Immersion in the awareness of Jesus

Posted on October 25, 2023 by Steve Simms

“In Him we live and move and have our being,” but too often we are not consciously aware of that fact. We’re like the two disciples on the Emmaus Road walking beside the risen Jesus and hearing His voice, but unaware that He is truly with us (and living in us) no matter where we go! Like Mary at the empty tomb, we too often overlook Jesus because although He is right in front of us, we mistake Him for an ordinary gardener.

We act like Jesus has an on/off switch. We want to be aware of Him when we feel desperately needy, but then we tune out that awareness when we want to make our own choices and not be bothered by His convicting presence. We even use the words “sacred” and “secular” to describe the two states of consciousness that we waver between. It’s sad, but if we are honest, we would have to admit that we probably spend much more time unaware of the real presence of the living Jesus that we do savoring and surrendering to His presence.

So how can we live immersed in conscious awareness of the presence of Jesus? For me the key is an open heart that is willing to hear and to remember the words of Jesus (and the words of the Holy Spirit) speaking from the Bible and to let those living words burn in my heart, not only when I read the Word but throughout the day and night, even when those words challenge and convict me. When I refuse to “quench” the Holy Spirit and keep my heart open to His still small voice, He walks with me and talks with me and brings Scriptures to my mind and keeps my mind and heart focused on the risen Jesus. When I ignore the voice of God’s Spirit, I quench Him and my awareness of Jesus drifts from my consciousness.

I pray anywhere and everywhere but my favorite place to pray is in my bed when I lie down and every time I wake up during the night. I talk to God some, but I mainly listen and as I do a word comes to my mind and then more words. Then they become a sentence. The process often repeats until I have several sentences on my heart. When I fall asleep and wake up later, the sentences are still on my mind so when I get up, I post them on social media and in my blog. This happens almost every night. I also talk to and listen to God and seek to stay aware of His presence throughout the day.

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Without the supernatural we don’t get the whole story.

Posted on October 23, 2023 by Steve Simms

When Christians abandon their awareness of the present-day actions of Jesus they focus on pastors and programs. It’s time to point people directly to the person of the risen Jesus, not to sermons or shows about Him!

“The whole story” of what God is doing today involves much that is supernatural.” The Asbury Awakening brought much of God’s supernatural working into the light!

When people criticize people for obeying God’s Spirit instead of sticking with religious tradition, they usually don’t know “the whole story” and lack the spiritual gift of the discernment of spirits. That’s why Peter, when criticized, humbly explained that it wasn’t his idea to preach to the Gentiles. He presented the details of how he was led by a vision and a voice from the Lord and how the Lord had to repeat the vision and the words three times before He obeyed. When Christ’s ekklesia in Jerusalem (the proper name of the ancient Greek interactive town hall meeting that Jesus said He would build) heard “the whole story” of how Peter had been led by the Spirit (see Romans 8:14) they dropped their criticism and submitted to what God had done to miraculously bring Gentiles into His kingdom. We need to humbly open our heart to God’s supernatural gift of discernment so that we can tell the difference between people acting from a critical spirit and people being led by the Spirit.

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I’m Too Proud of Too Many Things

Posted on October 23, 2023 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
What are you most proud of in your life?
View all responses

Somewhere back in history some Christian (or group of Christians) made a list of the seven worse things that people can do. The Catholic Church adopted that list and called it “The Seven Deadly Sins.” To most people the sins on the list sound relative harmless (or even good). They are pride, greed, wrath (a bad temper) envy, lust, gluttony (overeating) and sloth (passivity).

What those seven attitudes and behaviors have in common is that they can easily take over our life and begin to manipulate and control us while we remain unaware that they have taken us captive. Pride is a great example of that. It’s easy to be a prisoner enslaved by pride while boasting and sincerely believing that we are totally free. However, when I look honestly at my life, I see that I’m too proud of far too many things to even know what I’m “most proud of” in my life.

Now for many years I have fought to eliminate the pride from my life. I’ve made progress but I still have a long way to go. Going through this ongoing process has shown me that humility is truly liberating and empowering. It frees me to forget about myself and to focus on being kind to other people and to enjoy showing respect to them.

