Spotlight
Taking Higher Ground
By Gary Smith
If someone asks me, “Do you believe supernatural healing is for today?” I can only respond, “Believe it? Absolutely. I’ve experienced it, and I can prove it!”
In the summer of 2017 a dear woman that my wife, Linda, and I know named Norma, who often speaks prophetically, called saying she had a word of prophecy for me. (Prophesying is one of the gifts of the Spirit found in Romans 12 in which the person to whom the gift is given speaks a message they feel comes from God.) She didn’t know if this word was for the church I pastor or if it was a word for me personally, but it was very strong, and she knew she had to give it to me.
The word was this: Higher ground . . . you must take higher ground. A flood of evil is coming. Raise up the standard, watch the words of your mouth. Be careful what you speak. Be led by the cloud of glory. Higher ground . . . you must take higher ground.
I received it as a word for the church and after prayer did a sermon series on “Taking Higher Ground” and preparing the church for difficulties and tribulations that can be expected as the coming of the Lord draws near.
Things seemed to be going pretty well in my life to that point. I had been diagnosed with a slow-growing lymphoma in my upper chest area the year before. Doctors were not overly concerned. I could keep watching it or just get rid of it with a few doses of radiation. I chose the radiation and most people, including my mom, didn’t even know I had been diagnosed or treated. At the end of the treatment I was told all was well; it was in remission and I shouldn’t see it again.
The word was this: Higher ground . . . you must take higher ground. A flood of evil is coming. Raise up the standard, watch the words of your mouth. Be careful what you speak. Be led by the cloud of glory. Higher ground . . . you must take higher ground. ”
At the end of July, I noticed a catch in my throat while drinking at the water fountain at my gym. I didn’t think much of it as it felt much like a sore throat. After a week or so the soreness had not gone away but had grown worse. Then one evening a lump appeared near the left clavicle on my neck. A few days later it had enlarged, so I made an appointment with my oncologist. After some testing it was confirmed the lymphoma was back and had mutated into a very aggressive B-cell lymphoma. In fact, within a couple of weeks it was pressing against my upper chest and around my carotid arteries, so much so that circulation to my brain was being affected and I was passing out. Two trips to the emergency room during these episodes were quite frightening for my wife. I began to look at my life very seriously.
At the very beginning of my encounter with cancer I began to change my lifestyle. I knew stress and diet were big factors that opened the door to this enemy. I became more disciplined in working out at our local gym. I took sugar and most breads out of my diet. I also added natural supplements and took time to rest and started observing Sabbath, which meant I also closed my Christian bookstore on Saturdays. This time of introspection was a time of repentance. I let the Lord search my heart and actions and show me the areas where my heart was not right – where I was not trusting him completely and where I was not obedient.
One day not long after the scary diagnosis, I was searching on the internet, reading medical reports of life expectancy and cure rates of various cancers. My prognosis was not great. My wife asked me what I was doing. When I told her, she “affectionately rebuked” me, asking why I was feeding on articles that bring fear and doubt. She reminded me of what I preach: “Get into God’s Word, feed your faith, and stay there!!!”
This picture was taken within a month of the one chemo treatment. The cancer was gone, but the toll it played on my body was evident. The hair loss was from the chemo.
Yes, one has little testimony if they don’t practice what they preach! So I began to saturate my mind with healing scriptures several times daily and developed a list of “rhema” words. (A rhema word is a personal word given by the Holy Spirit.) I spoke these rhema words continually and included a scriptural response to the prophetic word I had received from Norma, such as “When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him” (Isaiah 59:19, NKJV).
Another thing I did was actively seek out prayer from those whom I knew operated in the gift of healing. I had my deacons and elders lay hands on me and anoint me with oil. I also sought counsel and prayer from those in our region in Open Bible who oversee me, including my executive director.
An aggressive chemotherapy was scheduled to begin on a Tuesday in late August. I didn’t agree to it right away. I prayed, asking God if this diagnosis was something for which I was to just stand on the Word and believe for supernatural healing without medical treatment. I didn’t receive any prompting from the Lord indicating I was not to accept the treatment, and because it seemed doors and favor were being opened to go in the direction of medical treatment, I reluctantly accepted the appointment. The Sunday before the treatment I announced to my congregation what was going on in my life and asked for their prayers. The whole congregation gathered around me and fervently prayed in the Spirit. I didn’t feel any change physically at that time but was aware of the presence of the Lord.
