Metron Live

Jim Swilley
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Motivation | Enlightenment | Transcendence | Renewal | Outreach | Networking

  1. 1d ago

    ‘IF YOUR EYE IS SINGLE: How Mindset and the Power of Your Thoughts Continually Shape and Re-shape Your Reality’ IV

    Bishop Jim’s insightful messages help others find THEIR METRON through M~otivation E~nlightenment T~ranscendence R~enewal O~utreach and N~etworking Learn more: www.bishinthenow.com Follow Jim Swilley on Youtube to see the videos live Sundays at 11:11 am – https://www.youtube.com/bishinthenow In this concluding message of Metron’s mindset series, Bishop Jim Swilley reframes being “born again” as something deeper than adopting a religious belief: it is a return to the original way we were created to see ourselves, other people, and the world. Using the analogy of the settings on a phone, Bishop Jim explains that many of our automatic reactions are produced by mental settings accumulated through family, religion, fear, trauma, survival, culture, and experience. Some of those settings once protected or taught us something important, but others have become obsolete and continue triggering reactions long after they are useful. Spiritual transformation, then, involves becoming conscious of those settings and intentionally changing them. Drawing from Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus in John 3, the message presents being born again as recovering our “factory settings”—learning again to see without inherited prejudice, unnecessary fear, resentment, or limitation. Bishop Jim closes the series by identifying four settings that can reshape how we experience life: gratitude, understanding, forgiveness, and humor. Pasted text Main Takeaways Your mindset functions like the settings on your phone. Certain circumstances trigger predictable responses because of settings established in your mind. You may not have consciously chosen every setting, and some may have developed in survival mode, but becoming aware of them gives you the opportunity to change them. This connects strongly with Romans 12:2: “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Being born again can be understood as returning to your original spiritual settings. Bishop Jim interprets Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus in John 3:3–6 not primarily as a formula for getting into heaven, but as a transformation in how we see the Kingdom of God. The emphasis is on returning to what he calls the “original creation”—before fear, prejudice, exclusion, and other learned filters distorted our vision. Some settings were inherited rather than consciously chosen. Family patterns, cultural assumptions, religious traditions, painful experiences, and survival responses can become automatic mental programming. Bishop Jim connects this with generational patterns: unresolved fear in one generation can become the worldview handed to the next. Not everything you learned needs to be discarded. Wisdom does not mean becoming naïve. Some experiences teach necessary lessons about safety, responsibility, boundaries, and trust. Jesus’ instruction to be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16) provides the balance: recover childlike openness without abandoning mature discernment. Gratitude is the first setting. Instead of continually dividing experiences into good and bad, Bishop Jim encourages viewing life through gratitude—even recognizing that painful experiences can teach, shape, and mature us. This echoes Romans 8:28 and the biblical emphasis on giving thanks in all circumstances. Understanding is the second setting. Replace “Why is this happening to me?” with “What is this showing me?” Pain, repetition, and recurring patterns can contain information. If something continually repeats, examine the mental setting producing or interpreting that experience. Forgiveness is the third setting. Forgiveness does not require pretending something was acceptable or restoring trust where trust is no longer appropriate. It means refusing to continually rehearse an injury and emotionally relive it. Forgiveness interrupts the cycle that keeps an old experience active in the present. Humor is the fourth setting. Learning to laugh—particularly at ourselves—helps loosen the grip of fear, ego, and excessive seriousness. Bishop Jim connects this with remembering laughter in his own family and rediscovering dimensions of people that difficult final seasons can sometimes obscure. Transformation requires examining the hidden settings. Bishop Jim invokes Psalm 19:12, “Who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from secret faults,” as an invitation to examine subconscious patterns we may not even realize are operating. A “single eye” produces a life filled with light. The series ultimately returns to Matthew 6:22: “If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.” Change the lens through which life is interpreted, and the experience of life itself begins to change. Four Settings to Keep Gratitude → Understanding → Forgiveness → Humor Rather than allowing fear, resentment, inherited assumptions, or old survival mechanisms to remain the default, Bishop Jim proposes deliberately making these four perspectives the settings through which we process life. Quote from Bishop Jim Swilley “You go through life and you collect these different settings that are obsolete now, and they’re not serving you.” — Bishop Jim Swilley That statement captures the central idea of the message: spiritual growth isn’t necessarily about becoming someone entirely new. Sometimes it is about identifying what has accumulated over the years, keeping the wisdom, deleting what is obsolete, and returning to the clearer vision that was there before fear taught us how to see.