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Aligning with wisdom

Posted on October 22, 2023 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
What have you been working on?
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When my thoughts, feelings, desires and behaviors are unaligned with wisdom they produce varying amounts of confusion, chaos, and consternation in my life. Therefore, it is important to me to work on aligning my mind, my heart, and my actions with wise choices. That may sound easy, but if you’ve ever tried to fully do it, you’ve discovered it to be difficult beyond belief.

My heart and mind have a will of their own that frequently embraces foolishness and stupidity. If I don’t resist them, they will sweep me into a sinkhole of self-destruction and try to drown me in despair. Because of that I refuse to listen to them, and I continually strive to make them align with wisdom. I am always working on:

  • Shutting down the stupidity that always tries to rise up within me.
  • Searching for and collecting as much wisdom as I can. (I have 34 journal books that I’ve filled up with hand-written quotes from the many hundreds of wise books that I have read. I also daily read the Bible with an open heart.)
  • Using discernment and wisdom in all I think, say, and do.
  • Compelling myself not to act on my impulses until I first contemplate them and make sure that they are aligned with wisdom.
  • Listening to and obeying my conscience instead of my thoughts, feelings, desires.
  • Being sensitive to the voice of the living Jesus Christ and following His inner promptings throughout the day.

I don’t always succeed at those lofty goals. When I fail, I get up and try again. That’s what I’m working on and I’m never going to give up!

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I’m learning Spanish @ 72

Posted on October 21, 2023 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
What’s something most people don’t know about you?
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I don’t know much about the French I took but I do know that I love learning Spanish in creative ways as a 72-year-old. Several times in my life I’ve tried to learn Spanish, but each time I gave up. However, I recently got serious about it. I knew that memorizing vocabulary and grammar had never worked for me, so I decided to try a different approach.

About 10 months ago I began to watch YouTube videos that were completely in Spanish. For an hour or more almost every day I watched Spanish travel videos, documentaries, classes, and sermons. In the beginning I understood almost nothing, but gradually I began to understand more and more.

I also began to read the New Testament out loud in Spanish every single day for 10 minutes or more. (I have daily devoured the Bible for 10 minutes or more all my adult life and it has encouraged and empowered me like no other book. Because of that I know its contents very well and can understand much of it when I read it in Spanish.)

After about 8 months two Mexican families (a total of 4 adults and 5 children) moved into one side of the duplex next to my house. Only one of the family members spoke any English and he spoke very little. My wife and I made friends with both families and the 4 adult Mexican men who moved into the basement, and I suddenly and mysteriously had many people to practice Spanish with.

After about nine months of focusing on absorbing Spanish, I was understanding people who spoke slowly and distinctly but still not getting much when people spoke at the normal rapid rate. Also, when I used Spanish subtitles, I could understand most of what was said on the videos.

However, I suddenly felt prompted to go to Costa Rica to attend Intercultural, a Spanish immersion school, for two weeks. There I had 20 hours of classes presented in Spanish each week (with only 3 students in each class). I stayed in the home of a Spanish speaking family that spoke almost no English, so I had many opportunities to practice my speaking. The two weeks were amazing! I highly recommend Intercultural to anyone who wants to improve their Spanish.

My Spanish grammar still needs a lot of improvement, but many of the Costa Rican Spanish speakers who I interacted with, greatly increased my confidence in my ability to communicate with people effectively in Spanish. Now I’m ready to jump back into spending time with my Mexican neighbors, watching more videos in Spanish, and continuing to daily devour the Spanish Bible (I’m almost through the New Testament in Spanish for the second time in 10 months).

Here’s a picture from Intercultural Spanish School in Heredia, Costa Rica. I’m chatting with my classmate Eric from Germany and my classmate Scott, a doctor from New York City, is in the background.

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Lazy days can be very productive!

Posted on October 20, 2023 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
Do lazy days make you feel rested or unproductive?
View all responses

Productivity can’t always be measured by activity. If we are busy doing the wrong things, activity can be unproductive. Wrong activity can even be harmful.

Too much activity can stress us out. It can kill our creativity. It can cause us to spin our wheels in unproductive behavior patterns.

However, lazy days, if used to refresh and renew, can bring us hope, insight, energy, and creativity that will greatly increase our productivity. Learn to listen during your lazy days. Pay attention to the thoughts and feelings that are circulating within you. Some of them are negative and destructive. Resist them and drive them away. Some are healing and revealing. Focus on them and embrace their insights by writing them down and putting them into practice at your first opportunity.