On Monday morning I noticed the lymph node on my neck had shrunk by about half. On Tuesday morning, the day of the treatment, it had shrunk more, and I was able to swallow a pill without difficulty, something I had not been able to do for the previous three weeks. I went through the treatment with no difficulty or side effects.
On Wednesday at noon, the day after the treatment, all signs and symptoms of the cancer in my body were completely gone! At that moment I knew I had been supernaturally healed. (As any cancer patient knows, it would have taken several weeks for the chemotherapy to begin affecting the cancer).
Below is a list of the Scripture proclamations I used. I share them with others facing illness as well.
| Exodus 23:25 | Psalm 30:2-4 | Psalm 91:1-4 |
| Psalm 91:9-10 | Psalm 91:14-16 | Psalm 103:1-5 |
| Psalm 118:15-18 | Proverbs 4:20-22 | Isaiah 53:5 |
| Isaiah 59:19 | Jeremiah 30:16-17 | Romans 8:11 |
I went to my oncologist that Friday and asked him if he had ever seen a miracle. He responded by saying that he wasn’t the one to ask since that was something he obviously didn’t want to affirm. Yet he kept feeling my neck and saying, “That is quite amazing.”
However, he insisted I still had cancer and needed to continue the treatment.
I said, “If God healed me, He healed me. The cancer is gone. Give me a scan and I will prove it.”
He wouldn’t give me a scan until I had another treatment. I refused the treatment, so it was three months later before a scan could be authorized by my insurance company without my taking the chemotherapy.
During the waiting time that one dose of chemo caused me to lose most of my hair, but physically I felt good and maintained a vigorous schedule at the church, never having normal chemo effects. The scan report came back completely clean with no trace of cancer in my entire body!
My yearly exam earlier this month, three and a half years since the healing, confirmed the good report. Glory, hallelujah! My God is an awesome God.
As I studied more thoroughly the passage from Isaiah 59, I made an interesting discovery regarding the meaning of the word “standard.” The word literally means to “to make flee, quickly put to flight, make vanish away.” My faith has grown greatly as I have seen a prophetic word over me become reality as the standard of His Word was lifted up and affirmed. The cancer was put to flight, vanishing away quickly within a 48-hour period. Our God is a supernatural healer, yesterday, today, and forever!
About the Author
Gary Smith is the senior pastor of Liberty Life Center in Sedalia, Missouri, where he has served since 2007. He and his wife, Linda, have served in pastoral ministry for thirty years. Together they own and operate The Shepherd’s Place, a retail Christian bookstore also in Sedalia.
By every human measure, my story should have ended differently. The wounds of my childhood, the choices I made, and the life I built all pointed me away from God, not toward Him. Yet here I am—a follower of Jesus Christ, an author, teacher, and witness to the transforming power of God’s grace.
When I look back on my life, the words of the hymn Amazing Grace come to mind: “I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see.”
I know what it means to be lost.
My childhood was marked by deep brokenness. My father’s alcoholism cast a long shadow over our family, and I grew up yearning for his love and acceptance. My parents divorced when I was six. I hoped the turmoil would end, but new struggles emerged, including verbal and physical abuse within our home. I also experienced sexual and emotional abuse at the hands of older boys, girls, and adults in my community. Those wounds followed me into adulthood, shaping my view of myself, relationships, and identity in ways I would not fully understand until Christ began healing them.
As I grew older, I searched for acceptance and fulfillment in places that could never truly satisfy. I married early and had a daughter. I earned an advanced degree and took on increasingly responsible work. Eventually, I entered a same-sex relationship that lasted three decades.
The Lord was not exposing my sin to destroy me.
He was revealing it so He could save me.
Outwardly, life appeared successful. I enjoyed a corporate career in New York, entrepreneurial ventures, financial success, and early retirement on the North Carolina coast. But beneath the surface, something was missing. I had achieved many of the things people spend their lives pursuing, yet I lacked peace. God, however, had not given up on me.
In His providence, God began rearranging my life. A deep longing to be closer to my daughter and granddaughter led me to leave retirement on the coast and relocate to Ohio in 2020. At the time, the move seemed irrational to many people. Looking back, I can see the hand of God directing every step. Then came the moment that changed everything.
