Christmas At The Window

As many of you well know, the main message that I bring across from “Waiting At The Window” is the importance of taking time each morning with the Lord to receive from His Word to help equip us for the day or days to come because we never know what they may bring.

As I sat at my window this Christmas morning and opened up the window of the Word and began meditating on the Lord of what this day was really about, the Lord shone his light of understanding into my heart. I would like to pass on to you this day the wonderful truths of His Word that He shared with me. This is quite different than the Christmas Story that you all probably read today.

I opened the Word and began to pray, “I wait for you Lord, my soul waits, and in your Word I put my hope. Tell me Lord, what is the meaning of Christmas? What is the meaning of this day? What is your message that you want to share for my life today?”

It all began with a young girl, Mary who was chosen by God.

You see, God created man and gave him dominion over the earth, but because of the sin and disobedience of Adam, the power and authority was given over to the enemy, satan who then became the god of the world. But...

Through the plan and the spoken word of God, Jesus came and got that power back for us. Jesus, God's Word, came and took flesh upon Himself. And this is how God did it. The power to do it was in the Word! The Bible tells us that “...(He is) upholding all things by the Word of His power...” (Hebrews 1:3) It didn't say by the power of His Word. It said by the Word of His Power! It is not impossible for God to perform His every declaration. He can declare and do exactly what He says he's going to do! And we find that God created man with the ability to operate in the same kind of faith. We need to control the words that come forth out of our mouth and bring them into the obedience to the Word of God.

The way that Jesus got the authority back, He was born of a virgin. The way it happened was the same way that God created the universe. He spoke it! When he found a woman who agreed with Him, it was done. “Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?” (Lk 1:34)

Mary didn't doubt it could be done, she just asked “how?” and He said, “...the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee:...” (Luke 1:35) Then in verse 38, Mary spoke, “...be it done unto me according to thy word.” She agreed with the Word, establishing that fact upon the earth, and it came into being!

God said in his Word that we are...”born again, not of corruptible seed , but of incorruptible by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.” (I Peter 1:23) The Word of God implanted in our spirit caused us to become a new creature that never existed before, born again of the Spirit of the living God. The re-birth of the human spirit took place when the Word of God lodged in our spirit. It caused us to act upon the Word and we were born again. Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the Word of God.

The Word of God came unto Mary and said “it will be so” and Mary said “I receive it, be it done unto me according to your Word.”. She first received the Word into her spirit (heart) then it was manifest in her physical body. The Word of God was implanted into her womb, it was the embryo, the seed, and it took upon itself flesh, just as the living Word of God placed in your spirit took upon itself new creation – life. The Word of God literally formed within her womb and took flesh upon it. The Word of God became alive, living , walking, and talking on this earth. He came here to destroy the work of the devil that was done in Adam. You see, the work that was done in Adam was destroying the creation of God and the ability of God to work through man. But through God's Spoken Word born through Mary, Jesus came and got that authority back (through His death, burial & resurrection) and He delegated it back to man, to the believer.

Jesus stood on the mountain before He ascended and said, “...All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18). He had it ALL. Then He turned to the believers and said. “...these signs shall follow them that believe....cast out devils, speak with new tongues, lay hands on sick and they'll recover (Mark 16:17,18) He was saying, 'now you go in my name and do these things'. This is where God's power, God's authority was delegated back to man.

The enemy knows that there is power in our words. That is why he tries so desperately to get us to confess doubt, fear, and unbelief. It is very important what words we allow to come forth out of our mouth. They need to be faith filled words, words that line up with the Word of God, so that we can begin to see great things happen in our life and the life of others and start living that victorious life in Him.

The Word tells us how to develop our faith in Romans 10:17. Our faith comes by hearing the Word. We need to begin speaking the answers instead of our problems. Quit praying the problem and start praying the answer.

If you feel that you have been living a defeated life or maybe things have been okay but you know that you've been settling for less instead of God's Best that He so desires for you, then take notice of what has been coming out of your mouth. Death & Life is in the power of the tongue. Have we been speaking life or death?

Let us all determine that we are going to be more conscious of what we speak this coming new year. Begin to speak good things into your life and the life of others.

Ponder this thought: What if Jesus came up to you and touched you and said, “From this day forth, everything that you speak will come to pass for your life”, would the words you speak become more important to you?

Let it be for us as it was with Mary and tell the Lord this Christmas....“Let it be done unto me, according to your Word. Let YOUR WORD be birthed in me that I might then share YOU with the world just through the Words I speak that will bring LIFE not only to MY LIFE but to theirs as well.”
Thank you all so much for your encouragement and support. My prayer for you all is that you will receive God's Best this coming year and that you won't settle for Less! My prayer for those of you who have not yet opened up your heart and life to the Lord Jesus, this Christmas I pray that you will allow your heart to be the vacancy for the Lord to Be Born in You!!
Have a Blessed Merry Christmas and a Happy & Changed New Year!
Connie Schmoll
If you are viewing this from your email, please visit http://waitingatthewindow.blogspot.com to view the video/music titled. “Be Born In Me” by Francesca Ballistelli.

The 7 Days Before Christmas!

The 7 Days Before Christmas

Day 1 (Dec 19^th) The Magic of Christmas - The Magic of Christmas is not in the presents, but in His Presence. Take the time today to just rest in the Lord and enjoy His Presence. It's going to be a busy week getting things ready so also take this day to find a place with Jesus and cast all your cares on Him. Welcome His help and be sure to include Him in everything this week. Also Pray for friends, family, and even enemies asking God to give them their special gift this year and pray that they all will receive God's Magical Presence in their life!

Day 2 (Dec 20^th) Change - The 3 C's in Life are Choice, Chance and Change. Are you really wanting to see some changes in your life that you've just been afraid to make? You must make the Choice, to take the Chance, if you want anything in life to Change. Be determined today to apply the 3 C's to your life today!

Day 3 (Dec 21^st) Give - Giving is what Christmas is all about. Christ was the greatest gift given to mankind today. Choose a person today that you would like to bless with a special gift for Christmas.

Day 4 (Dec 22^nd) Serve – Find someone who is in need of a service or help and volunteer your time for them.

Day 5 (Dec 23^rd) Feast – Let this day be a Fun Filled Feast of Favorites. Let everyone choose their favorite food and have them all on this night. Spend the time sharing great expectations and dreams for the new coming year.

Day 6 (Dec 24^th) Unopened Gift – When our son was younger, we always allowed him to open One gift on Christmas eve. There are many unopened gifts under the Lord's Tree today just waiting to be unwrapped by you. What one gift has remained unopened way too long for you? Salvation, Healing, Forgiveness, etc? Choose today to receive that free gift just waiting for you to unwrap.

Day 7 (Dec 25^th) Celebrate - Celebrate Jesus today. Let your day center totally around Jesus and the gift He has brought to us and be thankful. Enjoy the things that mean the most to you that money can't buy. Love, laughter, happiness, togetherness, family and friendship.

Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year to all!

Connie J. Schmoll

Why Does My Body Still Hurt?

In 2008, after being diagnosed with enlarged ovaries full of cysts and it being recommended that I have a complete hysterectomy, I scheduled the surgery. After realizing that I had not even consulted God about what I should do, but just did what the doctor suggested, I began to talk with God about it and ended up refusing the surgery, canceled the appointment and began believing God for a healing.

Three years later, being treated for a kidney stone, I'm reminded again of the enlarged ovaries and told that the mass has gotten bigger and that there is a chance of malignancy but they can't know for sure until a surgery is performed.

Fear began to take up residency in my mind and a deep disappointment settled in my heart. I had stood for 3 years trusting God for a healing! Why has the situation not changed?! I became angry with God and voiced it not only to God but to others. This led to guilt settling in me for being angry with God.

Wow, just look how quickly I had given access to the devil in such a short time. Look how quickly the devil can steal God's Word from your heart if you allow it. But I found that I could not stay angry with God because I knew too much of His Word that I had hidden in my heart and I was NOT about to let the devil steal it from me this time!

God began reminding me of many of the lessons He'd taught me in the past that I had been inspired to write as devotionals. You can read about how I dealt with the anger I felt by reading, “Just Be Honest!”.

It's okay to be angry but sin not. When we begin to voice it by speaking words that are contrary to the Word of God, that is when our troubles will worsen. It's okay to be angry but we need to just begin to pray and ask God for understanding. This is the place I found myself. I just needed to understand. Just be honest with God of how you feel. I began to tell God, “God your Word says I'm healed. I believe it. So, why does my body still hurt? Please explain to me.” God will explain to you and tell you what to do. I wanted to share what God began showing me.

1. Misguided Faith – I was 'believing' God for a healing which actually meant I was waiting on God to heal me; I was hoping He would heal me, which is misguided faith. I actually needed to not only believe it but receive that healing, knowing it is already done! By His stripes we WERE healed (1 Pet. 2:24). My healing was coming progressively because that's what I was believing for. That was not His best, though. And it's not what I wanted. I wanted it NOW!
   
   The Lord will meet us where our faith is, but His best is now. "Now faith is" (Heb. 11:1). Faith must believe that God is (Heb. 11:6), not that He was or is going to be. Faith is now! We have to aggressively take the authority God has given us and bring that healing into manifestation.

2. The Forgotten Key – I had forgotten the Key, the authority that was given to me by God to lock out anything that tried to enter my body. My body is the temple of the Holy Ghost (I Corinthians 6:19) and I also have the authority to evict anything that has managed to slip past the door of my mind through doubt or fear and taken up residency in my body that I had allowed to remain. You can read more on that HERE!
   

3. Relationship – I have a lot of knowledge in my head and I know intellectually that by the stripes of Jesus I am healed, but I needed to know this in my heart! I was having trouble with it. "God, I want to know you. I want to know your Word." I needed to know that He did this for ME! "God I want to know YOU!" I needed to know THE GOD of the Word instead of just the Word of God! This can only come by relationship, spending time in prayer, praying in the spirit, and meditating on His Word DAILY. We need to let the Word of God paint a picture for us of who God is and through that revelation have fellowship with Him and know Him. Get that revelation of who He is to YOU personally!
   

4. Be Prepared – I had neglected to apply myself to the Word like I should have been doing. We can't wait for the storm to hit and THEN build the house! We're in big trouble if we do. The storm may be too severe and we'll need to run to the neighbors who are prepared and weather the storm there. We need help to survive, wait until the storm is over and start establishing ourselves in the Word, by confessing the Word.

   But understand that “confessing the word' does not 'make it happen'. We are not creating it. We are not making God do anything. It's already been done. It's present in the spiritual realm, but doing no good for us until it's brought to the physical realm which is done by us believing, receiving and speaking it.

5. WarFare – There are times when we're doing what we know to do, but realize that something is there hindering the manifestation. There is a warfare going on that can only be taken care of through Prayer and Fasting. Keep in mind though that Prayer and Fasting does not move God. It moves YOU! If your body has controlled you for a number of years, and you've been giving it all that it wants and then suddenly decide to attempt to be rid of that control, a warfare erupts! The flesh is not going to give up easy! The devil is not going to give up easy! He's had you for a long time! But now...you know what needs to be done. You just draw on the spirit man to sustain you! You start living off the spirit man and it will take your focus off the physical realm. It is the same with prayer. If you focus your attention on the spirit man through prayer, fasting, studying the Word, etc., it becomes more real to you than the physical. You'll reach a place that what God says has become more real to you than the physical. You'll realize that what God says is more true than anything you can see. Many think that's just a pipe dream, that it's not dealing with reality, but it is. God and what He says can become more real to you than what you see. That's the way a victorious Christian walks. I have set MY mind on the Spirit and I never intend to ever look back! "For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." (Romans 8:6) Remember: Make it a priority to never remove the Armor of God. (Ephesians 6)

Some of you are battling something right now and want a word from God. You say, "O God, speak to me," and the Bible is right there in your hand! God has spoken to you! The written Word of God is a more sure word of prophecy than any audible voice. You couldn't ask for more.

We have our Bible on our table and say, "God, where are you?" He's right there, where He's always been! Pick it up, blow the dust off the thing, and read it! The Bible is God speaking to us. It is God's Word. We need to exalt it.

We can do that. We can lose our own life, our own senses, our own wisdom, and get to the place where it's only God's Word that makes sense to us. This carnal world doesn't make sense anymore to me. It's God's Word that makes sense. Everything else is screwed up. It's not God's Word that is screwed up — it's the rest of the world! Get a hold of that.

We can renew our mind to think that way. We can get to where God's Word is greater than anything — greater than the word of a doctor, the word of a lawyer, whoever. It doesn't matter what they have — if it's contrary to God's word, it's ignorance. It's a fool who is speaking. We have a lot of educated fools, but if they don't speak the Word, it's because there isn't any truth in them. The Scripture says that (Is. 8:20).

We need to get to the place that God's Word becomes everything to us. Through the Word, we'll come into a heartfelt revelation of who God is. If we will exalt God's Word in a crisis, if we will fast and pray to get our body under control, if we will ignore what our senses are telling us, it will deal a death blow to Satan's work in our life. It may take time to do this, but believe me, it'll be worth it. Let's do this now and finally end this war!

Love you all and I'm standing with you!

Connie Schmoll

If you are viewing this from email, visit my devotional site to view and listen to the video, "Our God Reigns!" POWERFUL SONG that we should begin each day with!!

The Forgotten Key

For the millionth time, I leaped from my chair and rushed to the door. Not again! I pressed my body up against the door, trying desperately to keep them out. Why don't they just go away and leave me alone! All I could think about at the moment was, I needed to get to the window!

I started toward the window but the pounding on the door was so loud and the pushing from the outside was getting stronger! Oh no! Some got through!! I raced back to the door, slamming it shut! This battle went on for what seemed like hours. Sweat poured from my body and every part of me ached with pain. Finally everything went silent. I fell to the floor exhausted. As soon as I felt it was safe enough to move from the door, I went and sat by the window where a bright light shone through. Peace and quiet (yet pain remained) once again...until next time.

Attempting to put a picture to what I'd been going through lately, the above is what I began describing to my friend the other day. A daily battle of wrong thoughts forcibly trying to break through the door of my mind. The doctor reports haunting me! Pain and disease taking up residence in my body that I seemed to have permitted to stay. WHY??!! Back & forth from all of that to My Window of Hope: The Word of God, and I was growing very weary of it all.

Then the Lord said STOP! Stop this battle of running back and forth! Connie, You have the key!! I have given YOU the key!! Then He began to minister through his servant (my friend) and the Word....

KEY is the symbol of authority!

In the Old Testament, the holder of the keys had the power to admit or deny entrance to the House of God. (I Chronicles 9:22-27, Isaiah 22:22)

In the New Testament, keys were used figuratively as a symbol of authority (particularly the authority of Christ over the final destiny of persons). The risen Christ holds the Key to David and controls access to the New Jerusalem. (Revelation 3:7)

In Matthew 16:18,19 Jesus delegated the power of the keys to His Disciples, combining the imagery of keys with that of binding and loosing, which describe the concept that the church has the power and means to announce that sin was condemned or forgiven.

The keys of the kingdom given to Peter was a symbol in locking or unlocking sins and illustrated his authority in binding and loosing. (Matthew 16:19) Then in Matthew 18:18, this same power was given to the church as a whole. Whatever the church declared to be wrong or right would have been anticipated and ratified in heaven by divine sanction.

We have the God-given authority to speak His Word over every negative situation that happens in our lives. Why do many of us fail to use this authority? It makes me think of how we carry around this big ring full of keys and realize that there is that one key on the ring that we have forgotten what it goes to...what door it opens. Have You ever done that?

I'm reminded of the promise given in Isaiah 55:10-11, one of my favorite Scriptures that always brings encouragement to me, that just like when the rain or the snow falls from above, and returns not but it waters the earth, bringing seed to the sower and bread to the eater, it is also with the Word of God that is spoken from our mouth, that it will not return void but it will accomplish what it is sent forth to do!

My friend, if you are battling something right now, please know that you have the authority to EVICT whatever has entered the body that has no right to be there. You HAVE the authority, THE KEY to that door to LOCK OUT whatever does not have the right to enter or to UNLOCK the door to let in whatever is needed for you to receive.

If you may be battling a health issue, your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost and you have the key...the authority to allow what comes in and what stays out!! You know the truth! You know what is right and wrong! No more battling with trying to hold that door shut! No more allowing those things to reside that may have slipped through that door!! It's time that they be evicted!!! All it takes is just a matter of decision on your part and choosing to take appropriate action of either unlocking the door or locking it.

YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE KEY! USE IT!

Connie J. Schmoll

Good News!

Hello Friends & Family,

Some of you are new subscribers and may not know the past history of “Waiting At The Window”. I have some great news to share with ALL OF YOU but first I want to give a bit of history so all can understand what is happening.

About a year and a half ago, I chose a publisher, Publish America, to publish my devotional book, “Waiting At The Window”. I had signed a contract that gave them rights to my book for 7yrs. THEN, I began finding out bad things about this publisher that I was NOT happy with. I tried getting out of the contract but they would not give in. So, I left it in the hands of the Lord and just kept praying for the day to come when I'd get the rights back.

Well...the GOOD NEWS IS....

I received an email a few days ago from Publish America giving me the option of having my publishing rights of my book, "Waiting At The Window", reverted back to me! It costs me some money but I don't care. It's worth it to me. I've been waiting for this moment! The contract I had signed was for 7yrs, so it's just been a little over a year now. I knew that if I did not promote the book (since they had the cost of it outrageous) that there would be no sales (since they try to make their money from ME), and with no sales happening, they would eventually give this option. SO GLAD IT FINALLY HAPPENED!

I paid the money and it's all set in motion! All I do now is wait on the termination documents to arrive in the mail. I am SO ready to move forward with this. I will either look for another publisher or self publish and get my book redone so that it can be placed on the market for sale! YES!!

I AM SO EXCITED! Now I just have to get motivated with getting the manuscript altogether once again and add to the book more devotionals that I have written since then.

Just wanted to share the news!! Please be praying for me about this!

Thanks,
Connie Schmoll

Stay Connected!

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. - John 15:5

We are always trying to find the quickest and surest way to accomplish things. We read how-to-books or look for "easy steps to succeed". Christians even seek simple formulas to guarantee success in walking with God. We wish someone would come up with a surefire method for avoiding sin and accelerating growth as God's children, but...

IT'S A RELATIONSHIP
Jesus viewed the Christian life as a relationship, not a math problem. He knew we would hope for a few easy steps to follow. But instead of a method, Jesus answered with a beautiful word-picture in John 15.

To explain how to walk as His disciple, Jesus chose the metaphor of a fruit bearing vine. He is the vine; we are the branches; and the Father is the Vinedresser. Like members of one organism, we are connected in an intimate relationship with our Lord. If this connection is severed, our lives will be empty and unfruitful. Jesus is our sole source of life (vs 4-5). Just as a branch finds its home in the vine, we must abide in Jesus Christ, finding our home in Him. The secret to the Christ life is not following a set of rules, but maintaining an essential relationship with the Ruler.

IT'S AN ADVENTURE

Christians who abide in Christ march to the best of God's Spirit. We follow His lead. The Holy Spirit serves as our spiritual compass, guiding and empowering us to overcome any challenge along our journey as we remain in Him.

Abiding means obeying. Jesus explains that His words actually cleanse us. And if Christ's words remain in us, our prayers will be heard and answered by the Father. (Vs. 3,7) God's Word is the Christian's source of life.

Abiding is loving. Jesus urges us to remain in His love and commands us to love each other with the same selfless love He has shown us. (Vs 9-10, 12) Those who are connected to Jesus will love as He did.

Remember: The fruit that we produce by staying connected to Jesus is an effect, not a cause of a healthy relationship with God. So...STAY CONNECTED, for without Him, you can do nothing.

Connie J. Schmoll

Many Gifts Unopened

The Christmas season is coming upon us once again. To be honest, I get a bit frustrated at times during this season because of the many misconceptions of what it's all about. The other night, God spoke to me in a dream and showed me the reason for all the misconceptions...

In the dream I stood afar off watching the busyness of life that occurs during this time of year. So many people hurriedly purchasing numerous items of merchandise, wanting the best and never considering their financial state or consequence of their actions, just as long as they get what THEY want. The scene seemed so chaotic and gloomy.

Suddenly the scene changed. On the other side of the street stood a huge tree decorated with beautiful white lights that totally lit up that side of the street. Underneath this tree were piles of nicely wrapped gifts of all shapes and sizes. Positioned next to the tree was a sign that read FREE GIFTS. There were so very few people on this side of the street.

As I continued to watch activities of both sides, I began to ask God, "Why, Father? Why aren't the people taking freely of the gifts from beneath that beautiful tree? After all, they are all there to freely take; available to everyone." Then He answered me and said, "It is because they cannot see it. Many have been blinded and only see what the world has to offer."

Many people allow the every day affairs of this life to take over their life and can't see "beyond the veil" into the eternal realm. On one side is "the seeing world" where there are things they can touch, feel and see. But on the other side, what many truly desire to have and try to reach for is "the unseen realm" where all the provisions are - all things God has stored up for us. Gifts for us that are freely given. All we have to do is believe they are there and reach out and receive them.

The Lord spoke to me again and said, "My people today have been taught faith correctly. However, they cannot see into the Promised Land clearly enough to see where their treasures are, in order to grasp them by faith."

If there is ever a time to begin speaking God's Word for an individual - it is today! Let us believe that we and others be given a dream, a vision of all that God has for us and that we all become aware of all those UNOPENED GIFTS that lie beneath that tree just waiting to be received and opened by us.

What gifts from God for YOUR life remain UNOPENED, still sitting beneath that tree? Is it healing? Deliverance? Salvation? A circumstance in your life that you continue to tolerate but wouldn't have to?

Many of us are getting pretty good at freely giving to others. When are you going to freely RECEIVE? HE HAS FREELY GIVEN! NOW FREELY RECEIVE!

Let no UNOPENED GIFTS REMAIN.

Connie J. Schmoll

Abide In The One Who Has Overcome

So many times we find ourselves bombarded with challenges in life that hit us all at once and we begin to feel overwhelmed with it all. If we are not careful, we can become burdened down with it and lose our focus that we should have each day: to keep our eyes on the Lord and our nose in the Book and our mouth speaking the Word of God over every situation.

This is where I have found myself these past couple months, burdened down, and starting to lose focus on the things that I had set out to do. But thank God for His Word that continually tugs at my heart because it abides in me. And thank God for the people that He sends my way to push me and to encourage me to keep pressing on.

He loves us that much to not just sit by and let us wander too far without His intervening. He is there the minute our eyes begin to leave His. He knows our heart better than we do and He knows what we need and what will help bring us back into focus.

We all know that we WILL have trials come our way. Jesus speaks of this in John 16:33, "In this world you will have troubles", but He also leaves us a message of hope, telling us to "Take heart for I have overcome the world."

The trials that come our way, draw us to the Lord where He can help teach us lessons in life and make us stronger, but there are some who let these challenges draw them away from God and things just get more difficult for them. So what I would like to just leave with you today is....

When the challenges of life do seem to be bombarding you all at once and it's causing you to start to lose focus, CONTINUE TO ABIDE IN THE ONE WHO HAS OVERCOME, and He will help you through all of it. As a friend just reminded me recently, without challenges in our life, we would not have a testimony. Well, I'm about to have a great one.

So my friends, STAY IN THE WORD, keep peering through that Window of Hope, Listen to His Voice daily, and you will always be prepared for what is to come and come out victorious!

Remember: "Apart from me, you can do nothing". (John 15:5)

Love you all,
Connie

Behind Closed Doors

I found myself behind a door once, almost tempted to keep it locked and never letting anyone in ever again, but instead I used that time behind the door to seek God for help and comfort so that I could be healed and willing to open the door for others who may need my help someday.

Behind Closed Doors

John 20:19 ~~ Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, peace be unto you.

Acts 1:4 ~~ And, being assembled together with them, Jesus commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.

Acts 1:12,14 ~~ Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath days journey. And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room where abode both Peter, and James, and John and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, with his brethren.

Closed doors. They can do one of two things: They can imprison us or they can deliver us. In John 20, the disciples imprisoned themselves behind closed doors. It was their fear that hid them behind their locked doors: Fear of the Jews. They had just suffered heartbreaking disappointment. Their hope had just been crucified. Their hope had just suffered what seemed like severe defeat. They shut themselves away behind closed and locked doors to grieve. They were grieving because their hope had died. Yet, the risen, resurrected Savior slipped behind their closed and locked doors to bring them fresh hope.

Thomas refused to believe in or accept this hope for he had not seen it for him self. He refused to believe the words of hope the others tried to instill within him. Maybe he feared getting his hopes up only to have them dashed again.

Fear is the greatest chain that binds us. It imprisons us and locks us behind doors that only the Master himself can slip through. Thomas was focused upon his own grief; upon his own hurts and wounds and disappointments. When the risen, resurrected Savior slipped through the closed, locked doors of Thomas heart, Jesus said to him, ...behold my hands.... Jesus sought to have Thomas remove his eyes from his own wounds, and to focus upon the wounds inflicted upon the body of the Lord; wounds that were inflicted upon Jesus for our own healing and restoration. Thomas responded with the words, My Lord, and my God!

When we take our hurts and wounds, and our grief and disappointments, to the Lord, and place them in his wounded hands, we remove the focus from ourselves, and place our focus upon Him who is able to restore hope to us.

In Acts 1:4 Jesus commands the disciples to return to Jerusalem, and wait for the promise from him to be fulfilled. The disciples once again shut themselves behind closed doors. But it was different this time. The Lord had commanded them to do so. There is a big difference between locking ourselves behind closed and locked doors to focus upon ourselves, and locking ourselves behind closed doors to shut ourselves in with the Master. The disciples and many others remained behind those closed doors until they had an experience with the Master that would literally erupt them from that upper room, and turn the world upside down.

When we shut ourselves behind closed doors to be alone with the Savior, and tarry behind those doors until we have a life changing, world shattering, experience with Him, we emerge from those shut doors, with the power and the anointing of the Holy Ghost upon our lives. That power is able to minister and transform the lives of all we come in contact with.

There are times we lock ourselves behind closed doors because of fear or hopelessness or despair or grief. These times are not of God, nor are they His will for us. During those times of enforced imprisonment, Jesus softly slips through our locked doors, and asks us to look upon his hands. He then gives us the keys with which to free ourselves from our self-imposed prison. There are other times Jesus commands us to go behind closed doors to meet with Him and to receive a greater anointing upon our lives from Him. When we obey Him, we emerge from behind the closed doors of our prayer closet with joy and with the power of the Holy Ghost resting upon us. And it will be like a burning, consuming fire shut up within us.

Which door are you behind today?

Connie J. Schmoll

A Cross To Bear

Text:Luke 23:1-49
The city of Jerusalem was jammed. I turned to work my way out of the crowd and was suddenly face to face with an angry Roman Soldier. He grabbed me and shouted, "You carry the cross!" I was pushed in front of a man bearing up under a heavy cross of timber. I expected to see the face of a man so hardened and cruel but to my surprise, love shone through saddened eyes that seemed to look deep into my soul.

The soldier shoved me beneath the cross. When we arrived at Golgotha, the soldiers pushed me aside. I watched them nail this man to a cross. As I stood to the side, I heard him say, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." Who was this man who could forgive them even through this kind of pain and suffering, knowing the worst was yet to come?

I found myself unable to leave. The sky darkened. Fear and tension gripped the crowd. What was happening? I fell to the ground. I then heard a centurion say, "Truly this was the Son of God." I will never forget the scene that night on the dark hillside! To think that I saw Him die. I had been the one chosen to bear His cross - the cross that brought death to God's own son!

A CROSS TO BEAR

This story of the crucifixion, as Simon of Cyrene may have told it, paints a picture of why Jesus left all the beauty and happiness and love in Heaven to come to earth to hang on the cross and suffer so terribly. He did it out of LOVE FOR US!

Only when His blood is applied to our hearts can we be set free from sin and eternal death. He loves us so much! We have all been chosen to bear the cross of Christ. But some of us are running from it out of fear. We have watched others who have taken up that cross, bearing it for Jesus, for the sake of sharing the Gospel with the world. We have seen suffering they have had to endure, and we want no part of it. But we cannot compare our calling with someone else's calling. Our journey most likely will be much different than theirs. No matter what it brings, trust in the Lord and know that all that we go through is to prepare and strengthen us with the ability to bear the cross for Him.

Allow the work of the cross to change you. Stop running and fighting to escape the "crowd" as Simon of Cyrene did. Don't let it take the brutal hands of an angry soldier to throw you at the feet of Jesus. But LET THE LOVE OF GOD COMPEL YOU TO BEAR THAT CROSS FOR CHRIST. After all...Christ bore the sufferings of the cross for you.

Do YOU remember YOUR day.....or maybe you have yet to TAKE UP THAT CROSS....and FOLLOW HIM????

And when He had called the people to Himself; with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whosoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me." Mark 8:34

Connie J. Schmoll

The Ark Was More Than Just A Boat

THE ARK WAS MORE THAN JUST A BOAT
(Dedicated To My Sister, Beth Buker)

Have you ever entered a place or someone's home where you just felt safe? This was how it was and still is at the home of my sister, Beth. I can remember clear back in my wild partying days when my life was not very stable. I knew that I always had a safe place to stay at her home. The door was always open to me and she did this even before she started living for the Lord so I know that God has always had a special plan for her.

Once she started living for God, I began seeing her home like Noah's Ark. She began and continues to build her future on high ground. She knows we are all in the 'same boat' and need salvation. Even though it's been hard at times, and during the times when it seems she was standing alone, she has never allowed the critics to keep her from doing what God wanted her to do. She put action to her faith no matter the persecution she had to endure from family and friends. Noah could have believed God yet still drowned if he had not been obedient and built the ark.

You see, “Noah's Ark” was more than just a boat. It was a place of safety for me and for many others when the storms of life hit and it was my sister, Beth who provided that place for us. This ark was the boat of opportunity that can be easily missed if we do not jump aboard in the time needed. Because we know that opportunity often knocks in times of trouble, as it did for Noah.

When times of trouble came for me, I knew I had an ark of safety that I could run to. To this day, I hold a special memory in my heart always for that place. If I could just leave some encouraging words for Beth and for others, those words would be:

1. Continue to live righteous, even if you are the only one. It will be noticed.

2. Always plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah began building the ark.

3. Don’t miss the boat! Never forget this underlying truth: that ultimately when all is said and done, we’re all in the same boat in need of salvation!

4. Noah's Ark teaches the value of making a plan and sticking to it, even through times of overwhelming odds.

5. Never underestimate the talents and gifts that God has given you. The ark was built by amateurs; the titanic by professionals.

6. When God gives you a plan to do something, He will always provide what is needed for you to complete the task.

7. No matter the persecution, continue the work of God until finished. You WILL be greatly rewarded.

8. Have patience. The ark wasn't built in a year and the flood wasn't finished in forty days and forty nights.

9. When you become stressed, just float awhile, because you are way too blessed to be stressed!

10. Never seek to go it alone. Always travel at least in pairs. Don't be afraid to ask for help.

11. Remain faithful and remember … No matter the storm, when you are with God, there is always sunshine after the rain and there is always a rainbow of peace waiting at the other side of the storm.

Connie J. Schmoll

Born To Win & Walking With A Stranger

Hello friends & family,
Some of you know my dad and his story and what he's been through and what God had done in his life. I wanted to share with you all a poem written by my dad in prison called "I'm Born To Win" and also Dad took a song called "Waltz Across Texas" and changed the words to it and wrote "Walking With A Stranger". It's really good! ENJOY! I LOVE YOU DAD!!











I'M BORN TO WIN!
By Ron Corder

Locked away and left to rot,
I blamed another for the time I got.
Mad at life I’d curse and cry.
“How could you GOD“? Why, oh why?

My days were marked by fits of rage,
As I fought and kicked against my cage.
My nights were marred by fitful dreams,
As I plotted future vengeful schemes.

Then finally one day I let GOD in,
When I found a book called “Born To Win”.
Unsure at first, I had my doubts.
Until I cracked the book to check it out.

I read each chapter one by one.
My walk with JESUS had begun.
He took my hand and lifted me
From the bowels of hell and set me free.

Now, his word I study every day.
And on my knees I kneel and pray.
And like the Bereans before me too,
I search to prove each word is true.

In my cell I sit upon my bed,
And thank the LORD for my daily bread.
For the blood that JESUS shed for me.
And for his work on Calvary.

And now that I’m hip to Satan’s lies,
I will my faith, not compromise.
I’m no longer bound to death or sin.
For now I know, “I’m Born To Win”.

Author, Ronald D. Corder
========================================







WALKING WITH A STRANGER
By Ron Corder

Oh I started my journey down a dark lonely road,

when along came this stranger, asking to come along
I said that I'm looking for a partner that will stay
He said, I'll always be here, keep your eyes upon me

As we continued our journey on down this road
He said, “My name is Jesus and we will make a great team.

I've known you for a long time and saved you just now
I picked you just special for this job I have in mind

Oh I started this journey alone in the dark
And now look who's with me providing the light,

He took me from the darkness and has now changed my life
And I'm walking this journey of life.

Now he said he's been watching and kept me from harm,

saving me for something special, that was planned just for me
I've been looking for something special all of my life.
For what, I wasn't sure
Here it was this stranger I'd been looking for all along

Just walking with Jesus, not worried about time,

We'll be fighting the devil, keeping God's Word alive
Just walking with Jesus, telling all that I see
Jesus is coming, just follow along with me.

Come join my team, I'm sure that you will see
How wonderful our defeat over the devil will be,

By joining the team Jesus left me to lead.

12-30-10 through 1-23-11

Poem: Fallen From Grace

I came to you Lord with a pure heart
Desiring to give You every part
I hungered and thirsted for Your every Word
Willing to do anything for you, Lord.
My heart yearned; I was so unlearned
You tugged at my heart every time I turned
I didn't understand; what went wrong?
Struggle after struggle; it was hard to stay strong
Never measuring up; always beat down
Another rule to follow; I felt so bound
In a religion, no longer a race
I found I had fallen--Fallen From Grace

I thought I had accepted that gift of grace
But found I had fallen; for works took Your place
Grace is freely given, not obtained by what I do
Why didn't I comprehend this? I feel like a fool
My hopes were built on works, I was incapable of performing
The many times I failed, came most without warning
Met with disappointment, every task done for You
Expecting justification in things that I would do
Your cross I thought, I was trying to embrace
But instead I found--I had Fallen From Grace

Consider who it was that hindered you?
Hearkening unto them kept one from obeying the truth
Satan and his instruments caused the fall
They endeavored to overthrow my faith
They obstructed my vision, the truth erased
But seeing the error, I stand fast and free
In the liberty of the cross where Christ died for me
I will never again be entangled or caught
In the web of false teaching
Only by His blood I was bought
I continue steadfast in the truth I once embraced
I found I am no longer--Fallen From Grace.

Connie Schmoll
February 2001

Fallen From Grace

Another Sunday morning and there I sat once again feeling nothing. I had cried so much through all of this that even my tears were all dried up. The longer I sat listening to the Word of God being preached that day, the angrier I became. It was getting so hard to even believe anymore. I didn't know how much more I could really take with not knowing what was wrong. Why were all these things happening? Nothing was working out and things just didn't seem to be making sense anymore. I felt like I had completely lost the joy of the Lord and my walk with God was getting so weak.

The Bible says that the joy of the Lord is our strength, right? Well...No wonder I was growing weak. Lord, where is the joy I once had when I first believed?

As I left that service feeling numb, I remember how shocked I felt when all of a sudden a Scripture popped into my head. Galatians Chapter 5. A spark of hope was ignited within me because I knew at that moment that the Lord had not stopped speaking to me and I had not completely grown deaf to His voice.

It is true that God will not allow too much to come upon us that we cannot bear. I knew for me, that day just had to be the day for this major trial to end. I felt a sense of urgency and hurried to my car and opened my Bible.

Galatians Chapter 5 is where God led me when I came to the place where I had so much junk happening in my life and I did not understand what was happening and why. It just seemed like my spiritual growth had ceased and I was constantly on this "spiritual treadmill" that never seemed to end. It was like I was running and running but getting nowhere. I was so tired of the frustrating life that was suppose to be a life of peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. My question was...what had happened?

As I began to read in Galatians Chapter 5, God's Word ministered to my heart and the Lord began showing me that "Christ had become of no effect unto me, and I had fallen from grace". But what did all of this mean?

My eyes welled up with tears and it was like a dam had finally broken as the tears began to flow with full force down my face. I sat there for a few minutes, got myself together and headed home. I had to find out more of what the Lord was trying to tell me. Again, I wondered...what did all of this mean?

When I arrived home, I continued seeking God through His Word and began praying for more understanding. I found myself then reading the other writings of Paul and found it interesting how in I Corinthians 9:24 he likens our walk with God as running a race and in Hebrews 12:1,2 he says to "lay aside every weight that so easily besets us".

From my experience during my walk with God, through some of the teachings I had allowed myself to receive, it seemed like my life had become a very frustrating one and I couldn't figure out what was wrong. Serving the Lord was suppose to be about joy and hope, not of frustration and a race going nowhere.

When I began reading more in Galatians and felt that God was telling me that I had "fallen from grace", I was shocked and a bit confused. I didn't understand. What did Paul really mean here? I had thought Jesus was everything to me!! I was so blinded to what was actually happening to me after I had gotten saved. It was like this deceptive blind was over my eyes. I didn't see it.

As the Lord began giving me understanding, I could see now that after I had been saved, somehow I had fallen into the mind set that it was up to me now to work to keep my salvation. I was turning back to self instead of keeping complete dependence on Jesus. I had gotten all caught up into works and pulling away from true faith.

Have you ever been there? You're placed into the line up, you begin "running the race", then it seems along the way, your focus has become blurred and your eyes have left the finish line and before you even realize it, because it happens so subtly, you've resorted to another road...the road of self dependence.

I could see now what Paul might be saying here. A person can still be "in the race" yet veered off the path somewhere along the way. At least it seems to make sense comparing it to what I had experienced. I don't actually think that a person is lost or losing out with God when they have "fallen from grace" but from what I see and experienced, living a legalistic lifestyle which causes one to depend on their own works instead of God, won't help a Christian grow. It HINDERS maturity. It SUFFOCATES freedom and it OBSCURES the grace of God. It makes "the race" more frustrating and long.

Paul even says in Galatians 2:21, "I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain."

The person becomes bitter and never knows the peace of God that they are to have. "They will know nothing of the REST which remains for the people of God, which can only be entered into by ceasing from their own works.". (Hebrews 4:9-10)

Let's look at verse seven of Galatians 5 where Paul says, "Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?" Paul is saying, you started out okay, but someone or something has hindered your walk now. If I can put a picture to this...it's kind of like a Christian gets saved, starts running the race for Jesus, then an obstacle is thrown in front of them that cuts their stride, hindering their progress. With knees and palms skinned, they leave the track. They strapped on a yoke of "works" and only grunts and groans can be heard now where joy and hope once filled the air. Instead of running free now toward the crown of life, they are laboriously tilling the fallow ground of fruitless endeavor.

There are some who suffer many injuries (hurts and offenses) along the way because of their running alone and thinking that their way is the right way. Christ can't work with someone like that and will continually try to get the person back on the right path with Him.

In other words, Christ can't be effective in a person's life who does not depend on Him, but are only depending on their works to get saved and to keep them saved. They follow the rules of man but have no relationship with the Ruler of their spirit. That is why it may seem like they are so loaded down in this race for Christ. That is why so many can't or maybe don't know how to make decisions for themselves. They never stop being babies in the Lord. They never mature or grow up in God!

Until a person turns back to God...depending only on Him and not their own works for justification, they will continue to live a frustrated Christian life and never grow to maturity and continue being spoon fed by the pastor and most likely running in circles and finding themselves on the same path day after day, going through the same things over and over, running but getting nowhere.

It's hard to "run the race" that is set before us when carrying all that "weight that so easily besets us". We need to "lay aside every weight...looking unto JESUS, the Author and Finisher of our faith."

Cry out to HIM and He WILL answer! He will bring healing to your eyes that you may begin to see again, and heal the heart and mind to help you begin to believe once again.

If you are viewing this from email, please visit Waiting At The Window Website to listen to the video: HEAL ME by Aaron Jeoffrey!

Through My Window Pain

As I stood at that same window the next morning, the excitement I used to feel was no longer there. Today was different. As I peered through the glass, the view only brought me past visions of painful memories. I closed my eyes and once again as I relived that moment, I felt the sharp pain as if a knife was being thrust into my chest. The pain I felt in my heart hurt so bad. I could barely breathe as I tried fighting back the tears. I remember the sudden pattering of water drops hitting the window's glass as the rain began pouring down outside. I remember thinking that the rainfall had not only begun to fall outside but also in my life. What used to be gentle winds was now replaced with torrential winds that blew with such force that I was unable to fight it off. My fingers ran across the glass as the window became steamed as my heart grew cold once again and all I saw before me was like shattered glass as my vision was blurred from those tears welling up in my eyes. What I saw outside that window that night broke my heart and the rejection I experienced changed my life completely.

We all have painful memories in our past of those times when our heart was wounded from rejection or terrible things that may have happened to us. For many of us, we had no idea how to stop the pain. As with my situation that I shared above, at age 15, I was rejected and hurt which caused me to question, “What's wrong with me?” I did not know how to deal with the pain and began turning to drugs, alcohol, premarital sex and whatever else I thought could help me stop feeling the pain. It helped for awhile until even those things let me down and could no longer suppress the painful memories I had and wanted desperately to go away.

After years of abuse that my mind and body suffered from this lifestyle, I had so much more hurt and pain that had just piled up and needed to be rid of. I realized that all I was doing was living in a dark prison of choice, constantly reliving my past and forgiveness was the only way of escape for me.

You see...I have a different window that I look through now. I no longer peer through my window of pain. My window is now a window of anticipation, where I wait on the Lord...my window of hope, where the Word of God speaks into my heart and my life. A window where I can view things differently, where I can destroy that spirit of rejection before it latches on to me. I guard my heart, for out of it comes the issues of life.

It is very important what we allow to enter into our hearts. We have the power to stop it. It is up to us what we allow ourselves to receive and what thoughts that we choose to cast down and out of our life. And it is very important to teach this to our children, because you see, the rejection and pain that I experienced at age 15, I had no idea how to deal with it. I allowed it's poison in and to spread throughout my being which led me to that path of destruction for my life.

As I stand “waiting at the window” today, well...all I can say is how powerful Forgiveness is. FORGIVENESS is all about taking care of the heart: "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." (Proverbs 4:23) Whatever you allow in your heart, determines the course of your life. If you do not take care of your heart, instead of your life AFFECTING others in a good way, it will start INFECTING others in a bad way and begin destroying your own.

Some people believe that forgiveness has a price but believe me my friend, to NOT forgive will cost you so much more. We wonder sometimes how we are to forgive someone who has not shown any true remorse...but you see...Forgiveness comes from an open heart and without condition...or it doesn't come at all. We cannot wait to forgive when we FEEL like it because that feeling may never come. We must CHOOSE to forgive, for it breaks satan's power over us in that area and God's healing touch is free to move.

We achieve inner health only through forgiveness - the forgiveness of not only others but also of ourselves. Sometimes I find that the hardest person for me to forgive is myself. Having the ability to forgive is an admirable quality. Choose to forgive so the healing can begin and the pain can die. Be determined today that you are going to LIVE TO FORGIVE because I guarantee you friend, that you are going to be hurt many more times in life than you can imagine. Do your best to stay prepared!

Affirmation of Forgiveness: I Choose Peace...I Live Forgiven...I Forgive So That I May Live!

Connie J. Schmoll

If you are viewing this through email, come to "Waiting At The Window" website and listen to the video.

7 Times 70
by Chris August

Silent Seasons of the Soul

We face circumstances beyond our understanding and control. We find ourselves having to believe when God can't be seen or heard. Yet in the silent darkness, He is working. His silence in the shadows does not mean He does not care. A part of faith is trusting without answers, believing when it seems He is not there. The most important thing is how you deal with what you do in each season that comes upon you, because it will greatly affect your future. We learn the different Silent Seasons of the Soul.


SILENT SEASONS OF THE SOUL

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth. Ecclesiastes 3:1-9

CHANGE. The seasons change and with them, life. People come and then they go. Hearts are broken, then quickly mended. While sin blackens souls, God will cleanse them. One life dies, while a new one begins. Promises are made that will never be kept. First words spoken while last ones are uttered. And still the world turns; still the sun shines. People finally adapt to change and then...a new season.

Life comes with many seasons. We live in a world of changes. Every change concerning us, with the time and season of it, is unalterably fixed and determined by a supreme power, and we must take things as they come, for it is not in our power to change what is appointed for us.

There are many seasons of the soul as there are men with souls. We need to go with the flow, acknowledging God in each season He has chosen for us in that particular time and going along with it instead of resisting or rejecting it no matter how painful is may be. But also know that not all changes are bad; not all seasons bring pain and they all have a purpose.

Life will bring us questions without answers. To live is to encounter silent seasons of the soul. It seems our prayers go unanswered. We face circumstances beyond our understanding and control. We find ourselves having to believe when He can't be seen or heard. Yet in the silent darkness, God is working. His silence in the shadows does not mean He does not care. A part of faith is trusting without answers, believing when it seems He is not there. The most important thing is how we deal with what comes upon us during each season, because it will greatly affect our future.

Do you have a favorite season of the year? My favorites are Spring & Autumn.

Let's take a look at the four seasons that we see throughout the year. We know of the seasons, and look forward to some of them, and accept them and adapt to them.

Lets start out with my favorite:


SPRING.

Isaiah 55:10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

In the spring you find rainy days that bring growth. Pretty flowers start budding. The beauty of new life springs forth. In the springtime, we receive a lot of rainfall to wash impurities from the air.

The storms of life that we encounter, God uses those times to purify our hearts. Rainfall or trials in our lives help us to grow in the Lord.

After our time of rainfall there is always sunshine to look forward to. I had a friend who always encouraged me that when storms of life come, I can be assured that the sun would shine again and she always reminded me of God's rainbow of promise. We can find much sunshine in the...


SUMMER.

Ps 42:1-2 As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?

I think of summertime as a real fun sunshiny time in our lives. There are so many things to do and enjoy in the summer months. But of course too, as we really get deep into the summer, there comes a time where it can get pretty hot and dry.

In our walk with God, we start enjoying this mountaintop experience that we sometimes tend to neglect some things we should be doing for our spiritual life and all of a sudden our life becomes dry and barren and we find ourselves in a desert experience. This is a time where we long for the things of God once again. We develop a thirsting in our soul. And of course Jesus Christ is that Living Water that we need to quench that thirst. And then we get so much of God in this time but then comes the change.

Many changes start happening in this time of our life. We see ourselves in our Fall time...


AUTUMN.

Job 14:14 If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.

In Autumn, the leaves fall from their branches as the wind sweeps in. Everything is dying. Everything MUST die and be prepared for the next season. But during this dying time, we begin to notice the beautiful colors that Autumn brings. There is a beauty there that we do not yet see.

When I look at Autumn and how I see it in comparison with a season in life, I would have to say that it reminds me of a time where so much change comes upon a person. There are ways that God has to work in us and therefore we may be put through some tests in life. I think this season is the hardest of all. It is a short season yet it seems so long because it brings much change. During this season, the times can be difficult until we begin seeing the beauty of what the changes are bringing. It can move right into a real cold time for us. The air gets cold around us and there has to be a dying out to life at this time to survive what is to come next. The windy and cold time it brings sort of just sweeps us into our next season...



WINTER.

Psalm 51:6-7 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

That brisk piercing cold appears and this season brings snowfall. A white blanket of snow covering all.

The Word of God is like that. We get in this cold state and only the Word of God can cut deep into our innermost thoughts and desires causing an awakening. It exposes us for what we really are. It awakens us to what our life is and makes us aware of what needs changed. It also heals the innermost parts that have been wounded.

It brings back memories for me of the time I was filled with His Spirit when Jesus made me white as snow. But as time goes on, circumstances of life may cause pain and hurt and things start to look a little gloomy, and black starts to cover that snow as the whiteness seems to be melting away. The joy seems to have disappeared. If we come to the Lord, give it all to him, with forgiveness in our hearts, He is faithful and will heal all hurts and will send that fresh blanket of snow to cover us once again, because he loves us. God is love and love covers all.

So you see, life most definitely brings about many changes that we call "silent seasons of the soul". We never know when they will come and what they will be or even why they have to be, but not knowing when, what and why won't really make a difference. But growing closer and knowing Jesus, will. It helps just knowing, by reading it in scripture: "...to everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven".

You WILL go through many different seasons in your life, but know that it is all for a reason. Seasons change. Lives change. I know that we can't completely PLAN for that season because we know not what it might be, but we can stay alert by keeping our eyes open and being aware of when a different season is approaching.

I always ask myself: I wonder what season this is? And I ask you...what season are you in? And how are YOU going to handle it?

Connie J. Schmoll

"Seasons Change" by Crystal Lewis

The Challenge: Search Me O God

Hello Friends:

Those of you that have subscribed to my devotional site should have received one of my writings titled, "Search Me Oh God". Well...I met with the Lord this morning and began sharing with him my heart of how unhappy I have been for awhile and how tired I am of things being the way they are and how my family and I desperately need some changes to take place. While "waiting at the window", God began to speak and presented me with a challenge that I would like to also present to each of you. Some of you may be in that same place, desiring change.

My devotional, "Search Me Oh God", that I shared the other day, was actually written seven years ago and the Lord brought it to remembrance and presented me with this challenge again today to begin praying DAILY, Psalm 139:23,24 "Search Me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

I remember seven years ago, when I started praying this prayer, how God started working in my life. You see...sometimes we can get into a place in our life, as I feel that I am in now, where we desperately need change to happen and we are thinking mainly that our SITUATION must change for us to be happy, BUT we may find that much of the change most likely needed has to take place INSIDE OF US.

So just let me say this: IF you join me in this challenge and start praying this prayer daily, WHEN/IF you find yourself facing some difficult situations, keep in mind this prayer you began praying, and begin asking God for understanding of why some of those things may be happening. Stay focused and you'll make it through with total amazement of the good that came out of the situation and the good change that took place IN YOU.

Will you be one to join me in this challenge?

I promise you that God will begin to change things within you and all around you.

#1- Keep your heart open to Him and listen for His voice for direction and be obedient to what He instructs you to do. Things will begin to change for you and in you.

#2- Be aware that in daily activities of your life and through happenings and your interaction with others, you'll be able to tell when God is searching your heart and showing you things inside you that need to change, lessons you need to learn and principles in His Word that you need to apply to your life.

#3- Be forewarned though that it is not an easy process to go through each day, and God will use people very close to you, as well as even strangers to bring change about, but keep in mind....

-- You'll begin to know and understand the freedom in Christ that you are to have.
-- You'll begin to understand that afflictions and brokenness are not your enemies, but your friend.
-- You'll learn that the Lord is near to those of a broken heart and that many are the afflictions of the righteous but that He delivers us out of them all. (Psalm 34:18-19)
-- You'll realize that the Lord teaches good judgment and knowledge through affliction and He'll always be working to draw us back to Him when we go astray.
-- You'll seriously begin believing His commandments and become more determined in keeping His Word. (Psalm 119:66-67)
-- You'll see that it is good for you when you've been afflicted, to learn His statutes and no one will be able to convince you that His judgments aren't right and you'll truly understand that in faithfulness only He afflicts you. (Psalm 119:71-75)

A disadvantage: we do not see the full picture BUT be encouraged and have hope because God knows the beginning from the end and He loves us so much and wants only what is best for us and He is the only one who knows what it takes for us to become what we need to be for Him. Trust Him and begin by following this one instruction from His Word:

Proverbs 4:20-27
My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.

Guard your heart during this time. You want it purified, not infested with more junk. We CHOOSE what we receive and what not. CHOOSE wisely. Watch what you speak during this time. Stay positive and focused!

Actually, the whole chapter of Proverbs 4 would be good reading during this time!

If you want change bad enough and if you choose to join me, I would love to hear from you. Come to my site and leave a comment letting me know that you are joining me today and please keep in touch. I would love to know all the changes that begin happening in your life as a result of THIS prayer and YOUR DESIRE for change.

Job 14:14 If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.

Love you all,
Connie J. Schmoll

Those viewing this from email, visit the site to listen to video, "Search Me O God"! LOVE THAT SONG!