  2. Sep 26

    ‘IF YOUR EYE IS SINGLE: How Mindset and the Power of Your Thoughts Continually Shape and Re-shape Your Reality’ III

    Bishop Jim’s insightful messages help others find THEIR METRON through M~otivation E~nlightenment T~ranscendence R~enewal O~utreach and N~etworking Learn more: www.bishinthenow.com Follow Jim Swilley on Youtube to see the videos live Sundays at 11:11 am – https://www.youtube.com/bishinthenow In Part 3 of “If Your Eye Is Single,” Bishop Jim Swilley continues exploring mindset as the internal “setting” through which we interpret our lives. His central argument is that many things traditionally understood as spiritual warfare, strongholds, demons, and adversaries can also be understood as patterns of thought that oppose our purpose and distort our perception. Rather than arguing with an unhealthy setting, we can recognize it, change it, and consciously choose a different response. Through Scripture, personal stories, and unconventional interpretations of biblical imagery, Bishop Jim emphasizes that transformation happens when we stop surrendering authority to inherited beliefs, fear, past experiences, or negative thinking and begin examining the mental settings through which we interpret reality. Difficulty may still come, but our response determines what that difficulty produces in us. Main Takeaways Your mindset functions like a setting. Bishop Jim compares mindset to the settings on a phone, computer, car, or thermostat. When the setting produces the wrong result, arguing with it accomplishes nothing; the setting itself has to change. You are not obligated to believe everything you think. Some thoughts are temporary, while others have become deeply established because of childhood experiences, religious teaching, relationships, trauma, or repeated reinforcement. Recognizing that a thought exists does not require accepting it as truth. Strongholds can be understood as entrenched patterns of thought. Bishop Jim connects Paul’s language about spiritual warfare with Paul’s instruction about “casting down imaginations” and bringing thoughts into obedience. 2 Corinthians 10:3–5 becomes a major framework for understanding the battle as something occurring within perception and thought. Scripture can reveal truth beyond strict literalism. Much of the message explores biblical stories symbolically rather than exclusively historically. Adam and Eve, Noah, Moses, Pharaoh, the Red Sea, Daniel’s Prince of Persia, and other images become ways of discussing consciousness, fear, ego, adversity, transformation, and spiritual awakening. Adversarial thoughts can become your “devil.” Bishop Jim points to the basic idea of an adversary and applies it internally: a thought that continually works against your purpose can function as an adversarial force within your life. This reframes spiritual warfare as recognizing and confronting thoughts that continually undermine who you are becoming. Pressure can reveal abilities you did not know you possessed. Moses standing between Pharaoh and the Red Sea becomes an image of those moments when the only way forward is through. Sometimes we discover what we can do precisely because circumstances leave us no alternative. Stop asking only, “Why is this happening to me?” A more transformative question is: What can this teach me? How can this make me stronger? Bishop Jim uses his upcoming shoulder replacement and current pain as an example of deliberately changing the meaning attached to a difficult experience. Eventually, you have to take ownership of your response. What happened to you may genuinely have been caused by someone else. But continuing to surrender control of your present life to that event keeps the old setting active. We cannot necessarily control what happens, but we have significant influence over how we respond. Feelings do not have to be denied to change your mindset. Bishop Jim specifically acknowledges allowing himself to feel disappointment, pain, or frustration rather than suppressing it. The goal is not pretending something is good; it is refusing to remain mentally trapped there. Repentance can mean changing your thinking. In this framework, repentance becomes the recognition that a way of thinking is no longer producing life and choosing another way to perceive the situation. Key Scriptures Matthew 6:22–23 — “If your eye be single…” The foundational text of the series. Bishop Jim interprets the “single” or healthy eye in terms of healthy perception: when perception changes, what we experience becomes filled with light. Romans 15:4 — Scripture was written for instruction so that through endurance and its encouragement we might maintain hope. 2 Corinthians 10:3–5 — The weapons of our warfare are not carnal; they pull down strongholds, cast down imaginations, and bring thoughts into obedience. This is one of the clearest biblical connections to the message’s emphasis on mindset. Daniel 10 — The Prince of Persia becomes an image Bishop Jim uses for entrenched thoughts that seem to delay or resist truths already known within the spirit. Exodus 14 — Moses and the Red Sea illustrate the capacity that can emerge when circumstances force us beyond what we previously believed we could do. Psalm 112:7 — The person whose heart is established is not afraid of bad news. Psalm 138:8 — “The Lord will perfect that which concerns me.” Bishop Jim describes this as one of the truths that became deeply established in his own thinking. Romans 8:28 — “All things work together for good…” The message emphasizes developing a mindset capable of looking for transformation even within difficulty. Romans 12:2 — “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” This captures the larger theme of changing the internal settings through which life is perceived. Philippians 4:7 — The “peace that passes understanding” illustrates an inner experience that can transcend the apparent logic of circumstances. John 16:33 — “In the world you will have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” Quote from Bishop Jim Swilley “You’re not obligated to believe everything you think.” — Bishop Jim Swilley That line captures the heart of this installment: thoughts can be examined rather than automatically obeyed. A mindset may have been established years ago and remained silently active—like an alarm setting waiting until 3:00 a.m. to reveal itself. Becoming conscious of the setting gives us the opportunity to change it. Another line that strongly captures the closing movement of the message is: “I’m going to start declaring the end from the beginning. I’m going to prophesy my own resurrection.” — Bishop Jim Swilley The message ultimately moves from examining inherited beliefs to consciously choosing expectation: I will get through this. I will learn from this. I will become stronger. This circumstance does not get to write the ending of my story.

