I don’t have a prized possession.

Posted on November 9, 2023 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
Name the most expensive personal item you’ve ever purchased (not your home or car).
View all responses

Material things mean very little to me. I’ve never spent very much money on them. I very seldom see a material thing that I want or need. When I do I tend to buy the cheapest version of it. When my wife asks me what I want for my birthday or for Christmas, I never can think of anything.

I guess the most expensive personal item I’ve ever bought is the $500 computer that I am typing on at this moment. I appreciate it because it gives me access to the internet and is a platform for me to tell people about the love of my life — the living, resurrected Jesus Christ.

Here’s what I’ve just written:

It’s easy to be like the people of ancient Jerusalem who didn’t recognize Jesus even though the Old Testament prophets’ words about Him were read every Saturday in their synagogues. When Christ’s presence isn’t recognized and fully surrendered to, we’re left with a religious form of godliness that denies the power thereof. Although words are read about Jesus and His will, we live our lives as though He is dead because we don’t literally encounter and obey the risen Jesus as “the radiance of God’s glory.

When the Bible is preached and people aren’t trained and empowered to daily apply it and live it, nothing much happens. Christianity needs to focus on heart-to-heart relationship with Christ, daily discipleship, and heavenly citizenship, not just on lectures based on a pastor’s religious scholarship.

Church trains Christians to rely on hearing external religious lectures rather than on Christ’s internal presence. People can’t be lectured into discipleship no matter how many Christian conferences they attend.

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Streaming innernet podcasts

Posted on November 8, 2023 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
What podcasts are you listening to?
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I stream uplifting innernet podcasts. There I said it! You may think I’m crazy (or that I don’t know how to spell), but that’s okay. Innernet podcasts are so exciting, empowering, and energizing that your opinion of me is not an issue.

What’s an innernet podcast? It’s an inner flow of thoughts, feelings, words, images, and ideas that psychology calls the stream of consciousness.  That phrase was first introduced by William James in his book, Principles of Psychology, in 1890. We all have access to the innernet and its huge array of internal podcasts. Many of them are troublesome. Some however, overflow with peace. I’ve trained myself to continually shut down the tormenting innernet podcasts and to search for and click on the encouraging ones. That’s made all the difference in my life.

I believe that peace-filled innernet podcasts are from God. I work to stay continually logged in to them. They fill me with hope and love as they stream within me day and night.

Here’s some thoughts from the most recent innernet podcasts that I’ve listened to:

Let the Spirit and the Word be heard with the heart!

When Christ-followers gather
And set aside plans and programs,
Structures and systems,
While simply waiting
On God’s Spirit
Something supernatural happens.
Hearts that were far from God
Hear His still small voice speaking
And are strangely warmed
By the reality of Christ’s presence.
As they become attentive to
And begin to humbly obey
His inner prompting,
A divine orchestration
Of Christ’s glory
Manifests among them
And church is transformed
Into Spirit-led ekklesia.

Ekklesia overflows with the joyful attitude of equality before God, open-hearted love and respect for each other, and humble dependency on the presence of the risen Jesus.

Too many Christians have lost the “fun”-damentals of the faith. They’re unwilling to enjoy the presence of Jesus throughout the day with child-like humility and playfulness. (Google: The Joy Of Early Christianity.)

It’s dangerous to make up stuff about Jesus (and to watch stuff that other people have made up about Him). It’s better to stick with what the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit say.

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My favorite subjects weren’t taught in school.

Posted on November 7, 2023 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
What was your favorite subject in school?
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For some reason my favorite subjects weren’t taught in school. I’ve had to explore and learn them on my own. They include positive thinking, creativity, self-control, character development, awe, openheartedness, forgiveness, hopefulness, kindness, gratitude, joy, inner peace, humility, world peace, and spiritual growth.

I could have used a course in each of those subjects, but that’s now history. In high school I started pursuing those subjects on my own. I began to read every book I could find that related to any of those subjects. I didn’t keep count, but I’ve read many hundreds of books about various aspects of personal, character, and spiritual growth.

As I read books, I underlined the many statements that stood out to me and touched me in some way. Then I hand copied those powerful thoughts in blank journal books. Today I have 34 books crammed full of the wisdom that I have pursued. Eventually that wisdom began to flow out of me and for more than a decade I’ve been writing original thoughts on those subjects, posting them on Facebook, and compiling them into blog posts. I’ve also written several books on those topics.

My favorite subject of all is the living resurrected Jesus Christ. I personally encountered Him as a freshman in college and have been continually captivated by His presence and reality ever since then. Even in three years of theological seminary I never had a course about how to listen to, follow, and obey the risen Jesus and to read the Bible with an open heart as a love letter from God. I’ve had to lean that on my own.

Here are my most recent thoughts about these subjects:

Wonder,
Marvel,
Ponder,
Until amazement
And astonishment
Arise in your heart.

