Forgiven

Posted on March 19, 2024 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
What is one word that describes you?
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I am forgiven even though my pride used to tell me that I didn’t need forgiveness. I thought I was a good person, better than most people. The church that I attended when I was a teenager used to have a time of silent prayer for forgiveness and most of the time, I couldn’t think of anything I needed to be forgiven for.

Then one day I encountered the risen Jesus and His light began to shine more and more in my heart as I eagerly read the Bible for hours each day. I was shocked at the wickedness I began to see in my own heart as I read: “There is none righteous, no not one,” and “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” I began to agree with Paul, the writer of much of the New Testament, who said: “O wretched man that I am,” and “I am the chief of sinners.” I realized that though outwardly I had tried to obey human laws and my conscience, inwardly I was a mess full of wickedness and like the prostitute who wept at Jesus’ feet, I had been forgiven much — more than I could have imagined possible.

Though completely unworthy of Christ’s love and deserving to be forever separated from God’s presence, God has forgiven me, cleansed me, and embraced me as His friend. Many years later I still rely on Christ’s death on the Cross and not on my own worthiness. I still say: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner,” and rejoice in amazement that I am forgiven!

I love Galatians 2:20 that says: “I am crucified with Christ.” To “be crucified with Christ” is to “live by faith in the Son of God.” It is to rely every moment on the inner presence of the risen Jesus. It is a shift from relying on my own efforts (or imagined goodness) to living by staying continually aware of and obedient to the presence of Christ living in me even though I could never earn or deserve His love.

Are you forgiven? You can be. And you can daily experience the reality and the activity of the Spirit of Jesus Christ living and working within and through you.

Mental drift
Will sweep you
Off a cliff
And make you think
You don’t need to
Be forgiven.
Make a shift.
Let Jesus lift
Your heart to Him
And heal the rift
You have with God.
Embrace His gift
Of “Christ in you.”

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Tears of Tender Gratitude

Posted on March 18, 2024 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
What was the best compliment you’ve received?
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The best compliment I have ever received has come as tears of tender gratitude. My wife, Ernie, and I love to pray with and for people. As we pray out loud for people, we feel God’s love for them (even when they are strangers to us). Compassionate words flow from deep within us (often with tears) and people receive them like a sponge. They usually thank us with deep gratitude and often tears run down their cheeks.

Praying out loud with and for other people as you open your heart to be led by Christ’s presence is powerful. Words of love begin to spontaneously flow from deep within you and tender compassion fills your heart. The atmosphere fills with awe as everyone becomes aware that Jesus is there. Then humble, Spirit-led prayer begins to spread as other people are prompted to open their mouth and let God fill it with words that freely flow from their heart. But for this process to start someone needs the boldness to open their heart and let God’s presence flow through their brokenness. Will you?

Jesus said not to pray to be seen by men. Pray with brokenness and humility, being led by the Spirit. Then people will be so aware of and touched by the presence of God that they will see Him, not you! When people witness the Spirit-led flowing of one another’s heart in prayer they experience deep spiritual connection with each other and with God.

Taking turns praying out loud with people is a powerful way to experience the moving of God’s Spirit together. When people take turns humbly praying out loud from their heart, a sense of community fills the air. Praying together in humility with other people and openly testifying about what Jesus is doing within us allows God’s light to come out from under our pride so other people can be impacted by His shinning within us.

True prayer is about connecting heart-to-heart with the living God, not about demanding that He do what you want Him to. Amazing things start to happen when people pray together from their heart. Spirit-led prayer enlightens my heart like the mystical glow of bright sunlight.

Prayer is heart-connection with God. Don’t just tell Him what you want. Talk with your Creator from your heart. (The concept that nothing caused the creation of everything is contrary to logic and common sense.)

Words that honor God are an empty echo to a heart that’s far from Him. (See Matthew 15:8.) Don’t miss the healing power of free-flowing, Spirit-led prayer.

Take time to pray
With someone every day.
Chase your pride away.
Let God’s Spirit give you
The words to say
And turn your heart like clay
So Christ can display
His presence and love.

To gather for prayer
Is so much more than
The words people share.
It’s to open up
And let your heart care
That Jesus is there.

Starting Later This Week: Spirit-Led Zooming — a weekly time to celebrate, testify, and pray as prompted by God’s Spirit.

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The World is Cross-Country

Posted on March 17, 2024 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
You’re going on a cross-country trip. Airplane, train, bus, car, or bike?
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The world is Cross-country, the land where inner healing was purchased by Christ’s Cross. I began my Cross-country trip standing in the lobby of a dorm when in a moment Christ became real to me. Since that moment, I’ve been on a Jesus-trip as He seeks to lead me from within day-by-day and I strive to let Him be my Savior and tour guide.

