The gift of a living model of radical faith in Jesus

Posted on January 4, 2024 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
What is the greatest gift someone could give you?
View all responses

Normally ordinary water ≠ extraordinary wine. However, when mixed with obedience and faith, it can! A living model of radical trust in and daily obedience to the living Jesus is the greatest gift someone can give. I’ve been greatly privileged to receive that gift from numerous people.

In a village called Cana wedding servants courageously obeyed Jesus and risked ruining the wedding by filling the wine jars with water. Then as they humbly served what they thought was ordinary water, they discovered that it was now extraordinary wine. If we will continually listen to and courageously obey the risen Jesus as we humbly do the ordinary things in our daily lives, He will make our ordinary extraordinary.

I believe that God has saved the best for the body of Christ during the last days. “The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house.” “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” God is “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” Like Mary told the servants at the wedding, “Do whatever He tells you.”

Discipleship:
Obey God the Father;
Follow God the Son;
Be led by God the Spirit.

Worship:
Praise God the Father;
Adore God the Son;
Dance with God the Spirit.

3 Things the Bible says to never stop doing:
1) “Pray without ceasing;”
2) “In everything give thanks;”
3) “Rejoice in the Lord always.”
(Keep your faith in continual everyday action! There’s no faith parking garage in Scripture.)

Church is too often like a parking garage where Christians leave their faith parked all week as they focus on doing other things. Jesus said that His disciples with be known by the fruit of their life, not by their church attendance. Church attendance isn’t on the Bible’s list of the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, and kindness are.

If you think you might be talking to Jesus on your death bed, there’s no need to wait. Start the conversation now.

Photo by Ron Lach on Pexels.com
Posted in miracles, new wine, working of miracles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Bible’s Religiously Unapproved John

Posted on January 3, 2024 by Steve Simms

A man named John, independently of the religious establishment of his day, began to preach in isolated places (without official credentials) and to challenge people to fully surrender their life to the Lord. As a sign of their surrender John would dip people in water. The Greek word “baptizo” is used to describe that dipping. It’s interesting that Jesus didn’t go to get the approval of the leaders of any religious organization before beginning His ministry. Instead, “Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized (dipped) by John,” and the Spirit of God descended on Him like a dove. Perhaps it’s time for Christ-followers to shift from following religious organizations to being led by the Spirit. See Romans 8:14.

Many of the heroes of the Bible had no official religious credentials, for instance: the patriarchs, Moses, the judges, the prophets, Job, Ruth, Ester, John the Baptist, Jesus, and the apostles. They simply obeyed what the Spirit of God told them to do. The Bible tells us to wait on the Lord, not on a religious organization.

Photo by Taryn Elliott on Pexels.com
Posted in John the Baptist, ordaination, religious tradition | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

True playfulness is a mercy party.

Posted on January 2, 2024 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
Do you play in your daily life? What says “playtime” to you?
View all responses

Speaking plainly about playfulness: Guilt cuts the guts out of playfulness. The more mercy a person receives the more forgiving and playful he will be. Playfulness is glorious day-by-day celebration of guilt gone away. Give and receive mercy throughout the day and soon you will be playing like never before!

Little children in their innocence are the most playful people on the planet. But as humans grow and rebel, we get to know guilt, and after experiencing its shame we’re no longer the same. Our heart shuts down and feels too heavy to play.

No one has a right to mercy; it’s always undeserved. God’s mercy is His loving and free gift offered to us because it was purchased by the blood, death on the Cross, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Let God wash away your guilt in the sea of His mercy so your heart can sail and rejoice with His joy. Let His mercy remove the misery of your shame. God wants to rescue you from the bad stuff you’ve accumulated in your life.

If you’ve ever been forgiven of something, you’ve seen the living God at work and experienced a surge of His joyful playfulness. Why settle for the misery of your guilt when you can live in the ongoing celebration of God’s mercy? God’s mercy is greater than your misdeeds and your miseries.

When the runaway rebellious son in the Bible returned to His father it was a demonstration of the guilt-free party time of the Father’s manifest mercy. Have you experienced that kind of mercy party? 

Forgiveness
Is the Father’s business.
That’s what Jesus
Was all about.
He bought it
With His blood
So He can now remove
The stones from human hearts
And tenderly replace
Them with His grace.

Let your heart
Be His house,
A nursery
For God’s mercy.
Learn to forgive
And be forgiven
So Christ’s garden
Can be found
Flourishing on
What was once
Stoney ground
And the fruit
Of His Spirit
May always abound
Within you.

“I love the Lord, for He heard my voice; He heard my cry for mercy. Because He turned His ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live.” (Psalms 116:1-2.)

