panic-buying “Angel Soft” won’t wipe away your fears

Posted on March 14, 2020 by Steve Simms

Great Scott! Who put the squeeze on the Charmin, wiped out the Cottonelle, and made the Angel Soft vanish? The Corona virus has rolled away all the toilet paper from stores. Panic-buying has already wiped the shelves clean, and yet, still rolls on.

For peace of mind, prayer is more powerful than panic-buying toilet paper. Lots of toilet paper can’t wipe away the fears in your heart, but trusting the living Jesus can. Hand washing can literally save your life, but letting the living Jesus wash and transform your heart will save your soul!

Learn more about how the living Jesus wants to calm your fears @ https://www.amazon.com/Joy-Early-Christianity-Steve-Simms/dp/1689381213.

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Observation: America’s “self-evident” truths, like, “all are created equal,” were rejected by racist laws and violence for almost 200 years.

Posted on March 13, 2020 by Steve Simms
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Reconsider what life’s about . . .

Posted on March 13, 2020 by Steve Simms

Christian complacency can cause us to be spiritually apathetic while presuming an entitled ticket to Heaven. In the Bible I find language that lifts — words that escort my heart away from complacency and to vibrant hope. In this time of economic disruptions and life-threatening interruptions, perhaps it’s time to reconsider what life’s about.

There’s no reason to stay sunk in self, when Christ calls you to soar in the Holy Spirit. Freedom from self-focus is one of the greatest freedoms there is. It’s an internal shift, not an external gift.

People say, “Find yourself,” “Forgive yourself,” “Be true to yourself,” but Jesus says, “Deny yourself.”

Some thoughts enslave; others liberate. On which do you concentrate?

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Casual talk, informational talk, or heart-talk?

Posted on March 13, 2020 by Steve Simms

It’s often better to find ways to work together than it is to argue with and insult others. People won’t open their heart to hear what you say, if your heart is closed and unwilling to compassionately hear what they say.

Casual talk and informational talk are fine, but to heal and grow people need something much rarer–compassionate, heart-to-heart talk. Communication that comes from the mind alone, lacks the power and passion to penetrate people’s heart.

Christ’s love isn’t about sitting thru lectures. It’s about caring interaction–heart-to-heart listening and compassionate sharing.

Church should be a safe place to open up and share your heart, not just a place to get more religious information. Well-intended lectures provide limited emotional support, but compassionate, heart-to-heart sharing releases encouragement and hope.

Jesus calls us to seek truth. How often is reality called “fake news”? Too many times to count. Just because you don’t like something, doesn’t make it fake. In a rock fight, regardless of who cast the first stone, there are none without sin.

Search the web for: The Joy Of Early Christianity.

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Bullying & violence say, “I’m incapable!”

Posted on March 11, 2020 by Steve Simms

When someone uses bullying or violence to get what he wants, he tells the world that he’s incapable of getting it some other way. However, hurting someone in order to get what you want is cruelty. The desire to hurt others is evil.

It takes the heart, the conscience, to keep people away from doing violence. Mental arguments against it aren’t very convincing. As long as violence remains in human hearts, it will continue to manifest in violent actions.

It takes no thought to be violent, but restraint requires thoughtful self-control. Road rage demonstrates that humans have a strong tendency toward violence.

The alternative to what’s fake isn’t hateful mocking. It’s full disclosure, genuine humility, and speaking the truth in love.

It’s much better to see yourself as an adventurer who overcomes obstacles, than as a victim who is mistreated by others. People who see themselves as victims, aren’t very good at loving their enemies. People with great hope, are.

Life is more than economics, health, and self-protection. Uncertainty can awaken us to the reality of the risen Jesus. As your complacency is being disrupted, don’t miss this opportunity to get close to Him. When complacency collapses, it’s better to consistently call on Christ, than to worry and/or panic

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