These Signs Shall Follow...

Mark 16:14-18

These Signs Shall Follow.....But Only If You Believe In Them!

After Jesus had risen and showed himself to some, there were the others who did not believe it, so later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart because they did not believe those who had seen Him after he had risen.

He told them to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He said He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who doesn't believe, will be condemned.

Then He proceeded to tell them what signs (miracles) will follow them who believe. He said in His name (authority), they will cast out demons, they will speak with other tongues, they will take up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them, and they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.

A statement was made in a church gathering by the leader that if you don't have these signs following you, you will not make it to heaven. If you have not cast out a demon, you will not make it to heaven! I do not believe this statement. I have never cast out a demon, so this means I'm not going to heaven? Ridiculous! I do not remember that being part of salvation. My salvation is based on what Jesus did, not what I DO! Our salvation is not based on works!

I believe from this portion of Scripture in Mark, it says these signs shall FOLLOW us IF we believe. If we have the faith to believe in them! We don't go LOOKING for demons. In other words, if the opportunity arises, we have the authority to cast out demons, but we are not to go looking for demons just so we can make it to heaven. Just like the drinking of poison, or handling of snakes, we don't go doing those things. We are not to tempt God! The Bible is stating that if we happen to drink something poisonous, or are made to drink it, or if we are bitten by a snake, God will protect us....just as he did Paul when he was bitten by a snake. No harm came to Paul. (Acts 28:3-6)

We are to do all things in the power and demonstration of the LORD. I will not lay hands on just anybody, nor will I let just anybody lay hands on me. You never know what can be transferred from a person onto you. When the opportunity arises and God directs me to lay hands on someone that they may be healed, I will do so. I am to have the faith that they WILL recover. The same as everything else. The opportunity came when I spoke in tongues, receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost. I believed and I received!

Making judgments on others, saying that they won't make it to heaven because they have not cast out a demon, or spoke in tongues, or drank deadly poison or handled a snake or laid hands on the sick so they can recover, is very wrong!!

The key word is “follow”. These signs (miracles) shall follow them that believe. As I stated before, we don't go looking for them. When the opportunity arises, we have the authority, and we have His protection. But we have to believe!

You have to believe or these miracles won't follow. They are not going to happen, if you don't have the faith to believe. The Bible isn't saying you're not truly a believer if these signs don't follow you, thus keeping you out of heaven. If that were true, we all need to be going out and looking for demons to cast out, and poison to drink and snakes to handle all the time. Our salvation is NOT based on what WE DO. It is what HE DID FOR US! 

It was the faith of the eleven that He was focusing on or was targeting.  Jesus was telling them that these signs (miracles) are going to be following them but only if they believed for them to happen!!  Because as you see in the beginning when He first sat down with them, He was rebuking them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they didn't believe those ones who had come and told them Jesus had appeared unto them. One of them was actually Mary Magdalene whom Jesus had cast 7 demons out of! 

Connie Schmoll

Stay On The Straight Path

I have heard it said a lot that we need to thank God for our trials, but I don't know about you, but when I'm going through a hard time and something bad is happening, I have a really hard time thanking God for it. But then, I realized that He is not asking us to thank Him FOR the circumstance but we are to give thanks IN the circumstance. Instead of complaining during those times of trial, just begin thanking God that He is in it with us and is working all things for our good.

In I Thessalonians 5:18 it says, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you”. IN everything give thanks....not FOR everything give thanks. We are to give thanks in every circumstance.

James 1:2-3 says to Count it all joy when we face trials, knowing that the testing of our faith brings perseverance. I do not believe this Scripture is telling us to be happy about our circumstance, but it is merely encouraging us to keep a good attitude about it while in the trial; an attitude that even if we don’t see the purpose of the trial, God will use that trial to build into us what we need for life. This is a promise of Scripture that goes beyond what we currently see.

I remember a guy at church said that he couldn't understand why people should be thanking God for their trials because God had shown him two paths: one was a straight path and the other a squiggly path representing those times when a person falls by the wayside for whatever reason and then gets back on the path. Off and on, off and on constantly. Now just picturing this path, it is obvious that it will take us much longer to get where we need to be, by constantly going off and on the path constantly.

Do you think it is possible to always stay on the straight path without ever being side tracked? I do.

Just look at what Proverbs 4:11 says, “I will teach you wisdom's ways and lead you in straight paths”. (NIV)

Just picture for a minute that path that God has set you on. Paul refers to it as “running the race”. And he tells us to lay aside every weight that so easily besets us. (Hebrews 12:1-2) No path is going to be perfect. There are going to be obstacles along the way, but the key to staying on the path is how we handle those obstacles. Are we going to let them knock us off the path by our murmuring and complaining  or are we going to stay on that path by acknowledging God in it with us and continue to keep our eyes on Him, trusting Him to help us make it over that obstacle without ever leaving the path?

Proverbs 3:6 tells us to Acknowledge Him and He will direct our path. He'll make our path straight, but only if we acknowledge Him in it with us, which is actually initiating our faith in Him.

I honestly believe that during this journey of life set forth by God, He will get us to where He wants us, and that anytime we begin to set our eyes upon the circumstance instead of keeping them on God and the finish line that is ahead, we make the situation a lot harder for us and it causes us to remain in that trial a lot longer than God intended.

Have you ever heard the saying, “If You Complain, You Remain?” Remember the Children of Israel? They wandered in the wilderness for 40 years and all they did was murmur and complain. I think it is very important how we react to our wilderness moments. I think our reaction will determine how long we remain there.

When you focus on your problems, it cuts off the revelation, the faith and the victory. Possessing a grateful heart and expressing it daily will affect how you see things. You begin seeing and believing something before it actually is manifested. Your understanding is no longer darkened. Did you know that Romans 1:20-21 states that unthankfulness darkens the mind? So you see, something as simple as saying, "Thank You" can bring light to a situation that seemed hopeless. Keep your eyes on the Lord and always cultivate a lifestyle of thanksgiving and He will keep you on the straight path!

Connie Schmoll