One afternoon in early 2021, I was sitting alone when I came across a brief teaching based on Matthew 7:21-23. Jesus’ words struck me with a force I had never experienced before: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven.” And then the words that shook my soul: “I never knew you; depart from Me.”
For the next 24 hours, those words would not leave me. I found myself asking questions I had spent years avoiding. Was I truly following Christ? Had I created a version of Jesus that accommodated my desires rather than submitting to the Jesus revealed in Scripture?
Desperate for answers, I opened my Bible. I expected to find acceptance and affirmation that I had fabricated in my mind for decades. Instead, I encountered the holy, righteous Christ of Scripture. As I read through the Gospel of Matthew, God’s Word exposed my heart. Hebrews describes the Word of God as “living and powerful,” and that is exactly how I experienced it. The Bible was no longer just words on a page. God was speaking. Truth began replacing the lies I had believed.
As conviction grew, so did my understanding of God’s mercy. The Lord was not exposing my sin to destroy me. He was revealing it so He could save me.
The issue was no longer simply sexuality. The deeper question was lordship.
Eventually, I reached a crossroads. The issue was no longer simply sexuality. The deeper question was lordship. Would I trust Jesus? Would I trust that His design was better than my own? Would I surrender my identity, plans, relationships, and future to Him? By God’s grace, I did.
Repentance was painful. Obedience required sacrifice. But what I discovered on the other side was not loss—it was freedom.
Over time, God renewed my mind through His Word, healed many of the wounds that had shaped my life, and taught me that my true identity is not found in my past, my temptations, or my feelings. My identity is found in Jesus Christ.
Today, I have the privilege of sharing that message with others. Through writing, speaking, and ministry, I encourage people who are wrestling with sexual brokenness, identity confusion, shame, and hopelessness. My testimony is not ultimately about leaving a former lifestyle. It is about encountering a Savior who transforms lives.
If there is one truth I hope readers take away from my story, it is this: no one is beyond the reach of God’s grace. The same Jesus who pursued me is still pursuing people today. He still calls sinners to repentance. He still heals wounded hearts. He still makes all things new.
I know because He did it for me.
About the Author
Mark Richard is an author, speaker, and follower of Jesus Christ whose life was transformed by the truth and grace of God. After spending nearly three decades in a same-sex relationship, he encountered the living Christ through Scripture and surrendered his life fully to Him. Today, he encourages and equips individuals, families, and churches with the truth of the Gospel and the power of God’s transforming grace.
He is the author of Sacred Sexuality: Grace and Truth Revealed in a Culture of Confusion. Mark lives in Toledo, Ohio, near his daughter and granddaughter. You can find more information on his website: www.MarkRichardMinistry.com
My life has been full of divine appointments. Lately it seems like every week God sets me up with a life-changing conversation. I’ve learned that when we’re willing and available, God is always at work. Sometimes He asks us to do something that doesn’t make sense at the time, but later we realize He was arranging something far bigger than we could see.
One day I was preparing a meal for a team that was visiting us. I kept hearing that I needed to prepare salsa. I argued with myself, saying, “I don’t have anything for salsa. I would need to go to the store.” But I couldn’t shake it, so I went.
At the store I ran into a woman who was also picking out Roma tomatoes. “Are you making salsa?” she asked me. When I said yes, she asked if I had a recipe and who I was making it for.
I told her I was making it for a team because I am a missionary. Immediately, she started to cry. I asked if she had someplace to go and invited her to come back to my house with me. She said yes.
Sometimes He asks us to do something that doesn’t make sense at the time, but later we realize He was arranging something far bigger than we could see.
As we talked at my home, she began sharing details about her life, and I began sharing parts of my own story that I don’t normally tell people. It quickly became clear that those experiences spoke directly to what she was going through. They were exactly what she needed to hear that day.
Finally, she confessed, “I told God if He was real, to send me someone who believed in Him, or I would kill myself.”
You know what’s funny? I never made the salsa. It was never about the salsa.
I’ve learned not to lean on my own understanding. When God nudges us to do something, we often want to know why before we obey. But sometimes we don’t see His purpose until afterward. If I had waited until it made sense, I would have missed that divine appointment completely.
That seems to be happening a lot lately.
The day before I flew to visit my daughter in Springfield, Oregon, I had to get new tires for my car. After striking out at three different tire stores, I finally ended up at Pep Boys near the border. There was only one other person waiting.