  3. Sep 17

    ‘IF YOUR EYE IS SINGLE: How Mindset and the Power of Your Thoughts Continually Shape and Re-shape Your Reality’ II

    Bishop Jim’s insightful messages help others find THEIR METRON through M~otivation E~nlightenment T~ranscendence R~enewal O~utreach and N~etworking Learn more: www.bishinthenow.com Follow Jim Swilley on Youtube to see the videos live Sundays at 11:11 am – https://www.youtube.com/bishinthenow This message continues Bishop Jim Swilley’s teaching on mindset, using the image of the crown of thorns as a metaphor for old mental settings, defenses, survival patterns, shame, and self-blame that may once have protected us but now cause pain. The central challenge is to recognize that what appears to be a problem with life may actually be an outdated setting through which we interpret life. Jim encourages listeners to forgive themselves for decisions made with the understanding they had at the time, examine old wounds without defensiveness, and move into a renewed way of thinking. The crown of thorns represents the old mindset; resurrection represents living from a new one. Main Takeaways Your mindset is a setting. Like a device configured incorrectly, we can interpret everything through mental settings formed by childhood, culture, relationships, trauma, religion, and past experiences. Other people aren’t necessarily seeing what you’re seeing. Their responses are filtered through their own settings, which explains why arguing with someone rarely changes a deeply rooted mindset. The crown of thorns becomes a picture of outdated self-protection. Jim describes the “thorns” as defenses and survival mechanisms that developed for a reason but may no longer serve us. Self-forgiveness is part of changing the setting. Instead of continually judging your past with what you know today, recognize the mindset and information you were operating from then. You can own your past without continuing to punish yourself for it. Accountability doesn’t require permanent shame. Looking directly at old wounds can actually remove their power. Stop interpreting every hardship through self-blame. Negative events aren’t automatic proof that you deserve punishment or that life is against you. The resurrection becomes a metaphor for renewed thinking. The invitation is to leave obsolete mindsets behind and begin thinking from the perspective of who you are now. Truth makes constant self-defense unnecessary. When you understand both your strengths and limitations, the protective “thorns” become less necessary. Scripture Connections Luke 23:34 — “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Jim turns this inward as an invitation toward self-forgiveness: forgive yourself for what you didn’t yet understand. Romans 12:2 — “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” This strongly parallels the message’s central image of changing your mental settings. Matthew 16:24 — Jesus’ call to “take up his cross” becomes part of Jim’s exploration of the cross as transformation rather than simply punishment. Genesis 3:11 — “Who told thee that thou wast naked?” Jim connects this with the voices and experiences that taught people to feel ashamed, exposed, or unworthy. Psalm 23:6 — “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” Past mistakes do not prevent goodness and mercy from continuing to operate. Romans 8:28 — “All things work together for good.” Even experiences we wish we could change can ultimately become part of our growth. 2 Corinthians 5:17 — “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” The old mental setting does not have to define the person who exists now. Quote from Bishop Jim Swilley “The thorns were protections that you developed over the years that no longer serve you.” That captures the heart of the message: you don’t have to hate the version of yourself that developed the thorns. You can understand why they were necessary, forgive yourself, and recognize when it’s finally time to take the crown off.