Everybody needs a Savior because “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Because of our inclination to sin all people make varying degrees of a mess in their life, in their relationships, and in the world we inhabit. Then we search for a savior. We look for a politician to be our savior, for the government to save us, for education to be our savior, for a career to save us, for a love interest to be our savior, for a therapist to save us, for money to be our savior, and on and on.

With the mess we’re in, we definitely need a Savior but there’s only One! His name is Jesus. He’s the Creator of all that exists who became a man, shed His blood on the Cross to pay the penalties for our sins, rose from the dead, returned to the right hand of the Father, and sent the Holy Spirit so that whoever is willing can now be filled with His presence and be personally guided and directed from within by Him moment-by-moment. (I wrote this last paragraph when I first woke up this morning before coming to and reading today’s Wake-Up Call blog and seeing the words, “We are sinners in need of a Savior.” Here’s the link.)

As human beings we will secretly struggle internally until we find and devote ourselves to the reason for our existence — to have an intimate, personal relationship with the living God. Ignoring God causes us to make something or someone else our god — the focus of our life. Christians are called to conform to Christ, not to a human culture or to our own cravings.

When we truly follow Jesus, off we go into the Spirit-led wonder! Have you started your life-long Cross-country trip yet?

The more a person connects heart-to-heart with God, the more he is able to experience heart-felt community with other people. When people gather for a religious meeting, but neglect to connect heart-to-heart with God and with one another, we have neglected “the assembling of ourselves together.” (See Hebrews 10:25.)

Oops!
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People who stream confidence

Posted on March 16, 2024 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
Who is the most confident person you know?
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True confidence doesn’t come from self-esteem. The most confident people I know have set aside self-esteem and learned to rely on continually streaming an unshakable source of inner confidence.

Human beings were made in the image of God, but we have all gone astray from His image and His presence. We have chosen our will instead of His will. By doing so we have broken our connection with His presence and our brain is offline, separated from God’s supernatural streaming. We are living without a deep sense of confidence within us. When a message appears on our inner screen saying that we’re offline, we quickly delete it or ignore it and continue with our disconnected attempts to remove the pain of our separation from the Source of true wisdom.

So, what can we do about it? We can connect with God’s earth link heart innernet service provider with the wireless connection God has provided through the Cross. The password is Jesus. Repeat His Name with hunger and sincerity from your innermost being. Eventually revelation (knowledge that comes from beyond the flesh and blood of the human brain) will begin to brightly shine in your heart. When that moment occurs begin to pursue and maintain that life-giving connection day and night for the rest of your life.

Then you will live with supernatural intelligence. Supernatural intelligence is the wireless signal that is continually calling human beings to inwardly connect with and to constantly stream rivers of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Supernatural intelligence infinitely surpasses the workings of a human brain. It’s not a product of nature. It is downloaded into and streamed though people from the living platform that is out of this world — the Creator of all that exists.

Learn to be guided, directed, led, and controlled by the source of all intelligence, the Creator of all that exists. He became a man as Jesus Christ. Then He made the way for rebellious people to be set free from their self-focus so that they can come into and forever live in intimacy with His presence, because of His sacrificial death on the Cross, His resurrection from the dead, and the outpouring of His Spirit.

Christ-followers are people who have connected heart-to-heart with the living God through the sacrificial death of Jesus on the Cross and who surrender their life moment-by-moment to the direct leadership and control of God’s Spirit living and working within them. Are you ready to follow Jesus?

For Christians to be the light that God wants us to be, we must move beyond superficiality and self-focus and into compassionate, humble heart-to-heart connection with each other and with all who need God’s hope and love. It’s time to make every moment an ongoing celebration of restoration to our heavenly Father and our transformation from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God’s Dear Son!

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A Hope Filled Think Tank Combats the Negative Feelings of Superficial Intelligence

Posted on March 15, 2024 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
What strategies do you use to cope with negative feelings?
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To combat negative feelings and tormenting thoughts I keep my think thank filled with hope. What’s in your think tank?

Superficial intelligence cold and hard like an iceberg. It will produce an artificial life. Get real. Fill your think tank with premium thoughts! People who rely on superficial intelligence are easily deceived. Dig deeper! If you let superficial intelligence, write or edit your thoughts, you’ll live a shallow life.

Superficial intelligence causes people to look for superficial ways to ease their pain and drives them into desperation and addiction. It’s easy to be addicted to and anesthetized by superficial intelligence. In our society it’s everywhere you look. Our culture is caught in the deep abyss of superficial intelligence. Society surrounds us with superficial intelligence that never deeply satisfies the human heart.

Superficial intelligence is cold, hard, dangerous and uncaring. It distracts people from deeper reality the way the tip of an iceberg does. Superficial intelligence tries to discover how humanity came about but it can’t give us any purpose for our being here. It’s incapable of producing lasting inner peace (or peace between nations).