He began telling me he had recently been diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. He said it was so hard to get in to see the doctor because of the waiting lists. Then he quietly said, “I guess I’ll just die.”
I asked him, “Where will you go when you die?”
He got very quiet. I asked if he believed in God, and it opened the door for us to talk. I could tell he didn’t really know the Lord. I don’t know whether he accepted Christ that day, but I know I had the opportunity to share with him. Maybe someone else will water that seed. I believe that was another divine appointment.
You know what’s funny? I never made the salsa. It was never about the salsa.
The very next day I boarded my flight to Oregon. The woman in the window seat beside me was a Christian. Right away, we started talking about the Lord and prayer. She was a real prayer warrior. I was in the middle seat, and a man sat beside me on the aisle.
About an hour into the flight, the woman sitting directly in front of us suddenly stopped breathing. The man beside her realized something was wrong, alerted her husband, and soon a doctor on the plane pulled her into the aisle and began CPR.
The woman beside me and I immediately began praying and speaking life over her. Thankfully, she came back.
A little while later the man sitting next to me tapped me on the shoulder and said, “I heard what you said.”
I asked, “What did I say?” (We had been talking about the Lord for the whole flight.)
He replied, “You said, ‘Life is short.'”
“It is,” I said. “And where you go when you die is so important.” That opened the door for me to share Jesus with him.
Looking back, I can’t help but marvel. God placed a prayer warrior beside me, seated the woman who needed prayer directly in front of us, and had a doctor on board. At the same time, He gave me an opportunity to talk with the man beside me about eternity. God arranged every seat on that plane for His purposes.
When I got off the plane, my daughter Sherry asked, “Mom, what’s your story today?”
I said, “Oh, Sherry, you’re not going to believe it.”
There have been so many moments like that over the years.
Once, while my husband and I were itinerating, I sat next to a woman on a plane who told me she was traveling the world because she only had three months to live.
God is already at work in people’s lives;
He simply invites us to join Him.
I said, “Oh my goodness, you only have three months to live! You’re almost going to meet your Maker!”
When she told me she used to go to church, I asked if I could pray for her. She said no. We kept talking, and eventually she mentioned that her back was hurting terribly. This was completely out of character for me, but I asked if I could rub her back. She leaned forward and said yes.
As I began rubbing her back, I felt the Holy Spirit come over me, and I started singing, “Be still and know that I am God.” When I finished, she quietly asked, “Would you pray for me?” This time she was ready.
I prayed with her and had the privilege of leading her to the Lord that day. When I got off the plane, my husband, who had been sitting three rows away, asked, “What was going on back there? I heard you singing.” I would never have done something like that on my own. It was definitely the Holy Spirit.
I’m becoming convinced that divine appointments really are everywhere. They happen on airplanes, in restaurants, at tire stores, in grocery stores, and wherever else God leads us.
Our part is simply to be available.
Not every conversation ends the way we wish it would. Sometimes we have the privilege of seeing someone place their faith in Christ, but other times, we just plant a seed. Someone else may water it later, and we trust God to bring the increase. When we are faithful to share His love, we can leave the results in His hands. God is already at work in people’s lives; He simply invites us to join Him.
About the Author
Fayth McConnell has felt God’s call on her life since childhood. She was blessed to share sixty-nine years of marriage with her husband, and together they raised one son, two daughters, and a brother. Throughout their life and ministry together, Fayth and her husband faithfully served the Lord as pastors and Open Bible missionaries to Mexico. Since 1998, they have shared the love of Christ and ministered to others throughout Mexico. Fayth continues to serve as an Open Bible missionary, carrying on the call God placed on her life many years ago.
Ruth Brauer spent decades wondering about the brother she never got to know. Born with Down Syndrome in the 1960s, he’d been sent away with little explanation, and she was discouraged from asking questions. After years of dead ends, a series of connections only God could have orchestrated led to the reunion she’d been praying for. Sixty years after his birth, Ruth finally saw her brother for the first time.
It was March 1960. Ruth was about to turn seven when her baby brother was born on March 8th at Iowa Methodist Hospital. The excitement of finally having a brother to join her and her three sisters quickly turned to confusion as she was unable to meet him. Later, she learned he had Down Syndrome and that doctors had advised her parents to place him in a care facility at the nearby Woodward State Hospital.