  4. Sep 11

    ‘IF YOUR EYE IS SINGLE: How Mindset and the Power of Your Thoughts Continually Shape and Re-shape Your Reality’

    Bishop Jim’s insightful messages help others find THEIR METRON through M~otivation E~nlightenment T~ranscendence R~enewal O~utreach and N~etworking Learn more: www.bishinthenow.com Follow Jim Swilley on Youtube to see the videos live Sundays at 11:11 am – https://www.youtube.com/bishinthenow Bishop Jim Swilley begins a new series centered on mindset—not simply what we think in a given moment, but the deeper, habitual way we interpret ourselves, other people, and the world around us. Using Jesus’ words, “If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light” (Matthew 6:22), Jim argues that our internal lens can become one of the strongest forces shaping our lived experience. A mindset formed through fear, scarcity, rejection, victimization, or old experiences can keep recreating the same patterns. But mindset is not permanently fixed. Through awareness, spiritual growth, personal responsibility, and small intentional changes, we can reshape the way we see—and ultimately reshape the reality we experience. Main Takeaways Your mindset is the “hard drive” of your life. Jim challenges the idea that external forces are always determining our circumstances. Our habitual beliefs, attitudes, expectations, and reactions often have far more influence than we realize. A “single eye” is a healthy, focused perception. Matthew 6:22 sits within Jesus’ larger teaching about worry, provision, the lilies of the field, and seeking first the Kingdom (Matthew 6:25–34). The question becomes: What lens are you continually using to see your life? Pay attention to your automatic reactions. Affirmations can be powerful, but the spontaneous words that emerge when something unexpected happens can reveal the mindset underneath. As Jesus taught, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matthew 12:34). Develop an expectation of abundance. Jim connects this with Proverbs 21:5 and his own foundational belief from Psalm 138:8: “The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me.” An abundance mindset doesn’t mean denying problems; it means believing that difficulty does not get the final word. Repeated patterns deserve examination. When the same conflict follows us through multiple jobs, relationships, friendships, or circumstances, it may be worth asking whether our own perception is part of the pattern. Personal responsibility creates the possibility for change. Choose a growth mindset over a fixed mindset. Some parts of our worldview were established very early, but that doesn’t mean they must remain untouched. Like renovating an older home while preserving its foundation, we can keep what serves us while updating what has become obsolete. Your mindset can become its own “personal hell.” Jim interprets the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14–30 through the lens of mindset. The servant who buried his talent viewed his master through fear and resentment, while the others acted from possibility and multiplication. The warning is that an unchanged mindset can imprison us in the same experience repeatedly. Don’t assume every new situation will repeat an old wound. Racism, homophobia, misogyny, betrayal, injustice, and rejection are real, but expecting them in every interaction can cause past experiences to dictate present relationships. Discern what is actually happening instead of automatically imposing yesterday onto today. Microdose the change. Jim’s practical closing idea is powerful: don’t expect to transform decades of thinking overnight. Make small changes. Notice when something that once triggered you no longer controls you. Celebrate those moments as evidence that your mindset is growing. Key Scriptures Matthew 6:22 — “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.” Matthew 6:25–34 — Jesus’ teaching on worry, provision, considering the lilies, and seeking first the Kingdom. Psalm 138:8 — “The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me.” Proverbs 21:5 — The thoughts/plans of the diligent lead toward abundance. Matthew 25:14–30 — The parable of the talents and the contrasting responses of the servants. Matthew 25:31–46 — “I was hungry, and ye gave me meat…” connecting spirituality with our response to others. Mark 7:13 — Tradition can make the Word ineffective, reinforcing Jim’s point about deeply established patterns of thought. Quote of the Message “Your mindset can be your personal hell.” — Bishop Jim Swilley That statement captures the heart of the teaching. The good news is that mindset can change. Jim closes by reminding us that we have the mind of Christ and can become increasingly open to the Spirit, learning to think better, live better, and continually shape and reshape our reality.