When I follow this advice, my lazy days never make me feel unproductive. It’s just the opposite. I often find that my lazy days to be the most productive days of my life.

Let your heart be a Jesus lab. Experiment with opening up more to the living Jesus and observe what He does in you.

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Can people today be led by God’s Spirit?

Posted on October 20, 2023 by Steve Simms

You’re the one they’re looking for. Sow well! Often when you meet a stranger in what appears to be a random way, you’re the one they’re looking for. They want you to sow hope into their life. You and they might not notice it, but you are in the middle of a divine encounter with someone who the Holy Spirit has led to you.

Many people you meet are being sent to you by God because they are searching for “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” for the fruit of the Spirit, and for the joy of the Lord. Open your heart with humility and kindness so that they can see the risen Jesus living and manifesting His presence and qualities in and through you. Then they will begin to open their heart to you.

Be sensitive to the Spirit as He leads you in what you say and do as you take the time to compassionately listen to and interact with people God sends you (even if you see them the way the ancient Jews saw the Gentiles). Right in front of your eyes God will touch and begin to heal their soul through the spiritual seeds you caringly sow (and He will do many other amazing things that you may not see until eternity).

It takes rare courage to obey the Holy Spirit, but those who dare to do so experience amazing things! Dare to be a Spirit-led child of God today. (Romans 8:14.)

Spirit-led people need discernment. Here are some keys to discernment. 1) Stay in the Bible. If it doesn’t align with the Bible, it’s not from God. 2) if it’s not true, it’s not from God. 3) If you don’t want to do it, it’s not from you. It’s either from God or the devil. 4) If it’s against your conscience, it’s not from God. 5) if it aligns with the 9 aspects of the fruit of the Spirit, you can trust that you are hearing from God.

In churches and conferences Christians are trained to sit and listen over and over until they die, but surely there’s more to Christianity than that! Isn’t there? To reject the idea that God wants to directly lead ordinary people by His Spirit is to ignore Romans 8:14 and to embrace the doctrine of Cesationism.

How is your relationship with Jesus? 1) What is a relationship with Jesus? 2) I sometimes talk to Jesus. 3) I talk to Jesus a lot. 4) I listen to Jesus. 5) I say and do what Jesus tells me to.

Cornelius was a Spirit-led man in the Bible. He was a seeker of the kingdom of God. He was someone who was hungering and thirsting for righteousness from deep within his heart. He wanted more than religion. He wanted the presence of the living God. He was living in active obedience to God as much as he knew how to. When God answered his heart’s desire and sent him an angel to instruct him, Cornelius obeyed. He was neither a pastor or a church attendee/layman. Because He was a passionate God seeker, his life helped demonstrate the reality of the risen Jesus. Be like Cornelius!

Jesus talks.
Hear Him,
Not just
A sermon
About Him!

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Presence instead of principles

Posted on October 17, 2023 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
What principles define how you live?
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When I try to live by principles, I never live up to them. My principles are always higher than my ability to consistently and persistently follow and obey them.

I’m like the ancient Jesus. I believe in the Ten Commandments and sincerely want to live by them, but I’m never able to fully comply with them in my daily lifestyle, in my desires, in my beliefs, in my words and in my thoughts. If I start to believe that I’m a good man and am finally following the Commandments, I find my heart filled with pride, secret rebellion, and self-righteousness.

The ancient Jesus had the same problem. Those who felt like they were the best at following God’s Commands were actually the people who worked behind the scenes to have Jesus Christ crucified. His presence was a threat to their feelings of being greatly successful in their religious endeavors. Jesus spoke the truth in love to the Pharisees (the proud religious Jews of His day). They hated His honesty because it revealed their heart. The feeling that they were successfully following God’s principles was something they wouldn’t allow to be questioned. Their principles were much more important to them than God’s presence.

The only way that I or anyone else can live up to God’s principles is by looking beyond the principles and our human effort to follow them, and instead surrendering our life to the real presence of the risen Jesus. I’m so grateful to the living Jesus for making His home in my heart and daily giving me the mercy, strength, and power to enable me to live by His presence, not just by my efforts to obey God’s principles.