Photo by Yulianto Poitier on Pexels.com
Posted in partying, playfulness | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Wholesomeness is my biggest challenge

Posted on January 1, 2024 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
What are your biggest challenges?
View all responses

In this world
That is so blind
To what is right,
The wholesomeness
Of a clean heart
And pure mind
Is hard to find.
I have to look
To the light
Of Jesus Christ
And let Him be
Always bright
In my sight
So I can stay
Connected with Him
Both day and night.
I strive to
Continually
Surrender my life
To Jesus
So His Spirit
Can clear it
Of all that’s unclean
And keep me filled
With His presence.

The wholesomeness
Of inner cleansing
And forgiveness
Is true bliss
Because suddenly
All guilt is gone.
That is why
I sing Christ’s song.

The wholesomeness
Of God’s forgiveness
Is never boring.
It’s always soaring
In the bliss
Of a pure heart
And a clean mind
Free from all guilt.

When life is hard
And I need to cope
I don’t find hope
In a bottle or a bar
But in a special Book
That helps me see
Christ in me,
“The hope of glory.

Modern media present a lifestyle of rebellion, guilt, and shame as exciting, but a lifestyle that produces mental and moral inner peace and well-being as boring. Wow! They’ve got it so wrong.

There’s no true freedom without wholesome restraint. If you give in to every desire that comes your way, you’ll be an inner mess. To continually consume words and images that are unwholesome is to become loathsome and bound up by inner confusion, even if no one but you knows the true condition of your heart and mind.

Photo by u0410u043du043du0430 u0420u044bu0436u043au043eu0432u0430 on Pexels.com
Posted in ethics, moral character, moral choices | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

I’m nostalgic for Spirit-led Christianity

Posted on December 31, 2023 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
What makes you feel nostalgic?
View all responses

The Bible never says that Christians should listen to a weekly sermon. Religious tradition does. I’m nostalgic for the following things that the Bible says that Christians should do:

  • Be Spirit-led. (Romans 8:14.)
  • Gather together. (Hebrews 10:25.)
  • Pray together. (Acts 1:14.)
  • Hear Jesus’ voice. (John 10:27.)
  • Testify about what Jesus has done and is doing. (Revelation 12:11 and Acts 1:8.)
  • Minister to one another. (1 Peter 4:1`0.)
  • Take turns speaking when they gather. (I Corinthians 14:26.)
  • Let each other prophesy. (1 Corinthians 14.31.)
  • Teach one another. (Colossians 3:16.)
  • Encourage one another. (1 Thessalonians 5:11.)
  • Exhort one another. (Hebrews 3:13.)
  • Confess their sins to one another. (James 5:16.)
  • Make disciples. (Matthew 28:19.)
  • Continually read, ponder, and obey God’s written word. (Joshua 1:8.)
  • Read the Bible together. (Colossians 4:16.)
  • Worship in Spirit and in truth. (John 4:24.)
  • Humble themselves. (1 Peter 5:6.)
  • Love one another. (John 13:34.)

These things flow from supernatural revelation, not from human abilities. Spiritual revelation will be cultivated in a humble heart that is ever hungry for more of Christ and His real presence. Christians need to be free to trust and follow God’s Spirit and the Bible instead of being compelled to follow a single (almost universal) form of having church. O that Christians would move beyond superficial ceremony and humbly open our hearts to the risen Jesus and to one another!

A human heart can never be satisfied while it’s full of inner emptiness. Freely seek the Lord and frequently open up and connect heart-to-heart with others who are doing so. Let God’s Spirit fill you up and overflow from within you. The living Jesus is speaking to everyone, and some people actually listen to and obey Him.

Some people don’t like for me to say that Jesus is the answer, but who or what else can permanently heal a hurting human heart? Politics can’t. Money can’t. Drugs can’t. Sex can’t. Sports can’t. Music can’t. Therapy can’t. Will power can’t. Government can’t. Pride can’t. War can’t. Jesus can!

After writing this post, I went to Seedbed and read these words from Josh LeRoy: “Maybe prophets are prophets, not because God exclusively speaks to them, but because they choose to listen to what God is, in fact, saying to everyone.”

We need to worship Jesus
With our whole heart
So that the rocks
Won’t need to cry out
For Christians to get out
Of the religious box. (Luke 19:40.)

Photo by Sameeh Karram on Pexels.com
Posted in Spirit-led, spiritual formation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Relationship That Has the Greatest Positive Impact on Me

Posted on December 30, 2023 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
What relationships have a positive impact on you?
View all responses

I try to be like Simeon. You can too. He’s a guy in the Bible. Take a look at Luke 2:25-32.