  5. Sep 3

    THE HEALING WORD: Everything Is Energy and We’re All Connected Pt. IV

    Bishop Jim’s insightful messages help others find THEIR METRON through M~otivation E~nlightenment T~ranscendence R~enewal O~utreach and N~etworking Learn more: www.bishinthenow.com Follow Jim Swilley on Youtube to see the videos live Sundays at 11:11 am – https://www.youtube.com/bishinthenow Everything Is Energy: Healing the Energy You Carry Bishop Jim Swilley closes this installment of The Healing Word: Everything Is Energy and We’re All Connected by exploring how the emotional and spiritual energy we absorb—especially early in life—can continue shaping our identity, relationships, choices, and even our experience of healing. Through personal stories about family, grief and closure, the woman with the issue of blood, forgiveness, Dolly Parton’s formative influences, and Zach’s testimony about his sister rebuilding her life, Jim challenges us to recognize what belongs to us and what we have simply carried for someone else. Healing begins when we tell ourselves the truth without condemnation, release inherited shame and limiting beliefs, and intentionally choose the energy of freedom, affirmation, health, and life. Main Takeaways Early energy can become lifelong programming. Experiences, words, people, places, and even seemingly insignificant childhood impressions can establish patterns that continue influencing us decades later. The question is not simply, “What happened to me?” but “What energy did I attach to what happened?” You don’t have to carry someone else’s infection. Shame, fear, inadequacy, rejection, and limitation can be projected onto us by parents, religious leaders, culture, relationships, or other authority figures. Forgiveness allows us to acknowledge what happened without continuing to carry its energy. Forgiveness is release, not approval. Jim emphasizes that forgiving someone does not condone abuse, mistreatment, or dysfunction. It means refusing to allow another person’s unresolved issues to continue living inside you. Jesus changed the energy around the rejected. In the story of the woman with the issue of blood, Jesus does more than acknowledge her physical healing—He publicly calls her “Daughter.” Instead of reinforcing the shame surrounding her condition, He restores dignity and belonging. See Mark 5:25–34; Luke 8:43–48. Sometimes healing requires creating your own path of faith. The woman believed, “If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole” (Mark 5:28). Jim points out that she acted from her own conviction rather than waiting for permission from the religious system around her. Prayer can look like speaking well-being into another person. Drawing from James 5:13–16, Jim expands prayer beyond religious language. Sometimes prayer is simply looking at someone in difficulty and sincerely saying, “You’re going to be okay.” Let people experience their joy. James says, “Is any merry? let him sing psalms” (James 5:13). Rather than diminishing another person’s happiness, confidence, accomplishment, or self-expression, we can celebrate it. Freedom comes through truth. Facing family dysfunction, painful memories, inherited beliefs, or personal history honestly does not require self-condemnation. “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). Your worst experience does not have to determine your future. Zach’s story about his sister illustrates how a devastating experience can become the catalyst for leaving an unhealthy environment, rediscovering identity, and building an entirely different life. Scriptures Referenced James 5:13–16 — Prayer, healing, anointing, and speaking well-being over those experiencing weakness or difficulty. Mark 5:25–34 / Luke 8:43–48 — The woman with the issue of blood reaches for Jesus and is healed; Jesus publicly calls her “Daughter.” Leviticus 15:19–30 — The purity laws surrounding a woman’s menstrual cycle and prolonged bleeding, providing important cultural context for the woman with the issue of blood. Jeremiah 6:14 — “Peace, peace; when there is no peace,” highlighting the danger of addressing symptoms without confronting deeper wounds. James 4:2 — “Ye have not, because ye ask not.” Luke 4:18 / Isaiah 61:1 — “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…” and the proclamation of liberty to the captives. John 8:32, 36 — The truth makes us free, and “if the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” 2 Corinthians 3:17 — “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” Ephesians 2:6 — We are raised up and seated together in heavenly places. Quote from Bishop Jim Swilley “Forgiving a situation is saying, ‘I can’t let your energy fester in me anymore.’” That thought captures the heart of the message: you can acknowledge what happened, tell the truth about it, forgive what needs to be forgiven, and refuse to spend the rest of your life carrying energy that was never yours.