The Lord wants us to notice and be amazed by what He is doing inside of us. I believe He is continually calling all human beings (like He did Adam and Eve) to the awareness of and surrender to His presence. Because God’s communication with us is mixed with our own thoughts and feelings (and with the deceptive thoughts and feelings of the devil), it’s easy to write them off as being nothing more than uncomfortable self-talk. A closer, humble look with God’s discernment will make you aware of the risen Jesus working in and through you.

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I put off thinking negatively about things

Posted on October 15, 2023 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
What have you been putting off doing? Why?
View all responses

Being quick to be negative is not a nice thing. There’s so much that troubles me about the world today–unkindness, hostility, anger, hatred, bullying, cruelty, violence, wars, and rumors of wars (especially concerning politics). I could easily let my mind run wild with negativity and vengeance. However, I choose to put it off and not get around to it.

In the meantime, I’m going to focus my mind on whatever is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, kind, hopeful, and peaceful. In today’s environment those things are hard to find, but I am determined to find them!

I delay believing accusations and conspiracy theories, until they can be proven beyond a doubt. When I disagree with people’s beliefs or behaviors, I don’t get around to writing those people off and I try to speak the truth to them with love, patience, and kindness. When I’m feeling discouraged, I put it off until later and then I don’t get around to it.

Sometimes negative thoughts, feelings, and desires swarm my mind and emotions like a hive of angry killer bees tempting me to surrender to hopelessness and self-destruction. When they do, I continually swat them down one after the other and never give up until they leave me alone.

When something happens that I don’t like, I’m tempted to declare it to be bad. Instead, I put off giving in to that temptation and delay my negative judgements by saying: “This seems bad to me, but It’s too soon to tell. I’m going to put off evaluating it and see how it turns out in the future.” That delay keeps anxiety and worry from consuming me. Then after a few days, months, or years the situation I thought was bad often in retrospect looks good.

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The arrival point of full maturity?

Posted on October 14, 2023 by Steve Simms
Daily writing prompt
When was the first time you really felt like a grown up (if ever)?
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Maturity is like a pole attached to a donkey’s head with a carrot dangling in front of the donkey’s eyes. No matter how hard you pursue it, you’re unable to reach it. Your body may tell you that you’re a grownup and you may feel like you are mature, but in reality, we’ve all still got a long way to go.

Would a world of grownups living with mature wisdom look like earth does today? Would it be filled with crime, murder, violence, pollution, lying, greed, jealously, addiction, suicide, hate, child abuse, trash, bullying, hunger, poverty, name calling, racism, accusations of cheating, sexual harassment, self-focus, human trafficking, war, terrorism and genocide?

How far are we human beings from true maturity? The Hindu religion gives an interesting answer to that question. It declares that it will take a million lifetimes for a person to finally experience the carrot of true maturity, Although, I don’t believe in reincarnation, I think Hinduism appreciates how far we all still have to go before we are truly a grownup.

So how do we get there if we don’t have a million lifetimes to slowly grow into full maturity? Christianity has a different answer than reincarnation. That answer is the Incarnation, “Emmanuel–God with us.” God became a man in Jesus Christ, lived a perfect and truly mature life, and was crucified in order to carry all the guilt that has resulted from our human immaturity (called sin).

Then Jesus rose from the dead and lives to this day in order to actively work in human hearts and to supernaturally lead the people who surrender their will to Him from glory to glory while they’re on earth, and finally into the place of full maturity called Heaven. The answer to the immaturity and sin in humans that wrecks our planet, and our souls, is not reincarnation. It’s “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

The Spirit of Christ is the greatest source of comfort and joy in the universe–incredibly better than substance or event on earth. Open your heart and see! If you are searching far and wide for inner peace, let the living Jesus direct your life from within you and peace of mind will finally be yours. If you want contentment and joy, you can find it by opening up to a heart-to-heart relationship with the risen Jesus.

Jesus, thru the Holy Spirit, is doing inspiring things in all people. Begin to notice what He’s doing in you. What Jesus does inside me throughout the day is more exciting than anything I can find on Google. When my life was transformed by the risen Jesus, and I began to listen to and obey Him throughout the day, I started to feel like I’m on the way to being grown up.

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