Superficial intelligence categorizes people by appearance and overlooks their heart. It never leads to meaningful relationships. Superficial intelligence is a brain tranquilizer. It empties your think tank of purpose and significance.

Your mind is a terrible thing to trash. Keep your think thank clean and healthy. In our world of superficial intelligence, the search for significance requires that we look for deeper meaning in life.

Superficial intelligence sets superficial goals and produces superficial outcomes. I don’t have time for superficial intelligence. I want to make my life meaningful and full of purpose.

People have internal tools that can defeat and overcome their mental and emotional struggles, but too often we are unaware of those powerful weapons and have never learned how to effectively use them.

Thought blocking is a powerful interior tool. Break all contact with tormenting thoughts. Refuse to allow injurious ideas, impulses, or impressions into your mind.

I don’t have room for superficial intelligence. I want to fill my think tank with inspiring thoughts.

Elephants are wise, not superficial. Elephants INspiring The Room is a book for adults who want to improve their life and have fun doing it. Search for it online.

By always facing towards God’s light, I see “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” and He sets me free from the shackles of the dark shadows of sin within me. I strive to keep my think tank full of heart-felt wisdom and God-breathed inspiration.

For church to be a light it must move beyond superficiality into heart-to-heart connection! (Google: Beyond Church Ekklesia.) The world needs to see genuine demonstrations of supernatural intelligence.

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Where do I put myself?

Posted on March 14, 2024 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
What activities do you lose yourself in?
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I lose myself by:

  • Opening my heart to the promptings of God’s Spirit,
  • Saying and doing what the Spirit tells me to do,
  • Letting the Holy Spirit freely flow from my innermost being,
  • Pondering in God’s Presence,
  • Worshipping the Lord with passionate adoration,
  • Two-way conversation with Jesus,
  • Contemplative Bible reading,
  • Praying in tongues (languages I don’t know),
  • Striving to bring every thought into obedience to Christ,
  • Opening my heart to other people,
  • Letting people open their heart to me,
  • Praying over other people and getting words for them,
  • Letting Christ’s presence awe me through nature,
  • Spirit-led interaction with other people,
  • Testifying to and proclaiming the reality and power of Jesus,
  • Reading the writings of Spirit-led Christians throughout history,
  • Repeating Scripture over and over in my mind,
  • Tasting and seeing that the Lord is good,
  • Drawing near to God and letting Him draw near to me,
  • Beholding the Lamb of God with the eyes of my heart,
  • Letting God’s Spirit lead me moment-by moment,
  • Rejoicing in the Lord always,
  • Thanking God for my many blessings,
  • Resisting the devil until he runs away from me,
  • Being still and knowing that Jesus is the Creator in human flesh.
  • Writing about what Jesus is saying and doing in and through me.

I frequently lose myself. I’ve discovered that my conscience can be made clean by my confession and by God’s forgiveness, but never by my denial. By always facing towards God’s light, I see “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” and He sets me free from the shackles of the dark shadows of sin and guilt within me.

Where do I put myself so that I can enjoy a wonderful life full of the fruit and the gifts of God’s Spirit? I lose myself in Jesus Christ and strive to stay ever aware of His presence.

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Brother Sun Sister Moon

Posted on March 13, 2024 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
What movies or TV series have you watched more than 5 times?
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Brother Sun Sister Moon is a movie about the life of St. Francis of Assisi. It was released in 1972 and directed by Franco Zeffirelli. I normally don’t like to watch a movie more than once, but I have seen that one more than 30 times.

It’s full of awe-inspiring scenery, beautiful music by the artist Donovan, and heart-touching interaction. It shows how the young man Francis was totally broken by participating in the combat of the Crusades, yet finally found peace by encountering, listening to, following, and obeying Jesus.

Francis’ story is a thirteenth century demonstration of this first century event. When a religious man had Jesus as a dinner guest a rebellious woman came into the house. She went directly to Jesus’ feet and got busy in the brokenness of wetting them with her tears, washing them with her hair, kissing them, and pouring expensive perfume on them. Religion, too often like a formal meal, is entangled in proper etiquette, but a heart-to-heart relationship with Jesus is built on extreme brokenness and a lifetime of tender companionship with and obedience to the risen Christ.

Discipleship is to humbly come on board a never-ending relationship with Jesus, continually flowing with His friendship as you let Christ have the Headship and complete ownership of your life while you cruise in ongoing obedience to and daily companionship with Him. Always sail with the wind of His Spirit so your life can clearly demonstrate the glory of heavenly citizenship. That’s what Francis did!

Brother Sun Sister Moon is available on YouTube and on other streaming platforms. If you can use some hope, watch it as soon as you can!

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Hop to the Voice of the Risen Jesus!

