Daily Devotional From Bill Keller

[danausmc]

A mother's love. On this day that we honor our mothers, I thought it
fitting to share with you this wonderful story from God's Word that
personifies a mother's love. I have often said a mother's love can be
broken down into the 3 P's. Pleading, persistence, and prayer. I can
testify today that the only reason I am in the ministry is because my
mother who is with the Lord now, pleaded, was persistent, and prayed. I
have no doubt that many of you know Jesus as your Savior because of your
mother's prayers. So in honor of our mothers, let me break down the 3 P's
of a mother's love for you.

A mother will plead for her child. It was the deep love for her daughter
that drove the Canaanite woman in today's scripture to Jesus, pleading for
mercy for her daughter. In our time of despair, "something" pulls us to
God. Many people, who openly reject God, will cry out in a time of need.
Even believers will live apart from Christ, not giving Him much time in
their daily life...until the trials come. This mother in her hour of need,
knew where to go to plead for help.

Persistence is something that defines a mother. Moms have a God-given
talent to stay on something, no matter how long it takes, to get the job
done. Many times, God delays His answer to test our belief, much like He
did in the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18:2-5. Are you serious
about the needs in your life? Then don't give up...be persistent. Isaiah
65:24 gives us that special promise, "before they call I will answer; while
they are still speaking, I will hear." God has promised to hear and answer
our prayers, but that does not always mean in our timing. Often, we need to
be persistent, like this Canaanite mother who was not going to be denied the
miracle she sought for her daughter.

If persistence defines a mother, then prayer is her greatest weapon. In
verse 25 of today's scripture we hear the simple prayer of faith, "Lord help
me!" Moms are prayer warriors. Moms know that it is prayer that moves the
hand of God. Moms know that prayer works because it demonstrates to God
that we are powerless in our own strength, and have put our faith in Him.
Jesus healed this woman's daughter because of her faith!

I want to encourage you today to honor your mother, she is a great gift from
God. It is also God's commandment that we honor our mother. For those of
you who have been estranged, separated from your Mom due to the events of
life, please, swallow your pride and contact her today. No matter what may
have happened in the past, tell her that you love her. I understand that
many mothers have not been what God called them to be, but through your
love, God can restore them.

For those like me whose Mom is with the Lord, let me suggest calling a local
nursing home and finding out the name of a lady who has no family, no
regular visitors. An inexpensive arrangement of flowers and 5 minutes of
your day just to tell her she hasn't been forgotten on this Mother's Day
will touch a life like you can not even imagine. I am a firm believer that
the little acts of kindness, even to strangers, are our most effective and
powerful ministry. Don't let this day pass without making it special for
your mother.

I love you and care about you, and it is my goal each day to encourage you
and challenge you to have that intimate daily relationship with the Lord
that He desires to have with us. I know from years in the ministry, one of
the biggest concerns for Moms is their unsaved children. Mom, let me stand
in agreement with you today for your unsaved kids. I will pray in agreement
with you for their salvation. It would be an honor and privilege to stand
in agreement with you for the salvation of your kids, since I realize that
is your number one prayer request. Millions will be in Heaven because of
the prayers of mom!!!!

To all the Moms out there today, may you be richly blessed on this day that
we honor you!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com



©Copyright 2004, Bill Keller Ministries. All rights reserved.

[danausmc]

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL MONDAY MAY 10, 2004
(Romans 10:9)




The real tragedy of Pat Tillman. One of the sad stories in the last few
weeks was the news of the death of former NFL star Pat Tillman, who died
while serving our nation in Afghanistan. Pat Tillman was different from
most of today's professional athletes. He was a star defensive back for
Arizona State University and was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals of the
National Football League. After several seasons with Arizona, he had an
opportunity to change teams and earn over 9 million dollars, but chose
instead to stay with Arizona for 1/3 of that since he felt he owed it to the
team for giving him his opportunity to play professional football.

As amazing as that is in today's world of professional athletes, Pat did
something even more amazing. He was so moved by the events of 9/11 he made
the decision to give up his professional football career, his 3.6 million
dollar salary, to serve our nation by joining the Army Rangers. When he
made the decision, he also refused to do any media interviews. He said that
what he was doing was not for attention or glory, but out of a personal
conviction to do his part in the war on terrorism. Again, Pat Tillman stood
out because such nobility is rarely found in professional athletes today.

That is why it was so sad to learn on April 23rd that Tillman had been shot
and killed the day before during a Special Operations mission in
southeastern Afghanistan along the border of Pakistan. This was a young
man who was not only a sports hero, but like all of those men and women who
bravely defend our nation, a real hero. Because he had given up the fame
and fortune of a successful professional football career, his death shocked
the nation and was a national story. But today, I want to tell you the REAL
tragedy of the death of Pat Tillman.

On Monday May 3rd, they had a Memorial Service for Pat Tillman in his home
town of San Jose, California. I got home from doing my daily radio program
at around 6 p.m. and my normal routine is to eat dinner with my wife and
then sleep from 7 until 11 when I have to get up and go do my nightly
television program from 1-2 a.m. The television in my bedroom was on one of
the 24-hour cable news stations as I was starting to fall asleep, when I
heard the broadcast of Pat Tillman's memorial service. I heard one speaker
after another talking about Pat's athletic career, his service to our
nation, about being a role model and hero, but with each speaker I realized
what was missing was anyone mentioning his faith. Other than the passing
reference to God, there was NOTHING being said about Pat Tillman's faith.

Then his brother got up to speak. Tillman's brother Richard - another
brother, Kevin, also joined the Rangers with Pat - was overcome with emotion
as he stood before the gathering in a white T-shirt and jeans. "It was
amazing to be his baby brother," he said,
voice shaking. "He was a champion. But with all respect to those who have
been up here before me, Pat's not with God. He was not religious, so he's
not with God, he's just f-ing dead."

I sat up, wide awake now, and all I could think about was that as great a
life as Pat Tillman had lived, great college athlete, successful
professional football career, giving up the fame and fortune to serve and
pay the ultimate price for our nation, he would spend eternity separated
from God in a place that was created for satan. That is the real tragedy of
the death of Pat Tillman, and anyone else who dies without accepting Jesus
Christ by faith as their Lord and Savior.

Let me interject something that is very important, please do not miss this.
From all of the news accounts as well as personal conversations I have had
with people close to the Tillmans, this was a VERY close knit family. From
all of my personal research, there is nothing to indicate that his brother's
comments were not accurate. However, there is always the possibility that
in those last days of Pat Tillman's life, a chaplain, someone he served with
who knew the Lord, may have spoken to Pat and he may have softened his heart
and actually accepted the Lord by faith as his Savior. Let's pray that
happened.

I love you and care about you so much. If Pat Tillman did die in his sins
without accepting Christ, he is eternally lost. There is no more sad end to
a life than to be separated from God your Creator for eternity. I pray
today that you realize no matter how great your life may be, how successful
you may be, how much money you may have, how wonderful and noble a person
you may be, the second your life ends, all of that means NOTHING.

Bill Gates may be the richest man on the planet, but the second his heart
stops beating, all of his billions mean NOTHING! We will all die one day my
friend, and the moment our heart stops beating the only thing that will
matter is if you know Jesus Christ by faith as your Lord and Savior.
NOTHING ELSE WILL MATTER.

I pray today that the Pat Tillman story will motivate you to realize that
unless you have a personal relationship by faith with Jesus Christ, you have
no hope beyond the few years of life we each have. If you are reading this
today and do not have 100% assurance that when your life is over you will be
forever with the Lord, don't wait another moment. I invite you to go to
www.liveprayer.com/bdy_salvatn.html. Pray to ask God to open your heart,
read the words, pray the prayer, and accept today God's gift to you of
everlasting life through His son Jesus Christ. The real tragedy of Pat
Tillman was not that he died, but that he probably died without Christ in
his heart and is eternally lost.


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller (son of dirt)

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

***TODAY IS A SAD DAY IN THE UNITED STATES. For those who have been reading
the Daily Devotional I write each morning since Liveprayer started August
31, 1999, you know that I told you this day would be coming soon. Today, in
the State of Massachusetts, people of the same sex will be LEGALLY married.
Nobody, even 10 short years ago, would have ever thought this perversion of
God's Holy Institution of Marriage would ever happen. However, I am sure
those living in the 50's never thought it would be against the law to pray
in school, although if you decided you wanted to murder your baby that would
be perfectly legal. It is a sad day in the US. I can only imagine how
God's heart is breaking as He looks down on the people of this nation that
He has so richly blessed, literally giving Him the middle finger.

Now more than ever, we need to be praying for our nation. You can see a
short video clip of when I was in Washington a few Saturdays ago to kick off
the 40 days of prayer, fasting, and repentance for our nation at
www.liveprayer.com by clicking on the American Flag icon. I pray you are
part of over 3 million people who are currently fasting and praying for our
nation each day through the 9th of June. May God have mercy on this wicked
land.


Mocking Jesus. I take no delight in being right about this, but back on
March 5th in my Devotional to follow-up the release of the movie The
Passion, I said, "Also, the great
perverter satan himself will be giving inspiration to those who hate God to
start putting out movies that are clearly anti-Christian." The fact is,
Hollywood puts out a steady diet of movies that mock our Lord, glorifying
everything that the Bible speaks against.

But in the wake of The Passion, a movie that touched millions of lives
worldwide in bringing us a visual image of Christ's suffering, letting us
see a glimpse of the pain and agony He endured in paying for OUR sins with
His very life, I knew that Hollywood would use its creativity to take direct
shots at Christians and Jesus.

Opening in theaters later this month is the first one of these films, it is
called "Saved." Set in a Christian High School, this movie is being
marketed to Christian youth even though it is designed to make them resent
and lead them from the Christian faith. As you may have guessed, those in
the movie trying to follow Christ are the villains and those who reject
Christ are the heroes.

I am advising Youth Pastors to see the movie so you are ready to expose this
blasphemous movie and its lies to those young adults who will see it. I
also think that once it comes out on video, and that should be pretty quick
since this movie will be an absolute bomb, you should rent it and get your
youth together to watch it.

This movie will provide lots of opportunities to show young adults that
Christ is our only hope and clearly drive home what I share often, rebellion
to God's Word brings consequences and obedience brings blessings. Doing it
our way never works, doing it God's way always works.

My point in talking about this movie today is not only to expose it for
making a mockery of our Lord and the Christian faith, but to challenge you
in your day to day life. Any time we make the choice to live in rebellion
to God's Word, WE make a mockery of our Lord. It is easy to point to those
who have chosen to live their lives rejecting the truth of God's Word,
however, they are only doing what you would expect from people who reject
the hope and love of Christ.

What we need to be aware of is how we are living OUR lives on a daily basis.
We are no better than the most hard-hearted heathen when we choose sin over
our Lord. We need to be aware that we are ALWAYS "on." The child of God is
a representative of our Lord literally 24/7. I tell you often that our
greatest witness is NOT what we say, but how we live our lives. This world
does watch us.

I love you and care about you so much. Hollywood will continue to produce
movies that mock the Christian faith and try to lead people away from the
truth of God's Word. You would think they would be smart enough to realize
that The Passion demonstrated there is an incredible audience that will
support Godly films that present Biblical truth. But their agenda is not to
promote the Kingdom of God, only the kingdom of man.

I will be praying for you as you make the many choices you do each and every
day. Praying that those choices will honor God and allow you to be a great
representative of our Lord to this lost and hurting world. The Bible tells
us that in these last days there will be those who mock the Lord. That is
why we must be busy each day sharing with this world that faith in Christ is
the ONLY hope there is. Let those who hate our Lord mock Him, while we who
know Christ share His love.

"To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his
glorious presence without fault and with great joy--to the only God our
Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our
Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen." (Jude 24,25)


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller (son of dirt)

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com




©Copyright 2004, Bill Keller Ministries. All rights reserved.





---

[danausmc]

***IF YOU LIVE IN MASSACHUSETTS AND YOUR CHURCH IS MARRYING PEOPLE OF THE
SAME SEX, RUN! ANY CHURCH OR PASTOR THAT MARRIES PEOPLE OF THE SAME SEX IS
AN ABOMINATION IN THE EYES OF GOD!

Will the Body of Christ finally wake up? In the 60's, prayer in public
schools became illegal. In the 70's, the Federal Government made it legal
for babies to be slaughtered. Now in the first decade of this new
millennium, God's definition of marriage has been
legally re-defined. Let me help you understand the reality of what happened
at one minute past midnight on May 17th, 2004 in the State of Massachusetts.
It is now legal for people of the same sex in that state to get married. It
is now only a matter of time before all 50 states will allow same-sex
couples to marry which will ultimately be upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

You will be getting hundreds of emails asking you to sign various petitions
about marriage in the coming weeks, they have already started to pour in.
They are nice
attempts, but will do nothing since it is too late. Same-sex marriages in
Massachusetts will be legal for two years before the people of that state
will have a chance to vote to stop it. It is questionable whether they
would ban same-sex marriages if that vote was held today. After two full
years of same-sex marriages, it will become such an accepted practice by
then that the people will vote to keep this new law.

That is only one state you say. Here is the problem. Not only will
same-sex couples from other states start flooding into Massachusetts to get
married making it the Las Vegas of same-sex marriage, but when these couples
decide to move to Ohio, Florida, Texas, or any other state, after being
LEGALLY married in Massachusetts, they will demand their marriage be
recognized in the state they move to.

Of course that state won't recognize their marriage and then you will get
tons of lawsuits filed in Federal Court demanding that these states
recognize their marriage. Eventually, they will find a Federal Judge to
agree with them, it will get appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court that will
ultimately force other states to recognize these same-sex marriages.

Let me say right now, just like there is no law that can stop someone from
praying, just like there is no law that can make killing your baby
acceptable, there is NO LAW that can rewrite God's definition of marriage
which is one man, one woman, for one lifetime! Marriage is a legal AND a
Holy Institution.

People ask me all the time, if we love each other and take vows before God
isn't that enough? The answer is NO! You need to fulfill the legal
requirements, a license in the state you are getting married in, in addition
to taking your vows before each other and before God.

***These people of the same sex that are now able to fulfill the legal
requirement of marriage are still NOT MARRIED in the eyes of God since while
sinful man may recognize their union, GOD WON'T!

As a side note, alcoholism, drug use, and suicide is many times higher in
the homosexual community than the heterosexual community. I will guarantee
you right now that as bad as the divorce rate is, it will be even HIGHER in
same-sex marriages. Also, now that same-sex couples will be legally
married, they will demand and receive the right to adopt children, meaning
there will now be children raised in this perverse environment never knowing
what a real family is supposed to be.

As sad as this day is in our nations history, it should not be surprising.
For those who have been reading the Daily Devotional I write each morning, I
have been telling you for years that this is no longer a Christian nation
and that we would be seeing events like this in our lifetime. It is so
appropriate that the Devotional last Friday was on unity within the Body of
Christ.

While we are busy arguing about whether you should speak in tongues or not,
states are passing laws to allow people of the same sex to get married.
While we are busy arguing what translation of the Bible we should read, the
10 BILLION dollar a year porn business is growing. While we are busy
arguing about what Preacher Bob is doing down the street, 4,000 innocent
babies every day are being slaughtered. Satan is sitting back in his
recliner with a bowl of popcorn, a drink, and laughing at us while we are
busy fighting each other and allowing him to do whatever he wants!!!

IT IS TIME THE BODY OF CHRIST WAKES UP! We need to face the reality that we
are NOT the majority in this nation, but that with God on our side we will
always have the majority and start acting like it. Our calling is clear, to
share the hope and love of Jesus Christ with this lost and hurting world.
He, and He alone is the only answer there is. We have got to get back to
the basic calling we have from God, and that is to share the truth of His
Word and the hope we have in His Son with this world we live in.

I love you and care about you so much. In my lifetime I have seen prayer in
school made illegal, abortion made legal, and now marriage between people of
the same sex a reality. We are a very evil and rebellious nation and God's
mercy must be endless to have not destroyed us for how we have turned our
back on Him and misappropriated His blessings. There is a faithful remnant
that loves the Lord and honors Him with their lives. I am sure that it is
only this remnant keeping us from receiving the judgment we are so deserved
of.

I will be praying for you today. Praying that you see this battle for what
it is, a battle for souls. Each one of us who knows the Lord has been
called to serve Him and must do our part to share His love with those we
meet in the course of our life each day. The good news is, Jesus is still
Lord and in the end, HE WINS. He told us that we would have trials and
tribulation, but to be of good cheer, for HE has overcome this world.

Even though Massachusetts has redefined marriage, the fact is, God's
definition is immutable, it will never change. It is ONE MAN, ONE WOMAN,
FOR ONE LIFETIME!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller (son of dirt)

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

DAILY DEVOTIONAL WEDNESDAY MAY 19, 2004
(James 4:14)

"Dear Bill -It is with a broken heart that I'm letting you know that Dale
had a massive and fatal heart attack on Thursday, May 13th. I know he
enjoyed your email messages for a long time and that he has communicated
with you, and encouraged you in your ministry. Dale has gone to be with
Jesus. Our memories of him are sweet. I thought you would like to know.
God Bless"

Sadly, I receive many emails like this every week. The death of someone we
love is a difficult part of this brief life we live. That is why we must be
grateful for each day God gives us, and never take our life for granted. It
is also why we must be prepared for the day we leave this life and help as
many as possible be prepared for that day as well. I had just communicated
with Dale a few days prior to his death. He is forever with the Lord he
loved, though he lives on in all of those lives he touched along his
journey.


How brief this life really is. For each one of us, the one certainty is
that one day this life will be over and we will pass into eternity. It is
not a question of if, only when. That is why I try often to reinforce to
you that we must live each day to its fullest. Our purpose in this life is
to serve and glorify God. When it is over, the only thing that we will take
with us from this life is our personal relationship with Christ. As real as
the fact is that one day we will die, we often take this life for granted.
From time to time however, we are confronted with our own mortality and it
helps us to refocus on what this life is really about.

In August of 2001, I had a chance to play in a charity golf tournament.
During these past 56+ months since Liveprayer started, I have had very
little time to play a game I enjoy. It was a very enjoyable round.
Beautiful country club near Brandon, Florida. Warm but overcast Florida
summer day. Wonderful people playing. Not to mention I actually played
pretty well for not having played much. On the 8th hole, I hit a 150 yard
approach a little short and ended up in a greenside bunker. I was talking
to the gentleman I was playing with as we approached the bunker. I have
always had a very bad habit of chewing on my tee while playing. Nervous
energy I guess. As I waited for another player in our foursome to hit his
shot, I took a deep breath and actually inhaled the tee.

At first, I didn't know what happened. Then, when I realized I had inhaled
the tee, I tried to cough it up. It became apparent that it would not come
out, and had gotten lodged in my throat part of the way down. One of the
men came running over and asked if he should call 911. I told him yes. At
this point, I realized the key was staying calm, and breathing. I was able
to breath through my nose, so that kept me from panicking. My playing
partner got behind me and tried to pop it out of me that way, but it was
lodged in my throat sideways and that didn't work. I could also now feel
some blood running down my throat, obviously from the cut in my throat where
the tee was lodged.

At this point, there was about a 30 second period when all of this was
happening where an incredible calm came over me. In a very clear and
concise way, I realized that I may actually die. You never know how these
things will play out, and that was a legitimate possibility. My thought at
this was one of gratitude. I remember clearly thanking God for such a
wonderful life. I wasn't praying for God to heal me, or take the tee out of
my throat. I wasn't begging for my life. I wasn't mad at God. I just had
a great peace about me, and an incredible sense of gratitude to God for
allowing me to live such a wonderful life.

It seemed that within seconds I forced myself to swallow hard and all of the
sudden felt the tee dislodge and go down. I drank some water, got my sand
wedge, and hit a great bunker shot within a few feet of the hole! I got
back to my golf cart and called my wife and simply told her how much I loved
her. Even though I was still spitting up blood from where my throat was cut
for the next several holes, I did finish the round. Needless to say, I have
been broken of the habit of chewing on tees!

I share this with you today just to remind you how precious life really is.
Not only how precious, but how quickly it can end. DON'T EVER TAKE YOUR
LIFE FOR GRANTED. EACH DAY IS A SPECIAL GIFT FROM GOD. Let me also say
that for anyone reading this today, that does not have 100% assurance that
if your life ends today you will spend eternity with God, the Bible says
TODAY is the day of salvation. Please take a few minutes, the most
important few minutes of your life, and go to
www.liveprayer.com/bdy_salvatn.html .
.
Simply ask God to open your heart and then read it. Trust me when I tell
you that in the face of death, knowing that you will spend eternity with
Jesus, gives you a peace you can't even describe. For those who do know
Christ, make each day count, you just never know when it will be your last.
Make sure you do all you can to serve Him each day.

I love you and care about you so very much. I don't say that lightly,
especially today. Death is a part of the human experience. The Bible says
"O death, where is thy sting!" For those who have put their faith and trust
in Jesus Christ it is not an event to be feared, but one that simply marks
the end of our time in this life. Don't ever forget this important point.
Only God says when our work here is over. So have no fear. As long as He
still has work for us to do, we aren't going anywhere. I guess He still has
some work for me to do. I pray each day I am faithful to that work.

[danausmc]

Dealing with the day to day problems of life. There is one thing that I am
certain of today, as you read this Devotional you have already, or will
throughout the day, face various problems. I am not talking about the major
issues we often have to battle like a serious health problem, a crisis in
our marriage, a major financial challenge, not having a job, being in
bondage to some sort of addiction, but about the small day to day problems
that come out of nowhere and have to be dealt with.

As you know, there is virtually no end to these types of problems. Losing
our keys, misplacing our wallet, something going wrong with our car, getting
a traffic ticket, something breaking in our home, spilling our coffee in the
morning, our computer isn't working, unexpected issues at work or school, a
confrontation with someone we meet, having a routine dentist appointment
turn into something more involved, stubbing your toe, not getting the apple
pie you ordered in your McDonalds lunch bag, your pet is sick....I could go
on for hours but I think you get my point.

Each day, just in the course of living through another 24 hours, there are
so many things in our life that happen. Many of these things are totally
out of our control and simply problems that we never expected but are
suddenly confronted with. I find that for many people, simply dealing with
the day to day problems life throws at them can be very challenging and
often overwhelming.

This is one of the reasons that I frequently tell you we must have a real,
committed, 24/7 relationship with the Lord. It would be nice if all of our
problems occurred at 11 a.m. on Sunday morning, but that is not reality.
The problems of life happen daily, and all throughout the day. I counsel
people to start their day in prayer and in the Word of God. It is not only
the best way to start your new day, but it will give you the focus and
strength to deal with whatever problems life may throw at you during the
course of that day

Paul said to, "pray without ceasing." I take that LITERALLY. I wake up
each morning in prayer and never hang up the phone. I spend the entire day
with that line to God open. God has given us the greatest resource there is
in the world, a direct line to Him. We are fools if we don't take full
advantage of it. There is nothing in your life that you will face that is
too big for God to handle, or TOO SMALL!

You have got to understand, God cares about you! He loves you! God cares
if your keys are lost. God cares if your car won't start. God cares if you
spill your coffee. God cares if your hot water heater isn't working. God
cares if your boss is giving you a hard time for no reason. God cares if
you have a cavity. God cares if your apple pie is missing. God cares about
every detail in your life. He loves you that much.

I love you and care about you too! I realize that you are facing lots of
challenges in your life today, many of those challenges you never even
expected when you woke up. I want to encourage you to "pray without
ceasing." Start your day in prayer, reading God's Word, and spend the
entire day with that line to God OPEN. Prayer demonstrates our dependence
on God. When we don't pray, we are depending on ourselves. John 15:5 tells
us "without me, you can do nothing." Why be so foolish to try and deal with
the day to day problems of life alone, when God is ready, willing, and able
to help us?

I will be praying for you today. Praying that no matter what problems life
may throw your way today, you will find your strength, your hope, and your
answers in the Lord. You will be amazed how much easier each day is when we
are operating in His strength and not ours. You will be amazed at how much
more peace and joy there is each day, despite the problems of life, when we
are relying on God and not ourselves.

This could be one of the most profound words I have ever shared with you
because it is so relevant and necessary to our daily lives. The key to
knowing God's peace, God's joy, and the abundance of this life, is by living
each day in constant communication with Him. Start your day in prayer and
keep that line open ALL DAY LONG. It won't make the problems of life go
away, but it is how you can live each day each day no matter what problems
life may throw at you.


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller (son of dirt)

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

***THIS DEVOTIONAL TODAY ON MENTAL ILLNESS AND DEPRESSION WILL BE A
BREAKTHROUGH FOR MANY PEOPLE TODAY. IF YOU SUFFER FROM SOME FORM OF MENTAL
ILLNESS OR DEPRESSION, PRAY RIGHT NOW AND ASK GOD TO OPEN YOUR HEART TO
RECEIVE THIS WORD. IT CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE TODAY!!! IF YOU KNOW OF SOMEONE
THAT IS SUFFERING FROM SOME FORM OF MENTAL ILLNESS OR DEPRESSION, PLEASE GET
THIS DEVOTIONAL TO THEM. IT CAN CHANGE THEIR LIFE!!!

Mental illness and depression. An issue the church and most people refuse
to deal with, is the reality of mental illness and depression that so many
suffer from. Let me say right up front. Mental illness is just as real as
a broken leg. Just because it is not a visible illness, does not mean it is
not as real as someone with a broken bone, a bad heart, or any other
illness. MENTAL ILLNESS AND DEPRESSION ARE REAL!

I have shared with you in the past that God's number one instrument of
healing is called a DOCTOR. One of God's chief methods of healing is called

MEDICINE. Where do you think the incredible intelligence and the special
gift to be a doctor comes from? It comes from God! Where do you think the
incredible intelligence, and the inspiration to create medicine comes from?
It comes from God!

I want to encourage anyone today that is suffering from any form of mental
illness or depression to seek out the best professional help possible. God
has raised up mental health professionals and given men the wisdom to create
drugs to treat mental illness, so that you can live a normal and productive
life. Just like there is no reason to be ashamed to see a doctor if you
break your arm, just like there is no reason to be ashamed if you have to
take medicine to treat a kidney problem, there is no reason to be ashamed to
see a doctor or take the proper medication if you suffer from mental illness
or depression!

For many people that are suffering from depression, I want to help you find
the joy in life again. Many who suffer from depression have simply allowed
the events and circumstances of their life to overwhelm and paralyze them.
We learn at an early age how to deal with the day to day issues of life, how
to deal with problems. What happens to many who are depressed, is they have
simply been unable to cope with the things that have happened to them and
can't seem to get past certain problems in their life.

Feelings change all the time. Our feelings are based on our perception of
an issue or problem. For example, if you have $20,000 of debt and you are
only making $30,000 a year with nothing left over after the basic living
needs are met, you might perceive that $20,000 of debt to be a mountain that
is impossible to move. If you continue to focus on that mountain, it starts
to get bigger, and bigger, and soon your perception is that it is impossible
to ever be free from your debt. The longer you focus on the problem, the
bigger it becomes and that is when depression can set in. Depression is the
result of being hopeless.

However, even though you may have $20,000 of debt and are only making
$30,000 a year with nothing left over after your basic living needs are met,
you might look at that $20,000 of debt, not as a mountain impossible to
move, but simply an obstacle that has to be dealt with. In other words, you
don't focus on the mountain, but you focus on a way to move the mountain.
You come up with a plan to retire the debt over a period of time, and
instead of letting depression set in due to looking at the situation as
hopeless, you maintain a positive outlook since that debt is simply an issue
that has to be taken care of. Depression can't set in where there is hope.
Let me say that one more time. DEPRESSION CAN'T SET IN WHERE THERE IS HOPE!

The other part of the answer to depression is serving others. The Bible
teaches us that if we will be about our Father's business, our Father will
be about our business. If we will serve others, it is amazing how our own
problems become more manageable. If you are suffering from depression, let
me encourage you today to get out and start finding ways to serve others.
You see, when we serve others, we are serving God. Our God-given purpose in
this life is to serve and glorify God with our lives. Depression can't set
in when you are serving others. Let me say that one more time. DEPRESSION
CAN'T SET IN WHEN YOU ARE SERVING OTHERS!

I love you and care about you so much. I realize many people suffer from
some form of mental illness that is just as real as any other type of
illness. I will be praying today that those who are suffering from some
form of mental illness, will seek out the best professional help possible
and take advantage of whatever medication that is prescribed to treat you.
God is still in the healing business, and GOD CAN BRING HEALING TO THOSE
SUFFERING FROM MENTAL ILLNESS.

I will also be praying for those of you today who are suffering from
depression. The two-fold answer for overcoming your depression and finding
the joy of the Lord again in your life, is hope and service. Seeking the
Lord to give you wisdom and direction in finding a solution to whatever
problems or issues you are facing in your life. If you stay focused on
Christ, He will give you the hope to get victory over whatever you are
facing today.

The other part of the answer is finding ways to serve others. I pray that
you will get serious about finding ways to serve others. God has called us
to serve others, and when we are doing that, fulfilling our purpose in life,
our own problems simply don't seem as great. When you are busy serving
others, you don't have time to get depressed.

I pray that this word today will be a breakthrough in your life if you are
battling with mental illness or depression. God loves you very much. He
wants you to have joy in your life, despite whatever trials and tribulations
you may be experiencing. That joy comes from knowing Christ as our Savior.
When we know Christ, there is no such thing as being hopeless. When we know
Christ, we have a desire to serve Him by serving others. It is through
Christ that you can have victory over mental illness and depression!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller (son of dirt)

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

The next attack on the United States. Of course, only God knows for sure,
but based on the reports from our intelligence community, the high degree of
hatred of the United States by very organized groups overseas, and common
sense, it is safe to assume that there will be additional acts of terror on
U.S. soil. With the horror of 9/11/2001 now almost 32 months behind us,
most people have returned to their normal day to day lives. That is a good
thing. Sadly however, most have lost the spiritual fervor that was so
apparent in the days and weeks following those horrible events that we lived
through.

In the aftermath of 9/11, people desperately turned to God for answers.
Churches were overflowing, prayer was everywhere, there was a spiritual
awakening as people realized just how fragile this life really is, and
countless lives were committed to Christ. However, just 32 short months
later, church attendance is back to where it was pre-9/11, prayer is not as
important any longer, and people are focused once again on the things of
this world without much concern for God and their spiritual lives.

It is sad how it takes a real crisis to get people to pay attention to God.
But people have not changed. When we read the Old Testament, we read how
the children of Israel would run to God when their enemies attacked. God
would help them gain victory, which would be followed by a season of peace
and prosperity. It was during that time of peace and prosperity the
children of Israel would start to forget God and fall into all types of sin.
Soon, their enemies would attack again, and they would once again run to
God. It was an oft repeated cycle.

Sadly, we are the same as the children of Israel. When the trials and
tribulations of life come upon us, we run to God. We find solace in Him
during our times of trouble. But soon the trouble passes, and there is a
time of peace in our lives. Sadly, during the times of peace we slowly move
away from God and often end up involved in sin of some kind. The storms of
life come upon us and once again, we run to the Lord for help. And just
like the children of Israel, the cycle is repeated over and over during the
course of our lives.

I love you and care about you so much. My word for you today is to run to
God NOW! Even if you are in that season of peace, stay close to Him. Just
because people are not blowing up buildings and killing innocent people does
not mean that we can relax and put God on the back-burner. There is just as
much evil in the world as there was on 9/11, just as many people lost,
hurting, looking for answers as there was in the aftermath of 9/11.

Only God knows the time of Christ's return. The Bible says it will be in
the "twinkling of an eye." But the indicators Jesus gave us in Matthew
chapter
24, and Paul gives us in 2 Timothy chapter 3 and 2 Peter chapter 3 all show
us that we are living in the last days. The time is running out. That is
why the
people of God MUST NOT be passive at this time. We can't simply wait
for the next incident to share Christ with this lost and hurting world.

If you had the knowledge right this moment, that the next attack on the
United States would be at Disneyworld in Orlando Florida one week from
today, what would you do? No doubt you would call all of the proper
authorities and when the date and time for the attack came, that entire area
would be evacuated. Nobody would be killed because you cared enough to
share the information you had.

Well, the fact is, the Bible clearly says that those who die without Christ
will be destined to everlasting separation from God their Creator. They
will be lost for eternity. The people of God possess the information that
can save people from everlasting darkness. Now, if someone chooses to not
listen, there is nothing that you can do. But how can you not at least take
the time to tell them? That is a responsibility EVERY child of God has and
must take seriously.

***I will pray today that you don't allow the peace that we are currently
experiencing today make you lazy and forget those around you who are looking
for answers in their life. I have no doubt that there will be future
attacks on
our nation, but I pray that we don't wait until the next crisis to be
serious about
sharing the hope and love of Jesus Christ with everyone God brings into our
life. After all, that is what God has commanded us to do.


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller

[danausmc]

Helping comfort those who have lost a close friend or loved one. One of the
questions I get daily here at Liveprayer is how to help someone who has lost
a friend or loved one. When dealing with any issue, I try to first go to
the Gospels and see how Jesus handled a similar situation in His life.
There are several occasions when our Lord was confronted with death.

The Bible says that "he had compassion." That gives us a roadmap. The
first thing we can do for someone is simply show compassion. It is not so
much what we say, but that we let them know we care. Just being there is
often the best thing you can do. Of course, praying for them is critical,
as is sharing with them that the only source of real comfort comes from God.

In these situations, we are often faced with the most difficult question of
all, why did God allow this to happen? We obviously have no answer. There
are never any good answers. The only thing that we can do is try and
help them understand that God is in control, and although we may never know
why something happened, it is a time to exercise our faith and trust God.
Often, these can be great witnessing opportunities for those who are not
saved. This is a time when many people are most open to the spiritual side
of their life and are looking for meaning and purpose.

I have a personal belief after many years of ministry that one reason some
people die when they do is because the Lord uses it to break through to a
hardened heart and allow many to know His love. Just sharing with them that
there is a Divine plan and purpose for each of us, and God loves us, can
often be the comforting words someone needs to hear to help them.
Ultimately, it is only God who can ease the pain and heartache a person goes
through during this tragic time.

Unfortunately, there is no exact formula since everyone handles grief in a
different way. Having compassion, praying, sharing the love of God are the
three things that can at least be a comfort to someone in that position. I
wish there were better words, more definite instruction that I could share
with you to help you as you face these times in your life. Know this, God
is the only source of true comfort there is. Prayer does work. Showing
people the love of Christ in these difficult times can be one of the
strongest
witnesses you will ever give.

I will be praying for you today, that as you have the opportunity in your
life to help someone through this difficult time, God will use you in a
great and mighty way. It is at these times when we can really fulfill our
purpose of serving Him, to allow Him to use us as an instrument of comfort
to
someone who is hurting. Don't run from these opportunities, but be ready
for
them and embrace them.

I love you, I care about you, and I am looking forward to one day meeting
each and every one of you in this life or in Heaven. Death is part of life,
but for those who know Christ as their Savior, everlasting life with our
Creator is our eternal destination. It will be a great day when we have a
Liveprayer reunion in Glory and I get to meet each and every one of you who
have made my life so special by allowing me to share our Lord with you each
day!!! May you be richly blessed this day as we work together for His
Kingdom!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

Having the blessings of God! I would assume that most reading this today
have no clue who Obed-Edom was. If you turn in your Bible to the sixth
chapter of the book of Second Samuel, you will read about Obed-Edom in
verses 10-12. He was a Gittite, a native of the Philistine city of Gath and
it was in his home that David stored the Ark of the Covenant for 90 days.
Interesting Bible trivia you say? NO! The reason Obed-Edom is important to
YOU today is because the Bible says that, "The LORD has blessed the
household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the Ark of God."

You see my friend, in the Old Testament there was no Holy Spirit. God did
not dwell with men, men had to dwell with God. Prior to the day of
Pentecost and the promise of the "comforter" (the Holy Spirit that now
indwells a believer at the moment of salvation), man had to physically go to
be in the presence of God. God's people followed the Shekinah cloud of
glory, signifying God's presence, protection, and guidance. The Ark of the
Covenant was where God's presence was found. Man had to physically go to be
in the presence of God.

The Bible tells us that the "Ark of God" was in the house of Obed-Edom for
90 days. Please, I do not want you to miss this. Because the "Ark" was in
his house, the Bible actually tells us that not only was the household of
Obed-Edom blessed, but EVERYTHING he had. Most people just gloss over this.
I want you to stop for a moment and consider what the Bible says. His
household and everything he had was blessed. Why? Because of the presence
of God.

WHERE YOU FIND GOD, YOU WILL FIND HIS BLESSINGS!!!

Do you want your house to be blessed today? Do you want "everything you
have" to be blessed today? Then you must bring the presence of God into
your home!!! God's presence is no longer a "pillar of cloud" that you must
follow, but it resides in every person that has accepted Christ as their
Savior. This is very heavy so listen to me carefully. If you know Jesus
Christ as your Savior by faith, the presence of God resides within you. You
are bringing the presence of God into your home every time you step inside
the door.

Never forget what I tell you so often. Rebellion to God brings
consequences, obedience to God brings blessings. If you want God's
blessings on your household and everything you have, you have to be living
in obedience to God. Are you being a Godly husband or wife in your home?
Are you being a Godly son or daughter in your home? If you have children,
are you being a Godly parent to your children? Is God honored in your home?
Is what plays on your television, on your radio, on your computer, honoring
God? Are the activities that take place in your home honoring God?

If you want God's blessings, you have to live a life of obedience to God.
If you want your home to be blessed, you have to have a home where God is
welcome and honored. If you want God's blessings on everything you have,
you have to honor God in everything that you do. God loves to bless His
children, and God wants to bless you today. Not just you, but your
household and everything you have!

I love you and care about you so much. We are so blessed that we don't have
to physically go to be in the presence of God any longer, but God's presence
actually dwells with us if we know Jesus Christ as our Savior by faith. You
don't have to have the Ark of the Covenant in your home to have God's
presence. God's presence exists because you are there. If God is not
blessing your household and everything you have, it is because you are not
honoring God with your life!

I want to challenge you today. God blessed the household of Obed-Edom and
everything he had because the presence of God was in his home for those 90
days. In just 90 days, having God in his home brought God's blessings. If
you want the blessings of God in your home, on everything you have, then
take these next 90 days and make your home a place where God is honored.
Again, God blesses our obedience. As you invite His presence into your
home, He will bless your household and everything you have.


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

[danausmc]

***THIS DEVOTIONAL TODAY IS INCREDIBLY PERSONAL AND CAN BE THE BREAKTHROUGH
MANY HAVE BEEN PRAYING FOR. BEFORE YOU READ IT, TAKE A MINUTE AND PRAY, AND
ASK GOD TO OPEN YOUR HEART TO THE TRUTH OF THIS WORD TODAY. THE FACT IS,
YOU CAN LIE TO YOUR SPOUSE, YOU CAN LIE TO YOUR FAMILY, YOU CAN LIE TO YOUR
FRIENDS, YOU CAN LIE TO YOUR PASTOR....BUT YOU CAN'T LIE TO GOD. EVEN
THOUGH WE OFTEN TRY, GOD SEES, AND KNOWS OUR HEART. TODAY CAN BE A
BREAKTHROUGH DAY FOR YOUR LIFE, A DAY THE YOKE OF BONDAGE IS RELEASED, IF,
IF, YOU ARE READY TO BE HONEST WITH GOD.