Listen to the Holy Spirit’s revelation and move as He moves you and He will lead you to recognize and receive the living Jesus even when others are unaware of His presence and majesty. Then, even though other people may not notice the light of Christ’s revelation and glory, you (like Simeon) will overflow with gratitude, peace, and praise.

In the 21st century, Jesus is much more available than He was in Simeon’s time. For about 33 years Jesus was limited to the confines of a human body, but after His crucifixion, bodily resurrection, and physical entrance into the supernatural realm of Heaven, He returned in the person of the Holy Spirit. Now we can welcome Him into the temple of our body and stay continually connected with Him heart-to-heart wherever we are and wherever we go.

The relationship that has the greatest positive impact on me is the one I have with Jesus. I woke up this morning with the revelation and glory of the poem below forming in my heart to greet me. I like Simeon can interact with the living Jesus, but unlike Simeon there no limits to when and where I can spend time with Christ.

Jesus isn’t seasonal.
Jesus isn’t regional.
He’s everywhere
All the time.

Posted in Bible concepts, Bible stories, omnipresent | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A strange star stayed close to Jerusalem for two years

Posted on December 29, 2023 by Steve Simms

Some men were wonderstruck by a strange new star that rose and hung over far away Jerusalem. They sensed that it was a supernatural phenomenon — a sign calling them to learn more about the Jews. Somehow, they learned about the coming Jewish King, the Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One, and saw the star as a sign of His birth. The star lingered so the men decided to take a long journey to Jerusalem to find and to worship the Jewish Messiah.

When they arrived in Jerusalem, they asked people: “Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star when it rose and have come to worship Him.”

The whole city heard about those strange guys and their message and everybody in town was disturbed by it, including King Herod. Herod called together the religious leaders for some research and found out that the Messiah was prophesied to be born in the nearby little town of Bethlehem. Then Herod had those disturbing Gentiles brought to him and they told him the exact time that the star first appeared. Afterwards King Herod sent the odd strangers to Bethlehem to find the child King and to report back His location.

Mysteriously, the star led the Gentile men to a house in Bethlehem and to a boy named Jesus. They saw Him and His mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped the toddler. They opened their treasures and gave the Christ child valuable gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Then dreams set in.

The wise men were warned in a dream not to report back to Herod, so they traveled home by a different route. Then the Christ child’s stepfather, Joseph, saw an angel in a dream who told him to take the family and escape to Egypt. So, they fled during the night.

When Herrod learned that the disturbing Gentile men had left without reporting to him, he was enraged and ordered all the boys in Bethlehem who were two years old and younger killed because that covered the time the wise men first saw the star. Then there was weeping and great mourning in the village of Bethlehem which continues to this very day. But the Prince of Peace was alive in Egypt preserving the hope of peace on earth and goodwill toward men — the hope of glory in the midst of our fallen, broken world. “Wise men still seek Him.”

New Year / New Start?
A resolution
Is no solution
Because a fresh start
Without a healed heart
Seldom can impart
Lasting improvement
In the way you live.
That takes an inner
Revolution.
Be receptive
To Christ’s perspective.

Photo by ArtHouse Studio on Pexels.com
Posted in Bethlehem, bright and morning star, experiencing Jesus, historic Jesus | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I have no faith in human politics

Posted on December 28, 2023 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
How have your political views changed over time?
View all responses

All attempts at human government are flawed. No earthly country has ever had a perfect government. When people talk about government they complain about corruption. The two go hand in hand.

That’s because all human beings carry varying degrees of corruption within us and the power of occupying an official government position allows a person plenty of opportunities to use whatever corruption is inside them for their own material benefit. If we had completely honest, humble, and righteous people in government corruption would disappear. But those folks don’t exist. No system of government is built on such people.

Over time my political views have slowly been replaced with an ever-increasing view of the kingdom of God with the risen Jesus, Himself, as the King and Lord. Jesus said that His kingdom isn’t seen with physical eyes because it is within human beings. He came to rule nations by ruling in the hearts and lives of the individual citizens of those nations.

Governments with their laws and law enforcement attempt to impose domestic tranquility on a country and to limit corruption, but they can’t eliminate the source of corruption — the deceit, pride, and rebellion in human hearts. Only the living Jesus can change people from deep within and give people a pure and honest heart that begins to reduce the corruption in their words and behaviors.