Posted on March 12, 2024 by Steve Simms


Heart-Christianity is fragile. It easily slips into formalism and disappears into routine. I believe that Jesus wants to rescue people from the idea of a formalized God who is defined by religious institutions.

The essential characteristic of Christianity is “Christ in you,” leading you by His Spirit. Without that we’re left with mere religious ritual.

There are no adequate substitutes for the presence of the living Jesus. Nothing can replace Him. Without Him actively demonstrating His presence we abandon relationship with the risen Jesus and replace it with routine religion.

Make room, make room 
For Jesus the Christ, 
The dead man who walked
Away from His tomb!
Hear it! Hear it!
The voice of His Spirit.
Voom boom! Voom boom!
Step out of your tomb. 
Live life so Christ shows
Until the world knows 
You truly believe 
That Jesus arose!

Pleasures that are quick 
Often morph into guilt
And leave you feeling sick 
Because the devil 
Played a dirty trick 
On you.
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Superstition is “a False Concept of Causation.”

Posted on March 12, 2024 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
Are you superstitious?
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I found this Merrian-Webster definition of superstition: “a false concept of causation.” Everything in the universe was caused by something or someone. Nothing has ever been proven to exist without a cause. Therefore, the belief that the universe itself came into existence all by itself is “a false concept of causation.” It is unproven speculation, a superstitious belief, a modern myth.

I’m not superstitious! I stand on rationality. Nothing ever causes anything. Therefore, the universe itself has a cause, a Creator. Big or small, no bang has ever happened without a cause.

The idea that without a cause matter came from nothing, and order came from chaos, and intricacy came from order, and life came from matter, and human intelligence came from life, makes no sense. It’s an unproven superstition based on the primitive fear of being held accountable to an intelligent Creator.

I don’t use modern superstition to hide from my Creator. Day and night my heart cries out to the One who created me. He shows me the cause of my problems and personal disfunction — my rebellion against and resistance to the conscience He created within me.

Through a life of listening to my conscience (the inner voice of the One who created me) and to other people who listen to theirs, I’ve discovered a lifetime of amazing experiences that defy all statistical odds but have become frequent occurrences to me. I’ve discovered that ancient Christian writers also had the same kind of experiences even though they lived in radically different times and cultures than I do. Their writings perfectly align with the inner Voice I hear. That confirms to my logic that the Voice that I hear isn’t subjective or superstitious, but the object inner Voice of our Creator. Listen, obey, then honestly weigh the evidence and you will see the reality of “Christ in you.” Jesus said: “My sheep hear My voice.” I do! And no superstition could ever have the verifiable impact it has on me and has had on millions of people though out history.

Rejoice and be thankful that your life matters. Live like your life matters. Be grateful to be alive. Be kind to yourself. Treasure and protect your mind and your body like they are your prized possessions. Obey your conscience so that you won’t flood yourself with the torment of guilt. To live in ways that damage or neglect your mental and physical wellbeing by engaging in self-destructive thoughts and behaviors is to proclaim that you don’t really believe that your life matters. You are the only person alive who can discover and do the things that will lead you to a peaceful mind and a healthy body. Get started today! “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

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Posted in Big Bang Theory, causes, creation, creativity, Creator, history of the universe, nature of the universe, origin of the universe | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Sheep with an Incredible Shepherd

Posted on March 11, 2024 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
Which animal would you compare yourself to and why?
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“I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.” – Alexander The Great

I am a sheep in the army of the Lord, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. I’m fighting with the weapons of His presence, His love, and His power. Jesus said: “My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of My hand.”

I listen to my invisible Shepherd and strive to do what He says. Here are some thoughts He is putting in my heart and prompting me to post:

Oratory Is Not the Answer, Jesus Is!

  • How many talks does it take to make a Christian’s heart continually overflow with passionate love for the risen Jesus?
  • How many religious keynote addresses are the key to Christians living in supernatural victory?
  • How many lectures do we need to listen to before we begin to daily celebrate and obey Jesus?
  • How many sermons should we hear to cause us to become radical Christ-followers?
  • How many discourses need to be delivered until we demonstrate “Christ in you, the hope of glory?”
  • How many speeches are required to make believers “doers of the word and not hearers only?“

Christians should gather
As a heavenly colony,
Overflowing with joy,
Not meet in monotony.

There’s nothing monotonous about following the risen Jesus. If you’re bored, you’re off track. Let Jesus light up your heart, not just for a moment now and then, but day and night!

A great human problem is our false belief that we don’t need help to solve our problems. If you want to feel better fix the focus of your attention on the risen Jesus Christ. Jesus has promised to be with His followers always, not just in special moments, but everywhere all the time. Keep His presence as your center of attention!

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Posted in Jesus Christ, Jesus the Good Shepherd, sheep, shepherding, shepherds, the good Shepherd | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments