God Is Full Of Surprises

You never know what God is going to say when you soak in His presence.  Over the past few years, God has sometimes spoken to me with a torrent of words, and sometimes with a word of knowledge that would steer me into a divine appointment.

After a busy week, I felt I needed to soak and listen. I felt scattered.  The week really had been hectic.  But it was now Saturday, and I wanted something fresh from God for our next Gathering.  It might be a word to share, or it might be direction about a time of moving in the gifts of the Spirit.

God has often given me the direction I needed at the last minute, so I had no reason to be anxious.  But it did seem that the least I could do was to take time to listen.  So I lay in bed, put on some soaking music, and did my best to hear from God.

Meanwhile, JoAnn was busy in the kitchen, cooking and cleaning to prepare for the next day’s meeting.  As I waited on God, I realized I was hearing nothing.  What’s wrong with this picture? I asked myself.  I’m the one who put a 31-day devotional online, “Learn To Hear From God”,  and I said God is always speaking.  Why can’t I hear anything?

Suddenly I heard this:  “Go help JoAnn in the kitchen.”

Here I was, trying to be like Mary; and suddenly, God called me to be like Martha.  So I went to the kitchen and got to work.  I’m not much of a cook, but I can wash pots.  I started cleaning up behind JoAnn, and making the kitchen presentable for the guests who would show up on Sunday.

As I wiped the counters and washed pots, I wondered if I had been diligent enough to prepare for the Gathering.  But God isn’t interested only in our ministries.  He also cares about our relationships.  JoAnn had been as busy as I had for the last week.  I was grateful that God had nudged me to go to the kitchen and help.

Sunday came, and again the morning became hectic.  It helped that I got up early and started tidying.  Eventually, the house was ready and we had about an hour before people would arrive.  “Go take a nap,” JoAnn told me.  “You look tired.”

So I shut myself in the bedroom and lay down.  Why take a nap in the flesh, I asked myself, when it’s just as easy to take a nap in the Spirit.  So I quieted my heart, focused on Jesus, and heard a clear word.  See Lift Up The Hands That Hang Down.

 

If you want to hear from God, expect surprises.  When I tried to hear something spiritual, He put me to work.  Then when I tried to take a nap, He gave me a ministry assignment.

Some people get exasperated about God’s surprises, but some enjoy the adventure.  This is part of the joy of following Him.  Often we find that He is more down-to-earth than we are.  But He doesn’t confine Himself to our expectations.

His wonderful surprises are one reason we fall in love with Him.  He is always faithful, but never predictable.  Enjoy the adventure!

Stan Smith  ::  © 2011, GospelSmith  ::  http://www.GospelSmith.com

 

Outside The Church

Look for Him outside the church. Get out of the habit of thinking the only place where God works is in meetings.  Jesus modeled a different ministry style, and He calls us to follow Him.

We all find comfort and encouragement in Jesus’ words, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the ends of the world.”  But we sometimes forget the context of these words, which are taken from Matthew 28:19-20:

Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations … and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.

We can find God’s presence in the church, because Jesus said that wherever two or more of us gather in His name, He is there.  But there is another side of God’s presence that we will not find until we step outside the sanctuary.  It isn’t either-or; it’s both-and.

Traditional thinking tells us several ways to take the ministry of the Holy Spirit outside church walls:  the church choir can give an open-air concert, we can have a church service in a tent meeting, or we can print tracts that tell the plan of salvation and give them away by the thousands.

God blesses these efforts, but there are other ways to follow Jesus outside the church.  Here is a way to minister to people one-on-one, as Jesus did.

1) Study the life of Jesus. Begin by pondering His story in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  Notice how Jesus ministered.  He often found ministry opportunities at the dinner table or with strangers on the streets.  If you follow Him, He will lead you into similar ministry opportunities.

2) Jesus said, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Ask Him to teach you.  He taught the twelve, teaching them not just with sermons but also by example.

This worked for the twelve, and it can also work for us.  We need to spend time watching and listening as we pray – we can do this with soaking prayers – because as we do, He will show us practical ways we can connect with people outside the church.

3) Divine appointments often begin with a simple conversation. Jesus’ ministry to the woman at the well began when He asked for a drink of water; by the time the conversation ended, He was in a two-day citywide revival.

Not all divine appointments are so dramatic, of course.  But notice that He didn’t start by asking the woman at the well if she knew where she would spend eternity.  He could have, and we all can; but sometimes a very human and unreligious conversation is where spiritual ministry begins.

4) Be naturally supernatural and supernaturally natural. We carry the treasure of God’s presence in earthen vessels.  Be human.  Be natural.  But expect Christ in you to flow out at unexpected times.

I met a woman who asks people, “What is your dream?”  Then she listens very earnestly as they answer; at the same time, she listens with the ear of her spirit for the wisdom of God.  Based on what He shows her, she has led many people to Christ – sitting beside them in an airplane or waiting in line in a store.

5) Ask God to teach you how to start conversations with people you don’t know. He may give you a question that will get the other person talking.  He may lead you to thank and appreciate people around you – to catch them doing something right.  He may lead you to prepare an event, and the process of inviting people will create opportunities to minister to strangers.

It begins with a simple conversation.  Begin as Jesus did with the woman at the well – talk about nothing.  If God takes the conversation to something more important, follow the Holy Spirit by offering to pray or minister.

But if God doesn’t take it any further, simply love and enjoy the person you are with.  Wait for God’s timing.  You can’t accomplish anything without Him.  But with Him, nothing is impossible.

Stan Smith   ::  © 2008, GospelSmith  ::  http://www.GospelSmith.com

See People As New Creatures

Pray this powerful prayer:  “Lord, let me see people as You see them.”  His answer will awaken you to the greatness of Christ in those who know Him, and the greatness of His compassion towards those who don’t.

When I was a teenager, my best friend got into the martial arts, and one day he taught me an exercise:  “Hold your arms straight out with your hands loose,” he instructed me, “and make your hands into fists – three hundred times.”

It sounds simple, but I challenge you to try it.  It’s surprisingly hard.

With that in mind, I’m going to give you a simple challenge: try to see everyone you meet as someone who has been crucified with Christ, buried with Him, resurrected and now filled with divine life, and then ascended into the heavens to be seated in Christ.  This sounds simple, but it’s harder than it looks.

This is what the grace of God has done for all of us, whether we walk in it or not.  If we believe the gospel, we enter into its benefits.  If we don’t, we miss out on God’s provision.  But whatever our response, God’s provision is still there.

I am writing this in idyllic surroundings.  I’m on a conference-cruise.  Beautiful views, sea breezes, and endless feasts set the stage for anointed meetings and, between the meetings, fellowship with wonderful people.

But it hasn’t been quite as heavenly as many of us had expected, because our two hundred conference guests all have strong convictions about how God should move, and we don’t always agree.   As a result, there have been hurt feelings, offenses, and people who have been “very disturbed about what’s happening at the next table.”

It occurs to me that this cruise is a microcosm of the whole church.  We don’t all have the same vision.  We can all watch the same events, yet no two of it will explain it alike.  Some will feel threatened by someone else’s interpretation of what we’ve seen.

As long as we surround ourselves with people who think just as we do, these issues don’t come up.  But if we are in a larger church or if we begin to connect with other churches in our region, we will run into these offenses.  Here’s the challenge:  does God see people in terms of how they relate to you, or to Jesus?

In II Corinthians 5:14-19, Paul wrote:

The love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again…If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.  Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ…and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

We can spend our years battling the “wrong” convictions of others, or we can enter into the ministry of reconciliation Paul wrote about.

We all know that we have no righteousness of our own, and that whatever righteousness we have we received from Jesus as a free gift.  But if that is true for us, it is also true for the people around us.  This is why Paul said “the love of Christ compels us…if One died for all, then all died.”

He must have been tempted, just as we are, to write people off because he disagreed with them.  But the love of Christ would not let him get away with it.  It drew him to see people as God sees them – in the light of the cross.

If we refuse to make the switch from being driven by our own opinions and feelings, our world will get smaller and smaller because fewer and fewer people will meet our standards.  If we see people in the light of the cross, our hearts will get larger, and so will our mission:  we will become ministers of reconciliation.

It’s simple, but it isn’t easy.

Stan Smith   ::  © 2008, GospelSmith  ::  http://www.GospelSmith.com