Our secret sins. My heart is breaking this morning, because I know that
many who read these words this morning are hurting. To those in your life,
everything looks wonderful. Many envy you. Most see you as a person who is
strong in the Lord and a pillar of faith. You are a businessperson, a mom,
a dad. A son, a daughter, a pastor. You serve God in many ways. You
love God. You have put your faith in Christ. But there is sin in your
life. Secret sin. Sin nobody else sees. Sin that possibly has been part
of your life for many, many years. Sin that you have swept into a back
closet so nobody else would know about it. SIN THAT IS KEEPING YOU
FROM THE JOY, THE PEACE, THE ABUNDANCE THAT GOD HAS PROMISED FOR YOUR LIFE.

What is this sin? For each person that is different. For some it is
alcohol. The two beers each night, the scotch after work, have become so
much a part of your life that even though you are not classified as an
alcoholic, you know and God knows, that you HAVE to have it. THAT is a
problem. Some of you woke up this morning after not sleeping well because
you are deeply involved in gambling. Possibly you owe a local bookie for
sports bets. Or maybe it is those lottery tickets you HAVE to buy each day.
Or maybe it is the local casino down the road that you just can't stay out
of. Just as bad are those who play the markets each day, not investing for
the future, but looking for the daily "hit."

Others of you are dealing with sexual sins. Pornography is the easiest
since it can be just you and your movies, or magazines, or computer.
Possibly you have evolved past the solo stage and it involves other people.
Still others of you are secretly involved in drugs, legal and illegal.
Actually, those who use prescribed drugs to get that "high" outside of the
medicinal purposes it was designed for, is a MUCH larger problem than the
more publicized illegal drug problem. However, that is a multi-billion
dollar a year industry so SOMEBODY is buying all that cocaine, pot, heroin,
meth, ecstasy, and the rest. Still others of you are involved in the sin of
greed. Making money is more than just a way to support yourself and family,
it is an obsession. Money is your drug of choice. And of course, there are
a multitude of other sins people are secretly involved in.

You see my friend, the Bible says that the enemy comes to kill, steal, and
destroy. That verse is talking about believers. How does that happen? We
know that if we give our lives to Christ by faith we are saved. The enemy
can't have our souls. But he can destroy us from being the productive
servants God has called us to be. The easiest way to do that is to get us
trapped in sin. Sin is like cancer. It starts out almost innocently. But
is grows, and spreads. Very few who are involved in gambling, don't drink.
Very few involved in drugs are not involved in sexual sins. Very few are
tied to just one secret sin. As a matter of fact, once you let sin into
your life, and practice sin, it opens the door for other sins. You see, at
some point it doesn't matter any longer. The great justifier satan says,
"oh well, you already are this deep, what harm could a little more sin do?"
This my friend is the trap. It is like quicksand. You get in, and get
deeper, and deeper, and deeper, and getting out becomes harder, and harder.

I realize that this word today has made some turn their computer off, some
have hit the delete button, and others are sitting right now in tears. You
see, the Holy Spirit is talking to YOU! God is speaking to you this moment
louder than He could if he were on a public address system at a stadium. He
is talking to YOU, and saying READ THIS...THIS IS YOU!!! The Prodigal Son
came from a Godly, good home. I think when he went out, he was a good
person. I think like many brothers and sisters in Christ, he simply allowed
sin to enter into his life, and it ate him up to the point of near
destruction. But in the end, he knew when he hit the bottom, there was only
one place to go...HOME to his father!

Were there consequences for his sin? YES! His inheritance was gone, he
suffered the damage of the horrible experiences he encountered. He probably
had some health issues. But the point was, when he "came to himself" he
went home! ***MY WORD FOR YOU TODAY IS THAT GOD LOVES YOU. GOD CARES ABOUT
YOU. NO AMOUNT OF SIN CAN EVER STOP HIM FROM LOVING YOU. READ 1 JOHN 1:9.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO CONTINUE IN YOUR SIN, BUT YOU CAN STOP TODAY AND LET GOD
HELP YOU. THE CHOICE IS YOURS. AT THE END OF THE ROAD YOU ARE ON IS
DESTRUCTION. GOD IS THE FLAGMAN WITH THE ORANGE VEST SAYING ...STOP NOW!!!!

I love you and care about you so much. I wish I was able to help make it
all OK by snapping my fingers. I would, but that is not reality. Sin
didn't start overnight, didn't occur overnight, and the effects of sin won't
go away overnight. As a matter of fact, they will be with you the rest of
your life. Sadly, that is one of sin's byproducts. But you can have
victory over sin today! Today can be the first day of victory over sin in
your life. But the first step MUST BE YOURS!!!!

I will be praying for you today. There is victory in this life, victory in
Jesus. The biggest trap we as Christians must avoid are those secret sins
that will eat away at us from the inside. Destroy us from the inside. Make
us virtually useless in serving God. Never forget, our purpose in this life
is to serve and glorify Him with our lives. The easiest way for the enemy
to stop us from fulfilling that purpose is to get us entangled in sin in our
lives. We can live FREE from sin if we choose to.

That is what God is calling you to do today. Turn from your secret sin, and
turn fully, 100% to Him. Again, know that I am praying for you. I can't do
this for you, YOU have to do it. But know that I am here praying for you,
standing with you for victory over the sin in your life. God will
strengthen you, embolden you, and help you see victory. The first step
however is yours. The prodigal son had to go home before he could get
victory. Bury your pride since God already knows the full story, and go to
Him today. My prayers are with you to turn from your secret sin!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

If this devotional is a blessing to you, maybe you have a friend or
family member that would like to start receiving this daily word. You
can forward this to them, and they can use the following link to subscribe.
www.liveprayer.com/signup.htm

***40 DAYS OF FASTING, PRAYER, AND REPENTANCE FOR OUR
NATION! DAY THIRTY-EIGHT. Join a group of over 3,000,000 people who are
committed to fast and pray for our nation to turn back to the God of the
Bible during this 40 day period. Today's prayer focus: Unity in the Body of
Christ.

DAILY DEVOTIONAL MONDAY JUNE 7, 2004
(Acts 4:20, Revelation 12:11)

***Today we remember and honor the life and service to our nation of
President Ronald Reagan who passed away Saturday. May God be with the
Reagan family as they draw on His strength at this time. Whether you agreed
with
his politics or not, President Reagan was a great example of someone that
made the most out of the time God gave him in this life. He lived his life
to make a difference in the world. May we learn from his example that we
only get one chance at life and make the most of it. May we never forget
that no matter how much we accomplish in this life, when it is over there is
only one thing that will matter...do you know Jesus Christ as your Savior by
faith. The Daily Devotional on Tuesday will dedicated to President Reagan.


Sharing how good and GREAT our God is. By far the Devotional everyone looks
forward to is the 4 times a year I share some of the incredible praise
reports we receive every single day here at Liveprayer. One of the things
that I wish I could do, is let you read all of these great praise reports.
Even though we deal with email names and unseen people, I never forget for a
moment that there is a very REAL person in need at the other end that God
loves very much. It is amazing each day to see God healing people,
restoring marriages, providing necessary finances, and meeting every kind of
need imaginable.

We currently have an archive of over 1,300,000 Praise Reports that we have
received in over 57 months of ministry here on the Internet. Satan hates
the "word of testimony" because it gives people hope. No matter what you
are facing in your life today, never forget that the same God who has
brought someone else out of the valley and led them to victory, is the very
same God that will lead YOU out of the valley and to victory. Please enjoy
this special Devotional of PRAISE REPORTS.



"Umm...Hi...I wanna know about becoming a Christian.I get nervous talking to
people but I really want to be a Christian. I have read that Jesus will
come back but he doesn't even know when and I would like to become
one...before it's too late and because I want to. Can you help
me????.........<a few hours later>........Under the prayer it said to e~mail
you so you could share some information about my new life with Christ.
Thank you so much for helping me. I feel so much better now! This really
feels like it's the best decision I have ever made.Thank you for making it
happen."

"My trip was safe. The interview was great. I just received a phone call
with a job offer. Thank you for your prayers and I thank the Lord for his
grace and blessings. I am so thankful for this opportunity."

"I know you are very busy, and you have a large staff that helps with your
emails. I do not pretend to know whether you, or a staff member, answered my
emails a year ago. I called you out on your emails about Mormonism. At the
time, I had just recently become a member. However, over time, I realized
everything you were saying was true. Jesus, the God of the Bible, made
things real simple for us. He laid down his life shortly after laying down
the very simple, although not always easily followed, plan for salvation.
The Mormons seem to have just added a whole bunch of things, changing what
they needed to suit there own needs as times required of them. That is not
Christian by any means. My family and I left that church two months after
joining. Your daily devotionals helped by giving us strength in what is
right. Thank you for your love and dedication. We have since been forgiven,
joined a great learning church in Des Moines, IA. It is one based solely on
the Bible. Life has definitely been a lot better, and in fact, a lot less
complicated. Thanks again."

"Bro. Keller, I just thought I'd let you know that I've been sober 3 weeks
now & have found an A. A. group filled w/ Christians for support..Boy do I
view life differently now. I 1st made my situation known to you about 3
months ago, & now that I've hit bottom, the only way is UP!!!"

"Thank you, Bill. I needed a kind word from someone on this earth."

"I regularly read the on-line newspaper published in Papua-New Guinea. The
newspaper, the Post-Courier, in the Thursday 3 June issue has a "magazine
section" called NewAgeWoman. Your daily devotion "Trading in Your Spouse For
a Newer Model" is printed in full. Adultery is a major problem in PNG, as
it is elsewhere. However, this newspaper has no problem printing
"religious" articles or covering church news, a rarely seen coverage in all
too many places in the world. You are reaching places I never expected
................ PRAISE THE LORD!"

"Thank you for praying for me to have enough money to go on a month long
mission trip...the exact amount that I needed was donated to me and $200.00
just showed up in my banking account from God knows where......I can now go
and if the opportunity arises, bring someone with me..."

"I am writing to thank you for your prayers...our house is sold!!!! We
signed a contract today. My husband Jerry and I want you to know how
grateful we are for your prayer of agreement with us. God bless you!"

"I've been a subscriber of yours from almost the beginning and like the old
backslider I am I failed to read every devotional and with the fire storm of
e-mail that seemed to be coming my way I often cleared your precious message
without reading them. HOWEVER, I started reading them from time to time and
when I read one that seemed to apply to me and to my son and an old friend
of mine I forwarded it to them. Anyway this old friend of mine who I see
once or twice a year told me he has become a believer and I believe it is
totally because of your work. My son too has expressed the importance of
your daily devotional in his life. Keep up your strong unwavering stand for
what God must demand of us."

"I want you to know that little Lauren is dramatically improved and home
from the hospital. Thank you for your prayers. To God be the glory, great
things He has done!"

"On May 28, 2004 I was saved while you prayed on your T.V. show. I ask
Jesus to forgive me my sins, and to come into my heart and be my Lord and
Savior. Thank you so much for that opportunity. I feel so much like a
different person now."

"Thanks to you, there are folks who feel better about their purpose in life.
My father-in-law is in a nursing home and was feeling pretty unnecessary,
even though he is a follower of Jesus, because he gets wrapped up in his
misery. I read some of your daily devotionals to him and he seems to feel
more positive...He was smiling when I left him, yesterday and even told one
of his caretakers that he loved them (which was a change). Thanks so much."

"Thank you so much for helping get through school and keeping me safe. my
prayers have been answered.amen."

"I just wanted to thank you for praying for a relative of mine, who was in a
coma after being poisoned, she was in a come for 3 weeks, but just recently
got out of it! It was truly a miracle. Also, as soon as she got out of a
coma, the first thing she said was that she wanted to go to church and
wanted to become a Sunday school teacher. She barely went to church before
and really involved herself with many guys so I truly believe God spoke to
her during the time she was in a coma. It's amazing, how God works. Thank
you for your prayers!"

"I took you advise and went to church not sure what else would happen I am
in deep and Jesus threw me a rope I have a hold of it and my eyes are on him
though I know the sharks are circling please pray that I may keep my eyes on
him. I asked him what he would do to help I believe in his faithfulness."

"I said the sinners prayer on the website
www.liveprayer.com/bdy_salvatn.html. I just wanted to let you know I'm 10
years old and I want Jesus to come into my heart Bill."

"I have been watching you on and off for about a year, and I just wanted to
say that I thought you did an excellent job with Joe of Mons Venus. I was
worried the show was going to become combative like so many talk shows do. I
think Joe was prepared for that too. Instead I was treated to an example of
how a Christian should act, to respect others, to show love even when it is
obvious we disagree. St.Francis of Assisi is credited with saying, "Preach
always, and when necessary use words." You did this with Joe. Joe was not
ready to hear God's word Friday night, but I do think Joe will remember how
he was treated by you, a Christian. Maybe, just maybe when Joe is ready to
hear the Word, he will realize he has a friend in you. Thank you for
showing me the true meaning of WWJD."

"I asked for prayers last week for my friend to find her missing daughter in
Florida. Her daughter called her on Mothers Day. Thank you. She hadn't
heard from her since Nov.!"

"Bill, I just wanna praise God and thanked Him for the need I have shared
with you concerning my Child Maintenance case on Monday 17 May 2004 at 8.30
am that your/my prayers have been answered. Brother Bill, I have won the
case, and the father's child will start to pay money into her account number
by the end of May. Thank God for His answers to our prayers and I believe &
trust God can do impossible things. Amen!! Praise God!"

"I just wanted to write a note to you to let you know that my co-workers and
I really appreciate your daily devotionals. Most of the people here eagerly
anticipate my presence at work in the morning to forward these devotionals
to them. It has helped and encouraged many people within this company. Thank
you for your labor."

"Hello. I prayed the prayer on your website. please send me the free
information."

"Bill.....just wanted you to know prayers were answered AGAIN by our
faithful Father. The body of Christ has so much power in their prayers, it's
a shame we sometimes forget it and lose hope. Thanks for the prayers."


NOW YOU KNOW WHY I AM SO PASSIONATE ABOUT WHAT I DO EACH DAY, AND WHY I AM
WORKING SO HARD TO EXPAND THE OUTREACH OF LIVEPRAYER. GOD HAS RAISED UP
THIS GREAT INSTRUMENT IN THESE LAST DAYS TO TRANSFORM LIVES. IT IS YOUR
LOVE, YOUR PRAYERS, AND YOUR SACRIFICIAL GIFTS THAT MAKES ALL OF THIS
POSSIBLE!

FOR THE MILLIONS WE ARE ABLE TO SHARE THE HOPE AND LOVE OF CHRIST WITH EACH
DAY, THANK YOU!!!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

DAILY DEVOTIONAL TUESDAY JUNE 8, 2004
(Romans 13:7)

***TODAY'S DEVOTIONAL IS IN HONOR OF OUR NATION'S 40TH PRESIDENT, RONALD
WILSON REAGAN. AS OUR NATION MOURNS HIS LOSS, OUR PRAYERS ARE WITH HIS WIFE
NANCY AND FAMILY.


Having the guts to lead. Whether you agreed with his politics or not, the
fact is President Ronald Reagan was a leader in every sense of the word. A
leader is a person with vision, the guts to stand up and declare that
vision, the ability to inspire others to follow, the fortitude to persevere
despite whatever opposition there may be, and the patience to see that
vision become a reality. I want to use the life of President Reagan today
to challenge you in your personal life to make the most of each day God
gives you.

As I have shared with you often, our life on this earth is so brief and over
so quick. James calls it a "vapor." The Bible clearly teaches that
tomorrow is promised to none of us. That is why we must make the most of
each and every day. There are no do-overs. When this journey is over, it
is over, we are not coming back. This is our one and only shot.
Understanding that, it should become the desire of each of us to make each
day count and live it to the fullest.

Very few people in their life will have the opportunity to become the
President of the United States or the leader of a nation. However, EVERY
PERSON has the ability to make a difference in this world no matter what you
have been called to do. I don't care if you are 15 or 115, rich or poor,
male or female, what color your skin is, YOU can make an impact on this
world with your life.

God gives each of us passions, things that we develop a love for throughout
our life. God gives each of us gifts, special abilities that come naturally
to us. Throughout our life God opens and closes doors. It is through these
passions we have, through the gifts we have received and developed, and
through the opportunities that life presents us, that each person can make
an impact on this world during the course of their life.

You see, God needs His children in every area of life. He calls His
children to be teachers, doctors, scientists, astronauts, pilots, police
officers, fire fighters, secretaries, bank tellers, garbage collectors,
janitors, nurses, homemaker, car dealers, mechanics, farmers, politicians,
entertainers, lawyers, writers, stock brokers, and any other profession you
can name. Throughout the course of a person's life, God may call someone to
do many different things. The point is, whatever career or profession you
are in, you can make a difference. The key is to do your very best each day
and realize that your life matters.

Of course, no matter how much we may accomplish in our life, our greatest
legacy will be those lives we touch for Christ along our journey. You see
my friend, no matter what your passions may be, what your gifts may be, what
career or occupation you have, we all have the same purpose in this life.
That is to serve and glorify God with our lives. All that we do in this
life comes back to our God-given purpose which is to serve and glorify Him.
The money we accumulate, the property we own, all of the things of this
world will one day pass away, but those lives we impact for Christ will last
for eternity!

I love you and care about you so much. As a nation, we mourn the death of a
great man. President Reagan had a full life and used his life to make a
difference in this world. The example from his life I want to challenge you
with today is that YOU can make a difference in this world too. You may
never become President of the United States, but you can make a difference
in whatever career or occupation you are in. The key is to wake up each
morning, do the very best you can, and as God opens doors in your life be
bold enough to walk through them.

Of course, never forget that no matter where God may have you working during
each season of your life, He has placed you there as His ambassador. You
are not there by accident, but God has placed you where you are at in life
to share with others you meet along your journey the hope and love of Jesus
Christ and the truth of His Word. That will be your real legacy when this
brief journey is over, those lives you impact for Christ.

The reality of this life is that one day, sooner than any of us expect, it
will be over. At that moment we will be instantly in the presence of God
our Creator (2 Cor 5:8). At that moment, God is not going to be interested
in the name of the church you attended, what your job was in this life, even
if you were the President of the Untied States, how much money you have, or
how many buildings have your name on them. No my friend, the only thing God
is going to be interested in is do you have a personal relationship with His
Son Jesus Christ. For those who do, God will say, "enter into my rest."
AMEN!

My word to you today is this. Go out and make an impact in this world in
whatever God has called you to do with your life. Make your life matter!
Along the way, never forget that you have been called to serve and glorify
Him with your life and your lasting legacy will be those lives you touch for
Christ along your journey!


In his love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

[danausmc]

If this devotional is a blessing to you, maybe you have a friend or
family member that would like to start receiving this daily word. You
can forward this to them, and they can use the following link to subscribe.
www.liveprayer.com/signup.htm

DAILY DEVOTIONAL SUNDAY JUNE 13, 2004
(Colossians 3:2)

***Become a LIVEPRAYER.COM DAILY SPONSOR AT:
http://www.liveprayer.com/liveprayerdailysponsor.html


Loving the things of this world. The enemy is so subtle in the way he
works. One of my goals from time to time is to expose his tricks so that
you won't be fooled and have to live through the consequences of falling
into one of his many traps. How easy we get distracted from our eternal
mission and goals, and get focused instead on the meaningless things of this
temporal world that will one day be gone.

I think about a few years ago, when millions were glued to their TV sets
watching that horrible perversion of God's plan for marriage, "Who Wants To
Marry A Millionaire." Most laughed at the show, but what a horrible message
it sent to so many without any kind of Biblical foundation about how God's
sacred institution of marriage was little more than a way for TV networks to
get ratings. Or professional wrestling, one of the most popular programs on
TV. Entertainment? Is it really entertaining to watch a huge man body slam
a woman through a table? Is that what our "entertainment" has deteriorated
to?

The reason I address these issues today is to share that even Christians can
get out of focus in their daily lives. It would be nice to assume that
everyone watching these types of programs, everyone going into adult
bookstores, everyone that buys drugs, everyone that is engaging in so many
ungodly activities each day, were simply "the lost." But unfortunately that
is not the case.

Many good, saved, churchgoing people get caught up in the things of this
world because they have allowed the temporary, short-term allure of sin to
capture their mind. They have focused on the things of this world instead
of on the things of God. For most, it happens slowly over a period of time.
But by continually focusing on the things that this world has to offer
instead of the things of God, they have ended up on roads that they never
thought they would be on.

I am not telling you that you should stop having fun. I am however, issuing
a warning to you today that when you start focusing too much on the things
of this world and not enough time on the things of God, you are inviting
major problems into your life. Remember, in the world there is no right or
wrong,there is no absolute truth. That is a lie from the pits of hell and
why I encourage you daily to stay in the Bible, because God's Word IS
ABSOLUTE TRUTH. IT IS RIGHT AND WRONG.

The world's goal is to be politically correct and not to offend anyone. The
truth in God's Word is highly offensive to many because it lays out clearly
what is right and what is wrong, and those living in rebellion to God are
then reminded that the free will choices they have made are not in God's
will. I guess my question for you today is, are you more concerned with
pleasing the world, or pleasing God?????

I love you and care about you. I will be praying for you today to keep your
focus on God, and not get distracted by the things of this world. I am so
thankful for those of you who have been able to stand with me in this work
here at Liveprayer. One day in Heaven you will get a tap on your shoulder
and someone will tell you how they gave their life to Christ, or got through
a difficult time because of Liveprayer. YOU help make that possible each
and every day with your prayers and support of this ministry. Thank you!

Let me close today again with a simple question, "is your mind focused more
on the things of this world or the things of God?" Pray about that today.


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

.


***AFTER WRITING THIS DEVOTIONAL EVERY DAY FOR ALMOST 58 MONTHS NOW, THIS
IS BY FAR ONE OF THE BEST, SPIRIT-LED DEVOTIONALS THAT I HAVE EVER WRITTEN
IN REGARD TO THE CHRISTIAN FAITH. YOU SHOULD FORWARD IT TO EVERYONE THAT
YOU KNOW. FIND WAYS TO GET IT POSTED ON YOUR CHURCH
BULLETIN BOARD, AT THE WATER COOLER WHERE YOU WORK, EVERYWHERE THAT YOU
POSSIBLY CAN. EITHER GOD IS REAL...OR HE IS NOT!!!

Either God is real, or He is not! One of the things that has greatly
troubled me recently, is the number of people who say that they believe in
God, say that they are a Christian, yet have no problem supporting choices
that are clearly defined in God's Word as sin. My friend, Jesus said it
best when He said that "no man can serve two masters." The Christian faith
is not a smorgasbord where you can pick and choose what you like. You can't
claim to have faith in Christ, yet support the things that the Bible speaks
against. To borrow a political term, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A CHRISTIAN
MODERATE . Either God is real, or He is not.

Let me first clarify what a Christian is. A Christian is a person who has
made the personal choice to repent of their sins and ask Jesus into their
heart by faith (John 3:16, Romans 10:10, Ephesians 2:8,9). It is your
personal faith in Christ that makes you a Christian. The church you belong
to cannot save you. Having a priest or pastor baptize you when you were a
baby did not save you. Living a good life does not save you. The fact
that your parents are Christians cannot save you. Only making the choice
to repent of your sins and ask Christ into your heart makes you a Christian.

***If this is something that you have never done, the Bible says that TODAY
is the day of salvation. Pray, ask God to open your heart, then click on
this link and read what is written: www.liveprayer.com/bdy_salvatn.html .
God
has made it so easy, but it is a choice that only YOU can make.

Once you have gotten to this point, the next step is that you MUST accept
the Bible as God's inspired, inerrant Word. ***It is IMPOSSIBLE to be a
Christian and not accept the Bible as God's Word. You see, to come to
Christ by faith, you have accepted that this is God's plan to give His
creation, which is separated from Him because of their sin, a way to come
back into a relationship with Him. This is God's ONLY plan!

That is why faith in Buddha will not save you. That is why faith in
Muhammad will not save you. That is why faith in a golden statue will not
save you. It is ONLY faith in Jesus Christ that saves you because it was
Jesus Christ who God sent to die for your sins! He was God's perfect
sacrifice to give fallen man a way back into everlasting fellowship with
Him. So if you accept THAT, then you have to accept the ENTIRE BIBLE as
God's inspired, inerrant Word. It can't be only partially right!!!

The reason is God cannot lie. The Bible is an all or nothing proposition,
it is either ALL true, or NONE of it is true. This is very serious, so
please hear what I am saying to you today. You can't live your faith with
one foot in the world, and one foot in the church. You either believe it
all, or you don't really believe any of it. Either God is true, and we can
count on EVERYTHING He says, or God is a liar, and we are the most foolish
of all people. My friend, there is NO MIDDLE GROUND!!!

This is where so many Christians break down in their life. They simply
don't want to let go of the things of this world. The fact is, this life is
only a brief journey anyway. When it is over, the things of this world will
be gone, and the ONLY thing that you will be left with is the fact that you
have Christ in your heart, or you have rejected His love for you. PERIOD.

I love you and care for you so much. I realize that this is difficult for
so many of you to read. I already know that there will be thousands of very
angry emails about how intolerant I am, how the Christian faith is horrible
for excluding so many good people. The fact is, the only thing intolerant
about the Christian faith is accepting sin in a person's life. Would a
parent feed their child a plate of garbage to eat? Of course not. Why?
Because they love them and know that it would be very harmful to them. When
God says don't sin, He is saying don't eat a plate of garbage because it is
harmful to you.

As for the Christian faith being exclusionary. That is the FARTHEST thing
from the truth. The Bibles says "whosoever believes in Him shall not
perish." Whosoever is potentially EVERYONE. Everyone has the opportunity to
accept Jesus Christ into their hearts and accept God's free gift of
everlasting
life. I don't find that exclusionary, but IN-CLUSIONARY!

I will be praying for you today. Praying above all that you realize how
serious it is to make a full and total commitment of your life to the Lord.
The fact is, when we ask Him into our hearts, the Bible says that it is no
longer our life, but that it belongs to Him. We surrender our life to Him.
I realize as much as anyone how unpopular our faith can be to the world that
we live in. The sad fact is, much of that world is lost, hurting, and
living without ANY hope. They have chosen to reject God and live life the
way they want to. That is fine. God has given everyone the free will to
make that choice.

Sadly though, no matter how they may appear on the outside, inside they
never experience the true joy, peace, and abundance that this life has to
offer. As they get older, they start to realize that there has to be more to
life, and in their search for God, get caught up in every kind of New Age,
crazy philosophy that exists. What they are REALLY looking for is the peace
that ONLY comes from a personal relationship with Christ.

As a Christian, you, me, each one of us, is called to be a light to this
dark world that we live in. We can ONLY let our light shine bright when we
are living fully, 100% for HIM. If you believe that God is real, THEN LIVE
EACH DAY FOR HIM!!!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

DAILY DEVOTIONAL SATURDAY JUNE 19, 2004
( Mark 6:31 )

***Become a LIVEPRAYER.COM DAILY SPONSOR AT:
http://www.liveprayer.com/liveprayerdailysponsor.html


Putting your troubles on hold. For most, today is the start of the weekend.
The weekend is a time to get away from the pressures of work and relax.
Even if you have to work during the weekend, let me encourage you to
spend as much time as possible in the next couple of days putting your
troubles on hold and focusing instead on rest and relaxation. I am not
trying to minimize the complex and difficult situations many of you are
facing, but we MUST find pockets of time in our life to put the burdens down
and simply rest.

You are much better equipped to handle life's problems when you are fresh
and energized, than when you are tired and running on fumes. It is in those
run down times when our problems look insurmountable and we are most apt to
become depressed and lose hope. Even Jesus had to get away once in a while
to recharge his physical body.

A time of rest does many things for you. It helps you to regain your
physical strength. However, just as important, it allows you to regain your
mental strength. Fighting day after day wears us down mentally and we get
so focused on our problems that we lose sight of possible alternatives that
may help us in our struggles. Getting worn down also causes us to lose
perspective causing us to forget that God is still in control.

Most important though, a time of rest helps us to refocus on our personal
relationship with the Lord. In the midst of our trials, we can miss out on
that daily, intimate time with Him which just compounds our problems. That
time of rest allows us to not only recharge our bodies and minds, but our
relationship with the Lord.

Just hours before going to the cross, Jesus told His disciples that in this
life they would have many trials. He did not want them to be deceived into
thinking that just because they had walked with Him, they were immune from
life's problems. But He promised them that He would always be with them. We
are heirs to that promise as follower's of Christ. It is the Christ living
in us that gives us the ability to live victorious lives.

Never lose sight that the Bible tells us that we are more than conquerors
through Him. That means whatever you are facing today, whatever obstacles
may be in your life, because of Jesus, you can overcome them and be
victorious. So in these next few days while you rest, while you recharge,
dwell not on your problems.....but in the fact that you have total victory
in
Jesus!

I love you and care about you. I pray that you will have a wonderful few
days of rest and relaxation, that you will be able to spend quality time
with family and friends, and that most important you will spend some quality
time with the Lord.

He loves you, cares about you, and will make you adequate each day for the
challenges that you face. Focus on living life in His strength and not your
strength, and those burdens won't seem as heavy. Enjoy the weekend as you
put your troubles on hold, and find that peace that passes all human
understanding in Him.


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

If this devotional is a blessing to you, maybe you have a friend or
family member that would like to start receiving this daily word. You
can forward this to them, and they can use the following link to subscribe.
www.liveprayer.com/signup.htm


DAILY DEVOTIONAL MONDAY JUNE 21, 2004
(Genesis 12:1-3, Matthew 9:9)

***I want to start you this week with a real challenge. God has been
speaking to you about aspects of your life, the Devotional last week on
being like Jesus, and about your service to the Kingdom. GOD IS SPEAKING TO
YOU LOUD AND CLEAR THROUGH THESE WORDS TODAY....LISTEN TO HIM....THAT IS
WHERE THE BLESSINGS AND THE FULFILLMENT TO THIS LIFE IS FOUND!!!


How can you say no to God? Every day people ask us to do things for them.
Family members, friends, co-workers, often total strangers ask us to do
something for them. In the course of our daily lives, the people that mean
the most to us will ask us to do something special for them. It may be a
parent or a sibling, it may be our spouse, it may be a very close friend, or
it could be someone that we look up to and respect like our boss or pastor.
All throughout our life people ask us to do things for them, and we do our
best to do what they ask.

What about when God asks you to something for Him? Why are we able to do
things for others but not for God? I have often wondered how many God
called to do the job that Abraham did. Human beings have not changed since
the Garden of Eden. Knowing that fact, I have no doubt that God called many
men before He called Abraham who said yes to God.

Likewise, when Jesus called Matthew to follow Him, how many before Matthew
said no? Throughout history we have men and women that God called to do
great things for the Kingdom. I often wonder who God may have called to do
that work, but turned God down.

Some of the most disappointing times in my life have been those when God
was calling me to do something for Him and I said no. I was too busy. It
wasn't the right time. I had MY SCHEDULE and what God was asking me to do
didn't fit in. God really didn't need me, He would find someone else.
There are a million excuses that we can come up to basically tell God, NO.

In looking back now, how could I have ever said no to God? This is GOD!!!
The creator of the Heavens and the earth. MY CREATOR!!! God Himself came
to me and said, "Bill, will you do something for me?" and I said NO! If a
complete stranger came up to me and asked me to do something for them, as
long as it was not something outrageous I would most likely do it. Yet I
tell God no???

I love you and care about you so much. The sad reality is that when we say
no to God, we are the one that loses. God blesses us for our obedience.
When we say no to God we miss our blessing. Our purpose in this life is to
serve and glorify Him. When we say no to God, we are not fulfilling our
purpose.

The greatest calling we have in this life is what God asks us to do for Him.
When we say no to God, we miss our calling. The reality is, when we say no
to God, He calls someone else to do what He asked us to do. Someone else is
answering the call of God on their life, fulfilling their purpose and
receiving the blessing we could have had. The work of God does not stop
because we say no to God. It simply goes on without us.

I will be praying for you today. As I say often, we only get one shot at
life. This is it. MAKE IT COUNT! The fact is, God has a Divine plan and
purpose for each one of us. Our purpose in this life is to serve and
glorify Him with our lives. There is nothing greater that we can do with
our life than to serve our God. It is an honor and a privilege that He
gives us to work for Him. In faithfully and obediently serving God, we are
blessed beyond all that we could ever ask or think.

MAKE YOUR LIFE COUNT BY DOING SOMETHING GREAT FOR GOD! Before Abraham,
Matthew, Billy Graham, or anyone else that God has used could do great
things for God, they first had to say yes when He called them. God is
speaking to YOU today. He is asking you to do something for Him. SAY YES
to God!!!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

***I CAN'T EXPLAIN WHY, BUT GOD HAS IMPRESSED UPON MY SPIRIT IN THE LAST
WEEK TO HIT THE ISSUE OF SALVATION VERY HARD. THAT WAS THE REASON FOR THE
DEVOTIONAL I WROTE LAST FRIDAY, AS WELL AS THE MESSAGE TODAY. THE BIBLE
SAYS THAT "TODAY" IS THE DAY OF SALVATION. PLEASE SHARE THIS MESSAGE WITH
AT LEAST 3 UN-SAVED PEOPLE YOU KNOW. THE TIME IS GETTING VERY SHORT,
SHORTER THAN ANY OF US CAN IMAGINE.


Who will be in Heaven. As you can imagine, each day I get tons of emails
with questions on all types of topics. Of everything we discuss, the most
important subject there is, is salvation. I want to use this time today to
clarify for many out there, who will be in Heaven. The salvation equation
is very simple. It is: by God's grace, and our faith, plus NOTHING ELSE.

There is only ONE way to Heaven...personal faith in Jesus Christ. There is
only ONE road to Heaven and that is through faith in Jesus Christ. That
means that the type of church you belong to will not get you into Heaven, no
amount of good works will get you into Heaven, you cannot buy your way into
Heaven...the only way to Heaven is
through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That is God's plan as He
clearly lays out in the Bible.

The church is a place where people should be able to find a personal
relationship with Christ, a place of fellowship, a place to be fed
spiritually, a place where people can use their talents to serve God.
However, membership in a church WILL NOT get you into Heaven when you die.

There are many people who go through life doing wonderful things, helping
people, living good lives. There are no amount of good works you can do in
this lifetime to eliminate the sin we were all born with. Being a good
person WILL NOT get you into Heaven when you die. There is only one way to
get to Heaven, and that is through a personal relationship with Jesus
Christ!!!

My friend, the message I want you to understand today is that God has made a
simple way for His fallen children to be reconciled back into an everlasting
relationship with Himself. Many have tried to complicate the issue of
salvation. It is actually very simple. Recognize that you are a sinner.
Repent, turn away from your sins and ask God to forgive you. Accept by
faith Jesus Christ into your heart and surrender your life to Him.

Why Jesus? Because in God's plan, it was His sacrifice that paid for our
sins. You see, Jesus already paid the price for our sins. That is why
there are no amount of good works, no amount of money, nothing you can do on
your own because Jesus already paid the price.

Some ask about those who accept Christ on their deathbed, and how unfair it
is for them to go to Heaven after a life of sin and rebellion. First of
all, in perspective, this life is but a "vapor" as the Bible calls it, in
comparison with eternity. You have to remember that those who rebelled
during their life and come to Christ at the end, missed the joy, peace, and
blessings of this life and must have suffered greatly on the inside living
apart from God during those years on earth. The important fact is that like
you and me, they are sinners who accepted God's free gift of everlasting
life through faith in Jesus Christ..

Many ask about if you can lose your salvation. I am not going to get into
the age-old theological debate of "once saved always saved," but will share
my personal convictions from years of study of the Scripture and the
understanding of God I have. Part of the salvation equation is God's grace.
To lose your salvation means God would have to withdraw His grace. I have
never been able to get over the hurdle that God would take His grace away,
and of course the question becomes, at what point would He? Nothing in the
Bible says God withdraws His grace which by definition is unmerited favor.

I personally believe that if you make a sincere commitment to Christ by
faith you are saved, of course, only God knows a person's heart and if they
really were sincere. If you are saved and rebel, you lose the blessings,
the peace, the joy this life can offer. Much like the prodigal son who
never stopped being His father's son, but lost out on the blessings of
living in submission to his father. He endured much pain and heartache for
his rebellion. The bottom line though is if you always follow Christ, you
will never have to worry about losing your salvation.

I love you and care about you deeply. I pray that this helps many of you
clarify in your mind and heart the most important issue of our
life...determining where we will spend eternity. If you are reading this
today, and do not have the assurance that you will spend eternity in Heaven,
or you have never accepted Jesus Christ into your life by faith, then let
me encourage you to do it today. The Bible tells us that TODAY is the day
of
salvation. Don't wait another minute.

Take a few minutes and go to my website, www.liveprayer.com/bdy_salvatn.html
.
Read this short message on salvation, then as the Holy Spirit brings you
under conviction, pray the special prayer to accept Jesus Christ into your
heart as your Lord and Savior. Email me and let me know you have accepted
Christ into your life and I will be happy to send you at no charge some
special information to help you in your new found relationship with Christ.

May you be richly blessed today as God quickens to your Spirit these words.
For those who know Jesus, let me challenge you to share this Devotional with
at least 3 people in your life who need to know Jesus as their personal
Savior. I will be in prayer with you for these words to open their hearts
and for the Holy Spirit to bring them under conviction.

Who will be in Heaven? All of those people who have accepted by faith Jesus
Christ into their hearts and lives!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com


***I am excited to let you know that the Liveprayer Daily Devotional is
now available via AUDIO each day. Simply go to
http://www.liveprayer.com/DailyDevotionalAudio.html

©Copyright 2004, Bill Keller Ministries. All rights reserved.

[danausmc]

www.liveprayer.com/signup.htm


DAILY DEVOTIONAL WEDNESDAY JUNE 30, 2004
( Joshua 6:8-20 )

You must have a plan to win the battle! I get so many emails each day from
people all over the world who are in the midst of major battles in their
life. They are desperate, looking for something magical to happen to make
their circumstances different overnight. I pray that by now you know how
much I love you and care about you. I try each day to stand with you, pray
with you, and help you through the trials of day to day life.

This is one of those days that I need to use some tough love on you. So
many of you have absolutely unrealistic expectations about resolving your
problems that you need someone to tell you the truth. I hear over and over
every day people say, "God has abandoned me...He doesn't love me or how
could He make me go through this." The fact is God has never left you, God
loves you unconditionally, and you go through most of the battles in your
life because you do not have a plan to get victory!

In today's scripture, we read about the plan God gave Joshua to take the
city of Jericho. Granted, it was an unusual plan, but it was a plan given
by God that when faithfully executed, worked. When the allies stormed the
beaches of Normandy on DDay, do you think they just woke up one morning and
decided to give it a try? Absolutely not. The generals spent months
planning, looking at all the different scenarios, strategizing, coming up
with the best plan they could to win that important battle. When you face
the battles in your life each day, why do you think you can just wake up and
wish those battles would go away? That is unrealistic.

It is also unrealistic to think that God is some genie in the bottle that
you call on when you are in trouble and He will snap His fingers and make
everything perfect. The fact is, most of your battles didn't just happen
overnight, they developed over a period of time. Victory will probably not
happen overnight either, it will take place over a period of time. Let me
interject that God can do anything, and if He, in His sovereign will,
chooses to eliminate your problems overnight He CAN do that. However, that
is normally not the way God works. He will bring victory over a period of
time because in that process several things occur. You learn how to be
obedient, faithfully execute God's plan for your life, and depend upon Him.

The question becomes where do I get this plan? God gives us His plan for
victory in many ways. This is again why it becomes critical to have that
intimate daily relationship with Him. It is in that close daily contact
through prayer, the Word, that He speaks to us. In our circumstances He
speaks to us. Through the counsel of others He speaks to us. It is a
combination of all the above that helps us formulate a game plan, His plan,
to be victorious.

One important element I just mentioned was the counsel of others. God has
placed mature, Godly people in our life strategically to help us overcome
our
battles. Drop your pride and reach out to the wise counsel of others. Let
them know about your struggles, ask them to help you formulate a viable plan
to see victory. Once armed with the plan God gives you, it requires you to
be like Joshua. Faithfully and obediently follow the plan. Trust God, put
your faith in Him, He won't let you down.

I love you and care about you so much. I will be praying today that these
words find a fertile resting place in your hearts and minds today. Focus
today on spending time with the Lord to formulate a game plan to gain
victory over whatever battles you might be fighting today. God will give
you the plan, then it is up to you to follow the plan. There really is
victory in Jesus. He has won the victory over whatever battle you are
facing 2000 years ago on Calvary. It is time to start living your life in
that victory.

It is tough for God to use defeated soldiers to fight the battles each day.
That is why it is critical to get victory in your life, so that you can lead
others to victory. May your number one priority today be getting a plan
from God to win the battles you are facing in your life, execute that plan
faithfully, and be able to claim my personal signature scripture from 1
Corinthians 15:57 that says, "But thanks be to God, which giveth us the
VICTORY through our Lord Jesus Christ."

[danausmc]

If this devotional is a blessing to you, maybe you have a friend or
family member that would like to start receiving this daily word. You
can forward this to them, and they can use the following link to subscribe.
www.liveprayer.com/signup.htm

DAILY DEVOTIONAL MONDAY JULY 5, 2004
( Malachi 3:5, 4:1, Psalms 11:6, 2 Peter 2:9 )

***HELP ME PUT TOGETHER AN ARMY OF 700 FOR GOD!!! FOR INFO, GO TO:
www.liveprayer.com/700.htm

***ON THIS FOURTH OF JULY, I WANT TO DEDICATE THIS DEVOTIONAL TO ALL OF
THOSE WHO HAVE BRAVELY AND HONORABLY SERVED OUR NATION . TO THOSE WHO MADE
THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE, OUR NATION THANKS YOU! TO THOSE WHO SERVED AND ARE
STILL ALIVE, NEVER DOUBT HOW SIGNIFICANT GOD USED YOUR LIFE IN HIS PLAN AND
PURPOSE. TO THOSE WHO THIS DAY ARE SERVING OUR NATION IN THE ARMED FORCES,
ALLOWING US TO ENJOY THE FREEDOMS WE OFTEN TAKE FOR GRANTED.....THANK YOU!!!
YOU ARE REAL LIFE HEROES AND WE PRAY TODAY FOR GOD'S RICHEST BLESSINGS ON
YOUR LIFE!!! LIVEPRAYER EXISTS ONLY BECAUSE OF THE SACRIFICES OF THOSE WHO
HAVE DEFENDED OUR NATION FROM DAY ONE!!!!

***FORWARD THIS TO EVERYONE THAT YOU KNOW. THIS NEEDS TO GO TO EVERY
ELECTED OFFICIAL FROM THOSE IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT ALL THE WAY TO THE
PRESIDENT.

***This is one of the most difficult Devotionals that I have ever written.
It is a message that God told me to deliver for 2 year, and was sitting in
my "Devotional To-Do" file until last June. I had started to send this
numerous times over the past several years, but simply could not do it
because I knew that it would be difficult for most to read. As painful as
it was for me to write this, and as painful as it will be for you to read
it, it is a word that God wants to be told and I need to be faithful to what
He has called me to do. Please pray before reading this message, and ask
God to prepare your heart to receive it. Never forget that even in times of
great judgment, God always has a remnant that remains faithful to Him. May
we be faithful and part of His remnant, and may God be merciful to us even
in His judgment.


God's judgment on the United States! Perhaps no nation that has ever
existed in the history of the world other than Israel, has known the
incredible blessings of God like the United States. In just 228 years, this
nation has become the most powerful and prosperous nation in the history of
the world. It is the hand of God that allows nations to rise, and to fall.
God allowed this nation to rise up from nothing. He poured out His richest
blessings on our country. Sadly, we have squandered those blessings,
misappropriated them, and now must face God's judgment.

I DO NOT say this lightly, and fully realize the magnitude of what I am
sharing with you today. This nation began to decline in the mid 60's. That
decline continued throughout the 70's. It intensified in the "me years" of
the 80's. The decline began to occur at warp speed during the 90's, when
even the President became a symbol of our decline. As we are now 4 years
into the new millennium, we are in free-fall and I am sorry to say, things
are never going to get better, only worse.

There are 7 key factors that has brought our nation to this time of God's
judgment. First, is the Federal Government legalizing the killing of
innocent babies. In the 30 years since abortion was legalized, there have
been over 40 million babies killed, app. 1.3 million each year, around 4,000
every single day. Second, is the bold, unrepentant, unashamed, gross sexual
perversion that exists in our nation today. From those who choose
homosexuality, to the epidemic of sexual activity outside of marriage
starting as young as 12, to the ever increasing numbers of men and women who
commit adultery, to the unrestricted pornography industry, to those who
proudly engage in every type of sexual perversion that man has ever dreamed
of.

The third factor is the millions who have rejected the God of the Bible to
follow the false gods of the world. The fastest growing religions in our
country are the cults like the Muslims, the Mormons, the Scientologists, and
the various New Age movements. They have preyed on the 2 plus generations
in our nation that have for the most part never been to church, and during
those difficult times in their life are seeking answers. Sadly, they have
believed the lie from satan instead of the Truth of God's Word. Fourth, is
the abandonment of Israel. Genesis 12:3 is still in effect today! Even
though the U.S. gives billions in aid each year to Israel, the current
"roadmap" is helping to give away the land that God promised to the children
of Israel to their enemies.

Fifth, is the destruction of the family. A Godly family consisting of a man
and a woman that both love the Lord and have only been married to each
other, with children that love and honor God, is the exception today, rather
than the norm that it once was. Marriage is no longer God's holy
institution,
but little more than a legal date. Divorce damages the lives of both
spouses and the children involved. A large percentage of children now grow
up in unstable homes where God is never mentioned, and go on to have
unhealthy relationships and children of their own, that also grow up in
unstable homes void of God.

The sixth factor is the media. Satan has full control over 99% of the media
( the 1% being the Christian media) and there are no longer ANY constraints
on what can be produced. Between television, films, music, the Internet,
video games, and publications, you can access an unlimited amount of
whatever type of filth, garbage, perversion, and disgusting deviant behavior
that you want 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, right from the comfort of your
home.

The seventh and final factor is the apostate church. The church today is
more interested in programs than people, in building great structures
instead of great men and women of God, in entertaining people rather than
encouraging them. The church has compromised the absolute truth of God's
word in order to be politically correct, and is more concerned with
people's money than their souls. The spiritual leaders of this nation are
NOT supposed to be President Bush and politicians, NOT supposed to be Snoop
Dogg, Eminem, and musicians, NOT supposed to be Oprah and other TV
stars, NOT supposed to be Tiger Woods and sports heroes, NOT supposed to be
Hollywood entertainers. They are supposed to be the men and women of God
that He has raised up and called to be a BOLD, LOUD, CLEAR voice for His
TRUTH, not just from the pulpit of a local church, or in a great conventions
of Christians, BUT IN THE WORLD THAT WE LIVE IN!!!

I love you and care about you so much. My heart is broken over having to
share such a word like this. If we think that any of these 7 factors are
going to change, we are simply being naive. Things are NOT ever going to go
back to the way they used to be. To not expect God's judgment on such
blatant and gross rebellion is also very naive. God will not be mocked.
You cannot live in rebellion to God and not pay the price in your personal
life, and we cannot live in rebellion to God and not pay the price as a
nation. But here is the good news. GOD ALWAYS HAS A REMNANT!
GOD ALWAYS HAS A PEOPLE! Despite whatever judgment He pours
out on our nation, there will always be a group of people that will never
bow
their knee to Baal!

I will be praying for you today. I pray that you will be part of God's
remnant in these last days. I pray that you will embrace the opportunity
that we will have as the people of God to share the hope and love of Christ
with the hurting and the lost. We are going to have incredible
opportunities to see great numbers of souls won for the Kingdom. I remember
in the first few days after 9/11, at Liveprayer we saw over 2,000 accept
Christ as their Savior. There will be a great harvest of souls as God's
judgment is poured out on our nation. That is why I have worked so hard to
establish Liveprayer here on the Internet, and establish the Liveprayer TV
program
on commercial television. I know that it is only a matter of time before
God
sends His judgment on our nation, and I want to have the vehicles in place
to be able to reach the masses who will be looking for answers.

My word for you today is to not be frightened by these words, but be
challenged by them. Despite whatever judgment God pours out on the United
States, those who know Christ as their Savior have no reason to be afraid.
May we never waiver in our faithfulness to God, serve Him to the best of our
ability, and always be proud to be called Christians.

Let me leave you with the incredible words from Hebrews 11:13-16, and pray
that one day men will say this about you and I. "All these people were
still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things
promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they
admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such
things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had
been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity
to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country--a heavenly one.
THEREFORE GOD IS NOT ASHAMED TO BE CALLED THEIR GOD,
FOR HE HAS PREPARED A CITY FOR THEM."


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

If this devotional is a blessing to you, maybe you have a friend or
family member that would like to start receiving this daily word. You
can forward this to them, and they can use the following link to subscribe.
www.liveprayer.com/signup.htm


DAILY DEVOTIONAL WEDNESDAY JULY 7, 2004
(Psalms 75:7, 1 Samuel 2:7, Genesis 45:8)




Who to vote for in the upcoming election. I am getting inundated every day
with emails from people who are looking for some direction as to who to vote
for this November. Let me tell you right up front that God is NOT a
Republican, a Democrat, an Independent, or with any other political party.
Never forget that it is God who allows men to rise to power, and it is God
who removes men from power.

In the United States, we have a great political system that allows us to
vote for who we want to be in political office. Each one of us is actually
given a voice in the political process through our vote. It is not only an
opportunity for us to be heard, it is a responsibility we have as citizens
of this nation. Sadly, it is a responsibility far too many, even
Christians, don't take seriously enough.

I am asked often if Christians should be involved in politics. ABSOLUTELY!
The Bible calls us to be good citizens of the nation we live in. We not
only should be involved in politics, we MUST be if we want our voice heard
and our beliefs known. Since the political system determines much of the
daily life in our nation, it is
imperative that men and women of God be active participants in politics
locally, as well at the state and national levels.

So the big question many are struggling with is who to vote for in the
upcoming elections. Let me give you these guidelines to help you today.
There are many key spiritual issues that our nation is battling with that
are also key political issues. Abortion and marriage are the two biggest
ones. We also have pressing spiritual/political issues like how we deal
with the nation of Israel, gambling, and pornography. In addition, most
every political issue has a spiritual element to it.

It is the Bible that is our final authority in ALL matters. God's Word, and
God's Word alone represents absolute truth. When we are faced with the
spiritual/political issues of the day, it is critical to go to God's Word
and see what HE says about those issues. THE GOAL IS TO FIND MEN AND WOMEN
WHO WILL GOVERN IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE WORD OF GOD.

God says abortion is murder. So you need to find candidates who will not
compromise on the issue of abortion. God says marriage is one man and one
woman. So you need to find candidates who will not be part of trying to
redefine God's definition of marriage. The Bible says in Genesis 12:3 that
God will bless those who bless Israel, and curse those who curse Israel. So
you need to find candidates who will be strong supporters of the nation of
Israel. God's Word teaches us that gambling and pornography are sins. So
you need to find candidates who will take hard stands against legalized
gambling and the
pornography industry.

This means you are going to have to do some homework and actually find out
where each candidate stands on these various issues. Also, you need to be
very aware of the fact that politicians do not always tell the truth. They
are great at making promises to get elected that they never intend to keep.
That is why checking out their voting record on key issues can be very
helpful.

In addition, how a candidate may feel personally on an issue means NOTHING!
You
are not electing them on what they personally feel, but on how they will
vote on specific issues. If a candidate says they are personally against
abortion but will uphold a woman's "right" to kill her baby, that is someone
who is opposed to God's Word. If a candidate says they personally believe
marriage is one man and one woman, but will support efforts to try and
redefine God's holy institution of marriage, that is someone who is opposed
to God's Word.

The other problem you have are candidates who commit the sin of OMISSION
(James
4:17). God does not put men into office to simply mark time, but to lead.
People have every right to expect those they elect to lead and make a
difference. Again, finding those candidates with a track record of real
leadership is important, since we need men and women who not only follow
God's Word on the major issues, but have the courage to lead on those
issues.

I love you and care about you so much. I will be praying for you today as
you begin to do your homework, finding those men and women running for
office who have a heart for God and will follow His Word. As believers, we
are responsible for doing our best to elect those who will lead this nation
back to God. The fact is, most candidates will use God's name to try and
get elected. The key is, which ones will actually honor God's name and His
Word while in office.

I will be praying for you. Praying that you will take advantage of the
incredible opportunity you will have this November to make your voice heard
as you vote. If those who know Christ as their Savior will get out and
vote, we can make a difference this November. Take the time and effort to
find out not only who is running for office locally where you live, but for
state and national offices as well. Let's put into office men and women who
will stand for and vote according to God's Word. That is who you should be
voting for!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

The God of restoration. One of the most encouraging things the Bible
teaches us, is that God is a God of restoration. The Bible tells us that we
all sin and fall short of God's glory, but what happens to us after we sin
is what I want to focus on today. One of the most visible sins in the Bible
has to be Peter's denial of Christ. After following the Lord, living with
Him, seeing the miracles, hearing the teachings, even being so bold to
proclaim Jesus to be "the Son of the living God"...this same Peter in fear
of his life denies even knowing who Jesus is.

If the story of Peter ended there, it would indeed be tragic. However, we
see that same Peter, just days later in John chapter 21 being restored to
fellowship by Jesus. We then read about that same Peter in the book of
Acts, becoming a pillar upon which the early church was founded, boldly
proclaiming Christ without regard to his own life any longer. The lesson is
that in spite of our sin, God is a God of restoration so that He can use us
to fulfill His plan.

After we sin, the most important thing we can do before the restoration
process takes place is to confess our sin and ask God's forgiveness. 1 John
1:9 tells us that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive
us, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. God wants to forgive you! God
wants to cleanse you! But you have to make the first move. You have to
swallow your pride and admit to God you sinned. You have to be sick enough
of the sin to want to be rid of it once and for all.

I am not talking about that "morning after" confession either. I am talking
about that confession that says I am sorry, and I am ready to walk away from
this sin once and for all. We all feel sorry for our sins after we commit
them. The issue is whether we are ready to deal with them once and for all,
and allow the restoration process to begin. My friend, it is not God
holding back that process, it is you. You have to be serious about getting
rid of the sin that is in your life.

Once we make up our mind and decide to make the necessary changes to walk
away from our sin, we then confess our sins and repent, and have now opened
the door for God to restore us. You see, God never stops having a plan for
your life. Don't forget, your purpose is to serve and glorify Him. He
desires to restore us to fellowship, not only because He loves us, but
because He still has work for us to do.

If you are looking for that peace, that joy, that abundant life the Bible
speaks of....I am telling you that you will ONLY find it in a daily,
intimate relationship with Christ. You will only find it in a life totally
and unconditionally surrendered to Him and His will. You will only find it
when you are fulfilling your God-given purpose of serving and glorifying Him
with your life.

Be encouraged today, God is not through using you. He still has a perfect
plan and purpose for your life. It is now up to you. Just like He restored
Peter, and used Peter in a mighty way, God wants to use you. The only
difference between you and Peter is that Peter turned from his sin, repented
and confessed his sins to the Lord...thus opening the door to God's
forgiveness and restoration.

I love you and care about you so much. God loves you so much. Turn from
your sin, confess and repent of those sins, and let God restore you today.
No matter what you have done, God's grace is sufficient and His love is
endless. He wants to say to you, just as He told Peter..."Do you love
me?...Feed my sheep."


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

DAILY DEVOTIONAL SUNDAY JULY 11, 2004
(Philippians 1:21)

***Become a LIVEPRAYER.COM DAILY SPONSOR AT:
http://www.liveprayer.com/liveprayerdailysponsor.html


Death. This is obviously a subject that we aren't fond of talking about,
though it is part of our human experience. You have probably heard the
statement, "nothing in life is for sure except for death and taxes." Well,
some have found ways of getting around taxes, and while modern science has
done remarkable things, they have only added a few short years to the
average lifespan. It is important to understand that God created man to
live forever, not to die. Death became a byproduct, one of the consequences
of the sin in the Garden of Eden. Now it is something we must deal with
during our life and face ourselves.

Many people, even Christians, have a fear of death. That is normal. Death
is an unknown to us. Of course as those who know Christ as Savior, we have
the assurance that when this life is over we will spend eternity in Heaven
with Him. We know that, we believe that, but since we have never actually
done it, there is that little bit of doubt, even fear. Again, don't feel
bad, it is common.

However, the longer you walk with the Lord, the closer you get to Him, the
more you realize that this whole life isn't just an accident or a
coincidence. It is exactly like the Bible claims. We were created in the
image of God, for the purpose of serving Him and glorifying Him with our
lives. If that is true, then the rest has to be true as well, which means
when we die we go to Heaven to be with our Creator for eternity.

Let me try to put this life in perspective for you. During our life we grow
stage by stage. In our early years we learn the basic ways of functioning
in this world, and get an education. As an early adult we start working,
get married and have a family. In our elder years we slow down, reflect on
our life, and hopefully enjoy some of the fruits of our labor. Then death.
Death wipes everything out that we did in this life such as our education,
career, relationships with people, whatever position or power we may have
had, our financial resources.

When Bill Gates dies, his money stays in this world, it doesn't go with him.
Rather than being someone special because of his financial wealth, he will
be just another soul. All of the things of this world pass away. THE ONLY
THING THAT WE TAKE FROM THIS LIFE IS OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST. If you
have no relationship with the Lord, then you leave this life with nothing.
This is why I constantly am harping on our daily relationship with the Lord.
THIS IS THE ONLY THING THAT WE TAKE WITH US FROM THIS LIFE INTO ETERNITY!!!!

Understanding this, can you now see how important it is to know Him each
day, to build that intimate, loving relationship with the Lord? The things
of this life will all pass away, but your relationship with the Lord carries
on throughout eternity.

I love you and I care about you enough to challenge you today to refocus
your thoughts and priorities. Know how important your service to Him is
since it has eternal significance. Your day to day life here on earth has
no eternal significance, other than the things you do to impact the lives
and souls of people. That is why witnessing, serving the Lord is so
critical.
Our jobs, our friends, our recreation have such a big part of our life, but
we need to try to refocus on the things we do each day that carry an eternal
weight to them.

I will be praying for you today to really sit down and reread this several
times to let the words sink in. The Lord loves you. Death is something
that we have to deal with and accept. But we have the knowledge and promise
that when this life is over, we will be spending eternity with our God.
That knowledge should motivate us each day to maintain our daily walk with
the Lord and be about the things that will help others know Him too.

If you want to know Jesus as your personal Savior, and know for sure that
when your life is over you will be forever with HIM, take a moment, pray
for God to open your heart and read the words on this link:
www.liveprayer.com/bdy_salvatn.html .


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

***PLEASE READ! Over the course of our journey, there are several life
changing moments. TODAY is going to be one of those moments for many of
you. Please take a minute right now and pray, and ask God to open your
heart to receive this special word today that can literally change your very
life!

Forgive those who have hurt you. Not one person reading this Devotional
today, has not had someone at some point in your life hurt you. Some of you
may have been physically or sexually abused as a child by a mother, a
father, a relative, or someone your family knew. Some of you may have had a
wonderful childhood, but in your young adult life been hurt by a boyfriend
or girlfriend. Some of you may have been the victim of a horrible crime
like robbery or rape.

Still others may have been deeply hurt by your husband or wife that wanted a
divorce. There are many of you that have been hurt later in life by your
children. Lots of people reading this have been hurt by employers, business
associates, or close friends. Sadly, some of you have even been hurt by a
pastor or someone in your church. The fact is, EVERYONE reading this today
has been hurt at some point in your life.

As painful as the experience was that caused this hurt in your life, so many
people have compounded that pain by letting bitterness, even hatred into
their life against the person or people who caused your pain. Today, I am
going to help set you free from this hurt and pain you have experienced in
your life.

In a prison, they have a central lock that can automatically open all of the
cell doors in a given area. If you have ever been in prison or watched a
prison movie you know what I am talking about. There is the loud buzz,
followed by the clanking sound of all of the cell doors automatically
opening. Today, many of you are in prison from the hurts and pains in your
life. Today, the cell door is going to open and you are going to be FREE!!!

The key to unlocking that door is FORGIVENESS. As simple as this may seem,
it can be one of the most difficult things in this world to do. Forgiving
someone who has hurt us deeply is one of the hardest things to do in life.
It is not something that we can even do in our own strength, but must be
done in the strength we get from the Lord.

I realize that many people right now are saying, "NO WAY, not after what
that person did to me." As a Christian, it should be our goal to be like
our Lord every day. What were some of the last words Christ spoke from the
cross? What was his last act before dying that horrific death? He asked
God to forgive those who had crucified Him!

When we sin, and we all sin every day, what do we do? We go to God and ask
Him to forgive us. We do so with the full assurance that He will forgive us
because He has promised to in His Word. In Colossians 3:13 the Bible tells
us to "forgive as the Lord forgave you."

God's Word is clear that just as Christ forgives us when we sin against Him,
we must forgive those who sin against us! That is the key to unlocking the
prison door and being free once and for all from the hurt and pain you have
experienced in your life. FORGIVE the person or people who have hurt you in
your life!

The other problem I deal with each day is people not being able to forgive
themselves. Listen, the Bible tells us that we have "all come short of the
glory of God." We are all sinners. We all make mistakes. When you go to
God and confess your sins, the Bible promises us that He not only forgives
us but cleanses us from all unrighteousness. He not only has forgiven us,
but He has forgotten the transgression. God acts like it never happened.
The point I'm trying to make is that if God has forgiven you, if God has
wiped the slate clean, if in God's mind the sin never existed...then you
need to forgive yourself.

I love you and care about you so much. I realize that this is a difficult
word for many of you to hear today, but this is going to literally change
the lives of those who will receive it...and do it! I want you to take a
moment right now, stop what you are doing, and take out a piece of paper and
a pen. Literally write down the name of the person or names of the people
in your life who have hurt you deeply. Now, pray this prayer,

"Dear Father, I come to you today, thanking you that you love me so much. I
thank you that you are not only a God of love, but a God of forgiveness.
Thank you for forgiving me of my sins. Father, I come today and pray that
you will give me YOUR strength to forgive those who have hurt me in my life.
Right now, this moment, I forgive (name/names). I not only forgive them,
but Father, I ask that you bless them. They need you in their life and I
pray that they will come to have a personal, intimate relationship with your
Son. Thank you for giving me the strength to forgive and thank you for
setting me free from the pain in my life. In Jesus precious name I pray,
AMEN!"

I will be praying for each of you today to pray this prayer. It is time to
forgive those who have hurt you, and it is time to forgive yourself if need
be. Put the hurt and pain of your past behind you once and for all and move
forward with your life. God still has much left for you to do and by
forgiving those who have hurt you, you are now free to do all that He wants
to do in and through your life for His Kingdom!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

Saying "I am wrong." Major corporations and businesses pay tens of
thousands of dollars each year to men and women to come in and "motivate"
their employees. "Life coaches" are paid 5-figure fees by company CEO's and
top executives to help them through the day to day grind of managing their
professional and private lives. The fact is, if these corporations and key
executives simply got the FREE Daily Devotional from Liveprayer each day,
they would not only save a huge amount of money, but the employees and top
executives would get the best motivation and coaching possible right from
God's Word!

Today, I am going to "coach" you in what many may see as a simple issue
everyone deals with in life. However, for those who are successful and
prosperous it is a HUGE hurdle that most who have "made it" by the world's
standards fail to clear. That is being able to say "I am wrong" when you
make a mistake. It is the ability to admit your mistakes, humble yourself,
and take responsibility for your choices and actions. This is a critical
issue everyone has to deal with every day.

You see my friend, the Bible clearly tells us that we have all sinned and
come short of God's glory. In the book of 1 John, the Word actually says
that we all sin, and if we say we don't we are liars! During the course of
each day, we sin, we make mistakes, we exercise poor judgment, we make
horrible choices. Nobody, NOBODY is immune from this. The key is how do we
handle the mistakes we make during the course of a day?

There is currently no better example of how NOT to handle your mistakes
than Martha Stewart. When you have time, take a moment and look at this
brief video clip ( http://www.marthatalks.com/video/ ). If you listened to
her statement on the courthouse steps after being sentenced last Friday, if
you saw her interviews with Barbara Walters and Larry King, as you watch
this video clip, you will see a woman that is defiant, unrepentant, shows no
remorse, no contrition, and instead of accepting responsibility for her
actions, is still blaming everyone else but herself.

If you never pay attention to anything I say to you, please pay attention to
this. When you make a mistake, say you are sorry, accept responsibility for
your actions, make whatever amends you need to, and move on! When you
refuse to acknowledge your mistakes, when you blame others for what you did,
when you become defiant and unrepentant, a single mistake in the course of a
given day can end up destroying your very life!!!

You see, satan wants to hold your mistakes over your head. When you refuse
to acknowledge what you did was wrong, when you allow satan to help you find
excuses for your mistakes you have played right into his hands. Instead of
getting beyond your mistakes, your mistakes takes on a life of its own and
literally becomes an anchor around your neck. Rather than putting your
mistakes behind you, your mistakes becomes part of your daily life.

Look at Martha. Had she simply acknowledged she took advantage of insider
information, told the truth, this entire ordeal would have been over 2 years
ago. In trying to save herself $40,000, it has cost her over $300 MILLION
and counting, her name and reputation, her ability to run and control the
company she founded, and when she loses her appeal, her freedom. SHE HAS
PAID THIS INCREDIBLE PRICE ALL BECAUSE SHE WOULD NOT SAY "I WAS WRONG!!!"

I love you and care about you so much. As basic as this word is, it is an
issue EVERYONE deals with because we all make mistakes in life every day.
The more successful you are by the world's standards, the more difficult
saying "I was wrong" becomes. As people fall into the traps of pride and
ego, the great justifier satan will always help you find an excuse for YOUR
mistakes so that you can say you were right. My friend, that is a lie from
the pits of hell itself. We all sin, we all make mistakes, and
nobody is right all the time.....except Jesus!

I will be praying for you today. Praying that these words will find fertile
resting place in your heart. Listen, it should be the goal of every
follower of Jesus Christ to not sin, to live life perfectly. That MUST be
our goal and why our daily time with the Lord in prayer and the Word is so
critical. It helps us to stay connected to Christ and make Christ-like
decisions during the course of the day.

But the reality is, only Jesus went through this journey without sin. As
hard as we try, we will sin, we will make mistakes along the way. God knows
this and gave us that great promise in 1 John 1:9 that tells us, "If we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and
purify us from all unrighteousness."

My word for you today is simply this. When you sin, when you make a mistake
during the course of your day, don't start trying to figure out an excuse
for what you did, don't try to cover it up. Instead, go to God and ask His
forgiveness, admit your mistake to those you need to, make whatever amends
might be necessary, and move on. WE all sin, we all make mistakes, that is
a fact. How we respond to our sins and mistakes is critical. There is only
one correct response, "I was wrong!"

***Please continue to pray for Martha Stewart and her salvation. Pray that
God will send someone who will be able to reach her with the love of Christ
and the truth of His Word, and that she will come under conviction and
humble herself, repent of her sins, and surrender her heart and life to
Jesus.


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

Encouragement for single moms and dads, spouses in unequally yoked
marriages, and those who have divorced and remarried. I want to take this
opportunity to apologize to anyone who is a single mom or dad, in an
unequally yoked marriage, or remarried after having been divorced if what I
have said in past Devotionals has hurt you in any way. I can assure you,
that was never my intention.

Here at Liveprayer, we literally respond to over 40,000 emails
every day, many from people in these circumstances, giving them love,
support, and prayer in the battles they are facing in their life. So
bringing personal pain to anyone is never my goal, quite the opposite. I do
my best each day to encourage and support people in their day to day
struggles, pointing them to the one true answer we have in this life, Jesus
Christ!

I take a firm Biblical stand on issues like marriage, being equally yoked,
and what God's plan for the family is. First, because it is what God says
and His way always works best for our life. His Word cannot be compromised.
Secondly, because we see daily here at Liveprayer the destroyed lives of
those who ignored God in these areas of their life by doing it their way.

By God's grace my wife and I have now been married for ALMOST 21 years.
However, I was married before while I was in college and was not walking
with the Lord, getting divorced after 3 years. So I know personally the
pain and heartache of divorce. I know personally that when you live
together outside of marriage, don't build a spiritual foundation to your
relationship, leave God out of the equation, how little chance that
relationship has of working. Even if it does survive, it is NEVER complete
without God at the center.

That is why, especially for the young adults who read this Devotional each
day, I do my best to warn them from falling into these traps that can
literally destroy their lives. God has given me a responsibility for
sharing the truth of His Word. Much of the pain and heartache that we deal
with in this life is because we ignored God, or rebelled against God in some
way. I realize there are cases when the actions of others cause us great
pain, but again, a good percentage of our problems come from OUR decision to
ignore God's plan.

While the world at large says "do it your way," "whatever you think is right
is OK," "if it feels good, do it"....God says there is only ONE WAY that is
right and that is found in the Bible. God gives us His way because He loves
us! He knows that His way works and the other ways do not! His way brings
us peace, joy, happiness, and blessings. Ignoring His way brings turmoil,
pain, unhappiness, and tragic consequences that can last a lifetime.

For you single moms and dads, for you who are in an unequally yoked
marriages, for those who have divorced and remarried, God loves you and will
help you see victory despite whatever has happened in the past. It would be
great if we all lived life the way God planned for us to. It is my prayer
daily that those young adults reading these words each day will take that
challenge and do just that. But for those who have already made some
mistakes along the way, who got off-track from doing it God's way, TODAY IS
THE DAY that you can get back on track. IT IS NEVER TOO LATE!

The key however is doing it God's way from here on out. For whatever reason
you may be raising your children alone, know that God will make you adequate
each day and give you all that you need to be the best parent that you can
be.

***Your greatest ministry will ALWAYS be to your children.

For those who are unequally yoked with your spouse, Paul clearly said that
you are to remain in your marriage and to be a blessing to that spouse.
Pray for them, let them see Jesus in you. Only God can change their heart,
your job is to pray and be His light in your home. For those who have
divorced and remarried, simply do it His way from here on out. Be the wife
or husband God has raised you up to be. Keep Him at the center of your home
and marriage. Whatever challenges that you are facing today, God is able to
help you meet each one and see victory! OUR GOD IS ABLE!

I love you and care about you so much. The key today is to remember that
the past is the past. There are no "do overs" in life. You can't go back
and relive your life. So no matter what situation you may find yourself in
today, know that if you make Christ the Lord of your life, keep Christ first
at all times, do it God's way, you can know the peace, the joy, and the
abundance that this life can offer.

Our life is today and forward until God calls us home. Yesterday is over.
Live for today and make it all that God intends it to be. I will be praying
for you!!!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

DAILY DEVOTIONAL TUESDAY JULY 27, 2004
(Matthew 9:37)

***IN LIGHT OF YESTERDAY'S DEVOTIONAL on "Spiritual Guts," I felt it was
appropriate to follow up today with a Devotional on witnessing. May God
give you boldness as you share His love with those He brings into your life
each day.


God has called ALL of His children to share Christ with the lost. I know
most days what I write focuses on the problems we face during the course of
our journey through this life. The reality is, we all have problems every
day that we must deal with. But never lose sight of the fact God has called
ALL of us to share Christ with the lost in this world. Don't let your
problems stop you from doing this. As a matter of fact, by being obedient
in serving the Lord, you will be amazed at how God will handle and resolve
many of the problems you face in your life. There is a very true saying
that "if we are about our Father's business, He will be about ours."

I know Christians are always praying for revival. The fact is a true
revival won't happen INSIDE the church, but OUTSIDE the church! As an
evangelist at heart, my desire is to see the lost won to Christ. The first
3 years of my ministry, I did what most evangelists do and that was preach
in churches. Over 500 of them all over the country of all different
denominations and ethnic make-ups. I loved those years, but was frustrated
since the church is really the last place a true evangelist should be
preaching since the vast majority of people are already saved.

God opened the doors for me to spend the next 4 years in the Christian
television world. I initially saw it as an opportunity to reach the masses
for Christ. After a while, I realized that very few people that weren't
already Christians ever watched Christian television. It was a great place
to minister to the Body, but not to reach the lost.

Then God led me to the Internet. What an amazing mission field. Over 600
million people worldwide on the Internet, and that number is growing daily.
Prayer became the focus of this ministry since it is a universally accepted
concept that even those of no faith will turn to in their time of need. The
fact is, we all face the same problems during our life. Problems with
money, health, the death of family and friends, marriage problems, issues
with our children, problems with addictions of some sort. These are
problems everyone that lives faces during the course of their life. By
being available to pray with people literally 24/7/365, we are dealing with
people every single day that are lost, without hope, and looking for answers
to the problems in their life..

***Here is the key. Being available for people in their time of need is not
only an opportunity to minister to their immediate need, but also to their
eternal need of a Savior! Let me repeat that because I don't want you to
miss this. Being available for people in their time of need is not only an
opportunity to minister to their immediate need, but also to their eternal
need of a Savior!

I love you and care about you so much. I realize that today many of you are
facing great needs in your life, major problems, situations that have your
lives upside down. I will be in prayer for you and for God to meet those
needs in your life. In the meantime, I want to encourage you to "be about
your Father's business." You go to school with, work with, recreate with,
shop with, come in contact with people every day that are lost and facing
great problems in their life. Just being there and showing concern, just
letting them know you care, just taking the time to pray with them and for
them is an open door God is giving you into their life. It will give you
the opportunity to not only help them thru their present problem, but talk
to them about having a relationship with Christ.

You see my friend, revival is not going to happen INSIDE the church, but
OUTSIDE the church, one heart and life at a time. God is calling on ALL of
His children to do their part. I will be praying for you today to hear this
clear word from the Lord to not be so focused on the problems in your life,
that you can't see the problems of someone He has put in your life to share
Christ with.

You don't need to be a Bible scholar to be able to share Christ with
someone. Just showing true love and compassion for someone is the most
important thing you can do. After that, simply sharing with them what
Christ has done in your life and what He can do in theirs is the greatest
thing you can tell someone. If you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, YOU
can tell someone else about Him.

Real revival will come when ALL of God's children are sharing Him with the
lost and hurting people in their life. Jesus said it best, "the harvest is
plentiful, but the workers are few."


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

Those who reject Jesus! The saddest people on earth have to be those who
have rejected Jesus. They have chosen to live a life void of God or chosen
to put their faith in some "false god." Sadly, it will only be at the
moment of death they will realize they have missed an everlasting
relationship with the God that created them in His own image. A wasted
life, but even sadder, a soul lost for eternity that Jesus gave HIS very
life for.

However, it is no surprise that many people today reject Jesus. People have
rejected Christ throughout the years. Even the men of His day rejected Him.
When they were given the choice, a "poll was taken" amongst the people and
they chose a common thief instead of the Lamb of God. It was the rejection
of those of His day that led to our Lord's death on a cross.

Every day, I receive at least 1,000 emails of the 40,000 that we get daily
from people who have rejected Jesus and telling me why. The top 3 reasons
that people give for rejecting Christ are, 1) "I can't be a Christian
because you are all hypocrites," 2) "the Bible is a book of fables written
by men," 3) "a loving God would never condemn good people to hell."

First, I have done entire Devotionals on following THE MAN and not a man.
YES, Christians are hypocrites because Christians are human. If you are
basing your eternal soul, your faith, on a mere man you will be disappointed
EVERY TIME!!!! ONLY Jesus lived this life perfectly, and it was only Jesus
who died for your sins, which is why our faith is in HIM and not some man.
A man will fail, but Jesus will never fail....NEVER!!!

Second, I challenge anyone who disputes the Bible to be the inspired and
inerrant Word of God to go to your local Christian bookstore and get any of
a number of books on that issue. The FACT IS, any credible research and
time into trying to disprove this FACT will only show you that the Bible is
truly God's inspired, inerrant Word, that represents absolute truth and is
our final authority in all matters. It is supported by science,
archaeology, and
the real life experiences of millions and millions of people over the
centuries
that have found God's plan is the ONLY WAY to live this brief journey
called
life victoriously!

Third, while God is a "loving God," He is also a HOLY GOD! The Bible tells
us that there are NO "good people" because we have all sinned and come short
of God's glory. It is our sin that separates us from God. It is only
because He IS a "loving God' that He made a universal plan of salvation for
His fallen creation. IT IS AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE. By faith in His Son
Jesus Christ we can be once again reconciled to God our Creator. However,
God in His love, gave us the free will to choose to love Him or reject Him,
otherwise we would be nothing more than preprogrammed robots.

I love you and care about you so much. I have one thing to say to those of
you who read these words and reject Jesus. Have the guts to simply say "I
reject HIM!!!!" Quit hiding behind weak arguments like it is the hypocrisy
of Christians that keeps me from being a Christian, or the Bible is just a
book written by men. Those are simply weak excuses to excuse YOUR unbelief
and rejection of Christ!!!

I challenge you today. Do your homework and accept Him or reject Him on
what YOU believe. If you make the choice to reject Him, simply say so. NO
EXCUSES. NO BLAMING SOMEONE ELSE. SIMPLY SAY.."I REJECT HIM." The fact
is, one day, each one of us will die. On that day, we will stand before God
and give an account for our life. God is not going to be interested in your
excuses. You either accept His free gift of everlasting life through His
Son Jesus Christ, or you reject it. It is your choice, no one else's. God
is not going to be interested in your excuses.

NOW...TODAY... is your opportunity to either accept Him or reject Him. The
Bible tells us, and our life experiences teach us that tomorrow is promised
to none of us. This is the most important decision that you will make in
this life. Choose today..accept HIM...or reject Him..but make no excuses
either way!!!!!

If you want to accept Christ into your heart and life, simply pray and ask
God to open your hear to HIS TRUTH, and go to this link.
www.liveprayer.com/bdy_salvatn.html . You will be in my prayers.


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

Coming back to give God thanks. How often do we pray, asking God to help us
with a need in our life, and in His grace and mercy our prayer is
answered. The real question for today is, after we get our answer, how
often do we take the time to go to the Lord and give Him the praise and
thanks He deserves? Mankind really has changed very little over the years.
In today's scripture, we read about the 10 lepers who were healed, yet only
one came back to give Jesus thanks.

It is easy to read that passage and condemn the other 9, yet each one of us
has been guilty of receiving God's blessings and not being as thankful as we
should be. We can get to a place in our walk with the Lord where we are
used to His blessings. We can get to a place where we expect His blessings.
As His children, we enjoy the rich blessings of God in our life and live a
life of faith expecting Him to bless us. The problem comes when we take His
blessings for granted and aren't as thankful as we should be. We must never
forget, we are blessed by His grace...not because we deserve to be blessed.

Today's message is not difficult or hard to understand. If nothing else,
let it be a reminder to you to never take God's blessings in your life for
granted. More important, never forget to show your gratitude for all He
does for you each day. Growing up, young children are taught to say please
and thank you. It is not only good manners to say thank you, but should be
something we want to do. We pray, believe, trust, and see God answer our
prayers.....the natural reaction should be one of gratitude. Our praise and
thanksgiving should flow from a grateful heart for what He has done for us.

The reminder today is to never forget when God is blessing you that it is
because He loves you and cares for you. The natural response to that love
should be to love Him, obey Him, and give Him the thanks He is due. Check
yourself and make sure you are not like the 9 who took their blessing and
went on with their life, but like the one who came back to thank the
Lord for what He did.

I love you and care about you so much. I pray that you continue to grow
closer in your relationship to Christ. Like any relationship, it doesn't
happen overnight but grows day by day. I can promise you that the most
exciting days are still ahead. He has a perfect plan for each one of His
children, and it is our job to stay close to Him so that He can work through
our lives to reach others. I will be praying today that you will stay in
that close, intimate, daily relationship with Christ that is the key to our
day to day journey.

I love you and care about you so much. Never forget that when you get
off-track, overwhelmed by the problems this life can present, I will be here
to help you. It is no accident you are getting the Devotional each day, and
God is doing His best to speak to you through them. He loves you so much
and so do I. You are never alone!!!

***Please, take a moment today to simply say a prayer of thanksgiving and
thank God for ALL that He does for you each and every day. It is out of His
love for us that He blesses our lives, and it is out of our love for Him
that we say THANK YOU!


In His love and service,

[danausmc]

Moving mountains. We all face major life-changing obstacles throughout the
course of our life. The loss of our job, financial difficulties, the
break-up of our marriage or an important relationship, a problem with our
health, the death of a family member or close friend, the battle with some
sort of addiction, are just some of the major life-changing obstacles most
everyone deals with over the course of their journey through this life.

HOW WE RESPOND TO THESE LIFE-CHANGING OBSTACLES IS THE CRITICAL ISSUE I WANT
TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT TODAY. These are sentinel moments in a person's life
that can shape and determine the balance of your days on this earth. You
can either allow the obstacle in your life to keep you from fulfilling your
purpose of serving and glorifying God with your life, robbing you of the
peace, joy and abundance this life can offer, or you can move forward in HIS
strength past that obstacle and live in victory.

***THIS IS A CHOICE THAT YOU AND YOU ALONE HAVE TO MAKE!!!

I was praising God earlier this year for the story of 13 year old surfing
sensation
Bethany Hamilton of Hawaii. Here is an incredibly gifted young lady that
was already competing in international surfing competitions with the goal of
one day going professional. Last October 31st while practicing, Bethany
was attacked by a shark that ripped her left arm off just below the
shoulder. Now here is a young woman just into her teenage years, her whole
life in front of her, dealing with a major life-changing event. Just 10
weeks after this horrible accident, Bethany was back in a surfing
competition!

That is what I am talking about when I say that when you face a major
life-changing event, it is YOUR CHOICE to either allow that event to destroy
the rest of your life or to move past it and on with your life. Bethany
made the choice that she was not going to let losing her left arm stop her
from living her life, or even from doing what she loved and was so gifted
at. It should also be noted that Bethany had a strong faith in Christ prior
to this incident and is committed to using her tragedy to share the hope we
have in Christ with others.

I love you and care about you so much. I want to give you this word of
exhortation and encouragement today. No matter what the mountain is that
you are facing in your life today, through your faith and God's strength you
can make that mountain disappear!!! If you are a child of God, you have the
authority to say to that mountain "be gone" and it will BE GONE!

Jesus said that if you have only as much faith as the size of a mustard seed
you can cast that mountain into the sea. I tell you today that in the name
of
Jesus Christ of Nazareth, you do not have to let the mountain in your life
crush
you, but through your faith you can cast it into the sea and keep moving
forward with your life.

I will be praying for you today. Praying that you will not allow the
life-changing obstacles we all face in this life keep you from God's
blessings and fulfilling your purpose to serve and glorify Him with your
life. God has a perfect plan and purpose for your life. Why did he allow
a shark to take Bethany's arm? Why did God allow what has happened
in your life? I wish I had those answers but I don't. But I can tell you
that
God will give us the strength to overcome whatever obstacles life can throw
at us, and still know His joy and peace in the midst of the storms of life.


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

"You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot
have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons." 1
Corinthians 10:21

The battle lines are being drawn. As the prophet Elijah said on Mt. Carmel
in 1 Kings 18, "If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal is god, follow
him." It is time to decide whose side you are on. The days of trying to
play both sides are over. It is time to decide whose side you are on. The
days of living with one foot in the church, and one foot in the world are
over. It is time to decide whose side you are on. The battle lines are
being drawn my friend.

Most people don't want to think of this life as a war, but that is exactly
what it is. On one side we have God, the Creator of the heavens and earth,
our Creator that loves us. The Bible says that it is God's desire that all
come to repentance and none be lost. It was God's plan from the beginning
that man spend eternity with Him. On the other side, we have satan, a
fallen angel that for this brief season we call human history, is working to
drag as many souls as possible with him into an eternity of torment in hell.
This war is for the eternal souls of every man and woman that is born.

From the garden of Eden until today this war has raged on. God created us
perfect, with the free will to love Him. However, that free will also gave
us the ability to rebel against God, otherwise, we would be little more than
robots. Sadly, man made the choice to disobey God, and now sin would be
part of the human condition and destroy the perfect world God had created
for us to live in. The war for the human soul had begun.

Satan has come up with every plan imaginable to keep us lost in our sin and
separated from God for eternity. He has used our desire for God to help
rebellious
men create the false religions of the world to lead people away from God's
saving grace. He has worked hard to undermine God's holy institution of
marriage
that started in Genesis 2:24 and destroy God's plan for the family.

Satan uses our sin nature to help put us in bondage to things like drugs,
alcohol, money, sex outside of marriage, and anything else that can destroy
our life. Whatever satan can do to separate us from God, he will do. After
all, in John 10 Jesus clearly tells us that satan's desire is to "steal,
kill, and destroy."

As the last days of human history are fast approaching, satan is now in
full,
all out war against the church. Make no mistake, the church has ALWAYS
been a major target of satan. From the tabernacles and temples in the Old
Testament, to the dawn of the church age in the book of Acts, through today,
satan has corrupted men and women of God in leadership and used division
of every kind to keep the church from being all God intends it to be.

You see, the church has been, and still is, God's primary instrument for
change
in this world today. It is through the church that billions of souls
throughout
the years have found an everlasting relationship with God through faith in
Jesus
Christ. It is the church that is still responsible for taking God's message
of hope
in Christ to this lost, hurting, and dying world.

So do not be surprised that satan is working hard to destroy the church.
Destroy the church through false teachings like "all good people will go to
Heaven." Destroy the church by allowing blatant and unrepentant sin to be
accepted and embraced. Destroy the church by denying the Bible to be God's
inspired, inerrant Word, representing absolute truth, and our final
authority in all matters. Destroy the church by doing everything possible
to divide the Body of Christ. But NEVER forget that Jesus said the "gates
of hell" will not overcome the church!

I love you and care about you so much. The battle lines are drawn. This is
NOT a game. It is an all out war and the eternal souls of people are at
stake. People are dying and going to hell for eternity every day. For the
last 40 years, the church has been sitting back and playing defense and
satan has been scoring lots of points. It is time for the church to start
playing offense. We have the power of the Holy Spirit with us. NOTHING
can stop us. We already know the final score. GOD WINS!!!

Like Elijah, I am challenging you today. If you are a Christian, then
follow
Christ. The battle lines are clearly drawn. Jesus said that you can't
serve
two masters. It is time to choose. Who are you going to follow? You
cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at

[danausmc]

If this devotional is a blessing to you, maybe you have a friend or
family member that would like to start receiving this daily word. You
can forward this to them, and they can use the following link to subscribe.
www.liveprayer.com/signup.htm



DAILY DEVOTIONAL TUESDAY AUGUST 24, 2004
(James 1:22)



Are you watching others live their life, or making the most of YOURS? One
of the saddest things to me about the incredible success of the new genre of
"reality based" TV programs, is that it reinforces the fact most people are
sitting on the "sidelines of life" and living vicariously through the lives
of others. This has always been true since God created man. There has
always been a large percentage of people that have "lived their lives"
through others. That is why movie stars exist. That is why pop music stars
exist. Most sad, that is why "Christian stars" exist!

My friend, just because Michael W. Smith uses his great musical talent for
God, just because T.D Jakes uses his great oratory skills for God, just
because
Billy Graham uses his gift of evangelism for God....that does NOT make them
the
"Christian stars" that so many have put them up to be. These are just
ordinary men like you and I that have answered the call of God on their life
and are serving HIM as they have been led.

The fact that they do it in large arenas, on television, does not make them
any
more special than the pastor of that country church in the backwoods of Ohio
who has 12 members. Just because they do it in front of the national media
does
not make them any more special than the person who visits the local nursing
home
every Friday.

IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD, THERE IS ONLY ONE "STAR", AND THAT IS JESUS CHRIST.
GOD IS JUST AS PLEASED WITH THE FAITHFUL PASTOR OF A CHURCH OF 20 AS HE IS
WITH THE FAITHFUL PASTOR OF A CHURCH WITH 5,000 PEOPLE. GOD IS JUST AS
PLEASED WITH THE FAITHFUL SERVICE OF A TEEN WITNESSING TO THEIR FRIENDS, AS
HE IS THE EVANGELIST THAT HE CALLED TO WITNESS TO MILLIONS VIA THE INTERNET
EACH DAY!

GOD IS NOT IMPRESSED WITH WHAT THE WORLD JUDGES AS "GREAT." HOW MANY TV
STATIONS YOU ARE ON, HOW MANY RADIO STATIONS YOU ARE ON, HOW MANY PEOPLE
COME TO YOUR CHURCH, HOW MUCH MONEY YOU RAISE, HOW MANY COME TO YOUR
CRUSADES AND CONVENTIONS, ARE SIMPLY GUIDELINES THAT THE WORLD USES TO
DETERMINE SUCCESS. GOD IS ONLY IMPRESSED WITH ONE THING....OUR FAITHFULNESS
TO DO WHAT HE HAS CALLED US EACH TO DO WITH OUR LIVES!!!!

The sad fact is, so many Christians are content to live their lives through
others. Rather than being part of God's plan, they sit on the sidelines and
watch God's plan unfold through others. Let me share this with you. YOU
have only one life. This is it. MAKE IT COUNT! Don't waste it away
watching others live their lives. LIVE YOURS! God has a specific plan and
purpose for each one of our lives. However, to fulfill that plan and
purpose,
we can't be sitting down, watching others, but we must be LIVING OUR LIFE!

I love you and care about you so much. I want to encourage you today, to
challenge you today, to make sure that you are LIVING YOUR LIFE and not
simply watching others live theirs. God loves you so much. You are just as
special to God as ANYONE. You are so special, that He has a specific plan
and purpose for your life, things that He wants to do through YOU!

However, to have that happen, you must be willing to let Him use your life.
The
only difference between your life and those that the world may view as
"Christian
stars", is that those people allowed God to use them! Throughout the
recorded history of man, we see how God has used many to further His
Kingdom, His plan and purpose. The message today is that He is talking to
YOU! YOU are part of His plan and purpose. All He is asking you to do
today is yield yourself to Him, allow Him to work through your life.

In the end, when this life is over, God is not going to be concerned with
how many people attended your church, or how many TV shows you were on, or
how many people saw you during your life. The ONLY thing He will be
interested in is this, WERE YOU FAITHFUL TO THE WORK THAT HE GAVE
YOU TO DO IN THIS LIFE?

My challenge to you today is to quit sitting on the sidelines, quit watching
others
serve God, and go fulfill the work he has for YOU to do. Be a "doer of the
word"!!!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST Part Two of Two
(*Churches and Believers should purchase the DVD and use it as an
evangelistic tool)

The PASSION of the Christ revisited. Since the movie has now been out for
6 months (now on DVD) and many people have seen it, I thought it was
important to do a follow-up to the Devotional I did prior to the movie's
release.
This is not to rehash the points I made in that Devotional where I
encouraged readers to see the movie as well as use it as an evangelistic
tool, but to put what many of you have seen in perspective and deal with
some issues that have been raised by The Passion.

The bottom line to The Passion of the Christ is that it is bringing people
back to THE CROSS. One of the "big picture" goals of my ministry and what
Liveprayer tries to do each day is bring the Body of Christ together as one.
Please do not misunderstand me. I am NOT talking about some sort of
ecumenical movement that includes all of the false religions of the world.
What I am talking about is the ONE TRUE CHURCH, the BODY OF CHRIST
which consists of all those who have accepted Christ as their Savior by
faith regardless of the name of the building they choose to worship in. The
Bible
clearly teaches that when you die, there is only going to be one issue that
matters for eternity, have you accepted by faith Jesus Christ as your Lord
and Savior. Those who have rejected Him will be eternally separated from
God and those who have accepted Him by faith will be forever with Him.

*ALL OF THOSE WHO KNOW JESUS CHRIST AS THEIR SAVIOR WILL BE SPENDING
ETERNITY TOGETHER, SO WE SHOULD START LEARNING HOW TO BECOME ONE NOW!

One of the great byproducts of The Passion is that it takes the focus off of
all of the things that we have allowed to divide us as followers of Jesus
Christ and puts it back on what unites us, THE CROSS. We allow satan to
divide us by our churches, by doctrinal and theological issues, by race and
ethnicity, and in so many other ways. What unites us, makes us the Body of
Christ is our faith in Jesus. It is the cross that brings us back to HIM.

The reason I encouraged those who know Christ as their Savior to see this
movie was to get a glimpse, a view, of the incredible price that was paid
for our sin. SIN IS NOT FREE. The bottom line of The Passion for the child
of God is that he/she can never look at sin the same way again. There is no
way to ever sin again and not be reminded of the incredible price our Lord
paid.

The reason I encouraged those who know Christ to take an unsaved family
member, friend, classmate, or co-worker to the movie, was because this movie
would open a dialogue about Jesus. Who was He? Why did He have to die?
What was the significance of His death? Instead of the typical questions a
non-believer usually asks to justify their non-belief, this movie forces
them to face the ultimate question of who really was this man Jesus.

Listen, this movie is NOT the ultimate answer to saving the world, but is
simply another tool God can use. It is a tool He can use to encourage His
children to get serious about serving Him and making a difference with their
life. It is a tool He can use to open the hearts of the non-believer to be
open to making a commitment of their life to Christ. That is why I have
personally endorsed The Passion and encourage people to see it.

Of course, anything God is using to encourage the saints and bring the lost
to know Christ will come under attack from the enemy. Anyone who has
claimed or continues to claim that the movie is anti-Semitic is simply
looking to stir up controversy. As I stated in my previous Devotional, it
is no more anti-Semitic than it is anti-Roman. That is simply a foolish
claim
with no merit. I have also heard Mel Gibson attacked for the money that he
is making off the movie. Don't forget, Hollywood refused to make this
movie. Mel Gibson was in the unique position to be able to do it on his
own. The reality is, there are probably only a handful of people on the
planet with the resources, the insight into the motion picture industry,
that could have pulled this off. With God's help, Gibson did it. Anyone
that risks 25 MILLION DOLLARS of their own money on a project has
the right to enjoy whatever financial rewards there may be.

As a side note, you can be assured that two things will be happening in
Hollywood in the coming months. First, because of the success of The
Passion there will be more motion pictures geared to a Christian audience.
Let's pray they are well done and true to God's Word. Also, the great
perverter satan himself will be giving inspiration to those who hate God to
start putting out movies that are clearly anti-Christian. A movie on the
blasphemous DaVinci Code book is already in the process of being filmed. Be
assured others that will blaspheme Christ will be rolling out in the near
future.

I love you and care about you very much. I pray that you will see The
Passion. It will help those who know Christ as their Savior to come
together around the one thing that unifies us, THE CROSS. It will also give
the believer a visual picture of the horrific price Christ paid for our
sins. No child of God can EVER sin again without thinking of the price that
Jesus paid for our sins.

I am thankful for the reports I received how this movie is being used to
bring
the lost to come to know Christ as their Lord and Savior. This movie can
help open even the hardest heart to the truth of who Jesus is and why faith
in
Him alone is the only road to God. The fact is this world is hungry for the
TRUTH. The Passion is a wonderful tool God is using to share the truth of
Christ's last hours on this earth.

The Bible says that TODAY is the day of salvation, tomorrow is not promised
to us. If you do not have the assurance that when your life is over you
will
spend eternity WITH God and want to have a personal relationship with this
Jesus who paid the ultimate price for your sins, simply pray for God to open
your heart and read the words at: www.liveprayer.com/bdy_salvatn.html .


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

Well, this week is the first Sunday of another season of the NFL, and
college football is well underway. All around the country, football fans
are waiting with great anticipation to see how their team will do this
season. People will actually be scheduling their lives around going to, and
watching football from now thru the end of January. Sports has always been
part of my life and something I've loved since I was very young.

One day several years ago, I began to challenge myself in regard to how much
time I spent going to games, watching games on television, reading about
them in newspapers and magazines. I also began to count how much time I was
spending each year on sports.

Now, I am not going to tell you that sports are bad, or that they are evil.
The point I want you to understand is that I think it is important how much
of our time and how much of our resources are devoted to the things that we
like in this life, like sports, versus our eternal relationship with God.
Sports for
me, whatever hobby you may have, are an enjoyable part of this life. There
is nothing wrong with having hobbies and interests, they make this life
enjoyable.

Putting into perspective the short time we are on this earth against an
eternity
with God if we know Jesus, made me realize that I should be devoting at
least
as much time to my eternal relationship as I do my earthly interests which
cease
when this life is over. How many don't have time each day to read their
Bible
or pray, but have time to sit in front of the television for hours?

Please hear me. Enjoy the wholesome things that this world has to offer.
Do the things that interest you. But please, don't neglect the most
important
part of your life, your personal relationship with Christ. Your life begins
to
unravel quickly when you are out of fellowship with Him. You start to make
poor decisions when you stop reading your Bible every day, praying every
day, going to church, and spending that quiet time with the Lord.

*All I want you to do is keep things in perspective and make sure that you
spend as much time caring for your eternal interests as your earthly ones!!!

I love you and care for you. We are into our sixth year at Liveprayer.com.
It has been an exciting 5 years. Don't forget to let your friends and
family know that we are here, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to stand with
them and beside them in those tough times. God is still answering prayers,
and He is still in the blessing business! Enjoy football, or whatever your
personal interest may be. However, never forget that your time with the
Lord each day is the most important thing that you will do that day. When
this short journey is over, THAT is what will follow you into eternity!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

If this devotional is a blessing to you, maybe you have a friend or
family member that would like to start receiving this daily word. You
can forward this to them, and they can use the following link to subscribe.
www.liveprayer.com/signup.htm


DAILY DEVOTIONAL FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 24, 2004
(1 Chronicles 29:15, Job 9:25, James 4:14, John 10:10)


Just another day. Today is my 17,020 day on this journey through this brief
life. When we talk about being good stewards of what God gives us, we
immediately think of money. While much of the focus of our stewardship is
on money, I want to remind you today that we are also called to be good and
faithful stewards of our time. The Bible clearly teaches that tomorrow is
promised to none of us, that each day is a gift from God. As I reflect back
on 17, 020 days of life on this earth, I can honestly say that I have NOT
always been a good steward of my time.

The biggest trap we all fall into is taking a day in our life for granted.
We get so used to waking up in the morning, day after day, week after week,
month after month, year after year, that we simply take today for granted
expecting that there will be a tomorrow. The reality is tomorrow is NOT a
guarantee. In the midst of over 40,000 prayer requests that we receive each
day here at Liveprayer, at least 100 of them deal with the death of a family
member or friend. They range in age from the loss of a baby still in the
womb all the way to those who had a full life into their 90's. It is God
who will determine when each of us has completed our journey here, and there
will be no more tomorrows.

A few months ago I preached the funeral for a man in his 30's. This was a
man full of life, athletic, in great shape, had a wonderful family, an
executive in a successful business. His secretary came into his office to
bring him some papers and found him slumped over in his chair, dead from a
massive heart attack. The other day, I was involved in helping a family
deal with the loss of their 17 year old son. The young man was involved in
a 6-car wreck and died in the hospital from his injuries after several days.
Just last night on my TV program, I dealt with a man whose wife had been
having headaches. A perfectly healthy young woman in her late 20's, went to
see the doctor, 3 days later they were operating to remove a tumor on her
brain, and 5 days after the surgery she was dead.

I share these real life incidents with you to help drive home the point that
tomorrow is not promised to us, even though we often assume it will come.
Today, right now, is the only thing we can be assured of. That is why I
want to encourage you to make the most of today. Don't treat it as simply
"another day." The fact is each day is unique unto itself. This day can be
as special as you want to make it. I know that many of you are going
through some difficult times in your life, have many pressing issues that
you are dealing with, fighting tremendous battles. DON'T LET THE DAY TO DAY
TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF LIFE KEEP YOU FROM MAKING TODAY SPECIAL!

How do you make today special? First, you start it in prayer and the Word.
Nobody should even get out of bed without talking to the Lord. Talking with
Jesus should be the very first thing you do when you wake up. Personally, I
don't get out of bed until I have spent time in prayer, conversing with the
Lord, and then spending time in the Word. Before my feet even hit the
ground, I have had a good talk with Jesus and spent some time in His Word.
You can never imagine the strength, the encouragement, the peace and joy you
have when you start your day with Christ and His Word. It helps you focus
on the fact that no matter what may be going on in your life, no matter what
the day may bring, you are not alone.

A big part of making each day special is the balance between all of the
various activities and people that make up your life. Most people either
work or go to school. I realize that dominates a big part of most days.
However you still need to make the time for family, for friends, taking care
of yourself physically through exercise and what you eat, serving the Lord,
in addition to having some time for yourself. Our lives can be as full and
as rich as we want to make them. Each day is special as we go through the
day to day activities we have scheduled, and interacting with all of the
different people that we do during the course of the day.

I love you and care about you so much. I pray that you will never take even
one day of your life for granted again. EACH DAY IS SPECIAL! When it is
over, it is never coming back, so make the most of it. Just as God will
hold us accountable for how we use the money that He entrusts to us
throughout our life, He is also going to hold us accountable for how we use
the time that He has graciously given to us. Never forget, our purpose in
this life is to serve and glorify God with our lives. We can never get so
busy with our lives, so focused on what we want to do, that we forget to
fulfill our purpose by serving the Lord and bringing glory to His name
through our lives each day.

I will be praying for you today. Praying that you will make today special.
Make it special by starting the day with the Lord in prayer and in His Word.
Make it special by being the very best you can be on your job or at school.
Make it special through all of the other activities you may engage in during
the course of the day. Make it special by spending time with family and
friends and interacting with all of the various people you will encounter
during the day. Today is a day like none other, it is special and unique.
Don't treat it as just another day, but as the gift from God that it is!!!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

If this devotional is a blessing to you, maybe you have a friend or
family member that would like to start receiving this daily word. You
can forward this to them, and they can use the following link to subscribe.
www.liveprayer.com/signup.htm


DAILY DEVOTIONAL MONDAY SEPTEMBER 27, 2004
( Proverbs 2:14 )

***THANKS FOR PRAYING!!! I have to admit, Sunday was one of the most
challenging days of my life as we ended up right in the eye of Hurricane
Jeanne. God watched over Liveprayer and we never missed a second, praise
Him! However, many, many lives throughout the state of Florida have been
greatly impacted by this latest storm. Please remember them in your
prayers. Also, DO NOT MISS the Tuesday Devotional as I share a challenging
word that came from many hours with the Lord on Sunday.



The message of "My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé." One of the hottest programs
on
television recently was a FOX program called, "My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé,"
with over 20 million viewers each week. It was a simple concept. Take a
gorgeous, well educated, middle class young woman and promise her $500,000
if she can convince her family that she has met, fallen in love with, and is
going to marry in 3 days a man she met on a reality television program and
have her family participate in the wedding. The man she is supposed to be
marrying who she thinks is working with her in this con on her family, is
actually a professional actor who is fat, obnoxious, and the complete
opposite from who this woman would ever marry. The great finale is to see
if she will continue this con game on her family despite the man's efforts
to make her life, and the life of her family as miserable as possible. Now
THAT my friend is great entertainment.

FOX has also recently brought us wonderful programs where the viewers called
in to vote for one man and one woman who literally got married. The concept
of the program was to see if the marriage worked, since 50% of marriages end
in divorce anyway. *Several networks have programs with the theme of "wife
swapping." Other popular programs included groups of men fighting to win
the
heart of a single gorgeous woman, groups of women fighting to win the heart
of a single handsome man, people who eat bugs and animal parts to win a
prize, and the list of this incredible entertainment goes on. We are
literally only
one small step away from people actually dying for the entertainment of
television
viewers.

What is the point of bringing this up today? The fact that THIS is what our
culture finds entertaining. This is what the people outside the church (and
sadly many inside the church) love to watch. This is the message that
television is sending to the masses, marriage is a joke, people have no
worth, and the only TRUTH is what feels good at this moment. There are NO
MORE BARRIERS. Whatever reins on morality and common decency there used to
be, have been taken off. It is simply now a matter of seeing how
spectacular you can display every conceivable ungodly act that your
imagination can dream up. Our culture is bombarded daily from every
direction with the sickest, most demented messages that man has ever known.
THERE ARE NO MORE LIMITS!!!

This begs the question, where is the church? Where are God's people? The
amazing fact is there are more churches, more ministries, more Christian
television, more Christian radio, more Christian books, more Christian
magazines, more Bibles, more Christian resources of all kinds than ever
before in the history of our world. This creates an interesting picture
doesn't it? How can there be this unbridled sin flaunted so boldly, while
at the same time having these incredible Christian vehicles and resources
that proclaim the Good News and the TRUTH of the Bible? The cold reality is
that even with all of the above, we are simply NOT making an impact on our
culture at large.

A big reason is because the Christian world has to a large extent shut
itself off from the rest of the world. It operates in what I call the
"circular Christian trough". The church has for generations now been mostly
operating in a maintenance mode. The problem with that is as the older
saints leave this life and are on to their rewards in Heaven, there is
nobody new to take their place. Christian ministries reach out to those
already in the church world. As exciting as some of the great crusades and
conferences we hear about are, the fact is, 95% of those people who attend
are already part of the local church community in that area that an "advance
team" spent months cultivating. 97% of those who watch Christian
television, listen to Christian radio, subscribe to Christian magazines are
already Christians. "Evangelists" preach in churches where the vast
majority are already saved.

THE REASON THAT THE PEOPLE OF GOD ARE NOT MAKING AN IMPACT IN OUR PRESENT
DAY CULTURE IS BECAUSE IT IS EASIER TO TAKE OUR MESSAGE TO THOSE WHO ARE
ALREADY IN THE FAMILY OF GOD INSTEAD OF TO THE LOST AND HURTING OUTSIDE THE
4 WALLS OF THE CHURCH!!!

I love you and care about you so much. We are living in a day and time of
GREAT OPPORTUNITIES. I have no doubt that there will be more terrorist
attacks here in the United States in the future. Many people have lost lots
of money in the stock market decline of the last few years. With the
downturn in our economy, many are out of work or underemployed. Now more
than ever, people are hurting and looking for answers. We have the only
true answer for them, and that is faith in Jesus Christ!

I will also share with you something God showed me several years ago. THIS
is why I have had such a passion for the work here at Liveprayer, and why I
have pressed hard every day since we started 61 months ago. God showed me
that satan is loose in our culture like never before. We know that the goal
of satan is to kill, steal, and destroy. He has done a great job of tearing
down the family unit, promoting sex in every deviant form as acceptable,
blasting every conceivable ungodly thing possible thru TV, music, movies.
The end result? DESTROYED LIVES! PEOPLE DYING AND GOING TO HELL EVERY
DAY.

***God told me "Now, like never before, people will be hurting, lost, and
looking for hope. Those who have bought into the lie of satan are hungry
like never before for the real TRUTH, that is only found in God's Word.
NOW, is a time of great harvest. NOW, like never before in human history,
people are tired of the lie, and looking for the TRUTH. NOW IS THE TIME FOR
THE PEOPLE OF GOD TO STAND UP AND BE COUNTED!!!"

I will be praying for you today. The application to your life is simple.
For those who don't know Christ as your savior, you have been chewed up and
spit out by this world, TODAY IS YOUR DAY. You don't have to hurt any
longer, you can find the peace that passes all human understanding in your
life once and for all. Pray, ask God to open your heart, and read the words
at this link: www.liveprayer.com/bdy_salvatn.html .

For those who are saved, who know Christ as your Savior, this is a wake up
call today. The people of God have kept to ourselves for too long. God
called us to be the 'salt of the earth," the "light of the world." Instead,
we have kept the salt in the shaker and hid our light under a bushel. It is
getting late, we only have so much time, and night will soon be upon us.
God is calling HIS PEOPLE to come out of your churches and start spreading
your salt, and shining your light in this world we live in. There are lost,
and hurting people simply waiting for someone to tell them about Jesus, NOT
"My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé."


In his love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

Does God really have a plan for our life? One of the most asked questions I
get each day is "does God really have a plan and purpose for my life?" Let
me assure you that there are no accidents, no coincidences with God. The
One who created the universe and everything in it, did not just create us in
His image to drift from birth to death with no purpose. Those who
understand science will tell you that the incredible perfection of creation
could never have happened by "chance."

Years ago, a dear friend of mine who came to know Christ because of the
irrefutable evidence we have from science, told me that the creation of the
universe and the incredible precision it takes to operate properly could
have never "just happened by accident." He said it would be the equivalent
of taking an expensive, finely tuned Swiss watch apart, throwing in the air
the thousands of pieces that make up the watch, and having it land with
every piece in its place and the watch working perfectly.

My friend, the universe did not just happen, God created it. You did not
just happen, God created you. God did not just create all of this because
He was bored, there is a Divine plan and purpose for everything, including
your life!

The scripture today is God revealing to Paul the plan He had for his life.
Most of us will never have a Damascus Road experience where God audibly
calls down to us and gives us the exact plan for our life. However, as we
are surrendered to His will, He will move us, position us, exactly where He
wants us. He will open and close doors to guide us where He wants us to be.

As you are surrendered to Him and His plan, there are no accidents where you

live, work, go to school, or recreate. It is not an accident who your
neighbors are or the people that are in your life. God strategically places
us where He wants us to be, as His instruments, so we can do our part in
fulfilling His master plan.

The key that you need to hear today is you must be surrendered to Him. If
we rebel against God, if we don't listen to Him, if we do it our way and not
His way, then His plan for our life will never be fulfilled. That is the
choice we have to make each day. To live life our way, or His way.

When we choose our way, we can try, try, and try, and life never seems to
work out. We may be successful in one area, but miserable in others. You
see, when we do it God's way, He takes into consideration ALL areas of our
life. Our work, finances, relationships, health, service to Him,
recreation, He has every area of our life taken care of.

That is why some people you see may have a great plan for their finances and
be very successful by the world's standards, but totally fail in their
marriage or
as a parent. Or some may have a great homelife but are always struggling in
their career. The point is, when you are doing it your way, there is a
fatal flaw....it is your plan, not His.

I love you and care about you so much. I will be praying for you to fully
surrender your life each day to God. Surrendering to Him is the key to
finding God's plan and purpose for your life. TRUST HIM! He will never
let you down, He will never disappoint you, just love you and bless you each
day. God has a perfect plan and purpose for your life!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

DAILY DEVOTIONAL SATURDAY OCTOBER 2, 2004
(Psalms 91:3, 2 Timothy 4:18, 2 Peter 2:9)




Addicted to drugs, alcohol, and food. One of the common bonds we have seen
throughout the course of human history, is the dependence so many develop on
mind-altering substances. The incredible drug problem that we face in this
country is not a new phenomenon. The use of alcohol has been common by
people through the ages. Food has just recently been exposed as a great
escape for many. Man learned how to escape the reality of life using drugs
and alcohol early on in his existence, and the world we live in, in 2004, is
no different than at any other time in human history.

To understand why so many people during their life have turned to mind
altering substances like drugs, alcohol, and food, we must first look at
WHY. The basic human experience has not changed at all since the Garden
of Eden. As children we are affected by those who raise us and our
environment. Our lives are shaped in those early years by where we live,
where we learn, and where we play, as well as by all of the people in each
area of our life. As we become young adults we begin making our own
decisions,
decisions based largely on that foundation laid in our life as children. We
begin to experience life on our own, we are old enough to understand more
of what life is all about, and we begin exploring all of the new feelings
and
experiences that come with being a young adult.

As we hit our 20's, 30's, and 40's, we become focused on working, earning a
living, getting married, and having a family. From 50 and up we start to
look at life from a different perspective since our life is now winding
down. We tend to focus on health issues, retirement, and ultimately our own
death. Along this journey everyone deals with the death of loved ones and
friends, financial problems, where to live, health issues, school and work
problems,
and relationship conflicts. These are common problems we all face during
the course of our life. How we handle these problems becomes the challenge
we all have to deal with.

The use of drugs, alcohol, and food is not complicated. Most start out
using them as an experiment to see what they are like. This is very
common. The fact is, the result of drugs, alcohol, and overeating is that
"high" feeling. That period of time when you seem to escape reality. In
reality you have escaped nothing. You have simply used a substance to alter
your mind and in the process, the problems you were facing seem to be gone.

That too of course is not true since your problems didn't go away, you
simply used a substance to block them out. What has actually happened is
you have added to them since any time you are putting alcohol or drugs or
excessive amounts of food into your body it has a harmful effect. After
using drugs, alcohol, and/or food and getting used to the "escape" or "high"
feeling you get, it then becomes an option, or choice you can make during
times in your life when things are not going well. Unfortunately, many
become addicted and it becomes part of their daily life.

The problems with drugs, alcohol, and food are found at every stage of life.
The experimentation usually starts out when you are younger. You are with
your friends, you take a hit off a joint, or try some alcohol, or take
ecstasy, or snort some coke, or simply sit down and eat quarts of ice cream.
All to see what it is like. What you are doing, is opening the front door
of your life and asking the enemy to come inside. You are asking the enemy
if he is thirsty or hungry. You are telling him to take his shoes off and
relax. You have done to your life the same as if you went and had keys made
to your home and passed them out on the street to total strangers.

Addiction mostly occurs in adults. When we think of addiction, we get the
mental image of the junkie in the alley, or wino. The fact is, most people
are functioning addicts. They go to school, they work, they have families,
they go to church, yet drugs. alcohol, and/or food are a part of their
life. They
cannot live without them. When you welcomed the enemy into your life by
experimenting with drugs and alcohol and food, you didn't know how difficult
it would
be to make him leave.

I love you and care about you so much. I want this word today to
accomplish two things. First, for young adults, even older adults, DON'T
OPEN YOUR LIFE TO THE ENEMY BY EXPERIMENTING WITH
DRUGS, ALCOHOL, OR FOOD. The consequences can literally cost
you your life!!! Secondly, for those who have used drugs and alcohol or
food,
STOP. I realize that it is not easy. Many of you have found out how to use
drugs and alcohol or food to ease the pain of life's trials and
tribulations. The
fact is, you are just compounding them. The only answer to the day to day
issues we all have to deal with in life is a personal relationship with
Christ.
Only though Christ does it all make sense. Only through Christ do we have
the hope and strength to carry on through those difficult times in life.

Whatever temporary relief you may get from drugs or alcohol or food is just
that..temporary. You have not solved the problem, just compounded it. For
those who are addicted, get help. Only the power of God can kick the enemy
out of your life. But there are many fine Christian based programs to help
you overcome your addiction. God is still in the deliverance business, but
you first have to want to be delivered.

I will be praying for those who are battling with drugs, alcohol and/or food
in their life. Maybe this is not an issue in your life, but is in the life
of someone you know. Know that the Bible proclaims, "No weapon that is
formed against thee shall prosper!!!!!!" I am praying and believing for
deliverance and victory in the lives of those who are bound by drugs,
alcohol, and food.


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

If this devotional is a blessing to you, maybe you have a friend or
family member that would like to start receiving this daily word. You
can forward this to them, and they can use the following link to subscribe.
www.liveprayer.com/signup.htm


DAILY DEVOTIONAL SUNDAY OCTOBER 3, 2004
( Proverbs 14:23 )

***Become a LIVEPRAYER.COM DAILY SPONSOR AT:
http://www.liveprayer.com/liveprayerdailysponsor.html



Changing your circumstances. As you can imagine, each day the volume of
emails that pour into Liveprayer.com are mostly prayer requests from people
living through very difficult circumstances in their life. The special word
I have for you today is this. "God wants to help you change your
circumstances!" While prayer needs to be the first thing that we do, and
will be a key part of the process throughout, God expects us to do our part
in the changing of our circumstances.

So many people who are hurting, in the midst of dealing with great problems
in their life, will simply live each day with those problems and do nothing.
My friend, your circumstances are not going to change until YOU make the
effort to change them. You are not going to magically wake up one morning
and have everything be OK. That is not reality. If you want things to
change, YOU need to be an active part of making that happen.

Like everything, there is a right way and a wrong way to make changes in
your life. As I mentioned, prayer is the first step. The second step is
getting a gameplan. Use others in your life that you can trust to help you
formulate that plan. The plan will usually not be something outlandish, but
will normally be very practical and based on good common sense. Also,
whatever plan that the Lord helps you to formulate, realize that it will not
be something that will cause things to magically change overnight. You
didn't get into the problems that you are facing overnight, and rarely will
God deliver you from them overnight.

Many times, our problems can be traced to sin, rebellion, in our life.
Doing things our way instead of God's way. Once we decide to turn to God,
He will help us work our way out of the problem over a period of time. It
is never easy, but we start to learn basic principles like self-discipline,
operating in His strength and not ours, depending on Him each step of the
way. Theses are good elements that we should learn to incorporate into our
daily lives to help us avoid many of the problems life throws at us in the
first place.

Once you have the plan and are working it faithfully each day, you will
start to see things in your life change for the better. Again, the changes
won't happen overnight, but gradually, day by day. The worst thing that you
can do though is do nothing. You can not expect your circumstances to
change by doing nothing.

The reason I find most people don't take an active role in the changing of
their circumstances is because as painful as things may be, they are afraid
of change. The Bible tells us we are not to have a spirit of fear. If you
are serious about seeing your circumstances change, you must get serious
about trusting God to help you make those changes. We are often more
comfortable living in the pain we know, than trusting God who has promised
to help us gain victory.

I love you and care about you so much. I pray today that those of you who
are dealing with circumstances in your life that need to be changed, will
heed this special word today, and get serious about making those changes.
God will give you the wisdom to formulate a workable plan, He will give you
the strength each day to follow through, and He will lead you to victory.

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO LIVE IN PAIN ANY LONGER. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO LIVE IN THE
CIRCUMSTANCES YOU ARE IN ANY LONGER. TODAY IS YOUR DAY. TODAY IS YOUR DAY.
TODAY IS YOUR DAY. NOW IS THE TIME. TRUST GOD AND LET HIM LEAD YOU OUT OF
EGYPT, AND INTO THE PROMISED LAND. THE SAME GOD THAT LED THE CHILDREN OF
ISRAEL FROM BONDAGE MANY YEARS AGO, IS THE SAME GOD WHO WILL LEAD YOU OUT OF
BONDAGE TODAY!!!!!! Amen.


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

If this devotional is a blessing to you, maybe you have a friend or
family member that would like to start receiving this daily word. You
can forward this to them, and they can use the following link to subscribe.
www.liveprayer.com/signup.htm


DAILY DEVOTIONAL MONDAY OCTOBER 4, 2004
(Mark 10:27)

***Become a LIVEPRAYER.COM DAILY SPONSOR AT:
http://www.liveprayer.com/liveprayerdailysponsor.html


If you could ask God for one thing, what would it be? There are many great
and precious promises in the Bible. In the Book of John Chapters 14, 15 and
16 we are told by the Lord that God will give us what we ask for in the name
of Jesus. In Matthew chapter 7 we are told to "Ask, and it shall be given
you." The 37th Psalm tells us that He will give us the "desires of our
heart."

Today, I want to give you a promise in the Bible that will literally
transform your life. They are 6 words spoken by Jesus that can make all the
difference in your life this very moment. Individually, they are just 6
common words. But put together as they were by our Lord, they give us one
of the greatest promises we have in God's Word. This is YOUR promise today!

"ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE WITH GOD" (Mark 10:27)

Jesus didn't say some things...He didn't say a few things....He didn't say a
couple of things...He didn't say selected things....He didn't say certain
things....HE SAID ALL THINGS!!!! You better be standing right now, because
God is about to touch your life. As a matter of fact, I want you to go to
www.liveprayer.com and click on the "AUDIO DEVOTIONAL"
(http://www.liveprayer.com/DailyDevotionalAudio.html) because I'm ready
to start preaching now.

That means if you are sick in your body, God can heal you! That means if
you need a financial miracle, God is your source! That means if your
marriage is in trouble, God can restore it! That means is you need a job,
God can open the doors for employment! That means if you are in some form
of bondage, God can set you free! That means if your children are away from
God, God can bring them home! That means if you have lost a loved one, God
can ease the pain! No matter what your need is today, God is able to meet
that need!

YOUR promise today is 6 words from Jesus, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE WITH GOD!

I want you to take a moment right now, and pray about the most important
thing you need from God today. There is not one person who is reading this
that doesn't need something from God. If you could ask God for anything,
anything at all, what would it be? The fact is, you CAN ask God for
anything, you have been told in His Word to ask for anything, so now it is
time.

I want you to focus on the one thing that you want from God and pray this
simple prayer. "Dear God, I know that your Word is true, and I believe
today that all things are possible with You. I want (insert here the one
thing you want from God). In Jesus name, AMEN!"

I love you and care about you so much. Now is the time to make your faith
real and believe God's Word. There is nothing wrong in your life today that
God can't fix. I want you to know that I will be standing in agreement with
you for the one thing that you have asked God for today. I am believing
with you for that need you prayed for to be met. Remember God's promise for
you today, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE WITH GOD!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

If this devotional is a blessing to you, maybe you have a friend or
family member that would like to start receiving this daily word. You
can forward this to them, and they can use the following link to subscribe.
www.liveprayer.com/signup.htm

DAILY DEVOTIONAL TUESDAY OCTOBER 5, 2004
(Psalms 16:11, 126:5, Isaiah 12:3, Romans 14:17, John 16:33)


Don't let anyone or anything steal your JOY! I realize that as many of you
wake up and read this message today, you have allowed people or the
circumstances in your life to steal your joy. DON'T LET ANYONE OR ANYTHING
STEAL YOUR JOY!!! If you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you
have the assurance that when this brief journey here is over you will be
forever with the Lord. That fact alone is the reason you should always have
joy.

Do you know how many people are waking up this morning who will die and
spend eternity in hell because they have rejected Jesus Christ? Many of
those people have been deceived into following a false religion, many have
simply chosen to live their lives acting like God doesn't exist, and sadly,
many simply don't care. Let me assure you that no matter how deeply someone
believes in a false religion, how great the material possessions a person
may have, without knowing Jesus Christ by faith there can be no real joy in
this life.

People choose to live every day without Christ and deal with the trials and
tribulations of life on their own. Deep down they know something is
missing. Deep down they know there has to be more to this life. No matter
how wonderful your family may be, no matter how much wealth you can amass,
no matter how successful you may become, the fact is living your life
without Christ leaves you empty and void of true joy.

This is a simple yet very profound message for you today. Don't let anyone
or anyhting steal your joy. No matter how much someone you care about may
hurt you, you can still have joy. No matter what someone you work with or
go to school with does to you, you can still have joy. If you are fighting
a health battle today, you can still have joy. If you are hurting
financially, you can still have joy. If your marriage is in trouble, you
can still have joy. If you need a job, you can still have joy. If you are
battling an addiction, you can still have joy. DON'T LET ANY PERSON OR ANY
CIRCUMSTANCE STEAL YOUR JOY!

I love you and care about you so much. I realize many of you are dealing
with serious issues with people in your life today. I am fully aware that
many of you are fighting great battles in your life today. The message that
I want you to hear loud and clear is that no person or no circumstance can
take away your joy. That joy comes from the promise Jesus gave His
disciples and us just a few hours before His death. He said that in this
world we would have trials and tribulations, but to be of good cheer, for HE
HAS OVERCOME THIS WORLD.

That my friend is where our joy comes from. From that precious promise that
no matter who or what may be going on in our life, because we know Jesus
Christ by faith, we not only have the assurance of eternity with Him, but
the promise of His strength,, His peace, and HIS JOY during this brief
journey! Because you know Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit that supplies you
with God's power. Because your know Jesus, you have the peace that passes
all human understanding. Because you know Jesus, you have unspeakable JOY!

I will be praying for you today. As a child of God, a follower of Jesus
Christ, that joy is yours always. It is like if someone gives you a car and
adds on a top of the line stereo system. If you don't play that stereo
system it is YOUR FAULT. If you don't have the joy of the Lord in your life
today, it is YOUR FAULT. For those who know Jesus Christ as their Lord and
Savior you should always have joy in your life. Don't ever let anyone or
anything steal your joy!!!


In his love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

***A special Word to husbands and wives. If you are married, you BETTER
read this. Every word! If you are not married, you STILL better read it
because one day you most likely will be.

I have a question for you men. When was the last time that you told your
wife how beautiful she looked? When was the last time that you told your
wife that she was the most special person in the world? If your answer is
anything but TODAY, you better stop whatever you are doing and tell
her...right now! Do you remember when you were dating, and how you couldn't
wait to be with her? Do you remember how NOTHING in the world mattered but
her? Do you remember that you would do ANYTHING for her? Do you still feel
that way?

If the answer is no, you need to get on your knees and pray for God to
restore those feelings. Just because you are now married, you should feel
the same way and even MORE. After all, this is the woman that God gave you
to share your life with! She isn't like that putter you used to like, but
now is somewhere in the garage...forgotten. You made a vow before your wife
and before God to love her, and to care for her, and to nurture her, until
death do you part. How can you take the most special person in your life,
the one that God gave you, for granted?

Let me give you some advice. You better get on the phone and send your wife
some flowers. Why? For no other reason but to let her know that you love
her and care about her. You better quit ignoring her and her needs. You
better start taking the same amount of time with your wife that you do with
the other things that occupy your time. Women need to be reminded that they
are beautiful. They need to be reminded that you care for them.

While saying it is necessary, you better prove it with your actions. You
are so wrapped up in your career, in your life, in the things that you are
interested in, you are neglecting your wife. You better start making TIME
for your wife. Make the effort to spend TIME with her, and TALK to her.

Ok women, it is your turn. When was the last time that you told your
husband how handsome he was? When was the last time you told your husband
that he was the most special person in the world? If your answer is
anything but TODAY, you better stop whatever you are doing and tell
him...right now! Do you remember when you were dating, how you couldn't
wait to be with him? Do you remember how NOTHING in the world mattered but
him? Do you remember that you would do ANYTHING for him? Do you still feel
that way?

If the answer is no, you need to get on your knees and pray for God to
restore those feelings. Just because you are now married, you should feel
the same way and even MORE. After all, this is the man that God gave you to
share your life with! He isn't like that food processor you used to like,
but now is stored away in the cabinet...forgotten. You made a vow before
your husband and before God to love him, and to care for him, and to nurture
him until death do you part. How can you take the most special person in
your life, the one that God gave you, for granted?

Let me give you some advice. You better stop by the mall and buy your
husband a special gift. Why? For no other reason but to let him know that
you love him and care about him. You better quit ignoring him and his
needs. You better start taking the same amount of time with your husband
that you do with the others things that occupy your time. Men need to be
reminded that they are appreciated. They need to be reminded that you care
for them.

While saying it is necessary, you better prove it with your actions. You
are so wrapped up in your job, in the home, in the kids, in the things that
you are interested in, you are neglecting your husband. You better start
making TIME for your husband. Make the effort to spend TIME with him, and
TALK to him.

I love you and care about you so much. Satan has done such a masterful job
of destroying the beauty and perfection of God's institution of marriage.
He does it in so many deceitful ways. I get thousands and thousands of
emails daily from husbands and wives whose marriages are in trouble. It
breaks my heart. I personally counsel couples all of the time in this area.
Making two lives become one is probably one of the most difficult things
there is in life. It is always magical at first, but maintaining that magic
is not easy. Making it last over time is the goal.

That ONLY happens when Christ is the head of each one of your lives
individually, and the center of your marriage. The greatest relationship
that you will have in this life is with the Lord. After that, it is with
your spouse. Just like you must take time to develop that close, intimate
walk with Christ, you must also take the time and put forth the effort in
your relationship with your spouse.

I will be praying for all of you today that are married. There are two key
elements in a successful marriage. TIME AND TALK. You MUST take time to be
together each day, and you MUST talk to each other. Never forget, God gave
you this special person for the rest of your life. Take every second that
you can to be with that person. Life is short enough, and when it is over,
it is over. Don't waste one second that you can be together. Talk to each
other. Communication is critical.

Libraries are full of books on this issue, so let me close today with this
simple word of encouragement. Take time today to make your husband or wife
feel special. Let them know how much you care for them, and are thankful
for them. MAKE THE TIME. Men, you better make sure every day that your
wife knows how much you love her. Women, you better make sure every day
that your husband knows that he is the most important person in the world to
you. DON'T TAKE EACH OTHER FOR GRANTED! If you love each other as God
calls you to in today's passage of Scripture, your relationship with your
spouse can be the most incredible thing in your life outside of your
relationship with the Lord.


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

<<<Please make sure your children read this, and get it to every person you
know who is not married. This Devotional could save them from a lifetime of
pain and misery!>>>

A warning to those who are not married!!!! My heart has been breaking this
morning. Out of my brokenness, I write these words this morning, praying as
I write, that they may find their way into the hearts and lives of those out
there who are not married, that they will read these words and live by them.
I may ramble a bit today, and may get off on a few tangents, but I am so
consumed with concern, especially for our young adults.

Let me say this to start. Relationships between a man and woman are NOT a
game! It is serious, life-changing business. I get flooded with emails
every time I mention about young adults waiting until after high school to
date. They pour in from young men and women, 13, 14, 15, 16 years old who
tell me that I don't know what I am talking about.
They are in "love." You are playing a game that you have NO BUSINESS
playing, a game that could very easily change your very life before you have
even had a chance to start living it!!!

Getting involved in a relationship unlocks our emotions. It sets off things
inside of us that have incredible power over us to the extent we don't act
or think rationally. We become consumed. Mature, experienced people in
their 20's, 30's, 40' and 50's often destroy their very lives by letting
these emotions rule them. What chance then, does an inexperienced teen
have? None! The results of these teen romances range from hurt feelings,
all the way to death, and everything in between.

I get emails daily from young adults who have diseases they will carry with
them the rest of their life, have had children that obviously dramatically
altered their life, as well as those who made the unfortunate choice to have
an abortion and are now dealing with the consequences of that choice. I get
emails daily from young men and women who have broken up and are
contemplating suicide, can't eat or sleep, or simply have no desire to do
anything.

The fact is, God gave you free will to make choices. Let me simply tell
you, to choose to enter into a serious boyfriend/girlfriend relationship
until you are out of high school is a BAD CHOICE and can dramatically change
your life forever. ***By the way, there is nothing magic about being out of
High School. It is simply one major "life hurdle" out of the way that is
part of the foundation of your life. There is PLENTY of
time after High School to start dating.

Even though this is not even a debatable issue, because it is such a problem
let me quickly address it. There is absolutely NO situation when sex
outside of marriage is acceptable to God. NONE. ZERO. There is a Biblical
word fornication. It literally means any sex outside of marriage and is a
sin. I get emails all the time asking how far can you go? Jesus said if
you lust in your heart you have already committed adultery. If you have to
ask how far you can go, you are already too far. Once you allow lust into
your heart, God says you have already sinned. Let that be your standard to
judge by since it is impossible to engage in ANY act that wasn't already
birthed in your heart. The physical act is simply the manifestation of the
sin already committed in your heart.

Having said that, let me talk to you about the two most important elements
of a relationship should you be thinking of marriage. The first is God's
warning found in 2 Corinthians 6:14 to NOT BE UNEQUALLY YOKED.
I have done entire Devotionals on this issue. It is a warning from God to
protect you. Choosing to ignore this warning is no different than deciding
to run a stop sign. You are asking for serious problems. I can not even
begin
to tell you how many emails I get daily from men and women who
ignored this warning and are now dealing with the consequences.
Consequences by the way that have literally changed their life.

The second is the foundation on which you build your relationship on. If
you do not have a spiritual foundation to your relationship, how can you
expect your marriage to survive the storms that come in every relationship?
It is exactly like the story Jesus told at the end of Matthew chapter 7.
The marriage built on a spiritual foundation is like the house built on a
rock. The marriage built on any other foundation is like the house built on
the sand. My friend, again let me reiterate. God gave everyone free will
to make choices. You can do what you want with your life. My only purpose
today is to help you make wise, informed choices about things that will
affect the outcome of your life.

I love you and care about you so much. I can't even begin to tell you how
my heart is broken today, reading email after email of how people's lives
have been decimated by broken marriages. The fact is, so much of the
heartache, pain, and tragedy many have lived through could have been
avoided if they had simply listened to God. When you are having
relationships without even understanding what is going on in the world, when
you are engaging in sex outside of marriage, when you get married to someone
who is not even a believer, when the foundation of your marriage is built on
looks, sex, money, or anything other than the Lord....you are simply NEVER
going to know the peace, joy, and abundance that this life can offer. .

Is it than a guarantee that if you wait until after high school to start
dating, find a spouse who is saved and living for the Lord, build a
spiritual foundation together, that your marriage will not end in divorce?
No! Sin can creep into people's lives and satan loves nothing more than to
destroy a marriage. But I can promise you that the odds of you making it
are 1,000 times better.

I deeply apologize for the unusual harsh tone of today's Devotional. But
anyone reading these words that is not married, no matter how old you are,
doesn't need these issues sugar coated. Your life is at stake. I guarantee
you many of the people who email me daily would tell you if they could, to
not jump in so quick, listen to God. Not listening can ruin your life. I
know the high price of rebellion in this area. I left my mother's house
mid-way through college, moved in with my girlfriend, and justified it all
by saying, "well, we are going to get married". We did after 9 months, and
2 years later we were divorced! These types of mistakes follow you the
rest of your life.

The other problem is, so many of God's children end up battling with the
domestic issues, they are of little service to the Lord. Never forget, that
is our purpose in this life, to serve and glorify Him with our lives. The
enemy gets us so distracted handling the consequences of our rebellion, that
we have little time or energy left to serve Him.

Please read, and re-read these words today. Commit them to your heart. I
realize how strong emotions can be, and how they can cloud your judgment.
That is why the more focused you are on what God's plan is, the less chance
you will have of compromising and getting into trouble. The bottom line to
these words today is this. Do it your way, and it never works out. You
will never totally know the peace, joy and abundance this life can offer.
Do it God's way, and it works. Life is NOT something to dread, but
something to embrace and enjoy. The choice of what type of life you will
have is yours. I will be praying as you choose God's way and know the great
blessings this life can offer.


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

(1 Corinthians 9:24, Galatians 5:7, Philippians 3:14, 2 Timothy 4:7,8)




Competing for Christ. This is a special time of year for baseball fans as
the playoffs have started to determine who will play in the World Series.
For the 2 1/2 - 3 hours these critical games last, the players are
competing, using their God-given talents and abilities to try and help their
team win. We are now in the heart of football season. Each week in high
school, college, and professional stadiums around the nation, men are
competing for four quarters while their fans cheer them on. As I was
watching a few baseball and football games this past weekend, I began
thinking about another sports fan, Paul.

Paul made several analogies between the Christian life and sports in his
writings. Most had to do with the training an athlete undergoes in
preparing to compete. This weekend I saw another analogy that I am sure
Paul did as well. During the course of the game, these athletes are
competing, using every bit of their talents and abilities to do the best
they can. As the game goes on, some step up and perform heroically helping
their team to win. IF AN ATHLETE CAN USE ALL OF HIS TALENTS AND ABILITIES
TO WIN A GAME, HOW MUCH MORE SHOULD A CHILD OF GOD USE THEIR TALENTS AND
ABILITIES TO SERVE OUR LORD?

Let me challenge you today my friend. If an athlete can go out and train,
practice for endless hours perfecting their skills, go out on the day of a
game and give everything they have to win a game that in light of eternity
is meaningless, the child of God should train harder, practice harder, and
never give less than everything we have since those people we reach for
Christ can escape everlasting separation from God and enjoy eternity with
Him. The performance of an athlete during a game may determine who wins and
loses that game, but the performance of those who serve the Lord can
determine if a person spends eternity with the Lord or is forever separated
from Him. While what that athlete does may be important for that moment,
what the servant of God does is important for eternity!!!

I want you to understand today that what you do for the Lord has eternal
significance. The way you live your life each day, sharing your faith in
Christ with others, allowing God to work through you to bless someone else
is greater than hitting a home run in the World Series or throwing a
touchdown pass in the Super Bowl. Even though star athletes get paid
millions of dollars for what they do on the field, the child of God is paid
in things more precious than silver and gold for what they do for the Lord.
You can't put a price on the peace and joy only God can give you. You can't
put a price on God's blessings. God's rewards for those who are faithful in
serving Him are greater than all the riches of this world.

I love you and care about you so much. I will be praying for you today to
NEVER forget how important what you do for Christ each day really is. You
may not be performing on prime time television, or be on the cover of Sports
Illustrated, but nothing any athlete does in their sport can compare to what
you do when you are serving the Lord. They are providing entertainment to
those who they reach, you are providing the words of LIFE to those who you
reach. Even though man looks at the athlete as a hero, God looks at those
who serve Him as a hero.

The next time you are watching a sporting event, enjoy the special talents
of those who are playing the game. But never forget God has given you
special talents too. He has given every one of His children gifts and
talents to serve Him with. Exercise your gifts and use your talents to
share the hope and love of Christ with the lost and hurting in your life.
There may not be a stadium full of people cheering as you faithfully serve
our Lord, but there is an angelic host rooting you on and Jesus on His
throne waiting to welcome you into Glory when your race is finished!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

MAKE THE TIME AND EFFORT to spend time with those that you love.
One of the greatest tragedies in this life is the time that we DON'T spend
with
those we love the most, those that God has given us to share this journey
with.
***I WANT TO CHALLENGE YOU TODAY. MAKE THE TIME, MAKE THE EFFORT TO TAKE
ONE DAY, AND SPEND IT WITH THOSE THAT YOU LOVE!!! The fact is, you HAVE the
time. As the Nike commercial says, JUST
DO IT!

It may be a day alone with your wife or husband. It may be a day with your
children. It may be time with your father and/or mother. It may be a day
with a grandparent, or an aunt, or an uncle. It may be a day with a close
friend. THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT GOD GIVES US PEOPLE TO INTIMATELY SHARE
THIS BRIEF JOURNEY OF LIFE WITH. SADLY,
THESE ARE OFTEN THE PEOPLE THAT WE TAKE FOR GRANTED THE MOST!!!

One thing I can guarantee you. EVERY person one day will die. Only God
knows when that day is. When a person dies, they are not coming back, so we
must NEVER neglect this brief time that we have together. IT IS A GIFT FROM
GOD!!!

Listen, I understand the day to day reality of life. Work, deadlines,
responsibilities, commitments. I UNDERSTAND ALL OF THAT. But let me ask
you a question. If you get sick today, maybe serious enough that you have
to go to the hospital for a day or two, what will happen? When you get out,
get better, you catch up and keep moving forward at work, at school, in the
various responsibilities and commitments that you have in your life.

Last year, I remember one VERY busy day. It was tightly scheduled as most
every day is for me. But as I was driving back from a meeting, someone
driving carelessly rear-ended my car. Thankfully, nobody was injured, but
the entire process took close to 3 hours before I could get back to my
office and resume my day. THE POINT IS, WE HAVE THE TIME IF WE
WANT TO MAKE THE TIME!!!!

Here is what I am advising you to do. TAKE ONE FULL DAY. FORGET
WORK, FORGET SCHOOL, FORGET WHATEVER YOU WOULD NORMALLY DO THAT DAY AND
SPEND IT WITH SOMEONE THAT YOU CARE
DEEPLY ABOUT. Go take a drive somewhere, do something you both want
to do, goof off, LEAVE THE CELL PHONE AND THE PAGER HOME!!!!!
Take one day and simply spend it with someone that you love. It won't
destroy
your career, it won't destroy your schooling, it won't make you
irresponsible.

This life is very short. We only have a limited number of days to live.
God gives us a few people that we love and are close to, to share this
journey with. It is critical that we pick our spots and spend time with
them. Trust me, one day they will be gone and you will wish they were
here!!! So enjoy those people that God gives us to walk through this life
with while we can!!!

I love you and care about you so much. I have preached too many funerals, I
have been in too many hospital rooms over the last 14 years when people were
wishing that they had more time to spend with those they love. WE TAKE TIME
FOR GRANTED. WE TAKE THE PEOPLE WE ARE CLOSEST TO IN
THIS LIFE FOR GRANTED. This is a chance for YOU to be in control, for
YOU to take some of the precious time God has given you, to enjoy those that
He has given you to share this life with.

I will be praying for you today. I pray that these words do not fall on
deaf ears, or go unheeded. Life always has emergencies that make us change
our normal daily schedule. SPENDING ONE DAY WITH SOMEONE THAT
YOU LOVE WHO WILL BE GONE ONE DAY IS AN EMERGENCY!!!
Don't take them, or the time God gives you for granted. When they are gone,
it will be too late. So do it NOW!!!

We can say "I love you" very easy. However it takes time and effort to SHOW
someone that you love them. TAKE THE TIME, MAKE THE EFFORT TODAY....THERE
MAY NOT BE A TOMORROW!!!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

DAILY DEVOTIONAL MONDAY OCTOBER 18, 2004
(Revelation 13:16,17)




***LAST WEEK, the FDA approved a microchip (verichip) that will be implanted
in humans. Back in March of this year, I wrote the Devotional below and
remember the incredible number of emails that I received telling me I was
crazy. Just like the emails I have received over the years telling me I was
crazy for telling people marriage between homosexuals would soon be legal
and the Bible would eventually be deemed hate speech. This Devotional is
meant to be an encouragement and challenge to you that we ARE living in the
last days, that Jesus is returning sooner than we think, and we have a
wonderful opportunity to be part of bringing in that last great harvest of
souls before the world as we know it ceases to exist. Time is short my
friend, it is time to get serious about telling this lost world about Jesus
while we still have time.


MONDEX, is this the "mark" spoken of in Revelation? Over the past 62
months, I have written many times on the fact that we are in the "last days"
according to the Bible. All you have to do is read the words of Jesus in
Matthew Chapter 24, the words of Paul in 2 Timothy Chapter 3, and the words
of Peter in 2 Peter Chapter 3, to see that what they describe as the
conditions in the "last days" clearly exist today. Of course no man knows
the exact date or time Christ will return, only God knows that, but based on
the signs the Bible says will mark the "last days," it is clear His return
is imminent.

That is why what I am about to share with you should not be a surprise. We
are living in a time when we will see many of the prophetic events the Bible
speaks of unfold right before our very eyes. MONDEX (the word is a
combination of the word MONETARY=money and DEXTER=belonging to the right
hand) is a company that is providing a cashless system through microchip
technology to over 20 major nations at this very moment. The system is
based on SMART CARD technology which employs a microchip concealed in a
plastic card that stores electronic cash, identification, and other
information. 51% of MONDEX is owned by MasterCard.

The microchips for the SMART CARD are made by Motorola. They can produce 1
billion microchips per year and have been in production for over a year now.
However, MONDEX has already determined that the SMART CARD has problems such
as theft and fraud. The only solution is a biochip that can be implanted in
humans.
Motorola has developed several human implantable biochips. These biochips
are the size of a grain of rice and measure 7 mm long and .075 mm wide.
They contain a transponder (a system of storage for reading information in
microchips) and a rechargeable lithium battery that is charged by a
thermocouple circuit that produces voltage from the fluctuations in body
temperature.

Motorola spent over 1.5 million to determine the best place to insert this
chip in the human body and came up with only two suitable places, the
forehead just under the hairline, and the back of the hand, specifically the
right hand. Why is this important? Revelation 13:16 says, "He also forced
everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark
on his right hand or on his forehead."

These biochips are already being used by the wealthy as a tool to prevent
kidnapping. They are also currently being used in animals to both identify
pets
and keep track of livestock on farms. Humans will use it primarily for cash
and
identification, but also for storing medical information and other data.
You can see how they could come into play in the last days according to
Revelation 13:17, "so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark,
which is the name of the beast or the number of his name."

What I am sharing with you today is not meant to scare you or to make you
live your life in fear. Quite the opposite. This world as we know it is
actually winding down exactly as God said it would. Nothing that is going
on today should really be a surprise, after all, God already told us what
the last days would be like. He also told us what He expects from us during
these last days. God is looking for us to be busy, working hard while we
still have some light left since the darkness is fast approaching. We are
expected to be found faithfully serving our Lord when He returns.

I love you and care about you so much. I am grateful to God to be living in
such exciting times as these. We have the privilege of seeing God's Word
come alive each and every day as the moment of Christ's return gets closer
and closer. I am not going to get into a debate on the order of end time
events, but the most commonly held view of those events has Christ retuning
for His church PRIOR to the time the anti-Christ will be in power. I share
that with you so that you can take comfort that even though the technology
may exist that will be used during that time, most believe those who
currently know Christ as their Savior will not be on the earth during the
reign of the anti-Christ.

I am praying today that you catch a glimpse of how close to the end of time
we are, that the return of our Lord is imminent, it can literally happen at
any moment. While we all have our own trials to contend with, we must stay
focused on the fact that our purpose in this life is to serve and glorify
God with our lives. He has allowed us to live during the final events of
human history. There is one last great harvest to be brought in before this
world as we know it is brought to an end. NOW IS THE TIME FOR THOSE WHO
KNOW CHRIST AS THEIR SAVIOR TO GET SERIOUS ABOUT SERVING HIM.

The Bible tells us we are living in the "last days," that the events in our
world each day are pushing us closer to the final chapter of human history,
and at any moment we will hear the trump blow and our Lord will return!!!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

Praying to God, but which god? Forty years ago, there would have been no
need to even write a Devotional like this. Not only does the need exist for
me to have to address this issue today, but it is a message that the world
AND the church needs to hear. You see my friend, there is only ONE GOD, and
that is the God of the Bible. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When
we pray, there is only ONE GOD that we pray to, the God of the Bible. All
other gods are false gods. Praying to a false god is as productive as
praying to a tree, your refrigerator, or a toilet. There is only ONE GOD
that hears and answers our prayers, and that is the God who created the
heavens and earth, the God who created you and me, the God of the Bible.

It is critical that when we are talking with someone and use the name "God,"
we call Him the "God of the Bible." That way, there will not be any
confusion to those we are talking to, who you are talking about. Because we
are a nation where people are free to worship whatever god they want and
with the influx in the past 100 years of people from every corner of the
globe who have brought with them their false gods, not to mention the
aggressive marketing and recruiting campaigns by every cult known to the
world, simply saying "God" is not good enough. That is why you need to
start making it a practice in your day to day conversation to call God, the
God of the Bible.

I am aware of the various names that the Bible calls God by, but there are
many false religions in the world that use all of the various names we have
for God. There is no way to say "God" and be 100% positive everyone
understands which god you are speaking about unless you call Him the GOD OF
THE BIBLE. Also, when you hear someone use the name God, DO NOT just assume
they are talking about the God of the Bible!

Let me make this perfectly clear. Allah is NOT God! Buddha is NOT God!
The god of the Mormon cult is NOT God! The god of the Jehovah's Witness
cult is NOT God! The god of the Kabbalh cult is NOT God! The god of the
Hindu is NOT God! The god of Scientology is NOT God! The god of the
Christian Science cult is NOT God! All of the gods of the false religions
of the world are NOT God! My friend, there is but ONE GOD, He is the GOD OF
THE BIBLE!

I want to expose for you right now one of the politically correct traps that
many Christians have fallen into, and it needs to stop now. It is a subtle
trap of satan that they have fallen into so they don't offend anyone. I
think it is comical that satan has no problem offending Christians every
moment of every day, yet we are supposed to be sensitive to people's
"feelings." Let me tell you right now, if you are REALLY sensitive to
people's feelings, you will tell them the truth of God's Word so that they
don't perish for eternity.

Many high profile Christians that talk to large audiences of Christians and
non-Christians, those in the public arena, will use the name of God. I have
no doubt they are speaking of the God of the Bible. I have no doubt that
their Christian listeners understand they are referring to the God of the
Bible. But I also have no doubt that those non-Christians hear the name God
and believe it to be whatever false god thy may believe in. I can guarantee
you when a Muslim hears the name "God," he is thinking of allah. Allah is
no more the God of the Bible than Mickey Mouse is. They are both fictional
characters! I can guarantee you that when a Mormon hears the name "God," he
is thinking of the god of Mormon theology. The god of the Mormon cult is no
more the God of the Bible than Jesus and Lucifer are brothers as that cult
believes!

This is serious my friend.. During the time of prayer and fasting for the
upcoming elections, there is only ONE GOD that we will be praying
to, and that is the God of the Bible since He is the one we have turned our
back on and sinned against. Each May, this nation observes the
National Day of Prayer. I am calling on all of those associated with any
National Day of Prayer events to use the term "God of the Bible" when they
refer to God. I realize that they are afraid of offending those who believe
in the false gods of the world, but what is the use of having a national day
of prayer to pray to a false god that doesn't exist? I am challenging all
of those involved to not worry about what people will say, but boldly
proclaim God to be the God of the Bible, since He and He alone is God!

I love you and care about you so much. I realize that while we have been
sleeping and not paying attention, we now have laws that take the God of the
Bible out of the public discourse. They have taken God out of the schools,
removed Him from all public buildings, are trying to take His name out of
the Pledge, working on removing Him from our money, and will continue to do
everything they can to eliminate God. Now more than ever, those who know
the God of the Bible must do everything we can to insure that HIS name is
clearly identified and boldly proclaimed to this lost world since He is the
only hope we have.

I will be praying for you today. Praying that when you say the name God,
you identify Him as the God of the Bible so that those who hear you will
have no doubt who you are talking about. In this lost and hurting world
there are many false gods, but there is only ONE TRUE GOD. That is the God
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God who created the heavens and the earth.
When we pray, there is only ONE GOD to pray to who hears and answers our
prayers, that is the God of the Bible!!!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

DAILY DEVOTIONAL SATURDAY OCTOBER 23, 2004
(Deuteronomy 28:7)

***A CALL TO PRAYER! In 2000, Liveprayer mobilized over 1.5 million people
to pray for the elections and that God would allow to rise to power men and
women who would follow His heart. Over 3 million prayed and fasted 40 days
for our nation and its leaders earlier this year. I am calling on everyone
who is part of the Liveprayer family to pray and fast as led during these
next two weeks that God will bring men and women into office who will uphold
Biblical standards as they lead our nation. May we repent of our gross
wickedness, turn from our sins, and once again turn back to God before He
completely removes His hand of blessing from our land and we suffer His
wrath.


Defeating the enemies you face in your life today. I love the great promise
in God's Word in Deuteronomy 28:7 that tells us God will allow our enemies
to be defeated, and how they will come at us from one direction, but flee in
seven! Do you need to hear that promise today? Do you need the assurance
that your enemies will be defeated and flee from you? My friend, we ALL
need that promise today since every person reading this Devotional is
fighting some kind of enemy in their life this very moment.

For some of you, your enemy may be finances, for others it may be a health
issue. For some of you, the enemy you are fighting today may be some sort
of addiction, for others it may be dealing with the loss of someone you
loved. For some of you, your enemy may be a problem in your marriage or
close relationship, for others it may be the need for a job. For some of
you, your enemy may be people who are coming against you at home, at work,
or at school, for others it may be a legal problem. THE FACT IS, everyone
that is reading this is fighting SOME enemy in your life today.

It would have been easy today to deal with some of the larger issues facing
us as a nation and those who know Christ as their Savior. The war in Iraq,
the upcoming elections, and many other
important issues. But my focus today is on YOU and the enemies you face in
your life today. We all need to be aware of, and doing our part in the
larger battles we fight together, but I know for many of you, the most
important thing happening is NOT what is on the news, but the enemies you
are dealing with in your life this very moment.

I want you to know that you are not fighting your enemies alone today. The
Bible tells us that the "battle is the Lord's!" WOW! Never forget for a
moment that you have God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth fighting
for YOU today! Also, I am here praying for you, believing God for victory
over whatever enemies you are facing in your life. So my word for you today
is to rise up, fight in the strength God will give you, and know that your
enemies WILL BE DEFEATED AND FLEE FROM YOU, not in one direction, but in
seven!!!!!

I love you and care about you so much. Jesus Christ died on a cross 2,000
years ago so that you could live TODAY in victory. That is why if you put
your faith and trust in Jesus, you not only have the assurance of victory
over death, but you have the assurance of victory over your enemies in this
life as well! Jesus told His disciples that in this world they would have
tribulation, but to be of good cheer because HE HAD OVERCOME THIS WORLD!
What that means for you is that He has already defeated your enemies. No
matter what the enemies in your life today may be, Christ has already
assured you of victory!

I will be praying for you. The Holy Spirit told me today that so many of
you simply needed a word of encouragement. You needed to be reminded that
God has promised you victory. Instead of going through this day with your
shoulders slumped, your head down, looking like someone that has lost, you
need to stick your chest out, walk boldly and confidently forward, because
you have already won the victory..YOUR ENEMIES HAVE ALREADY BEEN
DEFEATED!!!!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

If this devotional is a blessing to you, maybe you have a friend or
family member that would like to start receiving this daily word. You
can forward this to them, and they can use the following link to subscribe.
www.liveprayer.com/signup.htm


DAILY DEVOTIONAL SATURDAY OCTOBER 30, 2004
(Genesis 6:12)

***CORRECTION: The Titanic sunk in 1912, not 1918. I apologize for that
incorrect
statement in the Friday Devotional.

***A CALL TO PRAYER! In 2000, Liveprayer mobilized over 1.5 million people
to pray for the elections and that God would allow to rise to power men and
women who would follow His heart. Over 3 million prayed and fasted 40 days
for our nation and its leaders earlier this year. I am calling on everyone
who is part of the Liveprayer family to pray and fast as led during these
next few days that God will bring men and women into office who will uphold
Biblical standards as they lead our nation. May we repent of our gross
wickedness, turn from our sins, and once again turn back to God before He
completely removes His hand of blessing from our land and we suffer His
wrath.

***SPECIAL ELECTION DEVOTIONALS! Do not miss the Daily Devotional on
Monday, "Leadership, political versus spiritual," and Tuesday which will be
a special "word" for our nation.


THE UNITED STATES IS NO LONGER A CHRISTIAN NATION (Part One of Two)

***THIS DEVOTIONAL NEEDS TO BE SENT TO EVERY ELECTED OFFICIAL AS A REMINDER
OF THE STATE OF OUR NATION. IT SHOULD ALSO GO TO EVERY PASTOR AND CHRISTIAN
LEADER TO HELP THEM FOCUS ON WHAT WE ARE FACING IN THE YEAR 2004. IT SHOULD
BE APPARENT THAT THE UNITED STATES IS NO LONGER A CHRISTIAN NATION, BUT WE
STILL ENJOY GREAT FREEDOMS TO SHARE THE HOPE AND LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST WITH
THE HURTING AND LOST.

The United States is no longer a Christian nation. If the recent events in
Montgomery over the rock with the Ten Commandments, and the current legal
challenge to "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance tell us anything, it is
that the United States is no longer a Christian nation. One of the biggest
misconceptions Christians have today, is that this is still a Christian
nation.

Only the foolish try to argue the fact that this nation was not founded by
men and women that believed in the God of the Bible and had a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ. There is no way to deny that the largest
percentage of the first several generations of people in this country were
Christians. It was clearly a nation that honored God, followed His Son
Jesus, and accepted the Bible as the inspired, inerrant Word of God,
representing absolute truth, and our final authority in all matters.
However, that is no longer the case, and has not been for many years now.

How can I make such a definitive statement? How can you call this a
Christian nation when the Federal Government legally protects the murder of
app. 2 million babies every year? How can you call this a Christian nation
when people that have chosen lifestyles that God calls an abomination are
now accepted and promoted as normal? How can you call this a Christian
nation when God's gift of sex has been perverted and is now marketed and
accessible to anyone, of any age, at any time?

How can you call this a Christian nation when God's Holy Institution of
Marriage has been mocked and turned into little more than a legal date? How
can you call this a Christian nation when God's definition of a family is
being
rewritten daily by those who reject God in their life? The answer is, you
can
no longer call this a Christian nation for these and numerous other reasons.

The logical question has to be, how did we go from being what was without
argument a Christian nation, to the spiritual state that we find ourselves
in today. There are two key elements involved. The first is the incredible
numbers of people that immigrated to the United States since 1900. People
from all over the world that brought to this nation their own religious
beliefs
and false gods. People that did not believe in the God of the Bible and
rejected His Son Jesus.

The second is a topic I have discussed often, and that is a weak and
ineffective church since the 1960's and a void of real spiritual leadership.
Churches that lost their evangelistic zeal and became institutionalized.
Men and women God called who found it much more comfortable to ignore the
lost world they were living in, and hide behind the four walls of the church
and in the Christian media where they can preach to the choir where it is
safe and profitable.

So what is the answer. I will continue to support in prayer issues like the
Ten Commandments, the taking out of "under God" in the Pledge, and similar
efforts to take God out of our nation. But let me be frank with you.
Having a rock with the Ten Commandments on it in a courthouse in Montgomery,
Alabama, having children recite the Pledge and saying "under God," is NOT
going to make this a Christian nation again. WHAT WILL MAKE THIS A
CHRISTIAN NATION AGAIN IS GETTING PEOPLE SAVED!!!

The reality of the year 2004 is that there is 2 full generations of people,
the largest percentage of which have never been to church. These
people are NOT coming to church on Sunday morning, they are NOT watching the
Christian media, and if you want to reach these people you need to take the
message of Christ to them. Why are cults like Mormonism, Scientology, false
religions like Islam and various New Age movements the fastest growing in
our nation today? BECAUSE THEY ARE TAKING THEIR MESSAGE,
THAT IS STRAIGHT FROM THE PITS OF HELL, DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE!!!

How does the world get its message to the masses? Commercial television and
radio, newspapers and magazines, music, film, the Internet, and advertising
are all ways the world forces its messages into people lives literally 24/7.
This is how the cults and false religions of the world are doing it. THIS
IS HOW THE PEOPLE WHO KNOW CHRIST AS THEIR SAVIOR
BETTER START DOING IT!!! WE NEED TO BE USING THE SAME
VEHICLES THE WORLD, THE CULTS AND FALSE RELIGIONS ARE
USING TO TAKE THEIR MESSAGE TO THE MASSES!!!

I love you and care about you so much. I get no joy out of sharing a
message like this, but it is my responsibility to tell you the truth. While
the United States is no longer a Christian nation, it is still a nation of
great freedoms. We must take advantage of those freedoms, while we still
have them I might add, to take the message of the hope and love of Jesus
Christ to this lost, hurting, and dying nation and world. We know that
Jesus is the only true answer for this world, for the United States, and for
each person.

The encouraging fact is that we already know how this story ends. We should
take great comfort in knowing that even though this nation has turned its
back on God, in the end He still wins. We also need to realize that there
are tremendous opportunities to bring many people into the Kingdom in these
last days. We need to quit worrying about what used to be, and start
focusing on what is. While we were fighting over a rock, the cults and
false religions were busy leading good people into everlasting damnation.
While we will expend lots of time and energy trying to keep "under God" in
the Pledge, the cults and false religions of the world will be busy leading
people straight to Hell.

Please, don't misunderstand me. We need to pray for these efforts to keep
God in our culture. But the fact these are even issues simply point out
that there is a majority in this nation that do not care about God, do not
know His Son, and reaching these people with the hope and love of Christ is
what God has called us to do. The time is short. His return is imminent.
The United States is no longer a Christian nation, but He still has a people
and a church that He will use to take His message to this lost and dying
world.


In his love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

***THANK YOU to the 3 million plus people who have been fasting and praying
these past weeks for the election today. May God hear the prayers of His
people!


"But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a
king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to
lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles." When Samuel heard
all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD . The LORD
answered, "Listen to them and give them a king." " (1 Samuel 8:19-22)


A "word" for our nation. I am reflective today as our nation goes to the
polls to exercise our right to elect men and women into office at the local,
state, and national level. Romans 13:1 clearly tells us that nobody rises
to power unless God allows them to. No matter who God allows to come into
power, the one thing I can guarantee you is that Wednesday morning, GOD WILL
STILL BE ON HIS THRONE AND IN CONTROL! I know many are worried
about the outcome of the election. Don't ever forget that our faith is not
in a man, but in THE MAN!!!

The one point I want you to hear loud and clear this morning is that no
matter who is at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue the next 4 years, no matter who is
in the House and Senate, no matter who is the governor of your state, no
matter who your local dog catcher is, they are not the ones who are going to
lead this nation out of the spiritual abyss it is in. That is only
going to happen by those men and women God has called forth to lead the
people in righteousness and Biblical values!

The choice for President has ultimately boiled down to a matter of
restraining God's wrath. Because of the void in spiritual leadership in
this nation, God allowed President Bush to come into office in 2000 with the
opportunity to exercise bold leadership in several pressing spiritual issues
that will one day soon bring God's wrath down on this nation. Instead of
seizing the opportunity God presented him to be a Joshua or a Moses,
President Bush chose to simply be another politician who happened to be a
Christian.

In a recent interview with ABC's "Good Morning America's," Charlie Gibson,
President Bush stated he supported civil unions, that the allah of Islam is
the same as the God of the Bible, and that Christians, non-Christians, and
Muslims will all get to Heaven, we just have different routes of getting
there. It was so sad to hear the President support civil unions which is
just another name for gay marriage. President Bush also needs to be taught
that the allah of Islam is NOT the God of the Bible. Lastly, while it is
politically correct to say all people will go to Heaven, it is a lie from
the
pits of hell since the Bible CLEARLY teaches there is only ONE WAY, and that
is through faith in Jesus Christ.

As for Senator Kerry, no matter how much dancing he wants to do, the fact is
he supports a woman's right to kill her baby, supports the destruction of
God's Holy Institution of Marriage, and shows no interest in even beginning
to defend Biblical values. While he has claimed to be a man of faith on the
campaign trail, his record after decades of public service clearly indicate
he will only help exacerbate the spiritual decline of our nation.
Amazingly, there are many who profess to be followers of Christ that support
this man. But there are also "churches" that accept and condone
homosexuality and the slaughter of innocent babies, so it should be no
surprise they support a man who stands for what the Bible clearly calls sin.

(Note: The pollsters are incredibly ignorant when they talk about who
people who go to church will vote for. They clearly do not understand that
the vast majority of churches, especially mainline denominations like the
United Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal, Lutheran, and others which
represent over 50% of the church population, do NOT hold the Bible to be
God's inspired, inerrant Word and openly accept sins like homosexuality
and abortion. People in these churches that pollsters assume are for
President Bush are largely for Senator Kerry.)

The bottom line is one man will only slow down the spiritual decay in our
nation, the other man will allow it to continue unabated. God's cosmic time
clock is ticking my friend. Sadly neither man will do anything to try and
stop it. That is why I am amused when I hear people trying to find the
United States in the Bible. It is not there no matter what some may lead
you to believe. As great as this nation has been has been over the years,
as wonderful an instrument of God the United States has been in leading
millions all over the planet to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, in the
final days this nation will not exist.

So does that mean we just go hide and wait for Jesus to return? ABSOLUTELY
NOT! I can assure you I am more motivated today than ever to serve God.
I read about Paul and the disciples of Christ as they took the
Gospel to the world of their day. A world that was void of God and looking
to destroy the Christian faith. I read about the great men and women of God
in the past 2000 years who were faithful in sharing the hope and love of
Christ with a world that in many cases wanted nothing to do with Jesus.

I am very much aware of the modern day heroes of the faith. These are not
people you will ever see on TV, listen to on radio, who have written books,
or you can go hear speak. I am talking about the real heroes of the faith
whose names you will never know in many nations that on this very day,
November 2, 2004, are in prison, being tortured, suffering all kinds of
persecution,
simply because they identify their life with Jesus Christ and preach the
Gospel! These courageous warriors for Christ put their very lives on the
line every day when they share the truth of God's Word. They are being
killed every day for only one reason, they are Christians! If they are
willing to give their life for Christ, can we do any less?

Even though our nation has turned its back on God and is involved in every
type of wickedness you can imagine, for this season we still have incredible
freedoms to share the truth of God's Word and the hope and love of Jesus
Christ with this hurting, lost, and dying world. I can assure you that as
this nation continues to deteriorate spiritually, as God begins to unleash
His wrath on us for our rebellion, there will be incredible opportunities to
see people won for Christ. The Bible talks about that last great harvest of
souls, and I firmly believe we will have the honor of helping to bring in
that final group of Believers before Christ returns.

I love you and care about you so much. The word for our nation is that
God's patience has run out. It has only been His grace and mercy that has
held back His wrath thus far. God did not hesitate to bring down His wrath
on His chosen people, why would we think that we would be spared when we
have chosen to live in open, unrepentant rebellion against Him. Each day
we walk around with our middle finger pointed at God, shaking our fist at
the sky, literally pulling down our pants and mooning our Creator. God is a
God of love, a God of mercy, but He is also a God of judgment. It is not a
matter of IF we deserve God's judgment, only WHEN we receive God's judgment.

That is why now more than ever those who know Christ as their Savior MUST
rise up and be counted. Don't ever think again that your life doesn't
matter. God has work for YOU to do. God is calling His children in these
last days to rise up and take a stand for righteousness. I don't want you
to
ever forget that our purpose is to serve and glorify God. There is nothing
greater we will ever do with our lives than serve our Lord. The Bible tells
us that
night is coming and we must work while it is yet light. I want to encourage
you to
realize that if you know Christ as your Savior, serving Him is NOT an
option, it is
a responsibility.

Over the past 4 days I have clearly shown you this is no longer a Christian
nation, that the majority of people in the United States are no longer
followers of Jesus Christ. I shared with you how God rarely intended
political leaders to be spiritual leaders and that now more than ever those
men and women God has raised up must lead the people spiritually. This
nation will have to pay the price for our rebellion against God. Difficult
days are ahead, but it is in those difficult days that great opportunities
to share the hope and love of Jesus Christ exist. I pray that you will
prepare yourself through your daily walk with the Lord to be a great warrior
for Christ as these last days unfold. The battle is about to begin in
earnest and the eternal souls of men are at stake. God is calling YOU
today.

In closing, let me leave you with this word of exhortation from Hebrews
Chapter 11: "All these people were still living by faith when they died.
They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed
them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers
on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a
country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had
left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing
for a better country--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be
called their God, for he has prepared a city for them."


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

DAILY DEVOTIONAL SATURDAY NOVEMBER 6, 2004
(John 10:10)


(from an email received)
"Lately you have chosen to come down in fierceness regarding the
Episcopalian Church, Mormons, Neale Donald Walsch, and Satan with a
vengeance that is ravaging....Your gloatings about getting in the face of
Satan also greatly disturb me as a believer.....There is an arrogance and
violence toward Satan in your messages that are deeply troubling to me....I
sense neither gentleness nor respect (when talking about satan) in your
words."


Satan is not your friend, he is not your buddy! Sadly, the above are
comments from an email I received the other day. However, the person is
correct, I have NO respect for satan whatsoever. I allowed satan into my
life at one point and I am only here today, doing what I am doing, by the
grace of God who rescued me. I will do everything I can with every breath I
take to stop him from accomplishing his true goal.

Sadly, people of all ages underestimate satan's goals even though Jesus
clearly told us what they are in John 10:10. He is out to steal, kill, and
destroy. Satan's desire is to steal your hope, steal your joy, steal your
peace, steal the abundance that this life can be. Satan wants to kill you.
He wants you dead in your sin so that you will be forever separated from
God, your Creator, and destined to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire that
will be his eternal home. Satan wants to destroy you. If you are already a
Christian, he wants to destroy your testimony, to destroy your ability to
serve God, to destroy the plan and purpose God has for your life. My
friend, satan is NOT playing games, he is deadly serious!!!

That is why I am so passionate each day in what I share with you in regard
to sin. Each day, I receive over 40,000 prayer requests from all over the
world. Literally 7 days a week I am dealing with the very real lives, of
very real people, that due to sin have had their lives turned upside down.
I get to see daily the destruction sin does in people's lives. Satan is an
equal opportunity destroyer. He doesn't care if you are young or old, if
you are male or female, if you are white or black. Satan doesn't care if
you are rich or poor, where you live, how intelligent you may or may not be.
SIN IS A UNIVERSAL ISSUE THAT ALL MEN AND WOMEN DEAL
WITH EVERY DAY!

I realize that I can't force you to follow God, or to obey Him. I
understand that you have to make your own choices. What God has called me
to do is simply share the TRUTH of His Word with you each day. It really
boils down to this. When you obey God, you will be blessed. When you rebel
against God, you will face the consequences. Obeying God brings blessings,
disobeying God brings consequences. This is true whether you are 10 or 100,
and every age in between.

I love you and care about you so much. Satan is NOT some cartoon character
created by Walt Disney. Satan is a very REAL force in the world for this
short season. He is not to be feared, but understood. We must never forget
that for this brief season, he is very much on the loose, with the clearly
defined goal to steal, kill, and destroy the lives of real people. However,
there is no reason to fear satan because 2000 years ago Jesus Christ rose
out of His tomb and sealed the enemy's eternal fate. He is a defeated foe!
The Bible proclaims that, "greater is He that is in me, than he that is in
the world."

I will be praying for you today. I pray that you will not take sin lightly,
or the potential consequences of sin in your life. Satan is a LIAR. John
8:44 tells us that he is the "father of lies!" God gives us a great promise
in 1 John 1:9 that if we will confess our sins, He will forgive us, and
cleanse
us of all unrighteousness. It does NOT say that we will escape the
consequences of our sins, but that God will forgive us and give us the grace
and strength to deal with whatever they may be.

The good news is that YOUR life is not over, simply because you have sinned.
The key is to go to God, confess your sins, receive His forgiveness, and
move forward with your life. God is a God of grace, mercy, and restoration.
Satan will lie to you and tell you that you are worthless because of your
sin and that you have no hope. The truth is that God never stops loving you
and that your hope is in Him. Satan wants to destroy you, God wants to
bless you. Satan wants you to die, God wants you to live. May you choose
the God of hope, blessing, and life!!!

SATAN IS NOT YOUR FRIEND, HE IS NOT YOUR BUDDY, HE IS
YOUR ENEMY. Treat him like your enemy! He is out to destroy YOU!
Any chance you get, KICK HIM AS HARD AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN!!!


In his love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

Senior saints are the most under-used and under-appreciated resources in
the church today! I want to let you in on a secret. One of the great
sources of strength, encouragement, and confidence that I have in my life
and ministry, comes from hundreds of senior saints worldwide that pray for
me every day. These are senior men and women that know God intimately
because they have been walking with Him for decades. These are senior men
and women that know every inch of the Throneroom of God because they have
spent so much time there. These are senior men and women that have calluses
on their knees from spending tens of thousands of hours over their lives in

prayer. Knowing that these seasoned veterans of the faith are praying for
me each day, is like the security blanket that Linus (of Peanuts fame)
always carries around with him.

Sadly, many churches don't give their senior saints the honor and respect
that they are due. The reality is, that many of these men and women helped
form the foundation of the church. When work needs to be done, they are
always there. When projects need to be funded, you can always count on
them. When the doors of the church are open, that is where you will always
find them. The senior adults are the pillars of the house of God!

However, the greatest contributions that these men and women of God can make
is in the SPIRITUAL LIFE of the church. They are great prayer warriors.
They know that the altar is not for flower displays, but for people to come
and travail before God. They have the experience with God to know that
their prayers may not be answered in the first 30 seconds, and will "wait
upon the Lord" until He does answer!

They know the Word of God. All you have to do is look at their Bibles to
know that they have been read over, and over, and over, and over again!
God's Word is the "lamp" unto their feet. These aged warriors also have
incredible wisdom about real life. They have lived 60, 70, 80, 90 years on
this earth. They have seen and experienced everything that this life has to
offer, both good and bad. The church needs to start tapping into the
decades of walking with God and the real life experiences that our senior
saints have to offer.

For those of you that are struggling with issues in your life today, here is
my advice. Men, seek out an older man in the church that will agree to
stand with you. Women, you need to seek out an older woman in the church
that will stand with you. They can give you great wisdom about life, wise
counsel for the problems that you are facing, not to mention call out your
name before God each day.

The fact is, these senior men and women are LOOKING FOR OPPORTUNITIES
to be used by God. I have several special men in my life that I speak to
every
week. I spend a good part of my life talking, that is what God has called
me to do. But I can assure you that when I am speaking with one of these
Godly treasures, I shut up and listen, trying to be like a sponge and absorb
all of their wisdom that I can.

I love you and care about you so much. I pray today that the church will
recognize this incredibly valuable and underused asset that we have in the
Kingdom. So many of our senior men and women have been asked to sit on the
sidelines, when they still have so much to offer. I want to encourage the
young adults today to love, honor, and respect those older men and women in
your life, and MAKE TIME to spend time with them. The greatest gift that
you can have in this life is wisdom. That is what you can gain from these
senior saints, WISDOM!

Finally, let me say a word to those precious senior saints today. I have a
special word for you today. GOD IS NOT THROUGH WITH YOU! Let
me say it again. GOD IS NOT THROUGH WITH YOU! You are in a wonderful
season of your life where God can use you to be a blessing to so many. You
have lived lots of life, gained great wisdom over these many years, and now
God wants you to share that wisdom with the next generation.

I read in the Bible how God used many men and women late in their life. The
fact is, we NEVER stop serving the Lord. There is NO RETIREMENT from
the work of God. So let me encourage you today to look for opportunities to
share the great wisdom and experiences of your life with those of the next
generation. Your greatest legacy will be in the lives that you touch for
the Lord along your journey. God has given you the gift of many days on
this earth, and I pray that you will share that gift with as many as you
possibly can before God says that your work here is finished and calls you
Home.

Thank you for your many years of service to our Lord. May all of us who
follow you in the faith, be found as faithful as you have been in our Lord's
service!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

(1 Timothy 2:9, 1 Peter 3:3,4, Isaiah 3:16-24)

***THIS IS A MESSAGE EVERY WOMAN FROM THE AGE OF 10 TO 90 NEEDS TO READ.
PLEASE FORWARD IT TO EVERY WOMAN THAT YOU KNOW.


The clothing a woman wears. This is a Devotional that is long overdue and
one I have prayed over for many weeks prior to sending it out. It is
important that you read ALL of it, and not take one part out of context.
This is not only a legitimate issue, but one the church has quit preaching
on for fear of offending people. I pray that the Holy Spirit will open your
ears to hear all God is saying to you about this issue of the clothing a
woman wears.

In dealing with this topic, we have to go to God's Word, our final authority
in all issues. The key word I want you to hear throughout this Devotional
is "modesty." The key verse is found in 1 Timothy 2:9 where the Word says,
"I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety." I am
fully aware that our present culture teaches the exact opposite which is why
this message today is so critical. As I have stated often, for the child of
God we are to live UP to the standards of God, and not DOWN to the standards
of this world.

Let me make this first point perfectly clear. The moment you die and are
standing before God, the only garment He is going to be interested in is to
see if you are wearing the white robe of righteousness that comes from
knowing Jesus Christ as your Savior. THAT, is the only garment God is
concerned about. It is your heart God will judge, not your wardrobe. This
issue of dress is one of spiritual maturity, being more like Christ, having
a desire to be the most effective servant of our Lord that you can be during
this life.

In some churches, they have made it part of their rules for women to be
dressed in certain ways. While I respect the heart and intention of these
churches, they are not Biblically accurate. It is critical in studying the
Bible that you understand the social and cultural issues involved in a
passage as well as what God is saying. In giving the Law, God talks about
how a woman is not supposed to dress as a man, nor a man as a woman. While
we are no longer under the Old Testament Law, it is a good reminder that
even though men and women are 100% equal, they are also each unique with
different roles to play. God also knew how bad a man would look in a dress.

As fashions have changed over the years, there are lots of clothing like
bluejeans, t-shirts, sports jerseys, mostly casual clothing both men and
women wear. When it comes to more formal dress, it is very obvious that the
pants a woman might wear are very different than the pants a man would wear.
It takes nothing away from a woman being a woman by wearing this type of
clothing and is NOT what the Bible was speaking against, even in the Old
Testament Law. So churches that force a woman to wear a dress are taking an
extreme and unBiblical position.

The other issue the Bible speaks of in this area is hair and jewelry.
Again, it is CRITICAL to understand the cultural and social issues involved
at the time these passages were written. In the days the New Testament was
written, Greek and Roman women were little more than property. They found
their worth in their clothing, in their hair, and in their jewelry. Of
course, as they came to know Christ as their Savior, they brought this part
of their life into the church.

Peter helped these women understand where their true worth was found in 1
Peter Chapter 3. These words are just as applicable today as many women are
in the same trap the women of that day were in. Trying to find their worth
in the fashion of the day, the hairstyle of the moment, and the endless
array of jewelry that is as close as your local mall or TV shopping channel.
Peter said, "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as
braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it
should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet
spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."

Let me come back to the word I want you to clearly hear today, and that is
modesty. There is nothing wrong about dressing in a way to feel good about
yourself. But the question is, do I feel good about myself because of what
I am wearing, or who I am in Christ? Do I get my worth from how other
people view me, or how God views me? Do I dress to impress others, or
impress God? These are important questions you need to ask yourself.

There are two important Biblical principles I want you to be aware of. One
is avoiding the appearance of evil, and the other is to not be a
stumblingblock. The world sends the exact OPPOSITE message. Appear evil
and do your best to be a stumblingblock. The media feeds women a steady
diet of lies from the pits of hell of how a woman should dress from the
music, television, and movie industries.

Don't you realize when you dress like Paris, Britney, or Christina or any of
these
stars, you are sending a message that you are for sale? Just as bad, men
are visual creatures. There are VERY FEW men on the face of this earth that
don't struggle with lust. Don't you realize when you dress provocatively,
you are being a stumblingblock to men? Why give someone the false
impression you are not a Godly woman just because of what you wear? Why
cause a man to sin by lusting after you because of what you wear? Pray
about what you wear when you are out socially, pray about what you wear when
you go to work, and please, PRAY ABOUT WHAT YOU WEAR WHEN YOU GO TO CHURCH!
When in doubt, remember Paul's admonition, MODESTY.

I love you and care about you so much. This message today is about maturing
in Christ, being a real woman of God. Like many of the women in the early
church, there are many women that may be young in the Lord who simply don't
know they need to change the way they dress. That is why older women of the
faith need to be involved in the lives of younger women, that is Biblical by
the way (Titus 2:4), to help them know how God expects them to live and act
and
what to wear.

I will be praying for you today. Praying that God will speak to you through
these words. Please don't misunderstand this message. There is NOTHING
wrong with a woman wearing nice clothes, looking her best, having her hair
done nicely, or wearing jewelry. Simply be cognizant that in what you wear
you do not give the "appearance of evil," or are a stumblingblock to others.
The key is to know that your worth to God is not in what you wear on the
outside, but in who you are on the inside. It is not your clothes God will
judge, it is your heart!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

DAILY DEVOTIONAL FRIDAY NOVEMBER 19, 2004
(Ephesians 5:28, 1 Peter 3:7, Song of Solomon 8:7, Genesis 29:20)


Men of God don't need Viagra, Levitra, or Cialis! Let me say right up
front that there is a small percentage of men that do have legitimate
physiological issues that affect their ability to perform sexually, and
drugs like these can help them enjoy a healthy sex life with their wife as
God intended. But you have three major competing drug companies spending
tens of millions of dollars on advertising to mass market these drugs to
men, primarily in the 40-70 demographic, as the answer to having a great sex
life. While these are drugs for men that are sexually dysfunctional, they
are being aggressively marketed as the magic pill to turn men into a sexual
dynamo. This is a lie from the depths of Hades my friend.

The first question is why the explosion in this type of product? When
Viagra was first introduced several years ago, it became apparent there was
an incredible market for men in that 40-70 age group for this type of drug.
Again, never forget this is a drug to help those who have a legitimate
physical problem having sex. The drug makers soon realized that they could
also subtly market this drug to the majority of men who didn't have a
physical problem as the answer to having a great sex life. It fed right
into the male ego and the increasing percentage of men that had never had a
sex life based on God's Word.

I speak often of the fact that the better percentage of the last two
generations have never been to church. These are people who do not know
Christ as their Savior, nor do they follow God's Word in their life. The
men in these generations have grown up with the worlds view of sex and have
never known God's plan for their sex life. Subsequently these men have
sexual histories that almost always include pornography, strip clubs and
adult bookstores, masturbation, sex with many partners, sex with women and
men, sex with prostitutes, adultery, and relationships that were based
solely on sex. THESE MEN VIEW WOMAN AS LITTLE MORE THAN SEX OBJECTS.
Sadly, they have never known sex the way God intended it to be.

What is God's way? What is God's plan for sex? Don't forget that it is God
who created sex. It is His gift to a man and woman that have made a
lifetime commitment to each other and to God in His Holy Institution of
Marriage. PERIOD. Any sex outside of marriage is a perversion of God's
intended plan and is a sin. Sex is for marriage ONLY! When people buy the
lies of this world about sex, engage in sex outside of God's plan, they miss
the wonderful joy that sex is intended to be. While they may experience a
few moments of physical pleasure, they totally miss the special bond between
the woman God has given you to spend the rest of your life with. THAT is
the real joy of sex that can't be duplicated or experienced any other way!

Men, do you want to have the ultimate sexual experience? Let me tell you
today that you are not going to find it in a pill, but in following God's
plan for sex. It starts with NOT having sex until you are married. That
means keeping yourself pure for the one you will commit the rest of your
life to. Stay away from the porn, stay out of the strip clubs, and guard
your mind from the things this world tempts you with that cause you to fall
into the sin of lust. You are not an animal. God has given you the ability
to CONTROL YOUR FLESH. The key is you have to want to control your flesh,
you have to practice controlling your flesh, and you have to stay on guard
at all times.

God did not put women on the earth for your sexual pleasure. They are not
sexual objects. God created the woman to be a lifetime partner for the man,
100% equal but with different roles to play. Sexual object is NOT one of
those roles but is actually a perversion of God's precious creation! Sadly,
there are too many women willing to play that perverted role of sexual
object which only reinforces in the minds of many men this is what women are
for. Women need to realize that God created them in His own image and they
have eternal worth. Their value is in who they are in Christ, not their
bodies. Women, don't let satan lie to you that you are here simply as a
sexual object!

The other issue that needs to be addressed is as men get older, there is a
natural decline in their sexual energy and desire. That is normal.
However, it is accelerated in large part to the fact most men get so busy
in the day to day issues of life that their sex life with their wife gets
neglected, overlooked, and all but forgotten. MEN, DON'T MAKE THIS MISTAKE.
TAKE THE TIME TO MAKE LOVE TO YOUR WIFE. It will make your life more
enjoyable, more fulfilling, and make her life more enjoyable and fulfilling.
It may sound a bit cold but as life goes on and you get busy, so plan a
night together at least once a week. Don't let anything interfere with that
night. Turn off the phone, the beeper, the cell phone, the TV, the
computer, and spend the night together enjoying the special gift God has
given to you and your wife to share. You have to work at your sex life like
anything else, and the more time and effort you put into it, the more
fulfilling it will be.

I realize that many men reading this today have to heal from the way they
have abused sex in their past. God will heal you from your past and help
you enjoy a high quality sexual life with your wife if you surrender
yourself to Him. You have to retrain your mind to understand that the only
person you can have any sexual thoughts or feelings for is your wife. That
is why you need to stay away from porn, things that cause you to engage in
fantasies, channeling all of your thoughts towards your wife. The ultimate
sexual experience is sharing your self with the woman that God has given you
to share the rest of your life with. When you do it God's way, have that
experience with your wife, you will immediately see how much you have
cheated yourself by sinning in this area and realize how special and
wonderful this gift from God can be.

I love you and care about you so much. I am praying for the men today to
get a clear understanding of God's intended purpose for sex. It is His gift
for you and the women you vowed to spend the rest of your life with to enjoy
together. God created us to have and enjoy sex just like we have been
created to eat food. However, we can abuse food and literally kill
ourselves just like we can abuse sex and literally kill ourselves. What you
eat is a choice. Who you have sex with is a choice. My prayer for you
today is that you will follow God's plan for sex and choose to only have sex
with your wife.

Here is my word for you today. If you will love your wife more than
yourself, if you will focus all of your love on her, if you pour all of your
sexual desires on her alone, you will not need any magical pills to have an
incredible and fulfilling sex life.


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

If this devotional is a blessing to you, maybe you have a friend or
family member that would like to start receiving this daily word. You
can forward this to them, and they can use the following link to subscribe.
www.liveprayer.com/signup.htm


DAILY DEVOTIONAL SUNDAY NOVEMBER 21, 2004
( Exodus 20:13 )

***Become a LIVEPRAYER.COM DAILY SPONSOR AT:
http://www.liveprayer.com/liveprayerdailysponsor.html

***MISS THE FRIDAY DEVOTIONAL? We have heard form many who did not receive
their Friday Devotional due to the fact it dealt with a Godly sex life and
some of the words used are in filters that prevent emails with those words
form being delivered. From the response I received in addition to the daily
prayer requests in this area, a Godly sex life is an issue most churches
have run from. There is a huge void for this truth especially since so many
come to Christ with a sexual history that did not honor God. I will try to
do more Devotionals in the future to help men and women in this area of
their life.

The march for death! This past April in our nation's capital, a crowd of
over 800,000 people gathered for what was billed as the "March for Women's
Lives," that in reality was a march to support the slaughter of innocent
babies. These pro-death marches are nothing new. They are attended by the
normal host of God-haters, homosexual groups, liberal politicians, and
celebrities from the film, television, and music world. What do you expect
from people who are lost, who have rejected God, the truth of His Word, and
His Son Jesus Christ. They are only doing what those who choose to live
their lives in rebellion to God know how to do.

What made me break down in tears during this march was the involvement of
those
who claim to know Christ as their Savior, yet fully support the slaughter of
innocent babies and join themselves with people who utterly reject the truth
of God's Word. There is an organization called the Religious Coalition for
Reproductive Choice ( www.rcrc.org ) that had over 70 "religious
organizations" participating in the march for death this past April. The
RCRC is one of these abominable multi-faith organizations that includes
every
false religion in the world. Let me say this very clear, if you are part of
a church that supports this organization that is clearly straight from the
pits of hell, you need to RUN from that church!

Participating in the pro-death march this April as part of the RCRC was
the official women's group from the United Methodist Church. I grew up and
was saved
in the United Methodist Church and my heart breaks at the unBiblical
direction this once great church that has brought millions of people to
faith in Christ over the past 200 plus years has taken. My simple question
is this, how can ANY church that claims Christ as their head, that claims to
stand for the truth of God's Word, be part of an unGodly organization like
the RCRC and participate in a march with those who hate God and support the
slaughter of innocent babies.

I take what God has called me to do very seriously, and pray over every word
I send out each day. In the past year, I challenged anyone that was part of
the Episcopal church to leave that church, since the ordination of an
unrepentant and practicing homosexual is an abomination to God. To be
consistent, today I must ask anyone that is part of the United Methodist
Church, or ANY church that supports the slaughter of innocent babies to pray
seriously about leaving and finding a church that will be true to God's
Word.

My friend, God is NOT going to be mocked! When the church of Jesus Christ
compromises the truth of His Word, it ceases to be the church.
Theologically,
abortion is not even a debatable issue since ALL life comes from God and
killing an innocent baby is murder! I encourage you to find out the stance
of YOUR church on abortion, and if they call it anything but murder, LEAVE!

This is why God designed sex for a man and woman IN MARRIAGE. If people
would obey God, have sex within the bonds of marriage, the abortion issue
would cease being an issue. That may sound oversimplistic, but it is true.
Can you see how one sin leads right into the next sin? When you choose to
rebel against God, have sex outside of marriage, having a baby is a very
real possibility. A woman is now faced with the reality of being unmarried
and pregnant, and a man with the reality of being unmarried and having the
responsibility of a child to support. I am sad to say, that abortion is
just not an issue for those who are not married. More and more people who
ARE married are also choosing to kill their babies.

Are there options? Yes, two of them. ONLY TWO. The first is to have and
keep the baby. The second is to have the baby and put the child up for
adoption. *ABORTION IS NOT AN OPTION. If you are not married, you have
already sinned by having sex outside of marriage, don't compound your sin by
murdering your baby!

Let me add as a side note. If you keep the baby, getting married is usually
the WORST thing that you can do. It is a lie from hell that this is the
"honorable thing." Before you even consider marriage you need to get your
walk with the Lord straight, make sure the mother or father of your baby is
a Christian and that they get their walk with the Lord on track, and that
you both take time to build a spiritual foundation to your relationship.

***To the men. Just because you are not physically having this baby, this
does not mean that you can just go on with your life like it didn't happen.
If you were man enough to help create this baby, you better be man enough to
take responsibility for YOUR CHILD. That means financially, emotionally,
and whatever else you can do to help YOUR CHILD grow into a healthy,
God-fearing, productive adult. Abandoning your baby makes you worse than
an animal!

I am often asked if abortion is acceptable in the case of rape and incest.
The answer is NO! Some people think that if you have an abortion and kill
the baby that was the result of this horrible act, it makes it easier for
the woman to move on with her life. In reality, the opposite is true. What
really happens is this. The horror of an abortion is something a woman NEVER
forgets.

In having to deal with the memory of the abortion, it also brings back the
memory of the violent act that caused the pregnancy. This makes getting
beyond the tragic experience that much more difficult. Also, when the life
of the mother is at stake this is NOT an abortion, it is a medical
procedure. This is not a choice to kill the baby because it is unwanted.

Let me say a word to those men and women that have the scar of abortion in
your life. Sadly, I deal daily with hundreds of women AND men that have
made this sad choice at some point in their life. Some of them did this 40
years ago and still are dealing the hurt, and pain, and guilt. You can't go
back and change what you have done. 1 John 1:9 says that if we confess our
sins, God forgives us and cleanses us of all unrighteousness. Trust His
Word. The Bible also tells us that God not only forgives our sins, but
forgets them. If He forgets, than you need to forget as well. It is satan
who reminds you of your past sins to keep you paralyzed from serving God.
HE IS A LIAR!!! Now is the time to trust God's Word, and put this behind
you once and for all. God still has much for you to do.

I love you and care about you so much. I pray that today one person will
read these words that has been thinking of having an abortion. God is
speaking to your heart today. He loves you, and He loves that baby living
inside of you. Rather than listening to this evil world tell you that it is
OK to murder your baby, listen to God who put that life inside of you and
let your baby LIVE!

Sadly, in our nation killing an innocent baby is legal. That is a larger
issue that we as a nation need to address, change, and repent of. But
regardless of what the courts say, God says that killing your baby is
murder. That is why reaching the lost for Christ is so very important.
When you change hearts, when people come to know Jesus as their Savior, they
quit listening to the world and start listening to God. Choosing Jesus is
an eternal choice for LIFE!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[snowyowl]

When I was in the Army in '75 there was a Catholic Chaplin's Assistant and wife both Christians mind you. She got pregnant with one baby-it died in utero, she got pregnant again, now she's carry two babies, one living and one dead, she is suffering and dying from septicema and the only way to save her life was to abort both babies. Unless of course he wanted to bury all three at the same time. They struggled over this twist in their own life for a long time.
For me in this case I have no problem-abort. I want my wife alive, children can be adopted.

[danausmc]

When I was in the Army in '75 there was a Catholic Chaplin's Assistant and wife both Christians mind you. She got pregnant with one baby-it died in utero, she got pregnant again, now she's carry two babies, one living and one dead, she is suffering and dying from septicema and the only way to save her life was to abort both babies. Unless of course he wanted to bury all three at the same time. They struggled over this twist in their own life for a long time.
For me in this case I have no problem-abort. I want my wife alive, children can be adopted.

Sure would be a tough time .......cant imagine what that couple would have to go through.......I agree with you Owl.

[danausmc]

TESTIMONY FROM VIEWER OF LIVEPRAYER TV PROGRAM: Dear Mr. Keller, I just
prayed with you, and with all my heart I am saved. I made the commitment,
and I hope this book you mentioned will give me the guidance I need. I have
never seen your program before tonight. After watching New Years in Times
Square, I was flipping thru channels...and to be honest, I usually change
the channel when I come to a "religious" program because they all seem fake
to me. But you got to me -THANK YOU!!!"


Paris Hilton, Snoop Dogg, Britney, or Jesus? I get asked often why I do the
Liveprayer television program on a secular network, as opposed to airing it
on a Christian network. The answer is simple. I am after the same people
that Paris Hilton, Snoop Dogg, and Britney are reaching. I want to reach
the exact same people that are buying into the lies of our modern culture
and the current spokespeople of those lies.

One of the big problems we have is that too many Christians have become
isolationists and have no clue what is going on in this world we live in.
The fact is, the vast majority of people do not go to church. The fact is,
the vast majority of people will never watch Christian television, listen to
Christian radio or music, or read Christian publications. The fact is, the
vast majority of people do not have marriages or homes that honor God, or
are raising their children in the admonition of the Lord. The fact is, the
vast majority in our nation are living their life void of God, without the
true joy, peace, and abundance this life can offer because they have
rejected Christ, and are without hope.

Paris Hilton is the socialite heiress to the Hilton Hotel fortune. She
became "famous" for being an international party girl, and is now adding to
that fame by starring in the FOX program the, "Simple Life" as well as a
pornographic video of her and some young man having sex that is being sold
on the Internet. Snoop Dogg is the gangster rapper that also has his own
violent video game, a line of porno tapes, as well as a TV program on MTV.
Britney of course is the popular singer that was raised in a Christian home,
yet has literally sold her soul for fame and fortune. When I think of
Britney,
I can only think of the verse, "what does it profit a man to gain the whole
world,
yet lose his soul."

First, let me say that I am not judging these three people, their own
actions judge them in accordance with God's Word. Second, the reason I
mention them is that they are three of the best examples in our culture
today of people that have incredible influence over millions. To try and
minimize that influence, especially on those 18 and under would be foolish.
The danger is that a large percentage of young adults in this age group do
not go to church, are growing up in homes void of God, and sadly are getting
their lessons in life from people like Paris, Snoop Dogg, and Britney.

An even bigger problem that needs to be addressed is a large percentage of
the parents of those 18 and under do not go to church and have chosen to
live their lives void of God. They have treated marriage like a legal date,
lived with people out of wedlock, and how they have chosen to live their
lives has reinforced to their children that living in rebellion to God is
acceptable. So it is no wonder why current cultural icons like Paris,
Britney, and Snoop Dogg have such a powerful influence since they promote
lifestyles so many have grown up to accept as normal.

***LET ME STATE THIS AS CLEAR AS I CAN. IF WE ARE GOING TO REACH THE 18 AND
UNDER GENERATION, WE NEED TO TAKE THE GOSPEL DIRECTLY TO THEM AND BYPASS
THEIR PARENTS.

For the past 64 months, I have seen a continual rise in the emails that we
get each day from young adults that have accepted Christ thru Liveprayer who
are living in homes where they are the only Christian. On my television
program, I get calls from young adults each night who have made a commitment
of their lives to Christ and they are the only Christian in their home. We
have got to get serious about taking the hope and love of Christ directly to
the 18 and under generation in our world, reaching them before they damage
their lives thru drugs, alcohol, illicit sex, and other unGodly choices.

Let us never lose sight of the big picture. There is a very real enemy out
there whose stated mission is to kill, steal, and destroy. He accomplishes
that by helping people choose to reject God and the truth of His Word. He
uses people like Paris, Snoop Dogg, and Britney as tools to lead people into
lifestyles of rebellion to God that will damage them. In that damaged
state, they often move further from God and are susceptible to even taking
their own life. This is a spiritual battle for the eternal souls of
people!!!

I love you and care about you so much. I pray that God speaks to your heart
today. You can not simply ignore this world that we live in. We have a
responsibility to share the hope and love of Christ with those who are lost
and living without hope. If we are going to influence future generations
for the Kingdom of God, we have to reach those who are 18 and under with the
Gospel so that as they mature and have children, their children are raised
in Godly homes. We can not continue to let the vast majority of each new
generation live their lives void of God and the truth of His Word.

Also, please take some time today and pray for Paris Hilton, Snoop Dogg, and
Britney Spears. Pray that they will come to know Christ as their Savior.
Even though they have become "famous" for their lifestyles of rebellion to
God, God could use them to be powerful influences for good if their hearts
were changed. Paul was once an instrument satan used to persecute the early
church and kill Christians. After he accepted Christ, he became a great
tool God used to take the Gospel to the world. God loves Paris, Snoop Dogg,
and Britney, and it is His desire to see them repent and accept Christ as
their Savior. Pray for them to make that commitment in their life.

I am challenged each day in using the Internet and secular television as
vehicles God can use to reach the hurting and the lost in this world. My
only goal is to put Jesus in the same forums that Paris Hilton, Snoop Dogg,
and Britney are in so that people have a choice. While on this day some
people may bow to Paris, to Snoop Dogg, to Britney, the fact is one day
EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW AND EVERY TONGUE CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!!!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

If this devotional is a blessing to you, maybe you have a friend or family
member that would like to start receiving this daily word. You can forward
this to them, and they can use the following link to subscribe.
www.liveprayer.com/signup.htm


DAILY DEVOTIONAL SATURDAY JANUARY 8, 2005
( Deuteronomy Chapter 20 )

***THIS MONDAY'S DEVOTIONAL, "When will women say NO MORE to the
entertainment industry that says they are nothing more than sex objects?"


***THIS DEVOTIONAL TODAY IS DEDICATED TO THOSE BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN OF OUR
MILITARY WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES OVER THE LAST 228 YEARS TO INSURE THAT THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WOULD REMAIN A LAND OF FREEDOM AND OPPORTUNITY TO
THIS WORLD. WE ENJOY THE INCREDIBLE BLESSED LIFE WE HAVE
TODAY BECAUSE OF THE SACRIFICES OF THOSE WHO UNDERSTOOD THAT FREEDOM AND ONE
NATION UNDER GOD, WAS WORTH DEFENDING AND PAYING THE ULTIMATE PRICE FOR.

MAY GOD BLESS THE BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN OF OUR MILITARY TODAY AS THEY CONTINUE
IN THIS GREAT TRADITION OF SERVICE SO THAT OUR CHILDREN WILL KNOW THAT SAME
FREEDOM FOR MANY YEARS SHOULD JESUS TARRY IN HIS RETURN. I PRAY DAILY THAT
GOD WILL WATCH OVER THEM, KEEP THEM SAFE, AND BRING THEM HOME SOON TO THEIR
FAMILIES AND A GRATEFUL NATION .


The Biblical case for war. As we have been engaged in war against those who
would love to destroy our nation, the debate continues as to whether war is
a proper response. The proponents of "peace without war" use the Bible as
their key defense of their position, even though many in the "peace without
war" movement are avowed atheists and find the Bible to be little more than
a book of stories. Interestingly, these same people run to God's Word to
defend their views.

However, many Christians also adopt this view of "peace without war". I
realize that this is a very divisive issue, and my goal is never to divide,
but unite the Body of Christ. However, I cannot shy away from the tough
issues, and ultimately we all must find peace on each issue, not in our own
thoughts and ideas, but from the Word of God. That MUST be our final
authority in ALL matters. Please pray as you read these words today.

To properly discuss war from a Biblical perspective, we have to understand
the theological context from which war exists. God created man in
perfection. Man was perfect, never to die. The creation God made for man
to exist in was perfect. However, man's sin changed all of that. We have
to understand that war is a byproduct of man's sin. God did not create war.
God does not approve of war. God even prevented David, a man after His own
heart, not to finish the Temple because he was a man of war.

War stems from man's sin and became part of the human condition from the
very beginning. Because of man's sin, because of the sin that is in every
part of our world, until God brings this world as we know it to an end, war
will ALWAYS be part of the human experience. THERE WILL BE NO PEACE UNTIL
THE PRINCE OF PEACE HIMSELF RETURNS!!!!

We are then faced with this situation. War is a result of man's sinfulness.
It will be part of this world until Christ returns and God brings this world
as we know it to a conclusion. The question becomes, what is the proper
response of a Christian to war. We all know that one of the 10 Commandments
is "thou shalt not murder". War involves killing. On the surface, the
issue seems to be pretty simple. As Christians, we should not be involved
in war since it involves killing. However, God Himself, ordered His
children to war and specifically ordered them to kill on many occasions.
This seems to be a gross contradiction. No matter what anyone leads you to
believe, the Bible does NOT contradict itself...EVER!!

The 10 Commandments were given to people, to individuals. In every case
where God ordered His people to war, it was against an enemy who had no
desire for peace, had no desire to settle their disputes amicably, and
actually had the goal of destroying God's people from the face of the earth.
War became a defensive measure against the destruction of God's people.
There are many examples I can use, but does anyone think Adolph Hitler would
have been stopped had it not been for the military effort that defeated his
armies?

When studying the Bible, context is critical. When studying the Bible,
taking the whole counsel of God into consideration is vital to properly
understand it. That is why I share often that you have to read the entire
book so you get a feel, an understanding of the nature of God. There is no
doubt God is a God of peace. Peace was the perfection into which we were
created. However, God is also a God of judgment, and often, God uses His
people as instruments of His judgment.

We can never know completely the mind of God, or fully comprehend His plans,
but it is clear in reading the Bible God often used His people in acts of
war to preserve them from destruction. He also used His people to exercise
judgment on those who were
the enemies of God, and further His plan that all who would believe might
know the gift of everlasting life through their faith in Him.

That brings us to today and our current situation. As Christians, how
should we respond to the fact our nation is involved in war, which includes
the killing of innocent men, women, and children. This of course, is the
key argument of those who say we should not be involved in war, since
innocent people will die. It is impossible to understand this issue without
accepting God and His plan. It is impossible without accepting the Bible as
God's inspired, inerrant Word. You must realize that life is everlasting.

This time here on this earth is but for a brief few years. In light of
eternity, whether we live 1 day, 1 year, 10 years, 20 years, 50 years, or
100 years, really makes little difference. Our purpose is NOT to see how
long we can live, but find our faith in Christ and fulfill our God-given
purpose to serve and glorify Him with whatever time we do have. The fact is,
we all will die. Some through natural causes in old age. Some by disease.
Some by accidents. Some through war. Regardless of how, we ALL will die
one day. Which is why I try to remind you often, tomorrow is promised to
nobody. We must treat each day like the gift from God it is. That is why
the Bible says "today is the day of salvation". You may not have the chance
to repent and come to know Christ tomorrow.

It is very sad that people are dying from this conflict we are in. But the
fact is, over 3,000 innocent people died on US soil on September 11th. The
fact is,
people in this world die each day because of wars between nations and people
who disagree with each other on a wide array of issues. That is why we must
all do our part each day to share the love and hope we have in Christ so
that people worldwide have the opportunity to accept Him by faith so their
eternal home with God is insured.

My personal belief through the study of the Scriptures is that God hates
war, but allows it much like He allows other evils born out of the sin in
our world. Romans 8:28 tells us that "..in all things God works for the
good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose."
Does God enjoy the evils that exist in this world due to sin? NO!!! Never
forget that God is ALWAYS on His throne and always in control. Nothing
happens that God does not allow. He can take the evil of man, and use it to
fulfill His plan and purpose.

Also, don't forget that while we look at events in relation to time, God is
not bound by time and the events of this world are but a blip in eternity to
Him. One day, very soon, God will step in and bring to a conclusion this
world as we know it. In the meantime, because of sin, there will always be
evil and the by products of evil. However, God will always use events, even
horrible events to further His plan and purpose for man to know Him by
faith.

***We as a nation have every right, and even responsibility to defend
ourselves from those who would destroy us. Much like the children of Israel
had a right and responsibility to defend themselves from those nations that
would try to destroy them, there are evil forces in this world who would
love to see the United States cease to exist. Thankfully, our forefathers
understood this and defended our country to their death so that we could
enjoy the great freedom and liberty we enjoy today. It is now our turn to
defend this nation from its enemies to insure that our children have the
same freedoms should the Lord tarry in His return.

God has used our nation in a great way in the fulfillment of His plans and
purpose. Should we continue to honor Him, and glorify Him as a nation, I
have no doubt that we will continue to be part of His plan. That is why I
am sure God will be with this nation in this war on terror, since we are
simply defending ourselves from people in the world who would see us
destroyed. *People who have no desire for peace!

I love you and care about you very much. I realize out of the over
2,000,000+ who get this Devotional worldwide, many will disagree with what I
have said today. All I can do is implore you to dig into the Scriptures.
Read throughout the Old Testament those passages that involve wars. Be
careful in many of the passages both in the Old and New Testaments, to
insure the context of the passage is referring to individuals or to nations.
There are many places God is speaking directly to nations, and others, where
He is clearly speaking to individuals. I know that there will continue to
be division on this issue.

The fact is, no matter how you feel, war is with us until God decides to
bring things to an end. There will be no real peace, until the Prince of
Peace returns. As a nation, we must defend ourselves from those who would
destroy us. But in so doing, we must insure
that we remain a nation that honors and serves the God of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob. As individuals, we must get serious not only about cleaning up
our own lives, but doing so in order God can use us to minister to the lost
and hurting. I believe deep down time is very short. We must take
advantage of whatever time is left do be about our Father's business.

May God continue to richly bless the United States, and all the nations of
the world that honor Him. May God bless and instill wisdom to our leaders.
May God bless and protect the men and women of the armed services from all
the nations who support us in this action to rid the world of terrorism.
May God bless those people who will be caught in the middle of this
conflict, and may they find peace as they look to Him for comfort. Lastly,
may God pour out His love to those who have turned their hearts against Him,
that they may know His love and by faith receive the gift of everlasting
life through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.


In his love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

If this devotional is a blessing to you, maybe you have a friend or family
member that would like to start receiving this daily word. You can forward
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www.liveprayer.com/signup.htm


DAILY DEVOTIONAL MONDAY JANUARY 10, 2005
(Genesis 1:27, 1 Timothy 2:9, Proverbs 31:10, 31:30)

According to the world, women are nothing more than sex objects. The
entertainment and advertising industries that play such a huge role in
shaping our culture have made it clear that women are nothing more than sex
objects. Through television, radio, movies, music, the internet, and
advertising, women are portrayed as sex toys. Our culture today says that a
woman has to have a great body, show off as much of it as possible, and is
alive simply for the pleasure of men. I have been wondering when women will
finally speak up and say , "NO MORE!!!" Well, today, I am!!!

Beyonce of Destiny's Child professes to be a Christian. Only God knows her
heart, but what is the good of standing on stage and thanking Jesus one
moment, then seconds later slithering on the floor with virtually nothing
on, exposing her body to the world, and singing about illicit sex? Women
like Beyonce have literally sold their soul to the god of this world for a
few moments of fame and millions of dollars that can buy you whatever this
world has to offer, but not the true joy, peace, and abundance that is only
available when we are living our lives for Jesus. Sadly, there is an
endless supply of women more than willing to sell themselves to be exploited
for their sexuality on television, in movies, in the music world, over the
internet, and in ads.

Appalling to me has been the trend, especially in the last 5 years, in the
Christian music world where young women, trying to compete to be "famous,"
are being exploited by record companies in the same way women in the secular
music industry are exploited. Young women who are singing about Jesus, yet
dressing and dancing no different than Britney and Christina. Also, Memo to
Women: The church is not a nightclub! Please, when you dress for church,
stop by a mirror before you leave the house and honestly ask yourself if you
are dressed to attract men to your body or modestly as God's Word instructs.

It is women as much as men who support the entertainment and advertising
industries. Women faithfully watch the television programs, go to the
movies, purchase the CD's and concert tickets, visit the websites, and
consume the products sold by advertisers that are exploiting women purely
for their sexuality. Women as much as men have been brainwashed that they
are nothing more than sex objects. They affirm this through their willing
participation in, and support of, the entertainment and advertising
industries that portray women predominantly as sex objects.

I am amused that on such a critical issue, the women's rights groups have
nothing to say. Rather than speak up on a legitimate issue like this, they
are busy working for satan to insure women have the right to kill their baby
if they want to. Rather than speaking out as women are sexually exploited
by the entertainment and advertising industries, portrayed as whores, they
spend their time and energy telling women that after you have exercised your
"power" to have as much sex with as many people as you want, it is perfectly
acceptable to go out and kill your baby when you get pregnant from all of
that promiscuous sex.

One of the things God has called me to do in these last days is to stand up
in the town square and clearly, boldly, expose the lies of satan and share
the truth of God's Word with this lost world. Jesus identified satan as a
liar in John 8:44, and one of satan's goals is to tell the lie loud enough
and long enough, that people believe the lie to be the truth. GOD IS TRUTH!
When the lie of satan is contrasted with the truth of God, it cannot stand.
The truth will win every time. The only way the truth loses is when people
are too afraid to stand up and proclaim it! Well, today I am without fear
telling you that the lie says a woman is nothing more than a sex object,
while God says a woman is created in His very image and has eternal value
and worth!!!

Women, I am speaking to you today. It is up to YOU to stand up and say, "NO
MORE" to this lie from satan. You are NOT a sex object, alive simply for
the pleasure of men. For those who have been blessed and gifted by God to
act, you have got to say NO to those roles on television and in the movies
that portray you as just a sex object. For those who have the gift to sing,
you have got to say NO to singing songs that promote everything God is
against. When you perform, don't dress like you are working in a strip
joint and don't use choreography that makes it look like you are having sex.
For those who have been blessed with what the advertising world considers
beauty, you don't have to allow yourself to be exploited sexually just to
sell some product.

WOMEN IN THE ENTERTAINMENT AND ADVERTISING INDUSTRIES HAVE GOT TO DECIDE IF
SELLING THEMSELVES IS WORTH THE FEW MOMENTS OF FAME AND LITTLE MONEY THAT IT
MAY BRING.

All women can have a voice. You can say "NO MORE" by not watching
television programs, going to moves, buying music, going to websites,
purchasing products where women are being exploited sexually. As long as
you watch, as long as you listen, as long as you buy, the entertainment and
advertising industries will continue to treat women as nothing more than sex
objects!

Men, we don't get a pass either, after all, WE ARE THE PRIMARY TARGET
AUDIENCE! Between the confusion over our God-given roles, the lack of a
strong male figure in the lives of many young men, the instant access of
porn, we are the ones who have bought the lie that women are nothing more
than sex objects, simply alive for our pleasure. Most men have no idea how
special a woman is. They look at women simply as an object of lust and
sexual desire. This is the lie the world has told us loud enough and long
enough, that today we believe it to be true.

As long as men continue to be consumers of what the entertainment and
advertising industries put out, these industries will continue to tell us
that women are nothing more than sex objects. Remember this men, the woman
you are lusting after is somebody's mother, somebody's daughter, somebody's
sister, somebody's granddaughter! That woman was created by God, not for
your lusts and desires, but to serve and glorify Him with their life.

I love you and care about you so much. Women, you are NOT sex objects. You
have been created in the very image of God and have eternal worth. He loves
you, and you are His perfect creation. God did not create you to be a toy
for men's passions, but to serve and glorify Him with your lives.
Regardless of what the world calls beauty, YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL because of who
you are in Christ! It is Christ, not the world that makes you beautiful.
It is the unconditional love God has for you that makes you special, not how
many men lust after you. You are not on this earth to please men, but
please God. Women, you are created in the image of God, daughters of a
King, with an eternal inheritance worth more than all of the gold and silver
this world can offer. Don't sell your body for the scraps of this world
when you already have the riches of Heaven!

I will be praying for you today. For those women gifted and fortunate
enough to work in the entertainment and advertising industries, I will pray
for you to have the courage to say no when asked to exploit yourself
sexually. For all women, I pray that you will be aware of how women are
being sold to this world as nothing more than sex objects and that you will
not support those entertainment and advertising entitles that exploit women
in this way. For men, I pray that we will open our hearts and realize that
women were not put on this earth for us to lust after and conquer sexually.
THE ONLY WOMAN WE ARE ALLOWED TO DESIRE AND HAVE SEXUALLY IS OUR WIFE!!!
ALL OTHER WOMEN ARE OFF LIMITS!!!

From the beginning of man, women have been treated as nothing more than sex
objects. The entertainment and adverting industries of our day continue to
exploit women in this way. The key is to see men and women saved and come
to an understanding of who
they are in Christ. A woman is not a sex toy, but an amazing creation of
God made in His image. She has been created to serve God with her life.
The lie of satan is that a woman is simply a sex object. It is time for men
and women who know the Truth to stand up and say, NO MORE!"


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

***DON'T MISS NEXT MONDAY'S DEVOTIONAL, "The one question you MUST ask your
Pastor."


The lesson of Amber Frey. Victim? Heroine? Role model? Harlot? These
are the various labels different people have given the former mistress of
convicted double murderer Scott Peterson. You can't turn on the television
without seeing Amber Frey on every program, telling "her side of the story"
in an attempt to sell the book she wrote (though technically it was written
by a writer who works for the publisher). The media has played the willing
accomplice in giving her a forum to sell her book and paint herself as a
poor victim who courageously rose up to help convict her lover, causing many
to label her a "heroine" and "role model" for young women.

Since Larry King, Sean Hannity, Matt Lauer, and all of the others who have
interviewed her don't have the guts to hold her accountable for her choices,
I will. Many have said her personal life is not an issue and should not be
brought up. That is foolishness, since it is very relevant and goes to the
heart of how she got involved in this case in the first place. After all,
if she is willing to personally profit from the deaths of Laci and Conner,
she should have to deal with the choices she made. The fact is, there is a
great lesson for YOUR LIFE in the Amber Frey story.

Let's lay the groundwork of Amber Frey's past, not from tabloid rumors, but
indisputable facts. The fact is, several years ago she chose to have sex
outside of marriage, got pregnant, and had a child. The fact is, she was
involved with a married man prior to Scott Peterson and helped to break up
that marriage. The fact is, she had nude photographs taken of herself for
potential modeling work. The fact is, she had sex with Peterson on their
very first date and every subsequent time they met. The fact is, within
weeks of breaking up with Peterson, she became involved with a man she is
now living with him out of wedlock and had his baby. Again, these are not
tabloid rumors, these are the facts of her life that those who interview her
refuse to even discuss and she acts like they were perfectly acceptable
choices. I am sad to say, that "in the world" this lifestyle is not only
normal but looked at as acceptable. Even sadder, it is being
condoned in the church!

The reality is, the only reason we know who Amber Frey is, is because she
made CHOICES to live her life in rebellion to God. She has no one to blame
for being involved in this case but herself. Had she made the choice NOT to
have sex with Peterson, she would have never been involved. Did Peterson
lie to her? Of course, he was a married man cheating on his wife. The fact
Frey had already been through this same situation with a married man, should
have made her even more aware than most of the games a man will play to have
sex with a woman. This was not a naive schoolgirl, but a woman who was
clearly looking for love and a father for her child.

What I find most disturbing about Frey's choices is that on their second
date, Peterson ended up staying the night at her house, and Frey allowed him
to pick up her daughter from daycare and look after her until she got home.
She brings a man she barely knows into her home to spend the night and
allows him to have access to her daughter unsupervised. THIS IS THE SAME
MAN IT TURNS OUT KILLED HIS WIFE AND UNBORN BABY! She should be thankful
that she and her child were not harmed in any way.

One of the interesting facets of Amber Frey's story is the fact she claims
to read the Bible, goes to a Bible study, and attends church. I can only
assume her pastor, those she studied the Word with, were never successful in
getting her to see that we can't choose to live in rebellion to God and
expect God to bless our lives. It also highlights a problem I share with
you often, and that is pastors who are afraid or unwilling to challenge
people in how they live their daily lives. Pastors, you have "Amber Freys"
in your congregation every Sunday. Please don't compromise, water-down, or
candy-coat the truth of God's Word or ever be afraid to call sin what it is.
. . sin. It may save someone from making choices that will destroy their
life.

I am reminded of the confrontation Jesus had with the woman at the well.
Did Jesus tell her that it was OK to continue living the way she was? NO,
He confronted her with her sin. To the woman taken in adultery he said, "go
and sin no more!" You see my friend, when we are confronted with our sin,
it demands action on our part. Sadly, we are living in a culture where sin
is often overlooked even in our churches. It is a culture where those who
live in rebellion to God are rewarded with million dollar book and TV movie
deals and not held accountable for their choices, but hailed as "role
models."

The message that I want you to hear today, and the message I want you to
apply to your life is that your choices carry consequences...often
life-changing consequences. As I share with you often, when we follow God
and His Word, life works. When we choose to rebel against God, there are
always consequences. Does that mean if we will just follow God's Word our
life is perfect? Absolutely not. However, we can eliminate much of the
heartache and pain we face in life that stem from of our rebellious choices.

I love you and care about you so much. When I look back on my life, if you
look back on your life, we can trace many of the problems directly to the
choices we made that were clearly in rebellion to God's Word. Again, OUR
CHOICES CARRY CONSEQUENCES. When we follow God's Word, life works. When we
live in rebellion to God's Word, there are consequences for our rebellion.

I am asking you to pray today for Amber Frey. Pray that she will come to a
place of repentance, ask God to forgive her for her sins, and find a real
relationship with Christ. God is a loving God, a forgiving God, but we have
to come to Him and ask Him to forgive us of our sins. When we do that, God
expects us to turn from our sins and turn to Him. Sadly, Amber has been
looking for love from men instead of first knowing the love of Christ. I
pray that she will allow the Lord to be first in her life and help her find
the true joy and peace that only comes form know Christ as our Savior.

I will be praying for you today. Praying that you will realize how
critical, how life changing the choices you make each day can be. When we
choose to obey God, live according to His Word there are blessings. When we
choose to disobey God, live in rebellion to His Word, there are
consequences. That my friend, is the lesson of Amber Frey.


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email at
bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

A friend of the world is an enemy of God. I have been holding off sharing
this devotional for many months now. I am warning you right now, that you
better say a prayer before reading this, because this is exactly where the
rubber meets the road in our Christian journey. I will let you in on a
secret. This is probably the one verse in the Bible that I hate to read.
The reason is, there is no way to candy-coat it. There is no way to soften
the blow. There is no way to dance around it, or explain your way out of
it. It is exactly what is says. Black and white. It simply says that if
you are a friend of the world, you are an enemy of God. It actually says it
twice in the same verse. I don't know about you, but out of everything in
the world, being an enemy of God is probably the last thing I want to be.

The natural question that arises, what exactly does being a "friend of the
world" mean. Maybe this is where we can find some wiggle room in this
verse. Sorry. This verse deals specifically with the free will God has
given to us, and is simply saying, that you have choices to make each and
every day. In each choice, you are basically electing to either do
something your way...or God's way. When you choose your way, which God
allows you to do, you are on your own. You cannot expect God's blessings
since God does not bless disobedience. You cannot expect His help. You are
on your own. In fact, you have chosen not only to do it your way, you have
chosen to make God your enemy. I don't know about you, but that is not a
place I want to be. When you do it God's way, you get the benefit of His
strength, His blessings, the confidence of knowing you are in His will.

We make many decisions each and every day. I want you to start thinking
about your decisions in the context of who you are really in love with.
Yourself, or the Lord. Your will, or His. Your way, or God's way. A
friend of the world, or a friend of God. Like the prodigal son, we are so
blessed that God is merciful and full of grace, and even though we may turn
our back on Him, He is still there. Waiting for us to turn back to Him.
But we should never take God's grace and mercy for granted or tempt Him.

I want you to take a few minutes right now and really pray and ask God to
make you aware each day of the decisions you make, and what you are actually
saying in each decision about your relationship with Him. That is another
reason I stress the importance of that daily time with Him in prayer and the
Word. It helps us to stay focused on Him and who He is in our life. It
reminds us that He really is our best friend.

I love you and am praying for you. This is a Devotional that needs to be
printed and sent to everyone that you know. It is that important. Having
this understanding can save us much pain and heartache. We need to
recognize each day that we are deciding many times a day what we love
most....this world....or the Lord.


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

[danausmc]

If this devotional is a blessing to you, maybe you have a friend or family
member that would like to start receiving this daily word. You can forward
this to them, and they can use the following link to subscribe.
www.liveprayer.com/signup.htm



DAILY DEVOTIONAL SATURDAY JANUARY 15, 2005
(Matthew 7:15, 1 Timothy 4:1,2, 2 Peter 2:1)

***DON'T MISS NEXT MONDAY'S DEVOTIONAL, "The one question you MUST ask your
Pastor." TUESDAY, the false theology of Bill O'Reilly.

***Become a LIVEPRAYER.COM DAILY SPONSOR AT:
http://www.liveprayer.com/liveprayerdailysponsor.html



The Kabbalah cult. How sad it is in these last days to see people turning
to every kind of lie man can imagine, when they are seriously searching for
the truth and answers of what this life is all about. Ever since the Tower
of Babel, men have created false gods and religions out of their
imagination,
rejecting the one and only true God and His truth. One of the hottest cults
today is Kabbalah, receiving lots of publicity since it has attracted
celebrities
like Madonna, Britney Spears, and Paris Hilton as followers.

Kabbalah means "tradition" or "transmitted teaching." It is a mix of Jewish
mysticism, the occult, gnosticism, neoplatonism, and uses numerology to
"interpret" the Bible. Even though it claims to have been handed down
orally from Abraham, the system appears to have been given its earliest
formulation in the 11th century in France.

Like ALL cults, Kabbalah has a book called the Zohar. The Zohar first
appeared in Spain at around 1300 AD. It is not one book, but a complete
body of literature that has been united under one title, printed in 5
volumes, consisting of 21 parts. It consists of a mystical interpretation
of the Torah and also deals with descriptions of heavenly places, contains
symbolic interpretations of prayers and ceremonies, and explains an
elaborate number and letter mysticism. Zohar provides a world-view through
the doctrine of Sefirot (Emanations). According to the Zohar, God is
boundless, and cannot be designated by any known attributes. To allow
Himself to be known at all, God allows 10 Sefirot to flow from Him, giving
rise to the Universe. The Seafirst can be observed in the world, and allow
us to 'notice' God. For followers of Kabala, this shapes everyday life at
the most fundamental level. (Editorial comment: If you can buy this
nonsense, I can get you some oceanfront property in Missouri real cheap!)

The leader of this modern day cult is Philip Berg, who along with his wife
and their two sons oversee this multi-million dollar cult empire based in
Los Angeles through a non-profit organization known as the
Kabbalah Centre, which has offices around the nation. Berg, who is known as
"the rav" and many claim to be Moses reincarnate, markets Kabbalah as a
universal system for self-improvement. Revenues are derived primarily
through the sale of books, tapes, the famous "red string" bracelet that is
supposed to protect the wearer from the "evil eye," and Kabbalah water.

My reason for sharing this with you today is two-fold. First to warn you
about this cult. Like ALL cults, they make it sound like something everyone
should be involved in. They also claim that you can be a Christian and
involved in Kabbalah. Kabbalah is a lie from the pits of hell! It has
NOTHING to do whatsoever with the Christian faith. As I have shared with
you in the past, ALL cults use as their final authority something other than
God's Word. The Mormon cult uses the Book of Mormon. The Jehovah Witness
cult uses the writings of the Watchtower Society. The Christian Science
cult uses the writings of Mary Baker Eddy. The Scientology cult uses the
writings of L. Ron Hubbard. The Kabbalah cult uses the Zohar.

The second reason is that cults like this should not only make Christians
mad, but ashamed. As I stated in my opening paragraph, the sad reality is
that people are out there searching for truth and answers in their life, and
it is cults like Kabbalah that are reaching them. We, the followers of
Jesus Christ have the ONLY real truth, the ONLY real answers, yet we are
sitting back watching while cults lead these people right down a path of
eternal separation from the God of the Bible!

How do they reach people with their lies? SECULAR TELEVISION, SECULAR
RADIO, SECULAR NEWSPAPERS, ADVERTISING IN SECULAR PUBLICATIONS, THE
INTERNET, and whatever other way they can to
reach the masses. This is why I have tried to help you see that in these
last days, if we are to reach the lost and hurting in this world, we MUST
TAKE THE
GOSPEL DIRECTLY TO THE MASSES THROUGH THE SAME VEHICLES
THE WORLD USES TO REACH THEM EACH DAY!

I love you and care about you so much. It breaks my heart, and I know it
breaks the heart of God to see people misled and deceived into thinking
these cults like Kabbalah have the truth and answers that they are looking
for. Those who die believing these lies will be eternally separated from
God! I can assure you that people in your family, people you know, people
that you work with or go to school with, will be looking into Kabbalah. You
have to warn them that this is a cult, and that what they are selling are
lies, NOT the truth.

I also want you to pray today for those who have bought into the lies of
these cults like Kabbalah. Pray that God will send strong Christians into
their life to expose these lies for what they are and help point them to the
only truth there is, found in the pages of God's inspired, inerrant Word.
People would not be looking into cults like Kabbalah unless they were
searching for answers in their life. Again, this is why we must be
committed
to reaching the lost and hurting in this world with the truth of God's Word.
Christ, and Christ alone is the answer they are searching for!!!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email at
bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

***DON'T MISS NEXT MONDAY'S DEVOTIONAL, "The one question you MUST ask your
Pastor." TUESDAY, the false theology of Bill O'Reilly.

***Become a LIVEPRAYER.COM DAILY SPONSOR AT:
http://www.liveprayer.com/liveprayerdailysponsor.html


Death. This is obviously a subject that we aren't fond of talking about,
though it is part of our human experience. You have probably heard the
statement, "nothing in life is for sure except for death and taxes."
Well, some have found ways of getting around taxes, and while modern science
has
done remarkable things, they have only added a few short years to the
average lifespan. It is important to understand that God created man to
live forever, not to die. Death became a byproduct, one of the
consequences of the sin in the Garden of Eden. Now it is something we
must deal with during our life and face ourselves.

Many people, even Christians, have a fear of death. That is normal. Death
is an unknown to us. Of course as those who know Christ as their Savior, we
have the assurance that when this life is over we will spend eternity in
Heaven
with Him. We know that, we believe that, but since we have never actually
done it, there is that little bit of doubt, even fear. Again, don't feel
bad, it is
common.

However, the longer you walk with the Lord, the closer you get to Him, the
more you realize that this whole life isn't just an accident or a
coincidence. It is exactly like the Bible claims. We were created in the
image of God, for the purpose of serving Him and glorifying Him with our
lives. If that is true, then the rest has to be true as well, which means
when we die we go to Heaven to be with our Creator for eternity.

Let me try to put this life in perspective for you. During our life we grow
stage by stage. In our early years we learn the basic ways of functioning
in this world, and get an education. As an early adult we start working,
get married and have a family. In our elder years we slow down, reflect on
our life, and hopefully enjoy some of the fruits of our labor. Then death.
Death wipes everything out that we did in this life such as our education,
career, relationships with people, whatever position or power we may have
had, our financial resources.

When Bill Gates dies, his money stays in this world, it doesn't go with him.
Rather than being someone special because of his financial wealth, he will
be just another soul. All of the things of this world pass away. THE
ONLY THING THAT WE TAKE FROM THIS LIFE IS OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST. If
you have no relationship with the Lord, then you leave
this life with nothing. This is why I constantly am harping on our daily
relationship
with the Lord. THIS IS THE ONLY THING THAT WE TAKE WITH US
FROM THIS LIFE INTO ETERNITY!!!!

Understanding this, can you now see how important it is to know Him each
day, to build that intimate, loving relationship with the Lord? The things
of this life will all pass away, but your relationship with the Lord carries
on throughout eternity.

I love you and I care about you enough to challenge you today to refocus
your thoughts and priorities. Know how important your service to Him is
since it has eternal significance. Your day to day life here on earth has
no eternal significance, other than the things you do to impact the lives
and souls of people. That is why witnessing, serving the Lord is so
critical.
Our jobs, our friends, our recreation have such a big part of our life, but
we need to try to refocus on the things we do each day that carry an
eternal weight to them.

I will be praying for you today to really sit down and reread this several
times to let the words sink in. The Lord loves you. Death is something
that we have to deal with and accept. But we have the knowledge and
promise that when this life is over, we will be spending eternity with our
God.
That knowledge should motivate us each day to maintain our daily walk with
the Lord and be about the things that will help others know Him too.

If you want to know Jesus as your personal Savior, and know for sure that
when your life is over you will be forever with HIM, take a moment, pray
for God to open your heart and read the words on this link:
www.liveprayer.com/bdy_salvatn.html .


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email at
bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

The one question you MUST ask your pastor. If you currently have a church home, I pray that this is a question you already know the answer to. If you don't know for certain, you need to find out right away. If you are not in a church, this is the most important question to ask your potential new pastor. This question should be answered by an immediate and emphatic YES. If you get a long pause, if you get a "yes but," or get anyhting other than a resounding YES, this is NOT a church you should be part of or a pastor you should have in spiritual authority over you. The question is, "Do you believe the Bible is God's inspired, inerrant Word, representing Absolute Truth, and our final authority in all matters."

Why that question? God's Word and God's Word alone is the foundation on which our faith is based and all that we believe flows from it. Listen to me very carefully. It is IMPOSSIBLE for anyone to be in spiritual authority that does not believe the Bible to be God's inspired and inerrant Word, to represent Absolute Truth, and our final authority in all matters.
IMPOSSIBLE!
If a person does not hold the Bible to be God's Word, then they have denied the very faith they claim to hold and represent. When you deny the Bible is God's Word, it opens up the door for every kind of sin and perversion to enter into the church since it is now up to each person to determine what "truth" is.

Now you can understand why some churches condone blatant sins like homosexuality and abortion. Now you can understand why some churches refuse to preach on sin and hold people accountable for their choices.. Now you can understand how some "pastors" can make a mockery of God's Holy Institution of Marriage by marrying two people of the same sex. Now you can understand why some churches hold on to man made traditions. When you deny the Bible is inspired and inerrant, represents Absolute Truth, and is our final authority in all matters, it allows each person to determine for themselves what is right and what is wrong.

Can you see what chaos that becomes? The world says that there is no such thing as Absolute Truth. Truth is not black and white but gray. That my friend, is a lie from the pits of hell itself. What may be right to me, is wrong to you. What may be right to you is wrong to me. It is what the Bible calls, " everyone did what was right in their own imaginations." Never forget that satan is a liar (John 8:44). God is truth. God did not create us and leave us to figure out life on our own. Even in the Garden of Eden, God told man what is right and wrong.

Once man chose to rebel against God and sin was introduced into the human experience, his relationship with God was broken. Man was now separated from God his Creator. That is why it became necessary for God to give man the Bible. Many have said incorrectly that the Bible is man's search for God, when in reality, it is God's search for man. It is in the Bible that God reveals Himself to man. It is in the Bible that God helps man gain an understanding of who He is, what He expects from man, as well as providing us with all that we need during this brief journey here on earth.

As I have shared with you in the past, this is why those who choose to live their lives in rebellion to God, MUST deny the Bible, since it is the very book that condemns them. Those who deny God, reject His Son Jesus Christ, MUST reject the Bible for what it is since it is the Bible that says they are wrong. That is why those who have chosen to live their lives in rebellion to God are so offended by God's Word. They are like a little child when their parents are telling them something they don't like, putting their fingers in their ears and yelling so they can't hear what their parents are saying. In Acts 7, in the account of the stoning of Stephen the word says, "When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him," and "at this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him."

I love you and care about you so much. While this may seem like such an elementary question, I hate to say that in today's culture it must be asked.

The decline of the many mainline churches can be traced back to the '60's when they required their pastors to have a Masters of Divinity degree. The problem was many of these pastors were getting their seminary education in liberal seminaries that denied the inspiration and inerrancy of God's Word. They literally taught that the Bible is not to be believed for truth, but is simply a guide for good living.

When you have pastors standing in the pulpit on Sundays that do not believe God's Word to be inspired and inerrant, it opens the door for every kind of error and perversion you can imagine. We see that today in "churches" that condone and accept sin and compromise the truth of God's Word by preaching and teaching the parts of the Bible that won't offend people. This is why so many of these "faux churches" flourish today since people do not want to be confronted with their sin. They want to hear about the grace of God and the love of God, but not the judgment of God.

Let me tell you, the Bible is a book of personal accountability. From Genesis to Revelation the message of God's Word is that we will all be held accountable one day by God. That is why so many people in this world reject the Bible, since they do not want to be accountable for their actions. A big reason the false religions of the world like Buddhism, Hinduism, and so many others are popular is because they don't hold people accountable for their actions, there is no judgment. I am here to tell you that just as real as today is, will be the day you die and stand before God. Those who reject Christ will be judged for their sin and cast into everlasting darkness, while those who know Christ will be judged on their life and works since they accepted Him.

Jesus said, "if you love me you will obey me." I will be praying for you today. Praying that unless you are certain, you will confront your pastor with this critical question, "Do you believe the Bible is God's inspired, inerrant Word, representing Absolute Truth, and our final authority in all matters." For the man and woman of God, the true follower of Jesus Christ,
there is only one answer, YES!!!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email at
bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

If this devotional is a blessing to you, maybe you have a friend or family
member that would like to start receiving this daily word. You can forward
this to them, and they can use the following link to subscribe.
www.liveprayer.com/signup.htm


DAILY DEVOTIONAL TUESDAY JANUARY 18, 2005
( John 3:16, Matthew 7:13 and 14, John 14:6 )


The false theology of Bill O'Reilly. On the Wednesday, January 12th edition
of the "O'Reilly Factor," O'Reilly had a segment with "Left Behind" authors
Jerry Jenkins and Tim LaHaye. During this segment, O'Reilly shared his
theological beliefs that clearly have no foundation in God's Word. Sadly,
O'Reilly has bought into the big lie of this world that "all good people
will go to Heaven." It sounds nice, even sounds right, but is a lie that
will lead many into eternal darkness. There is NO Biblical doctrine of
"goodness". As a matter of fact, the Bible specifically declares that there
are "none good, no not one." There is only ONE way to Heaven, and that is
through faith in Jesus Christ.

Here are some quotes taken directly from O'Reilly on that nights program,


"Yes, I don't know. It seems -- well, We have in Catholicism a loophole
there. You know, that's why I like my religion because it's an interesting
religion. We have something called baptism by desire, and that means you can
be baptized by living a good life even if you're not a believer because
Catholics believe faith is a gift."

"But I think God forgives all people who lead good lives through this
baptism of desire. That makes sense."

Let me correct O'Reilly's false theology. First, there are no "loopholes"
to God's plan of salvation. Second, there is NO SUCH THING IN THE BIBLE,
our final authority in all matters, as "baptism by desire." This is not
even a teaching of the Catholic church, only by some very liberal
theologians. The fact is, baptism can't save you, faith in Christ saves
you. Baptism is an outward act of an inward work, that of salvation. It is
the act of identifying our lives with Christ, symbolically washing away our
sins which happens spiritually the moment we accept Christ by faith.

Also, Catholic is not a religion, it is a church. Even though it is a
matter of semantics, it is a common error many make. Catholic is the name
of a church, just like Baptist, Methodist, Assembly of God, Presbyterian,
and Lutheran are names of churches. They are churches of the Christian
faith. Christianity is not a religion, it is a faith in Christ.
Being part of particular church can't save you, only your faith in Jesus
Christ can save you.

THE CHURCH is not a building or a particular group of churches under the
same name, THE CHURCH is made up of every man, woman, and child that has
accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior by faith regardless of the name of the
building they choose to worship Him in. I assure you that when you stand
before God the moment you die, He is not going to be interested in the name
of the church you attended, only if you know His Son Jesus Christ as your
personal Savior.