“Back in the sixties, that’s just what you did,” Ruth shared. “But I know it tore my parents apart.”
Questions about Alan were shut down. Ruth didn’t know where he was or even his exact birth date.
“I always wondered about him, but I’d get in trouble when I asked.”
Even without knowing him, Ruth had always felt drawn to him. That compassion shaped much of her life. After being invited to Journey Church in 2016 by a friend, Ruth was especially moved by the church’s outreach events for children with special needs. As a barber, her favorite clients were those with special needs, and she also volunteered for years with the Des Moines Special Olympics.
That’s where the first breakthrough came.
One day, she struck up a deeper conversation with a fellow volunteer named Ray. He mentioned he had worked at Woodward State Hospital starting in 1959. Ruth’s attention snapped into focus.
“My brother was there in 1960! His name was Alan Politsch.”
Ray’s reaction was immediate. His eyes widened and he began to walk away.
“Wait—what did I say?” Ruth called after him.
I had my hand on the table, and suddenly he was holding it.
“I’m not allowed to talk to you,” he replied. “Your parents banned me from talking to you.”
Still, she pressed him for one thing: a birthdate.
“Please, my parents are gone. I just want to find my brother.”
Before the day ended, Ray quietly gave her the month and day. It was enough to start, but not enough to get through the wall of privacy protections. Every group home she contacted turned her away.
Years passed.
Then another door opened—this time at a food pantry. Ruth shared her story with a volunteer named Bob, who offered to connect her with someone in the state department.
“They may not even call you,” he warned.
But they did.
The woman on the phone didn’t give her name, but simply said, “Bob said I needed to hear your story.” Ruth told her everything she knew: names, dates, places, family history. Weeks later, the phone rang again.
“Hi, this is Michelle,” the voice said. “I’m Alan’s guardian.”
Tears falling, Ruth began to speak.
“I don’t want to take anything from you. I just want to know he’s okay… maybe see a picture. And someday, maybe meet him.”
As she spoke, Ruth’s phone began to ping. Michelle was sending photos.
The call came in 2021, but it would take almost two years to build enough trust for a visit.
In August of 2023, Ruth was invited to a staff meeting at Alan’s care facility. As she sat in the room with nine other employees staring at her, Michelle walked into the room, Alan beside her, and guided him to the seat right next to Ruth.
I always felt like he was close by,” Ruth said. “I just didn’t know he was five miles away my whole life.
“He kept looking at me, nodding, with this little crooked smile,” Ruth said. “I had my hand on the table, and suddenly he was holding it.”
A nurse watching over video spoke up: “He knows you’re his sister.”
The bond was immediate and mutual.
“I always felt like he was close by,” Ruth said. “I just didn’t know he was five miles away my whole life.”
Since that day, they’ve spent birthdays and holidays together.
“He’s the best,” she said. “He fits right under my arm—he’s tiny. He loves Santa, the color red, Coke, and sunglasses.”
But the reunion has come with weight, too. Now 66, Alan’s health is declining, and Ruth has been asked to help plan his funeral.
“I just found him,” she said. “And now I’m helping plan his funeral… But he’s mine. He’s my baby brother. The one I waited for when I was seven.”
Looking back, Ruth continues to uncover the fingerprints of God. Ray, the man who first gave her Alan’s birthdate, later shared that he had cared for Alan during his first sixteen years at the hospital.
What are the odds?
When asked what this journey has taught her, Ruth doesn’t hesitate:
“Patience, persistence, prayer, and people.” That’s what it took to find her brother, and it’s what the Lord provided along the way.
Some stories don’t unfold quickly. Many of them take time, and it’s only later that we realize how God was working in our waiting. Ruth’s story serves as a reminder that no prayer is forgotten, no relationship is beyond reach, and that even in life’s chapters that feel long or uneventful, God is still writing.
About the Author
Hannah Bemis currently serves as the editor and director of Message of the Open Bible. She always wanted to do too many things when she grew up, and God has been kind enough to let her do most of them in different seasons. After seasons of mothering, teaching, writing, and staff pastoring, Hannah’s most recent adventure is planting and pastoring College Street Church in Newberg, Oregon, with her husband, Jordan. After Jesus and all her favorite people, she spends the remainder of her passion on pizza and dark chocolate in equal measure.