  6. Aug 29

    THE HEALING WORD: Everything Is Energy and We’re All Connected Pt. III

    Bishop Jim’s insightful messages help others find THEIR METRON through M~otivation E~nlightenment T~ranscendence R~enewal O~utreach and N~etworking Learn more: www.bishinthenow.com Follow Jim Swilley on Youtube to see the videos live Sundays at 11:11 am – https://www.youtube.com/bishinthenow Bishop Jim Swilley continues “The Healing Word” by turning the focus inward: the most powerful healing word we may ever hear is the one we learn to speak to ourselves. He reframes “familiar spirits” as familiar patterns of thought—old stories, survival mechanisms, fears, and emotional responses that once protected us but can eventually prevent us from moving forward. Healing does not require denying pain or pretending difficult experiences never happened. Instead, it requires changing the energy we continue giving those experiences. Like the man at Bethesda, we can remember the bed without remaining confined to it. Through renewed thinking, healthy relationships, empathy, and a willingness to interrupt familiar patterns, we can transform the internal dialogue that shapes our present reality. Main Takeaways The most significant healing word may come from within. Other people can encourage and strengthen us, but our continual internal monologue profoundly affects how we experience our lives. This connects naturally with Romans 12:2 and transformation through the renewing of the mind. “Familiar spirits” can be understood as familiar ways of thinking. Bishop Jim reframes demons as obsolete thoughts and survival patterns rooted in what has become emotionally familiar. In Matthew 12:43–45, Jesus describes an unclean spirit attempting to return to its former “house,” illustrating the pull toward what is familiar even after change has begun. Freedom can feel unfamiliar. The message uses examples of animals remaining psychologically confined after physical restraints are removed. In the same way, people can leave a difficult environment while continuing to carry the environment internally. The Holy Spirit represents movement rather than stagnation. “In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). Spiritual transformation continually calls us beyond obsolete patterns and toward new ways of seeing ourselves and our circumstances. Change the energy attached to your story. In John 5:1–9, the man at Bethesda explains why he has remained where he is for 38 years. Jesus does not debate the story; He introduces a new possibility: “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” The bed remains part of the man’s history, but it no longer determines his identity or destination. Change the question from “Why me?” to “What now?” Instead of continually energizing the question of why something happened, ask what can be learned, changed, created, or healed through it. This is closely connected to metanoia—repentance understood as changing the mind. Acknowledging pain is not the same as remaining trapped in it. Jesus Himself acknowledged suffering: “If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me” (Matthew 26:39). Healing does not require pretending something doesn’t hurt. Not everyone is qualified to speak into your pain. A healing word is different from dismissive positivity. Someone saying “count your blessings” can minimize legitimate pain, while someone who understands, empathizes, and then introduces hope can genuinely change the energy of the conversation. Romans 12:15 says, “Weep with those who weep.” Timing matters. Proverbs 15:23 celebrates “a word spoken in due season.” Even something true can become unhelpful when spoken without empathy, relationship, or appropriate timing. Deliverance can mean interrupting an old thought. Rather than a dramatic supernatural spectacle, Bishop Jim describes deliverance as recognizing a familiar pattern, interrupting it, and redirecting the mind toward something healthier and more life-giving. Featured Quote “Sometimes a thought just needs to be interrupted and redirected.” — Bishop Jim Swilley Another line that captures the heart of the message is: “You still keep your story. You still remember that you were on that bed. It’s just that now you’re changing the energy on it.” — Bishop Jim Swilley Key Scriptures Psalm 107:20 — “He sent His word and healed them.” Romans 12:2 — “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” John 5:1–9 — Jesus tells the man at Bethesda to rise, take up his bed, and walk. Matthew 12:43–45 — The unclean spirit seeks to return to its familiar house. Mark 5:1–13 — Legion resists being sent away from familiar territory. Acts 17:28 — “In Him we live and move and have our being.” Romans 12:15 — “Weep with those who weep.” Proverbs 15:23 — The power of “a word spoken in due season.” Matthew 26:39 — Jesus acknowledges His suffering while continuing forward.

  7. Aug 23

    THE HEALING WORD: Everything Is Energy and We’re All Connected Pt. II

    Bishop Jim’s insightful messages help others find THEIR METRON through M~otivation E~nlightenment T~ranscendence R~enewal O~utreach and N~etworking Learn more: www.bishinthenow.com Follow Jim Swilley on Youtube to see the videos live Sundays at 11:11 am – https://www.youtube.com/bishinthenow   Bishop Jim Swilley continues “The Healing Word” by exploring healing not simply as something that comes vertically “from God,” but as something that also moves horizontally through human connection, relationships, words, thoughts, and presence. Beginning with Jesus healing the centurion’s servant from a distance, Jim considers how difficult circumstances can actually become catalysts for revelation. The message moves into the power of our thoughts and intentions, while avoiding the simplistic idea that every negative experience is something we somehow attracted. Ultimately, the emphasis is on connection: sometimes the healing word is encouragement, sometimes it is simply hearing the voice of someone you trust, and sometimes it is an uncomfortable truth spoken by someone who loves you. Healing happens as we remain open, nurture our relationships, release offenses, reframe painful memories, and become intentional about the energy and words we send into one another’s lives. Main Takeaways 1. Sometimes the negative becomes the catalyst for revelation. Jim returns to the Roman centurion who tells Jesus, “speak the word only” and his servant will be healed. The centurion understood that physical proximity was not necessary for healing. Jim’s larger point is that circumstances that make us uncomfortable, insecure, rejected, or seemingly trapped can sometimes push us into seeing possibilities we would never have considered otherwise. Scripture: Matthew 8:5–13; Romans 8:28; Hebrews 11:7 “Sometimes the worst thing that ever happened to you may be the best thing that ever happened to you.” — Bishop Jim Swilley 2. The healing word is not limited by distance. Psalm 107 says that God “sent his word, and healed them.” Jim connects this with prayer, positive intention, “sending good energy,” and simply intentionally holding another person in your thoughts. Different people may use different terminology, but the underlying idea is connection that transcends physical distance. Scripture: Psalm 107:20; Matthew 8:8 3. Healing is horizontal as well as vertical. Spirituality is not only about our relationship with God. Jim emphasizes the importance of the “horizontal beam” — our relationships with one another. Jesus connected loving God with loving our neighbor, making human relationship an essential expression of spiritual life. Scripture: Matthew 22:37–40; Ecclesiastes 4:12 “It’s the relationships in your life that reveal the Christ to you.” — Bishop Jim Swilley 4. Prayer should seek agreement rather than control. Prayer can become unhealthy when it is really an attempt to make another person’s circumstances conform to what we think should happen. Jim argues that before praying for someone, we should understand what that person actually wants rather than assuming we know the proper outcome. Scripture: Romans 8:26; Matthew 18:19 5. Mature spirituality moves beyond everything being simply good or bad. Using the imagery of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil versus the Tree of Life, Jim challenges binary thinking. Heroes can be flawed. Villains can be wounded people. Painful circumstances can produce unexpected growth. The cross itself demonstrates that suffering and resurrection can exist within the same story. Scripture: Genesis 2:9; Hebrews 12:2 6. Unreleased offenses can keep the past alive in the present. Jim uses Charles Manson as an extreme example of what can happen when someone continually collects offenses and interprets everything through what has been done to them. The lesson is not to deny what happened, but to process it rather than allowing yesterday’s pain to dictate tomorrow’s behavior. “When you keep collecting offenses, it makes you crazy after a while.” — Bishop Jim Swilley 7. Our thoughts matter, which makes intentional living both freeing and challenging. Jim shares a message from Charles McFall responding to the statement, “Every thought I think is creating my future.” “It is as freeing as it is terrifying. Living without intent is scary and it’s hard work to always be intentional.” — Charles McFall Jim acknowledges the tension: we cannot simply turn off unwanted thoughts. The practical work is learning how to reframe them rather than repeatedly allowing painful memories or fearful projections to control the present. Scripture: Romans 12:2; Philippians 4:8 8. Sometimes we need someone’s presence more than their advice. Jim describes calling someone close to him during an intense week and deliberately not talking about what was troubling him. The conversation itself was enough. Sometimes healing energy comes through familiarity, connection, a trusted voice, or someone simply saying, “It’s going to be okay.” Scripture: Proverbs 17:17; Galatians 6:2 9. A healing word isn’t always a comfortable word. Like medicine, something can hurt while ultimately helping us. Someone who genuinely loves us may tell us something we do not want to hear. Healthy relationships create enough safety for truth, vulnerability, correction, and growth. “A healing word sometimes is an uncomfortable word. It’s a challenging word.” — Bishop Jim Swilley Scripture: Proverbs 27:6; Ephesians 4:15 10. Relationships are worth maintaining because we need connection. One of the strongest conclusions of the message is that independence should not become isolation. Keeping relational “airwaves clear,” releasing unnecessary offenses, communicating honestly, and understanding how different people connect can become part of our own healing. Scripture: Ecclesiastes 4:9–12; 1 Corinthians 12:20–21 The Central Thought You cannot control every thought that enters your mind, every painful memory, every difficult circumstance, or every unknown in your future. But you can change the framework through which you interpret them. Instead of repeatedly wounding yourself with yesterday, you can extract whatever truth is useful, release what belongs to someone else, and remain open to the people whose presence brings healing into your life. “Hang on and keep staying open and get outside of yourself and let people speak into your life and nourish and nurture your relationships, because you never know when you’re going to need that person.” — Bishop Jim Swilley

  8. Aug 15

    THE HEALING WORD: Everything Is Energy and We’re All Connected

    Bishop Jim’s insightful messages help others find THEIR METRON through M~otivation E~nlightenment T~ranscendence R~enewal O~utreach and N~etworking Learn more: www.bishinthenow.com Follow Jim Swilley on Youtube to see the videos live Sundays at 11:11 am – https://www.youtube.com/bishinthenow Bishop Jim Swilley begins a new Metron series exploring prayer, healing, intention, energy, and the power of human connection. Rather than presenting prayer simply as something directed vertically toward a distant God, Jim considers the deeply horizontal nature of prayer—the energy, compassion, words, touch, encouragement, and intention that human beings transmit to one another. Through Scripture and personal stories ranging from hospital rooms and Ken’s recovery to a remarkable encounter with a Muslim man in Nigeria, Jim argues that healing transcends religious terminology. Whether someone says, “I’m praying for you,” “I’m sending healing energy,” or simply, “I’m thinking about you,” the important thing is the loving intention behind the words. Sometimes the healing word is not a dramatic prayer at all. Sometimes it is simply letting another person know: I see you. I’m thinking about you. You are not alone. Main Takeaways Prayer is relational and horizontal. Jim challenges the image of prayer as merely attempting to persuade God somewhere “up there.” Jesus repeatedly placed spiritual authority into human hands: “If two of you agree on earth…” (Matthew 18:19), and “Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 18:18). We participate in one another’s healing. Jesus breathed on His disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22-23), while James instructed believers to “pray for one another, that you may be healed” (James 5:16). Jim sees these passages as emphasizing connection rather than spiritual isolation. Sometimes healing begins with simply sending a word. “He sent His word and healed them” (Psalm 107:20). The Roman centurion understood this principle when he told Jesus, “Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed” (Matthew 8:8-10). Distance did not eliminate connection. Don’t become trapped by religious vocabulary. “Prayer,” “positive intention,” “healing energy,” and “good thoughts” may sound different, but Jim argues that they can express the same fundamental human impulse: compassion directed toward someone who needs it. When people become obsessed with terminology, they can miss the spirit behind it: “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6). Spiritual confidence should leave room for mystery. Jim openly acknowledges that he has seen prayer seemingly produce extraordinary results, while other deeply loved people did not recover. Rather than pretending to possess definitive answers, he believes mature spirituality can hold faith and mystery simultaneously. Human connection can transcend doctrine. Jim recounts praying on a rooftop in Nigeria in 1981 when a Muslim man approached him and unexpectedly said, “May God hear your prayers.” Instead of trying to convert him, Jim felt that the moment itself was sacred. The two men walked and prayed together, teaching Jim something about spirituality that transcended their theological differences. Healing does not always require a dramatic prayer. A hand on someone’s arm, a text saying “I’ve got you on my mind today,” or a sincere word of encouragement can become prayer because it communicates presence, compassion, and connection. We are the Body of Christ. Jim ultimately returns to the idea that Christianity cannot be exclusively vertical. If we are Christ’s body (1 Corinthians 12:27), then spiritual life must manifest through how we connect with one another. The horizontal dimension of the cross matters. Quote from Bishop Jim Swilley “Prayer and healing isn’t about doctrine. It’s about human connection.” — Bishop Jim Swilley Another line captures the practical heart of the entire message: “If somebody’s on your heart and on your mind, let them know. Send a word to them.” — Bishop Jim Swilley

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
9 Ratings

About

Motivation | Enlightenment | Transcendence | Renewal | Outreach | Networking

Information

  • Creator
    Jim Swilley
  • Years Active
    2016 - 2026
  • Episodes
    463
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Show Website
    Metron Live