One By One

As word has gotten out about my surgery to remove a brain tumor, I received this testimony by email from John in Israel.  I’m sharing it because you may find more opportunities to minister one-on-one than in larger venues.  Or if you speak to hundreds at a time, you may overlook rich opportunities with one or two people at a time outside the meetings.  But here’s a man who makes the most of the doors God has opened for him.

  They discovered my tumor following a grand mal seizure I had and to prevent further seizures I have been given all sorts of drugs, only one worked, so for the past few months I have been on a process of slowly but surely removing them – one at a time (under doctor’s supervision, of course) That has been an interesting road, never knowing what next week’s reduction will lead to (forgetting how to walk for a few days or speak, etc.) but during it all I have seen my brain come back – the things you never miss until they are gone!

My therapists as well don’t really know what to do with me. I took all sorts of cognitive tests and scored off the charts, like I had no brain injury, so they had a really difficult time putting together a ‘torture’ program for me. If I really annoy her, she gives me basic math questions – they took that part out in the surgery so anything beyond 2+2=137 is pretty difficult for me.

Another therapist can’t understand how I am always smiling, I tell her, what other choice do we have? I have a shirt that I tend to wear to my meetings with my oncologists that says HOPE on the front and CHANGES EVERYTHING on the back. It is more for the other people in the waiting room, since sadly, many have given up hope. It is always a tool I can use to tell them that a smile and being thankful for at least one more day is what tends to give us many more days. I used to go around America speaking to hundreds, if now the only people I reach with a message of hope are those in a doctor’s waiting room – so be it, they need it more than anyone!

A simple thought:  it may be more profound to walk into the oncologist’s office with a shirt that says “HOPE CHANGES EVERYTHING” than to speak to hundreds.  And look at how John laughs at his limitations. This leads me to the punchline of the parable of the Good Samaritan:  “Go and do likewise!”

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

Stay In Your Sphere

As we spend time with God and start to hear from Him, we face a new temptation:  to presume that because we are hearing from God, we are supposed to speak in God’s behalf to tell people what to do.

The Bible teaches something different.  For the most part, God is speaking to you about your sphere of responsibility, not everyone else’s. This is a limited sphere of activity.  Beyond that, He will give you a sphere of influence, an area in which you have no right to tell people what to do but you do have the right to offer polite suggestions that they may either accept or reject.

Paul talks about his sphere of ministry in II Corinthians 10:13-15.  His words will help us all stay in bounds:

We, however, will not boast beyond measure, but within the limits of the sphere which God appointed us – a sphere which especially includes you.  For we are not overextending ourselves (as though our authority did not extend to you), for it was to you that we came with the gospel of Christ; not boasting of things beyond measure, that is, in other men’s labors, but having hope, that as your faith is increased, we shall be greatly enlarged by you in our sphere, to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man’s sphere of accomplishment.

Paul uses several interesting phrases here.  He speaks of the “limits of the sphere which God has appointed us.”  He recognizes “other men’s labors.”  He is careful “not to boast in another man’s sphere if accomplishment.”

One fundamental principle forms the basis for everything Paul said about staying in his sphere:  He recognized that God had called others and given them a responsibility, and he therefore counted himself responsible not to undermine their God-given work.

We must be careful to respect the ministries and inheritances God has given to others.  There is plenty of work to do in the gospel without encroaching on anyone else’s God-given territory.

I Kings 21 tells the story of King Ahab and his desire to buy Naboth’s vineyard.  Naboth was unwilling to sell; he said, “It is my inheritance.”  Ahab’s wife Jezebel schemed to have Naboth put to death on false charges, and then Ahab was able to possess the vineyard.  The prophet Elijah arrived on the scene with a word that God would bring judgment.

What was the problem?  Ahab did not respect Naboth’s God-given inheritance.  Ahab did not stay in his sphere; he encroached in Naboth’s.

Be careful to respect the inheritance of others.  God has not sent you to possess what He has given to others; He has sent you to possess and to cultivate what He has given you.

What has He given you?  Start with your family responsibilities, then your responsibilities at work and school, and then include the doors that have been opened to you in ministry.  Here is the important point:  when God speaks to any of us, He is talking to us about the sphere of responsibility He has given us.

Unless you have been raised up in the office of a prophet and have been received as such by the church at large, there is no reason to expect God will give you directive words for people’s lives or for the church.

Otherwise we begin to act like Ahab.  We respect what God has given us and expect everyone else to expect it as well, but we fail to guard and protect the inheritance of others.  Don’t make Ahab’s mistake.  Be like Paul; stay in your sphere.  You won’t run out of work to do.

Stan Smith  ::  © 2009, GospelSmith  ::  http://www.GospelSmith.com

Let God Exalt You

Walk humbly with God. He will lift you up, giving you experiences you could not possibly produce yourself.

Once in a while, the Bible gives one simple verse that summarizes everything else. Here is one:

He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?  – Micah 6:8

We’ll look for now only at the last phrase, “to walk humbly with your God.”
If we walk with Him, we must walk humbly because He chooses humility.  Amos 3:3 says two can’t walk together unless they are agreed.  One way to agree with God is to choose humility.