  • It’s time to break our dependence on the institutional Jesus and to reset Christianity on the living resurrected Jesus!
  • Christians need heart-to-heart connection and Spirit-led community, not more sermons.
  • Avoid a fictionalized Jesus. Fix your eyes on what the Bible says about Him!
  • “I have treasured the words of His (God’s) mouth more than my daily bread.” –Job 23:12. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” –Jesus in Matthew 5:6. Following Jesus involves such intense longing for His presence and reality that you lose your focus on food as you hunger for and treasure Him more than you want to eat. It’s time to open our heart to “taste and see” “the surpassing glory” of “the ministry of the Spirit,” “the glory of that which lasts.” “The letter kills but the Spirit gives life.” (See 2 Corinthians 3:6-11.) The early Christ-followers, “sent on their way by the Holy Spirit,” were so caught up in their love for Jesus that they denied their own desires and opinions and obeyed His Spirit.
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Here’s the news:

Posted on November 6, 2023 by Steve Simms 
Here's the news.
People accuse
And abuse
Each other.
They try to hide 
Behind their pride.
They excuse
Their behavior
And they blame
Other people
For their shame.
They ignore
That they need Jesus
To be their Savior. 
Lord, have mercy on us!

A big part of the problem is that Christianity today has withered up and lost most of its power. Pastors who keep a congregation as their audience have overlooked their calling to train and release people as God’s Spirit-led army.

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I use screen time to show and tell not to passively consume and gel.

Posted on November 6, 2023 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
How do you manage screen time for yourself?
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I’m not on screens to be influenced by our culture of confusion and chaos. My purpose is to share the joy and peace that overflow from within me.

My goal is to be a missionary of hope not a mission field subject to our society of self-inflicted misery. I want to be an influencer for good and to avoid being influenced by all the anger and accusation that is seething in our modern-day screens.

Because of that I am a content creator and rarely a content consumer. My computer and phone are platforms that I use to show and tell the amazing things that the risen Jesus has done and is daily doing in my heart and life.

Here’s an example. I wrote and posted this when I woke up this morning:

The risen Jesus wants to reset Christianity to His Spirit. When Christianity shifted from being Spirit-led to being controlled by a pulpit-head, its vibrant and life-consuming heart-connection with Christ as Head was curtailed by a religious system and structure that has been passed down through the centuries. It abandoned its “ear to hear what the Spirit is saying” and put its trust in tens of thousands of separate denominations and hundreds of thousands of independent churches scattered worldwide, each following its own leaders and traditions. Yet, in the midst of all this confusion and competition Christ is still speaking to and calling His sheep to follow and obey His Spirit instead of their favorite religious institution. He who has ears let him hear!

I also fill my screens with original positive statements and affirmations that give people hope. For a collection of 365 of my hope-filled sayings check out Elephants Inspiring the Room at this link.

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Life takes time

Posted on November 5, 2023 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
Do you need time?
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Life is a season. It’s a growth process. Growth requires time. Like all human beings and other living things, I need time to develop and mature.

However, time alone isn’t enough for me to fully grow into maturity. I also require the physical necessities of food, oxygen, exercise, and sleep, and the non-physical needs of encouragement, wisdom, intelligence, inner peace, discipline, love, righteousness, hope, relationships, and purpose.

Christianity, which was designed to be a daily guide to maturity, has abandoned its role and replaced it with one tightly controlled hour of spectator time on Sunday morning. This has robbed people of true growth by distracting them from the ultimate source of growth — the presence and workings of the living God.

Christianity’s not about being in attendance at religious services. It’s about being in Christ no matter where you are.

Pastors seem to be afraid to open the mic and trust the people they’ve preached to for years to share what Jesus puts on their heart. Since they don’t trust the congregation enough to open the mic and let people share what Jesus puts on their heart, they must not believe that their sermons have been very effective.

If churches would let the risen Jesus be the Builder, they wouldn’t be programmed, structured, and controlled by human leadership. Keeping Christians silent about Jesus quenches the Holy Spirit. Give people time to testify in church!

Now is the time for churches to recapture and implement the concept of ekklesia — the fully participatory town hall meeting in ancient Greek cities that Jesus said He will build. To get started search for: Beyond Church Ekklesia. People “plant churches” but Jesus said He will build His ekklesia.

It’s time to set the living Jesus free from the prison of church! “We mentioned that Jesus was imprisoned in the system of Roman Catholicism and that you couldn’t get to Him except through that system. In more subtle ways this system of intermediaries is found within Protestantism too . . . we stop at the church and give our loyalty and love to that and never get to the living Christ.” –E. Stanley Jones

Let’s set Jesus free to be the literal Head of His body. We desperately need to let the risen Jesus be the direct Leader of His people (and not just a figurehead) when we gather in His name!

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What can we count on in 3 years?