Only “Christ in you” is the hope of living under corruption-free government. When Jesus is your living and active King and Lord, and you are submitted to and committed to surrendering to His will, fantastic tranquility will reign in your heart. When corruption tries to rise up within you, Christ in you will sensitize your conscience and tenderize your heart against it, lovingly calling you to stay in His will and to avoid silencing His Spirit.

The way to turn a country away from corrupt government is to fill it with such Christ-controlled citizens. Only the living Jesus can do that. When people in a country start voting for Jesus by continually listening to, worshipping, surrendering their will to, and obeying Him, His corruption-free government begins to grow in their heart. Collectively their outward demonstrations of Christ’s sacrificial love and presence within them begin to gradually influence the culture and government of their nation. History calls that “a great awakening.” How we need one today!

There’s a place of rest
From your weariness.
Let Jesus, Himself, arrest
Your heart with His presence,
And fill you with a fest
Of faith, hope, and love.

Photo by Xabi Oregi on Pexels.com
Posted in faith in politics, politics | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

My perfect space to write is any place.

Posted on December 27, 2023 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
You get to build your perfect space for reading and writing. What’s it like?
View all responses

Words come together in my heart and head while I’m in bed during the night. When I get up in the morning, I grab my laptop and write them down wherever I am. I’m so focused and gripped by those lively words that I’m actually unaware of the space I’m writing in. So, I guess my perfect place to write is anyplace.

As I write the appearing words, they edit themselves from within me and grow in length and quality. More and more words come, and I tap them on the screen until they’re finally done. Then I have breakfast.

Often times during the day, no matter where I am, new inspiring words come my way by rising up from within me. I quickly post them on Facebook, so that I don’t forget them. Frequently they form just one sentence, but sometimes more. They almost always fit nicely in my next morning’s writing flow.

Here are the words that formed within me in bed last night:

Christianity isn’t
About just being wiser
Or getting a fresh new start.
It’s about experiencing
Christ’s living water geyser
Continually erupting
From deep within your heart.

And here are a few sentences that came to me after posting this post:

  • Let the self-striving cease so you can experience God’s relief.
  • Instead of trying to find just the right words in your mind, let God inspired words freely and openly flow from your heart.
  • Follow the thoughts that come across your heart and lead you to the Cross of Christ. They are from God.
  • Let the risen Jesus train you to let “Christ in you,” speak and write through you.
  • No spiritual fire in the writer (or speaker), no spiritual fire in the reader (or hearer).
  • Too many preachers sermonize about God without showing people the fire of Jesus by opening their heart to let the congregation see the risen Christ actively living and working in them.
Photo by Bju00f6rn Austmar u00deu00f3rsson on Pexels.com
Posted in creativity, releasing creativity, writing advice | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Christ-listening Christianity or Christ-less Christianity?

Posted on December 26, 2023 by Steve Simms

There’s a voice crying out
In the wilderness of your heart:
“Behold the Lamb of God.
There’s more than routine religion.
Prepare the way of the Lord,
Make room for the risen Jesus.
Look. See. Surrender. Be free.
Experience God’s Spirit-led liberty!”

When Christians gather
To listen to God’s Spirit and hear
What Jesus has to say,
The things that they hear
Will align in an amazing way!

Christ-less Christianity that ignores the daily presence and reality of the risen Jesus lacks the power to heal human hearts. It leaves people as sheep without the Good Shepherd since it doesn’t teach them to hear and obey His voice.

We need Christ-listening Christianity. Jesus said: “My sheep hear My voice.” Let’s listen and obey. I’m amazed by how often when I listen to “Christ in you,” what I hear is confirmed by other Christ-listeners.

Christ-listeners “hear what the Spirit is saying.” Log on your heart to the voice of Jesus. “Do you hear what I hear?” If we humbly listen to God’s Spirit, what we hear will align with each other and with the Bible.

Christ-less Christianity sets people down to listen to words about Jesus, but it lacks the power to radically change lives. It encourages people to try to do better, but the risen Jesus changes and empowers people from deep within. Christ-followers are called to carry and demonstrate the actual presence of the living Jesus to the people we daily encounter.

A gathering of the body of Christ needs to be more than just a platform for a one-man presentation. It needs to be an environment that encourages, empowers, and trains people to receive and obey direct revelation and inner promptings from the living Jesus Christ. Ordinary people are eloquent when they speak as moved by Christ. Church should welcome them to the pulpit! (Rev. 12:11.)

The great challenge in life is to hear, follow, and obey the risen Jesus in the ordinary of daily life. Take the challenge! A Christ-less Christmas is empty; a Christ-less life is more so.

Photo by Jishnu Radhakrishnan on Pexels.com
Posted in listening prayer, listening skills, listening to God | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment