Rewarded Belief

Mark 16: ¹⁴ 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. ¹⁵ And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.¹⁶ He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. ¹⁷ And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; ¹⁸ they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

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After the thing broke I looked at the instructions again. “Do not do xyz” were words I had glanced over in the complicated directions and I had to go back to the store and buy another gizmo. My instinct was wrong.

• Sometimes I act on instinct.
• Sometimes my instinct is based on my experiences.
• Sometimes my experiences may have been limited so I act on what I have seen.

After being chased by the military, the disciples somehow met up together, cowering in a room. They were probably telling their individual war stories of how they narrowly escaped the clutches of death. JESUS appears to them and was stern with HIS words.

HE was addressing a belief problem because the disciples doubted HIS instructions that HE would rise from the dead. Even though witnesses saw HIM, they still would not believe.

• JESUS wants me to believe in HIM on a daily basis.
• JESUS wants me to believe that situations are temporary but a relationship with HIM is eternal.
• JESUS wants me to believe that HE has every situation in HIS hands in spite of how it seems.

“I have a plan to prosper you, not harm you” is what JESUS says. HE also says “No one can pluck you out of MY hand.” He further says “I will be with you always, even until the end of the age.” When HE says these promises, HE is not speaking at an unknown future, HE is speaking from the past because it has already happened and HE is just assuring me that my journey will be fine.

• Do you doubt GOD because of your circumstances?
• Do you feel like hiding in a room and not facing the world’s challenges?
• Can you stop depending on the news and start depending on the GOOD NEWS about CHRIST today?
• Will you take on HIS directions and tell as many people about HIS goodness in spite of your circumstances?