Posted on November 4, 2023 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
What will your life be like in three years?
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In our chaotic, crazy, and cruel world, what can we count on to give us hope that life will be bearable in three years (or thirty-three years)? We can’t count on politicians. They’re a moral mess. We can’t count on the economy. It’s definitely not a secure thing. We can’t count on other people. Two of my best friends just turned on me and shut me out of their life. We can’t count on preachers. Another famous one was just exposed as hypocritical. We can’t count on world peace. New wars are always breaking out.

In all of life’s ups and downs I’ve only found one source of stability and strength that gives me ongoing hope that no matter what happens I will be safe and secure in the future. My hope is in the living, resurrected Jesus Christ. I am continually strengthened by Christ who powerfully works in me. (Colossians 1:29.) Three years or thirty-three years, in the future I will be trusting in what Jesus is doing in me.

You can’t see hope, but without it life’s just an empty routine. Let Jesus fill your heart with hope!

The Jesus Movement isn’t just an ancient memory from old Jesus Freaks. Jesus never stops moving. We too often just look the other way.

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How’s Your Heart? Day

Posted on November 3, 2023 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
Invent a holiday! Explain how and why everyone should celebrate.
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In our confused culture we ignore the harvest of our heart and falsely believe that our thoughts, feelings, and desires have little or nothing to do with the quality of our life. So, we let them run wild and uncontested. In fact, we frequently let the worst of them torment, control, and define our heart. By doing so we become their obedient slave.

We need a day to examine the harvest of our heart and to consider how we have been cultivating it. Let’s call it How’s Your Heart? Day. Is your heart healed, whole, and wholesome?

Are there ways we can cultivate our heart for a better harvest? Yes, indeed!

Good or bad, the seeds you sow and cultivate in your thoughts, feelings, and desires will grow and expand. Whether joy or sadness, whatever you continually contemplate will be cultivated and come to harvest in your consciousness. Happiness or bitterness? You can see in people’s faces what they’ve cultivated in their heart.

If you aren’t enjoying your harvest, change what you’ve been cultivating! Whatever you cultivate in your heart will be harvested in your life. There is a plentiful harvest of joy for human hearts, but few people will labor to cultivate godly thoughts, feelings, and desires. The beautiful fruit of God’s Spirit can’t flourish in a heart clogged with weeds and distractions.

Your conscience is God’s gift designed to cultivate your heart for a joyful harvest. Let it plow up the hard ground within you and prepare the way of the Lord. When you’re ignoring your conscience, you’re ignoring Jesus. Listen up!

Too many Christians
Are looking for
A house of God,
A physical place
When what we need
Is to let Jesus take control
Of our inner space
And completely replace
Our thoughts, feelings, and desires
With His.
We need the heart of God!
Have your way in me, Lord!

With all the bad news it’s hard to be happy. Yet, the first Christians although suffering much cruelty and persecution overflowed with joy. You can, too!

Cultivate your heart for joy! Search for: The Joy of Early Christianity. Celebrate How’s Your Heart Day today!

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If humans were good . . .

Posted on November 2, 2023 by Steve Simms

God gives his grace to bad people. The deception that we are good people blocks our reception of His grace.

Some people are ignoring the Bible (“There is none righteous, no not one,”) and boldly proclaiming that humans are good instead of bad. If we were good people:

* We would act better than we do.

* We would always be kind to people.

* We wouldn’t ever be selfish or mean.

* We would always love our enemies.

* We would never think, say, and do wrong things.

* What a beautiful world it would be.

* We wouldn’t need Christ’s salvation.

When Jesus was asked why He eats with tax collectors and sinners, He answered: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Believing that you are a good (righteous) person makes you believe that you deserve salvation when the truth is none of us do. It’s all God’s mercy!

Like the friend at midnight and the widow with the unjust judge (in the Gospel of Luke) we need to persistently pursue our relationship with God through prayer “without ceasing,” even when our feelings lie to us and tell us that we aren’t being (or haven’t been) heard. The One who cares enough to number the hairs on our head hasn’t forgotten us and will never ignore us. He lives within Christ-followers to lead us by His Spirit. He asks us to trust Him and live in the comfort and communications of His Spirit, even when we don’t get our way and don’t understand why. Communication with and connection with God don’t depend on our understanding Him but on our trusting Him.

Jesus made the way for close connection and clear communication with God. Open your heart to humbly receive.

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The web hub with the holy rub!

Posted on November 2, 2023 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
What are your favorite websites?
View all responses

My favorite website is Bible Hub @ https://biblehub.com/john/3-16.htm

Bible Hub shows dozens of Bible translations of any Bible verse all on one page. By making it easy to compare various translations it clarifies the meaning of each verse in ways that can deeply touch your heart. Try it and see by clicking on the link above.

My other favorite website is my Facebook page @ https://www.facebook.com/steve.simms2

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