God promises to lift us up if we choose humility, and this promise exposes our hearts.  Many of us see humility as a means to an end.  It’s the bitter pill we have to take on our way to the top.  We don’t really agree with God; we simply want to use Him.

If we are hungry for more of God, we will keep choosing humility. When He lifts us up, we will use the blessing to serve the humble.  And then we will choose the low place again, to seek more of Him there.

This principle is vital when we want to seek God for new gifts, for more influence, for more anointing.  Why should He give these things to us?  When we minimize our importance and line our hearts up with His purposes, He begins to commit the treasures of heaven to us.

Sometimes God hides His richest works behind a door so small and low that the only way to get through it is to kneel and to crawl.  If we choose humility, we will enter into God’s good things on the other side.

I was with several other ministers, having lunch with a man far more important than any of us.  He offered to show us a chapel that was several hundred years old.  We followed him, arriving at a room that would seat about fifteen or twenty people.

Instantly, God took me into a prophetic vision unlike any I had ever had before.  It was as though several centuries of prayer were all happening at that one moment – all of time condensed into the now.  And I saw a man come into the room, lie on his face before God, and cry out for help:  “Lord, the pressure is crushing me…”

The vision went on to include a few other things that aren’t important here.  I was shaking in the presence of God and my eyes were filled with tears.  But on the inside, I was fighting a battle.

Was the man who showed us the chapel open to the gifts of the Holy Spirit?  Was he the man I had seen in the vision, or was it someone else?  (I had seen him from the rear.)  Should I share the vision with him?  Would I damage the credibility our group had gained with him if I shared what I had seen?  I decided to risk looking foolish.  “I don’t know if this will mean anything to you, but I’ve just had an unusual experience…” I began.

As I told the story, his eyes filled with tears.  “Now I know God has sent you.  Not even my wife knows that I come down here at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning and lie on my face to pray…”

It made a remarkable impact, and we got to minister to his wife in a profound way.  But I had to be willing to look like a fool in the eyes of one of the most important men I have ever ministered to.

It’s not that we need to cultivate a culture or willfully doing foolish things.  But Jesus made Himself of no reputation – so must we if we want to be like Him.  The richest experiences in God are hidden behind a low doorway.

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

Be Humble With People

Choose humility in your dealings with people.  This will cause people to see Jesus not only in what you do, but also in how you do it.

Humility is a master-key to the things of God’s kingdom.  He resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble.

We can get a better picture of humility if we consider it in the light of all four dimensions of God’s love – height, depth, length, and width – mentioned in Ephesians 3:18.

Someone has said the way up is down, and this touches on the vertical dimensions, height and depth, as we learn to humble ourselves with God.  But we also need to let our humility touch the horizontal dimensions, length and width, in our relationships with others.

God notices our humility or lack of it, and so do the people around us. So we need to cultivate humility in our relationships so God will lift us up, but also so people will see the stamp of God’s kingdom on our lives.

Think of the Christians who have made the greatest impact on your own life. Probably most, if not all, walked in humility.

I was a bit of a boy-wonder when I began ministry in my early twenties, but this came hard on the heels of my very tumultuous and colorful teens.  I had been involved in church but had been a troublemaker as I was wrestling with God’s call in my own life.

Then a man who had known me before I got into ministry came to speak at a Bible school where I was teaching.  He stood and said, “I have known Stan Smith for many years,” — we all braced ourselves for the funny story he would tell at my expense — “and I have nothing to say about him but good.”

This made a huge impact on me. I knew God saw me this way – old things passed away and all things made new – but I didn’t know people would ever see me this way.

The speaker had made a choice.  He might have said something funny; I’m sure I had provided him plenty of material.  Instead, he chose to honor me.  I’ll never forget it, and can only hope I will have a large enough heart to treat everyone as he treated me.

Another incident comes to mind.  I had traveled to a ministers’ meeting; a friend wanted me to consider joining their fellowship.  A few of us rode together in the car from the hotel to the evening meeting, and someone asked what had happened in the morning service.

“We learned Italian neckties are out; French ties are in.  And jewelry should be white gold this year; gold is a thing of the past…”  They went on and on.

I knew they were joking, so as we stepped out of the car I said,  “It’s been great to hear what you guys are all about … I’m here from Detroit to look into joining your organization.”  I meant it as a joke.

Then during the first worship song, I suddenly felt a hand on my back.  It was one of the ministers, putting his arm around me.  “Brother, I have to apologize for our remarks in the car.  I didn’t know you were thinking about joining our association.  I hope you’ll find out there’s more to us than the jokes you heard in the car…”

Now it was my turn to apologize.

But I was touched and convicted because one of the men cared more about God’s purpose in my life than about his jokes.  And I could list more examples of street evangelists, pastors, and lay-ministers whose humility brought a sample of heaven.

It’s simple.  Love the people you minister to more than you love your ministry.  This is humility.  And God will lift you up, bringing more anointing and conviction to your life.

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