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

When Will We Finally Listen?

I Corinthians 6:19,20 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

God is a merciful God and does/will heal instantaneously, but other times, He will guide you to the KNOWLEDGE needed on how to take care of the body. Also God will heal but He wants you to also know how to keep that healing and not continue to do what you were doing that caused your sickness or pain in the first place. 

What changes has GOD been talking to YOU about making that you haven't done, YET you continue to murmur and complain about your situation or your health issue?

When will we listen?! Why do we allow FOOD or any other situation to have such control over us, that we're not willing to let go of it even when it could be a matter of life and death?! My situation was food, overeating, obesity, all leading to health issues.

We who have the Spirit of God in us have the greatest source of power ever to help us to be Overcomers! Why are we not using that power!?!?!

In churches today, we hear so much of how alcohol, drug use, sex outside of marriage, etc are all sinful and bad for us, YET we never hear it preached much about how we abuse our body, the temple of the Holy Ghost, by overeating, or putting acidic foods into the body. I personally think we need a ministry in the church specifically for this because our health problems are keeping us from being able to fulfill the ministry God has called us into.

I Thessalonians 5:23 says, Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

We hear a lot in church about we are renewed in spirit (new heart) and renewing of our mind (soul) but we barely hear about our body supposed to be preserved blameless too.  We need to take care of our body, the temple of the Holy Ghost.  If we aren't, our "sin" is very noticeable.

I remember when God opened up my eyes to my own personal situation. I was reading through Hebrews 12: 1-11 and He began talking to me and I could see just how disobedient I had been and was now serving the consequences of my sin. God's desire for our life is to live an abundant life and it gets very hard for us to do that when we are weak and sick in body. He wants us to be fruitful and if we are not, He will try His best to help get us there. You've heard the saying, “I just love you to death!” Well with God...He loves us to LIFE! He knows the causes of why our life is not bearing fruit and will go to extremes to get us to where we need to be to live that abundant life for Him! But even then, it's up to us to be obedient when He speaks.

I can look back now and see just how much God had tried to help me by speaking to me through His Word and Spirit. But food had such a hold on me. I am an emotional eater and I was running to food for comfort instead of running to God. God made us all to crave Him but I was giving in to the craving of the flesh (food) instead of the spirit (God).

In Hebrews 12:5-6 it makes mention of three degrees in which God works to get us to Abundant Life! Rebuke, Chasten and Scourging. These degrees of intervention in which God works is not necessarily joyful but can be painful, but he knows exactly what each of us needs to discipline us.

Hebrews 12:12 No chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Proverbs 3:11.12 tells us not to despise the chastening of the Lord and not to detest His correction because He does this because He loves us! He disciplines us for our good – out of LOVE. He loves us to LIFE!

A REBUKE from the Lord is like a verbal warning for some poor choices in our life, or some hurtful wounds we are carrying around that is the cause of wrongful behavior or attitudes, etc. His rebuke is to spare us from further pain. His rebukes can come in different ways such as a prick of the conscience, a timely word from another person, a Scripture, preaching of His Word or conviction by the Holy Spirit.

Hebrews 4:12 tells us how quick and powerful God's Word is, sharper than a two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

*Instead of listening to that rebuke, I would use food to medicate my pain.

If we harden our heart and close our ears to God's rebuke, we force our Father to intensify the correction.

TO CHASTEN or discipline happens when our loving Father steps in to lift us away from our own destructive and unfruitful pursuits. (Deut. 8:5)

With chastening, we find ourselves nagged by the subtle feeling of defeat, disappointment and frustration. This crushing cycle of powerlessness that is hated continues. What used to bring us joy, now doesn't. Pressures increase at work, at home or in our health and finances, unfulfilled at church, critical to friends and “on the outs” with God. If we have any of these symptoms, the answer is not to go to church more, read our Bible more or any of that. We need to look for ongoing sin or something that seems to be cutting us off from God's best for your life, like anger, bitterness, unforgivness, overeating, etc. If we don't respond, love will compel your Father to take more drastic measures. What is the source of our pain that is causing our pressures in life or our discontentment we feel, or that cycle of defeat?

*I knew that food was not the answer, but it was a habit now that I couldn't break and it made me feel good (for awhile).  I knew deep inside that it was not going to help me. It was only hurting me. I knew exactly how I would feel afterwards. But at that point and time, food was more important to me and I didn't care about anything else. I needed that "food fix".

TO SCOURGE is to whip or to inflict punishment. Everyone hates pain, but it sure gets our attention, doesn't it? I like what C.S. Lewis says: “God whispers through pleasure but shouts through pain.” Sometimes our Father has to shout! Sometimes our sins bring judgment to us. As Paul said in I Corinthians 11:30 “This is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died”. We will suffer dire consequences for our wrong doings and attitudes we carry that are not fruitful for God.

As I said before, I now am able to see how all of these interventions were used on me when it came to my eating. I was rebuked and warned of my eating habits. I believe God even led me to knowledge of how to eat, and when I didn't listen, or tried but failed, then chastisement came and my life became full of frustration and more defeat, depression, not happy with self and when I did not heed to His Word, the scourging came. My “sin” brought judgment, consequences like painful health issues.

What stops good people from cleaning up their act?!  Many are held captive for years from misguided beliefs, and habits. I don't know about you, but I don't want to wander around anymore on a fruitless path unable to enter into the abundant life God has for me!!

*I reached a place of hopelessness and my heart was becoming sick, literally, which God showed me through His Word in Proverbs 13:12 "Hope deferred makes the heart sick but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life." He told me that I had lost all hope of getting better. I had tried everything but always ended up in defeat. I was angry with God because He wouldn't just heal me. But would it have done any good for God to heal me and I just continue to do what caused my health problems to begin with? What was the source, the reason I was running to food and not God? 

God's concern is the condition of our heart. He wants to heal the deep seed of pain that was planted deep inside us that is the main cause of our destructive condition. SO....When I finally surrendered it all to God, He is healing the wounds deep within. He restored by hope and led me to Genesis Pure products and again reminded me of all the knowledge that He led me to and once I began to follow what I know, and began giving the body what it needed, my body is beginning to heal itself. I am starting to eat right, I am losing weight and I am getting my health and life back. 

Maybe your issue today is not eating, not being overweight. Maybe it is something else God's been talking to you about and you haven't been very obedient to His voice.  Are you now able to see the progression of the degrees of intervention that God has been taking in your life, trying to get your attention, trying to "love you to life!"?

PLEASE begin heeding to the rebuke or early warnings from the Lord, to keep yourself from having to endure symptoms of defeat and the consequences of disobedience that brings judgment leading to painful health issues and an unfruitful life. Be determined to live the abundant life promised by God by being obedient to His voice and instruction. He loves you and so do I. 

 Connie J. Schmoll

The Footstool

Hello Friends, Family and Fellow Subscribers!  I know it's been a while since I've posted!  I feel led today to REPOST this:

Do you let circumstances in life or people around you always discourage you about your dreams? Do you allow "enemies to reside inside" such as anger, unforgiveness, hate, etc to disrupt the plans God has for you? Don't let these "enemies" dictate your destiny. Look to the Creator and find your true self. Re-discover your potential and purpose in life and just allow those “naysayers” to actually create the momentum needed to lift you off toward your dreams and goals. Jesus said he’ll make our enemies our footstool. What does a footstool do? It lifts us to higher heights, helping us to reach what we couldn’t reach before!!

Consider the enemies of Jesus Christ; they spent much effort in convincing and conspiring for three years until He was finally brought before Pilate. Because of His enemies' efforts He was severely beaten... thus enabling Him to fulfill Isaiah 53:5 "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

His enemies became His enablers.

Because of His enemies efforts, He was crucified...thus enabling Him to set all of humanity free from sin and death.

His enemies became His enablers.

Without these enemies, He could not have fulfilled His destiny which was cloaked in "the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would NOT have crucified the Lord of glory." (1 Cor. 2:7-8)

It is upon the 'footstool' of our enemies that we are enabled to reach the 'high calling' of our destiny in Christ. Yes, the enemies are very real and would seek to destroy us if possible, and many times even remain our enemies as we tread upon them as a footstool... yet they are our enablers....IF we allow them to be.

"The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool."   Psalm 110:1

Connie J. Schmoll

Refiner's Fire

I came across this the other day while going through some folders.  I don't know who wrote it, but I hope it blesses you as it did me.

Malachi 3:3 says, "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible Study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.  One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work.  She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.

As she watched the silver smith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up.  He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were the hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot then she thought again about the verse that says: "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver."

She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.  The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire.  If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment.  Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?"

He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy ... when I can see my image in it."

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you. 

If you are viewing this from email, visit the site and listen to Refiner's Fire by Hillsong.

What Love Is This

I spent Sunday morning and on into a bit of the afternoon, listening to songs sung by Kari Jobe.  Her songs bless me so much. They bring love and adoration to the Lord.  Such a sweet presence of the Lord begins to hover.  One of Kari Jobe's songs that really blesses me is "What Love Is This".   

"What Love Is This", features powerful imagery of the Centurion Soldier's reaction to discovering that Jesus was the Son of God after He'd been crucified.

"I often think about what it would've been like to experience that and to say, 'Truly, you are the son of God,'" Kari shares. "You realize you were part of His death, you were the one of the people who nailed Him to a cross. He must have felt so incredibly broken -- to believe the lie and then experience the truth. I really think that's like all of us.  We've got to have the perspective that without the Lord's presence, we're all in darkness, and  ‘What Love Is This’ is my love song to the Lord for His love song for my life.”

If you are reading this from email, come to the site and be blessed by Kari Jobe's song, "What Love Is This."

Steady My Heart

We never know what each day has waiting for us. But we do have the capability to do our best to prepare ourselves for whatever may come. Whether a day brings us temptation, a trial or even a day of disappointments, we can overcome if we are prepared. Everyone faces temptation. Everyone faces disappointments and hurts. And everyone faces trials and tragedies. But the truth is, very few people are prepared to deal with it effectively and that shouldn't be the case and it doesn't have to be the case for believers.

2 Chronicles 12:14 says, “And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the LORD.”

This was speaking of Rehoboam, the king of Judah and the son of Solomon. He started off as a good king who was seeking the Lord. But just as many people today, he wasn't prepared for what would inevitably come his way. When satan throws temptation our way or we become bombarded with many trying things and become overwhelmed, if we are not already prepared, it will be too late and we'll probably lose the fight or make the battle more difficult than what it should have been.

Jesus prepared himself. He spent 30 years preparing for his encounter with the devil. He started at an early age and his study continued all His life, spending hours of reading and studying but even Jesus needed more.

Before he was tempted by satan face to face, he was anointed with the Holy Spirit at His baptism by John in the Jordan River. Jesus went into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, full of the power of the Holy Spirit.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit is an absolute necessity for overcoming temptation and trials. We must stay FILLED. One way of doing that is to speak in tongues on a regular basis. Jude 1:20-21 says “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the love of God looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”

Praying in tongues builds us up on our most holy faith. How many times have you needed your most holy faith to take you through a certain trial, and yet you haven't used this gift of the Holy Spirit? Verse 21 also says we keep ourselves in the love of God when we speak in tongues. Have you ever asked the Lord to pour out His love on you? I imagine you have. I know I have. But this doesn't say to pray that way; it says we are to keep ourselves in the love of God and we do this by praying in tongues. We don't ask God for that which He's already given, we simply stir up the love that has already been commended toward us, by speaking in tongues. This is a powerful gift. We should never lack the Love of God because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. (Romans 5:5)

Isaiah 28:11-12 says, “For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, this is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.”

Do you ever need rest and refreshing? This verse says that speaking in tongues is the way to get it. We have this most powerful gift available to us through the Holy Spirit, but few take advantage of it. Instead we keep asking God to do what he told us to do. We need to use this gift of speaking in tongues to stir ourselves up, or we risk sinking to the bottom.

When adversity comes our way, we may think that God is a careless God because He allows things to happen that He is capable of stopping. But we must remember in those times, He has fully equipped us to handle whatever comes our way. What we really need is HELP in using that “equipment”.

God's Word and His Spirit are freely available to help us. The Bible imparts to us essential wisdom: He promises to be near us and take care of us, He shares exhortations that help us avoid sinful snares, and there are many offers of forgiveness when we “miss the mark” and much more.

God does indeed equip us to handle adversity well, But we have to make the effort to use what He provides: His Presence. His Word. His Spirit.

People need to be taught how to pray and how to study the Bible. For us to be prepared, we must have that relationship with God and that only comes through communication with Him....through prayer and through His Word. LEARN HIS WORD. MEDITATE ON HIS WORD. PRAY THE WORD. BE FULL OF HIS SPIRIT. KNOW HIS VOICE. BE PREPARED!

The last example I want to use is Joseph. You can read his story in Genesis 37-50. He went through many things in his life from being sold by his brothers to being falsely accused and placed into prison. But he had a relationship with God and always held on to the dream that God gave him that showed him his destiny. He was given gifts from God that always got him out of the situations that man placed him in. Interpreting dreams was one gift given to him through God. He had favor from God no matter what. People could tell the Lord was with him. He held on to that faith He had in God. He stayed prepared for whatever came against him and sinned not against God. He acknowledged God in all that had happened to him. What his brothers meant for evil against him, God meant for good. (Genesis 50:20)

When trials come upon us, we can get so overwhelmed and worked up instead of just asking God to “STEADY MY HEART”. Keep your heart fixed on God. Be steadfast in your walk with Him and you will always live in His Peace when storms come. As with Joseph, It can be the same for us. If we begin each day with God, in the Word and in prayer, He will always give us what we need to be prepared for what awaits us out there in the world. When we trust God and and begin to acknowledge Him in every area of our life, He will continue to direct our path towards the plan He has for our life (Proverbs 3:5-6).  STAY PREPARED through His Presence. His Word. And His Spirit.

Psalm 108:1 My heart O God is steadfast; I will sing and make music with all my soul

Psalm 57:7 My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed. I will sing and give praise

Psalm 112:7 He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.

So you see from these Scriptures, we must keep our heart fixed, or steadfast, confident, never doubting and let our prayers and complaints be like David's, turned into praises. His heart was fixed, it was prepared for every event, being stayed upon God.

We will have no fear in bad news. Our hearts can be steadfast, trusting God. If we prepare our heart in advance, we will never fall.

Stand firm, let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. (1 Corinthians 15:58)

Connie J. Schmoll

If you are viewing this from email, visit the site to listen to "Steady My Heart" by Kari Jobe