As a side, O'Reilly has shared his false theology many times over the years
and my PR people have spoken several times with his producers about having
me on his program to talk about his false beliefs. Even though Liveprayer
reaches as many people daily as his program, he has repeatedly "hid under
his desk" as he is fond of crying when people who disagree with him refuse
to come on his program. The reason this is important, is because millions
have bought into this same false theology as O'Reilly has, that "all good
people will go to Heaven." That my friend, is a lie from the pits of hell
itself!

*Pray for Bill O'Reilly. Pray today that he will open his heart to the
truth of God's Word, and that he will accept the words of our Lord when He
said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through me."

Faith in Jesus Christ is the ONLY road to Heaven. A byproduct of the
horrible events of September 11, 2001, was a more unified country. For a
brief period, people like never before came together in a unified manner,
ignoring the racial, ethnic, economic barriers that normally divide us. It
was good to see our nation stand together as one. Jesus said, a house
divided cannot stand. But I do want to share something I have seen that has
disturbs me, and I want to deal with it today.

While I believe in my heart that we as Christians should love and care for
those of other religions, while we should be kind to them, we must NEVER
compromise the Christian faith just to be politically correct. The fact is,
God's plan clearly says that there is only ONE road to salvation, there is
only ONE road to Heaven, and that is through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO HEAVEN.

One of the byproducts of all of those inter-faith prayer and memorial
services was an appearance that anyone who "has faith", is "spiritual" will
be in Heaven. MY FRIEND, THAT IS NOT TRUE!. God's Word clearly tells us
that those who reject Christ as their personal savior in this life will be
eternally separated from God their Creator. That means those who have
CHOSEN to follow the teaching of Islam, Judaism, or Buddha, or anything
other than the complete inspired, inerrant Word of God will be eternally
separated from God when this life is over. As wonderful as other religions
may be, they are just that, religions. Christianity is not a religion, it
is a faith, a relationship, a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Many can't quite grasp how a loving God, a God of grace and mercy, would let
"good people" die and be eternally separated from Him. It is because of
sin. You see my friend, sin is something we are all born with. It has been
part of the human condition since man sinned in the Garden of Eden. There
is only one answer to sin, and that is the answer God gave us. He sent His
only Son Jesus, to this earth to die for the sins of all men. It was God's
plan that Jesus, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin
thus without sin, and lived a sinless life, would die on Calvary's cross and
pay with his blood for the sins of all mankind.

THAT my friend, is why it is ONLY our faith in Jesus Christ that can wipe
away our sins. It is ONLY faith in Christ that can allow sinful man to have
his sins wiped clean so that upon death, he can spend eternity with a Holy
God. Those who never accept Christ, who reject Him, die in their sin and
thus are not able to be reconciled back to God their Creator. This was
God's plan that He gave us because He loved us so much.

I love you and care about you so much. Please don't misunderstand me. I
have many dear friends who are Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, and many other
religions. I care about them very much. I pray for them daily to allow God
to open their hearts to the truth of His Word. They do many good works here
on earth, but the Bible tells us in Ephesians 2:8,9 that it is NOT of works
that we are saved, but through faith in Christ..PERIOD! I have agreed over
the years to appear in several inter-faith events. However, I used my time
to not only pray for the concerns being addressed, but share how God so
loved this world, that He gave his only Son, that whosoever believed in Him
would not perish, but have everlasting life.

We must NEVER compromise the truth of God's Word just to make people feel
better. Actually, it is better to offend someone than fail to share with
them the keys to eternal life. The Bible says that the Gospel is offensive
to those who don't believe. Our job is not to make people feel good, but to
share with them the truth of His Word. What they choose to do with that
truth is between them and God. I pray today for those people of other
religions, that they will open their hearts to God's love, and come to know
His Son by faith. Jesus is the only hope for this world. Jesus is the only
hope for each person.
Jesus is the only road to everlasting life with God our Creator!

If you have never asked Jesus into your life, or do not have the assurance
that if you died
today you would be with God for eternity, pray for God to open your heart,
then read the words at this link http://www.liveprayer.com/bdy_salvatn.html


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email at
bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

A higher standard of living. Each day in this Devotional, I deal with
controversial, real life issues that we all face in this life. Many of
these issues the church is reluctant to tackle. My goal each day is to deal
with these issues from a Biblical perspective. Most who respond are most
kind and appreciative of the Scriptural context these issues are put in.
However, there are always those who get enraged at what I say and send
vicious emails how I just don't get it.

***GOD HAS CALLED US TO LIVE ABOVE THE STANDARDS OF THIS WORLD, NOT DOWN TO
THEM!!!

You see my friend, God gave us free will to make choices. He decided NOT to
make us simply robots who would love Him, serve Him, obey Him, but make that
an act we choose to do on our own, out of our love for Him. It was this
free will that God gave us that allowed satan and 1/3 of the angles to rebel
against God. It was this free will that God gave us that allowed Adam and
Eve to sin in the Garden of Eden. It is this free will that God gave you
and me that allows us to make decisions throughout the day to obey, or rebel
against God.

***GOD HAS CALLED US TO LIVE ABOVE THE STANDARDS OF THIS WORLD, NOT DOWN TO
THEM!!!

The problem with free will is that it allows us to ignore the Absolute Truth
God gave us in His Word. It allows us to ignore the black and white reality
of right and wrong. The Bible in places refers to how we are left to our
"own imaginations." Those who choose to reject God's Word and the absolute
truth it represents, basically decide themselves what is right and what is
wrong. That is fine, but since we all have free will, what is right to you
may be wrong to someone else. And what is wrong to someone else may be
right to you. Do you see the chaos this creates?

***GOD HAS CALLED US TO LIVE ABOVE THE STANDARDS OF THIS WORLD, NOT DOWN TO
THEM!!!

Unless there is a standard, unless there is a guide, what is right and wrong
becomes something each person decides for themselves. That is one reason
God gave us His Word so that we would have the black and white of ABSOLUTE
TRUTH to guide us in our journey.

***GOD HAS CALLED US TO LIVE ABOVE THE STANDARDS OF THIS WORLD, NOT DOWN TO
THEM!!!

The issue that I want to deal with today, is that as Christians, as
believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have been called to a higher standard
of living. When I deal with issues like sex, alcohol, forgiveness, serving
others, so many just don't realize that as Christians we have been called to
live a higher standard of life. Those great heroes of faith recorded in
Hebrews chapter 11 understood that we are NOT citizens of this country, but
of another country!

***GOD HAS CALLED US TO LIVE ABOVE THE STANDARDS OF THIS WORLD, NOT DOWN TO
THEM!!!

While for this season we are in this world, we are no longer OF this world
once we commit our hearts and lives to Jesus Christ. I am in no way saying
we are to separate ourselves from this culture we live in. Quite the
opposite. Jesus said we were to be the "salt of the earth," the "light of
the world." However, we must never forget that as believers we are called
to a higher standard of living.

***GOD HAS CALLED US TO LIVE ABOVE THE STANDARDS OF THIS WORLD, NOT DOWN TO
THEM!!!

Many scoff at the Biblical example Christ set when He said if we lust in our
heart we have already sinned. My friends, yes, the sex drive, hormones,
emotions are all very normal. But God created us above the animals. We
are not to be slaves to our natural drives, but to be in control of them.
God has given us the power over our flesh, over our natural, carnal desires.
To deny this is to deny the power of God that resides within you.

***GOD HAS CALLED US TO LIVE ABOVE THE STANDARDS OF THIS WORLD, NOT DOWN TO
THEM!!!

We can love others. Not in our own strength, but in the strength God gives
us. We can forgive those who treat us wrong. Not in our own strength, but
in the strength God gives us. We are here to serve others, not to be served
as the world would like us to believe. We can not do that not in our own
strength, but in the strength God gives us. You see my friend, as a
follower of Christ, as a Christian, we have not only been called to a higher
way of living, but given the power to do it!!!!

***GOD HAS CALLED US TO LIVE ABOVE THE STANDARDS OF THIS WORLD, NOT DOWN TO
THEM!!!

The fact is, when we surrender ourselves to live a higher life, a life God
has called us to, we are blessed above and beyond all we could ever imagine.
Not always in earthly blessings but in REAL blessings. Peace, contentment,
joy. I promise you, I know people right now, with all the resources this
world can offer, who would give a million dollars for just an hour's worth
of
peace, an hour's worth of real joy. You can't buy these things. They are
not for sale. And they only come from living a life God has called His
children to live.

***GOD HAS CALLED US TO LIVE ABOVE THE STANDARDS OF THIS WORLD, NOT DOWN TO
THEM!!!

So many are afraid of "missing out". The only thing you gain from rebelling
against God is some temporary pleasure, that always leaves you wanting more.
Temporary happiness, that turns quickly to pain. You sell out the real
things of God, for the momentary gratification of this world that quickly
turns into dark despair. Blessings follow our obedience to God, pain and
heartache ALWAYS follow rebellion.

***GOD HAS CALLED US TO LIVE ABOVE THE STANDARDS OF THIS WORLD, NOT DOWN TO
THEM!!!

I love you and care so much for you. One of my goals each day is to help
you live the high calling God has called each of us to. We must never
forget that we are different. We are special. Our personal relationship
with Christ is what makes us special. It is something the lost of this
world can not comprehend. Because of His love for us, because of that
special relationship, we have been called to live a higher life during our
brief journey here. We must never forget that it is NOT our life, but our
life belongs to Him.

***GOD HAS CALLED US TO LIVE ABOVE THE STANDARDS OF THIS WORLD, NOT DOWN TO
THEM!!!

We are called to die to self daily so that HE may live through us. This is
a daily process that we all must go through. But it is because of this
daily process of dying to self so that Christ can live through us that we
can live the higher life He has called us to live. We don't have to be like
the lost of the world, but we can set the example for them. We don't have
to give in to the lusts and carnal pleasures that only destroy peoples
lives, but live above them and enjoy the real blessings of God's peace,
love, happiness, and joy.

***GOD HAS CALLED US TO LIVE ABOVE THE STANDARDS OF THIS WORLD, NOT DOWN TO
THEM!!!

Please know that I will be praying for you today. Praying that you will
take these words seriously. Realize today, maybe for the first time
how special you are to the Lord. Realize today, maybe for the first time
that as Christians we are called to live a higher life than the lost around
us. It is in living this higher life that the hurting, the hopeless, the
lost of this world will ask us what is so different between our life and
theirs. It is then that we can share with them the hope and love we have in
Christ Jesus. As followers of Christ, we are called to a higher standard of
living. Let us live for Him each day and proclaim to this world through our
very lives that He is the way, the truth, and the life!!!!!

***GOD HAS CALLED US TO LIVE ABOVE THE STANDARDS OF THIS WORLD, NOT DOWN TO
THEM!!!


In his love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email at
bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

*THE DEVOTIONAL ON MONDAY ABOUT "The same Jesus in the Bible is the same
Jesus alive today" BROUGHT AN INCREDIBLE OUTPOURING OF PRAYER REQUESTS AS
PEOPLE EXERCISED THEIR FAITH. THE HOLY SPIRIT LED ME TO FOLLOW-UP THAT
DEVOTIONAL WITH AN EQUALLY POWERFUL WORD TODAY THAT APPLIES TO EVERYONE.
PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO PRAY FOR GOD TO OPEN YOUR HEART TO THESE WORDS. IT
COULD BE THE BREAKTHROUGH THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE! THE DEVOTIONAL on
"Why do the wicked seem to prosper" will be tomorrow. Also, on Friday March
4th, the REAL STORY of Terri Schiavo.


YOU can be free from your past, TODAY! This message applies to every single
person who is reading this right now. It doesn't matter how old you are,
whether you are a man or a woman, what your skin color is, what nationality
you are, how much money you have or don't have, this is a universal message
that is applicable to everyone. You see, nobody that has lived very long in
this sin-filled and evil world has escaped the trials and tribulations of
this life and not experienced some sort of pain. EVERYONE reading this
Devotional knows the pain that comes from time to time during this journey
we are on.

For some, that pain was experienced in your childhood through mental,
physical, or sexual abuse. Some have experienced that pain later in life
through failed relationships, many through being divorced. Everyone has
lived through the pain of the death of a loved one. Many of you have
experienced the pain of financial hardships. Others have lived through the
pain of losing your job or other employment and career issues. Sadly, some
have lived through the experience of being a crime victim. Everyone has
experienced the pain from making poor choices at some point in their life.
Most have had to experience the pain of some bondage such as alcohol, drugs,
gambling, sex, food, money, shopping, lying, or a myriad of other bondages
that people get caught up in.

NOT ONE PERSON READING THIS HAS NOT HAD TO LIVE THROUGH
THE PAIN THAT COMES FROM LIVING THIS LIFE HERE ON EARTH.

Today, I want to share a word with you that could be one of the most
important things anyone has ever told you. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO KEEP LIVING
WITH WHATEVER PAIN YOU HAVE FROM YOUR PAST. Let me repeat that, because I
really want you to hear these words clear. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO KEEP LIVING
WITH WHATEVER PAIN YOU HAVE FROM YOUR PAST. If you are, that is only
because you have CHOSEN to live with that pain!

The fact is, God has made a way through faith in His Son for you to put the
pain of your past behind you and live your life in freedom. Jesus has told
us to give Him our burdens, that He would carry them for us. The Bible
tells us to cast our cares on Him, because He cares for us. You see, God
doesn't expect you to carry the pain of your past with you each day. He
wants you to live FREE from your past so that you can enjoy the abundance
that
this life has to offer.

Just hours before going to the cross, Jesus told His disciples that in this
world, they would experience trials and tribulations. But He told them to
"be of good cheer" because HE has overcome this world. You see my friend,
trials and tribulations are part of this human experience, but God has made
a
way through His Son for us to still enjoy the abundance that this life can
offer despite those trials and tribulations.

The only reason you are carrying the pain of your past with you today is
because you have chosen to believe the LIE instead of the TRUTH. Jesus
tells us in John 8:44 that satan is a liar. He is the "father of lies."
When he speaks, he speaks his native language, lying! God on the other hand
is TRUTH. The Word of God is TRUTH. The lie of satan is that you have to
carry the pain of your past around with you each day like a 1,000 pound
anchor around your neck. The truth from God is that you can take that pain
of your past and give it to Jesus. HE WILL GLADLY TAKE THAT 1,000 POUND
ANCHOR FROM YOU TODAY!!!

I love you and care about you so much. Everyone reading this Devotional
today has experienced some of the pain that this life offers. So many of
you have never let go of that pain and have simply learned how to live your
life each day with that pain. Because of that, you are missing the fullness
of the joy, peace, and abundance that this life can offer. Because of that,
you are not completely fulfilling your purpose in this life which is to
serve and glorify God with your life. Because of that, you are not living
in total freedom and victory each day.

Right now, this very moment, I want you to stop whatever you are doing. If
you are at home, at work, at school, it doesn't matter. Stop whatever you
are doing right now and pray this prayer.

"Dear Father, I thank you for this day. I know that today was not promised
to
me, but it is a gift from You. Dear God, You know the pain I have today
from
what has happened in my life. I am tired of carrying this pain with me day
after day.
It is robbing me of my joy, of my peace, of knowing the abundance that this
life
can offer. I trust Your Word today that tells me that I can give this
burden to You, that You will take it from me. I trust Your Word today that
tells me to cast my cares on You, because You care for me. In the name of
Jesus, I give You the pain of my past today. In the name of Jesus, I
surrender it to You. Take it from me, and fill me right now with Your joy,
with Your peace, and let me live from this day forward in FREEDOM FROM MY
PAST! In Jesus name I pray, AMEN!"

I will be praying for you today my friend. God loves you SO MUCH! He cares
about you SO MUCH! We live in an evil and sin-filled world. Because of
that, we all will experience pain in this life, but God has made a way so
that we do not have to carry that pain around with us for the rest of our
days. He has offered to carry it for us, to take it from us. I pray today
that you will trust Him and give Him the pain of your past and live in
FREEDOM from this day forward!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

[danausmc]

DAILY DEVOTIONAL SATURDAY JUNE 4, 2005
(Galatians 1:6-12)

***GOD'S TIMING is so incredible. The perfect follow-up to the Devotional
Friday about the Scientology cult is to expose the most dangerous cult that
exists today, Mormonism! The reason this cult is so dangerous is that they
try to pass themselves off as "just another Christian church." A MORMON IS
NO MORE A CHRISTIAN THAN A MUSLIM IS! While they use many of the same words
a Christian uses like Jesus and God, the jesus and god of the Mormon cult
are
NOT the Jesus and God of the Bible! Their final authority is NOT God's
Word,
but the words from the imagination and rebellious heart of this cult's
founder, Joseph Smith. Satan
masquerades as an angel of light, so do not be fooled by those who follow
this
cult. They believe in a different gospel!


A different Gospel. I have been writing this Devotional every single day
since Liveprayer started on August 31, 1999. That is over 2100
straight days. During that time, the number of people who get the
Devotional has grown from less than 10, to just over 2 million people
worldwide. Many people forward the Devotional to family members, friends,
and business associates. A copy of each day's Devotional is posted on my
website, www.liveprayer.com , and I have given my permission to several
hundred other Internet sites to post it on theirs as well. Only God knows
for sure, but it is reasonable to assume that each day over 3 million people
worldwide read these words.

As you know, each day I deal with real life issues and try to put them in
the context of the Christian faith, issues that many churches simply will
not address for a myriad of reasons. One of the reasons is because of the
attacks that come when you address certain subjects. During the course of a
month, I routinely get between 5-10 death threats that get forwarded on to
the proper law enforcement agencies. I don't worry about them, since I know
God has my back and when my work here is over I will be forever with Him.

But in the course of doing this each day over these past 69 months, I have
come to realize that some topics I deal with bring out the attacks more than
others. For instance, when I share that God says all sex outside of
marriage is a sin, it brings out the demons of hell. Whenever I talk about
the family, and God's plan for the family, and pray for marriages to be
restored, it brings out the demons of hell. Abortion. Oh my. To tell a
woman that having an abortion is KILLING HER BABY brings out the demons
of hell in full force. I tell my staff to put on two suits of armor
whenever I do a Devotional on the FACT that homosexuality is clearly called
by God a sin. That issue, probably more than any other brings on the most
vicious attacks that you can imagine.

But the topic I deal with that unleashes the demons of hell like no other
is to call Mormonism for what it is...A CULT! Never in all the days of
doing this work have I seen such vicious, vile, nasty, emails as from the
good folks down at your local Mormon cult. I hit a major nerve, as a great
lie satan has been telling is exposed to the world. It always amuses me
how when you expose satan, attack him head on, go right for his throat, show
him to be the liar that he is, how loud he will scream.

As a matter of fact, I have been "warned" to never, ever, speak out against
Mormonism again or there would be a huge price to pay. Well, I am sorry,
but if I DON'T speak out against this cult that is leading millions into
eternal damnation, there will be a bigger price to pay since I have to one
day answer to God!!!

The lie of Mormonism that I expose is not a new problem. Paul himself had
to deal with the issue of "cults," those who perverted the Gospel, almost
from the very beginning. He spoke of it often in his writings, as in
today's anchor verses in his letter to the church at Galatia. This is
nothing new. The bottom line to Mormonism and why it is a cult can be
boiled down to one core issue. The jesus of the Mormons is NOT a deity!!!

Many Mormons will lie to you and say that they believe in the Jesus of the
Bible, but they are not telling you the truth. In Mormon theology, their
jesus is NOT a deity! If Christ is not God, then his death on the cross was
useless, those who believe in Him are still lost in their sin, and we are
the most sad of all people. THE JESUS OF THE BIBLE IS GOD!

That is why when you base your beliefs on anything other than the inspired,
inerrant Word of God, you are lost! Yes the Mormons use the Bible, but it
is NOT their final authority as it is for the Christian. Their authority
lies in the writings of that lunatic Joseph Smith and their cult's Doctrine
and Covenants statement.

I know some people are outraged that I would be "so mean" to call Mormonism
a cult. I received emails saying that I should just leave them alone
to believe what they want. Others talk of the great works that they do.
First, I have no doubt that most Mormons are fine people, good people, and
do great works. But being a good person, doing good works does NOT get you
into Heaven. Only faith in Jesus Christ, the Jesus of the Bible will get
you into Heaven. The Mormon cult spends tens of millions each year in
public relations to portray themselves as "just another Christian church."

*DO NOT LET THEIR ADS FOOL YOU. They are no more a Christian church than
your
local mosque is!

Lastly, I have no problem in them believing whatever they want to. God gave
each of us the free will to choose what we want to believe in. But it is my
responsibility to WARN people not to be taken in by the warm and fuzzy
exterior of this cult, and to tell them what Mormons really believe so that
they understand going in that a Mormon is NOT a Christian, and when they say
the name Jesus, it is NOT the Jesus of the Bible! ***YOUR ETERNAL
DESTINATION IS DETERMINED BY WHETHER YOU ACCEPT OR
REJECT THE JESUS CHRIST OF THE BIBLE!!!

I love you and care about you so much. I don't mind taking the heat that I
do each day for exposing sin and dealing with the tough issues of life.
That is what God has called me to do. My goal today is NOT to convert
Mormons to Christians, but to WARN people of this cult. I refuse to waste
my time getting into theological debates with those who choose to believe in
Mormonism. It is a much more productive use of my time to pray for them to
come to know the REAL JESUS.

I would ask that all of those who know the Jesus of the Bible, to take a few
moments today and join me in prayer for those who have bought into the lies
of the cults like the Mormons, the Jehovah's Witnesses, Scientology,
Christian Science, and the various New Age groups. This is a very important
issue since people who put their faith in these cults are making choices
that will cause them to be cast into everlasting darkness. It was Jesus who
said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through me." There is only ONE GOSPEL, the GOSPEL OF JESUS
CHRIST FOUND IN THE BIBLE!!!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email at
bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

Running from sin. This may seem like an easy question to answer, but think
carefully before you answer. Do you run away from sin, or do you run to
sin? If you answer honestly, you will have to admit that there have been
times in your life when you were guilty of running towards sin, or at least
NOT running away when you saw sin coming.

I have spoken in past Devotionals about the path of escape that God not only
always provides, but promises! There is that instant, when your spiritual
instincts are telling you exactly what to do. That my friend becomes YOUR
moment of truth. Will you obey God and run away from sin? Or, do you
ignore
God and run to it, like the moth goes directly for the fire!

In today's scripture, Joseph saw sin coming. Realizing his own human
weakness, he literally ran from it. THERE IS NOTHING COWARDLY ABOUT RUNNING
FROM SIN! Let me say this again. THERE IS NOTHING COWARDLY ABOUT RUNNING
FROM SIN!

As a matter of fact, it is an act of weakness and rebellion to God to NOT
run
from sin. It is like saying, "OK sin, here I am, powerless to stand up to
you..just run me over." Anyone can do that. It takes spiritual maturity to
see sin coming and flee from it. The Bible even tells us to "flee from
sin."
It is an admonition that we need to take more seriously.

The question then becomes, why don't we run from sin? There are two answers
to this. I am not questioning your love of Jesus even though
sin is rebellion against God, but it is because we either, 1) don't trust
our
spiritual instincts enough to "see" sin coming, or, 2) we simply love the
sin more than the Lord at that moment.

That may sound harsh, but it is very true. Jesus told His disciples that if
they loved Him, they would obey His commandments. As His disciples, each
day
we get the opportunity to show our love for Him through our obedience.
Throughout
the course of a day, we get the opportunity to run from sin, or stay and
indulge
in it. Remember the next time that you want to tell Jesus you love Him,
show
Him by following His commandments. Show Him by RUNNING FROM SIN!

I love you and care about you very much. I realize that many of you are in
difficult situations today because you have succumbed to sin's temptations.
You stayed instead of running. Running is hard. It actually requires a
supernatural strength that we only posses through Christ. Again, that is
why
that intimate daily relationship with Him through prayer and the Word is so
critical to our daily walk. It not only strengthens us, but sharpens our
spiritual
instincts so we can see sin coming and run from it.

I will be praying for you to really let these words today sink in. For many
of
you, these are very difficult words to read. They are said in love, to help
you
avoid falling into the traps the enemy sets for you. Let me leave you with
this encouragement. God BLESSES obedience. Not only is it our most
effective
way of showing our love for the Lord, but a side benefit is that God blesses
our
obedience.

I am convinced that Joseph reaped the blessings of God for His obedience in
running from Potiphar's wife. What God did for Joseph, He will do for
you. He gave Joseph the spiritual instincts to see sin coming, the strength
to run from it, and than blessed him for his obedience! Remember that the
next time you see sin coming...RUN!!!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email at
bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

***THIS DEVOTIONAL TODAY IS DEDICATED TO THOSE BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN OF OUR
MILITARY WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES OVER THE LAST 229 YEARS TO INSURE THAT THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WOULD REMAIN A LAND OF FREEDOM AND OPPORTUNITY TO
THIS WORLD. WE ENJOY THE INCREDIBLE BLESSED LIFE WE HAVE
TODAY BECAUSE OF THE SACRIFICES OF THOSE WHO UNDERSTOOD THAT FREEDOM AND ONE
NATION UNDER GOD, WAS WORTH DEFENDING AND PAYING THE ULTIMATE PRICE FOR.

MAY GOD BLESS THE BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN OF OUR MILITARY TODAY AS THEY CONTINUE
IN THIS GREAT TRADITION OF SERVICE SO THAT OUR CHILDREN WILL KNOW THAT SAME
FREEDOM FOR MANY YEARS SHOULD JESUS TARRY IN HIS RETURN. I PRAY DAILY THAT
GOD WILL WATCH OVER THEM, KEEP THEM SAFE, AND BRING THEM HOME SOON TO THEIR
FAMILIES AND A GRATEFUL NATION .


The Biblical case for war. As we have been engaged in war against those who
would love to destroy our nation, the debate continues as to whether war is
a proper response. The proponents of "peace without war" use the Bible as
their key defense of their position, even though many in the "peace without
war" movement are avowed atheists and find the Bible to be little more than
a book of stories. Interestingly, these same people run to God's Word to
defend their views.

However, many Christians also adopt this view of "peace without war". I
realize that this is a very divisive issue, and my goal is never to divide,
but unite the Body of Christ. However, I cannot shy away from the tough
issues, and ultimately we all must find peace on each issue, not in our own
thoughts and ideas, but from the Word of God. That MUST be our final
authority in ALL matters. Please pray as you read these words today.

To properly discuss war from a Biblical perspective, we have to understand
the theological context from which war exists. God created man in
perfection. Man was perfect, never to die. The creation God made for man
to exist in was perfect. However, man's sin changed all of that. We have
to understand that war is a byproduct of man's sin. God did not create war.
God does not approve of war. God even prevented David, a man after His own
heart, not to finish the Temple because he was a man of war.

War stems from man's sin and became part of the human condition from the
very beginning. Because of man's sin, because of the sin that is in every
part of our world, until God brings this world as we know it to an end, war
will ALWAYS be part of the human experience. THERE WILL BE NO PEACE UNTIL
THE PRINCE OF PEACE HIMSELF RETURNS!!!!

We are then faced with this situation. War is a result of man's sinfulness.
It will be part of this world until Christ returns and God brings this world
as we know it to a conclusion. The question becomes, what is the proper
response of a Christian to war. We all know that one of the 10 Commandments
is "thou shalt not murder". War involves killing. On the surface, the
issue seems to be pretty simple. As Christians, we should not be involved
in war since it involves killing. However, God Himself, ordered His
children to war and specifically ordered them to kill on many occasions.
This seems to be a gross contradiction. No matter what anyone leads you to
believe, the Bible does NOT contradict itself...EVER!!

The 10 Commandments were given to people, to individuals. In every case
where God ordered His people to war, it was against an enemy who had no
desire for peace, had no desire to settle their disputes amicably, and
actually had the goal of destroying God's people from the face of the earth.
War became a defensive measure against the destruction of God's people.
There are many examples I can use, but does anyone think Adolph Hitler would
have been stopped had it not been for the military effort that defeated his
armies?

When studying the Bible, context is critical. When studying the Bible,
taking the whole counsel of God into consideration is vital to properly
understand it. That is why I share often that you have to read the entire
book so you get a feel, an understanding for the nature of God. There is no
doubt God is a God of peace. Peace was the perfection into which we were
created. However, God is also a God of judgment, and often, God uses His
people as instruments of His judgment.

We can never know completely the mind of God, or fully comprehend His plans,
but it is clear in reading the Bible God often used His people in acts of
war to preserve them from destruction. He also used His people to exercise
judgment on those who were
the enemies of God, and further His plan that all who would believe might
know the gift of everlasting life through their faith in Him.

That brings us to today and our current situation. As Christians, how
should we respond to the fact our nation is involved in war, which includes
the killing of innocent men, women, and children. This of course, is the
key argument of those who say we should not be involved in war, since
innocent people will die. It is impossible to understand this issue without
accepting God and His plan. It is impossible without accepting the Bible as
God's inspired, inerrant Word. You must realize that life is everlasting.

This time here on this earth is but for a brief few years. In light of
eternity, whether we live 1 day, 1 year, 10 years, 20 years, 50 years, or
100 years, really makes little difference. Our purpose is NOT to see how
long we can live, but find our faith in Christ and fulfill our God-given
purpose to serve and glorify Him with whatever time we do have. The fact is,
we all will die. Some through natural causes in old age. Some by disease.
Some by accidents. Some through war. Regardless of how, we ALL will die
one day. Which is why I try to remind you often, tomorrow is promised to
nobody. We must treat each day like the gift from God it is. That is why
the Bible says "today is the day of salvation". You may not have the chance
to repent and come to know Christ tomorrow.

It is very sad that people are dying from this conflict we are in. But the
fact is, over 3,000 innocent people died on US soil on September 11th. The
fact is,
people in this world die each day because of wars between nations and people
who disagree with each other on a wide array of issues. That is why we must
all do our part each day to share the love and hope we have in Christ so
that people worldwide have the opportunity to accept Him by faith so their
eternal home with God is insured.

My personal belief through the study of the Scriptures is that God hates
war, but allows it much like He allows other evils born out of the sin in
our world. Romans 8:28 tells us that "..in all things God works for the
good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose."
Does God enjoy the evils that exist in this world due to sin? NO!!! Never
forget that God is ALWAYS on His throne and always in control. Nothing
happens that God does not allow. He can take the evil of man, and use it to
fulfill His plan and purpose.

Also, don't forget that while we look at events in relation to time, God is
not bound by time and the events of this world are but a blip in eternity to
Him. One day, very soon, God will step in and bring to a conclusion this
world as we know it. In the meantime, because of sin, there will always be
evil and the by products of evil. However, God will always use events, even
horrible events to further His plan and purpose for man to know Him by
faith.

***We as a nation have every right, and even responsibility to defend
ourselves from those who would destroy us. Much like the children of Israel
had a right and responsibility to defend themselves from those nations that
would try to destroy them, there are evil forces in this world who would
love to see the United States cease to exist. Thankfully, our forefathers
understood this and defended our country to their death so that we could
enjoy the great freedom and liberty we enjoy today. It is now our turn to
defend this nation from its enemies to insure that our children have the
same freedoms should the Lord tarry in His return.

God has used our nation in a great way in the fulfillment of His plans and
purpose. Should we continue to honor Him, and glorify Him as a nation, I
have no doubt that we will continue to be part of His plan. That is why I
am sure God will be with this nation in this war on terror, since we are
simply defending ourselves from people in the world who would see us
destroyed. *People who have no desire for peace!

I love you and care about you very much. I realize out of the over
2,000,000+ who get this Devotional worldwide, many will disagree with what I
have said today. All I can do is implore you to dig into the Scriptures.
Read throughout the Old Testament those passages that involve wars. Be
careful in many of the passages both in the Old and New Testaments, to
insure the context of the passage is referring to individuals or to nations.
There are many places God is speaking directly to nations, and others, where
He is clearly speaking to individuals. I know that there will continue to
be division on this issue.

The fact is, no matter how you feel, war is with us until God decides to
bring things to an end. There will be no real peace, until the Prince of
Peace returns. As a nation, we must defend ourselves from those who would
destroy us. But in so doing, we must insure
that we remain a nation that honors and serves the God of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob. As individuals, we must get serious not only about cleaning up
our own lives, but doing so in order God can use us to minister to the lost
and hurting. I believe deep down time is very short. We must take
advantage of whatever time is left do be about our Father's business.

May God continue to richly bless the United States, and all the nations of
the world that honor Him. May God bless and instill wisdom in our leaders.
May God bless and protect the men and women of the armed services from all
the nations who support us in this action to rid the world of terrorism.
May God bless those people who will be caught in the middle of this
conflict, and may they find peace as they look to Him for comfort. Lastly,
may God pour out His love to those who have turned their hearts against Him,
that they may know His love and by faith receive the gift of everlasting
life through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.


In his love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email at
bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

"Four Christians are facing up to 47-years in prison and $90,000 in fines
for preaching the Gospel on a public sidewalk, a right fully protected by
the First Amendment. On October 10, 2004, the four Christians were arrested
in Philadelphia. They are part of Repent America. Along with founder Michael
Marcavage, members of Repent America-with police approval--were preaching
near Outfest, a homosexual event, handing out Gospel literature and carrying
banners with Biblical messages.

When they tried to speak, they were surrounded by a group of radical
homosexual activists dubbed the Pink Angels. A videotape of the incident
shows the Pink Angels interfering with the Christians' movement on the
street, holding up large pink symbols of angels to cover up the Christians'
messages and blowing high pitched whistles to drown out their preaching.
Rather than arrest the homosexual activists and allow the Christians to
exercise their First Amendment rights, the Philadelphia police arrested and
jailed the Christians! They were charged with eight crimes, including three
felonies: possession of instruments of crime (a bullhorn), ethnic
intimidation (saying that homosexuality is a sin), and inciting a riot
(reading from the Bible some passages relating to homosexuality) despite the
fact that no riot occurred. " (excerpt from American Family Assoc.)

NOTE: Fortunately, the case against all 4 were dropped. However, simply
preaching against the sin of homosexuality from the Bible is now against the
law in many countries, and it is only a matter of time before we see more
incidents like the one in Philadelphia last October. Just this week, Canada
made it legal for couples of the same sex to legally get married. As more
states here in the US make same-sex marriages legal, speaking out on the sin
of homosexuality, even from the Bible, will soon be against the law.


The next battle that we need to be fighting today! Over these past 71+
months, I have often shared with you the pressing spiritual issues of our
day. I can remember several years ago after talking about those who were
out to redefine marriage, receiving many emails telling me how paranoid I
was and that same-sex marriages would never be legal in the United States.

In commenting over the years on many of the spiritual battles our nation has
been fighting, one of the points I have always brought to your attention is
that we MUST start dealing with these issues in advance, not waiting until
it is too late. We are like a football team that shows up for practice when
we feel like it, is not disciplined enough to work out like we should,
doesn't listen to the head coach, and then can't figure out why we get beat
77-0!

The most frightening thing is, nothing seems to wake us up. We know nothing
happens apart from God allowing it to happen. I firmly believe one reason
God allowed President Clinton to have 8 years in office was to wake up the
church. Instead of the church waking up, it continued to follow the world
into spiritual decay.

Today we have churches that not only condone but promote the sin of
homosexuality. We have churches today that support a woman's decision to
kill her baby. We have churches today that treat the Bible as a book of
fables, Christ as "just a man," and promote the lie from the pits of hell
that "everyone will make it Heaven if they try."

Sadly, even the events of 9/11 failed to wake up a church more preoccupied
with building buildings than building men and women of God. More churches
measure their success by the amount of money they collect for their accounts
than the amount of souls they collect for the Kingdom of God.

I am afraid the only thing that will wake up the sleeping church is real
persecution. The Bible clearly tells us that in the last days sin and evil
will run rampant. There is no doubt in my mind that the church as we know
it will one day soon no longer exist. Like in other parts of the world
today, the church will come under great persecution and be forced
underground.

It will be at this time when all of the ways we have figured out to divide
ourselves will finally come to an end and the Body of Christ will finally be
one. We won't have "denominations." Whether you speak in tongues, sprinkle
or dunk are not going to be important issues any longer. Your color or
nationality will cease to be an issue. Those who want to lead won't be
getting paid, but paying for the privilege with their very life.

*Back in 2004, I already told you what will be the next major battle for
Christians to fight. There is a move to make speaking out against
homosexuality, even from the Bible, hate speech and a crime. It is already
on the books in Sweden and Canada. Once they make it a law to preach
against homosexuality, even from the Bible, they will be able to make it a
law that you can't preach from the Bible against ANY sin, and eventually the
entire Bible will be called hate speech!

NOW IS THE TIME TO BE FIGHTING THIS BATTLE! Today, not 2 or 3 years from
now when they are ready to pass these laws. NOW is the time to be calling
your elected officials, now is the time for petitions, now is the time for
the President to take a bold stand on this issue. This is why I constantly
tell you that we MUST be part of our culture. As we speak, those who oppose
God are already hard at work on passing this law and my guess is 98% of
Christians haven't got a clue this is even an issue.

I love you and care about you so much. I will be praying for you today to
start seeing the big picture. Back in the mid-80's, I traded commodities,
futures, and options. I was day trading before there was such a term.
While I watched the business news and read the Wall Street Journal each day
to stay in touch with everything going on in the financial markets, for a
trader, by the time it was on the news or in print it was too late. People
buying off of stories in the WSJ were usually buying at the top from sellers
who had already made a nice profit.

This is the same thing. Once you start seeing these spiritual issues on the
news, in the papers, the work by those who serve satan has already been
completed. That is why we cannot afford to sleep or lose sight of the fact
that this is a spiritual battle we must be fighting each and every day. The
eternal souls of people are at stake.

Let me leave you today with this word of encouragement. Again, we should
not be surprised with all that is going on in the world. Not only is God
allowing some of this as a portion of His judgment on this nation for our
sins, but the Bible tells us that the last days will be full of sin and
evil. However, Christ told us to be of good cheer, because He has overcome
this world and we know that in the end God wins.

These are actually exciting times for those who serve the Lord since God is
allowing us to be part of bringing in that last great harvest before His Son
returns. May He find us faithfully serving Him at that glorious moment!!!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email at
bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

DAILY DEVOTIONAL SUNDAY JULY 31, 2005
(Mark 11:25, Colossians 3:13)


***PLEASE READ! Over the course of our journey, there are several life
changing moments. TODAY is going to be one of those moments for many of
you. Please take a minute right now and pray, and ask God to open your
heart to receive this special word today that can literally change your very
life!

Forgive those who have hurt you. Not one person reading this Devotional
today, has not had someone at some point in your life hurt you. Some of you
may have been physically or sexually abused as a child by a mother, a
father, a relative, or someone your family knew. Some of you may have had a
wonderful childhood, but in your young adult life been hurt by a boyfriend
or girlfriend. Some of you may have been the victim of a horrible crime
like robbery or rape.

Still others may have been deeply hurt by your husband or wife that wanted a
divorce. There are many of you that have been hurt later in life by your
children. Lots of people reading this have been hurt by employers, business
associates, or close friends. Sadly, some of you have even been hurt by a
pastor or someone in your church. The fact is, EVERYONE reading this today
has been hurt at some point in your life.

As painful as the experience was that caused this hurt in your life, so many
people have compounded that pain by letting bitterness, even hatred into
their life against the person or people who caused your pain. Today, I am
going to help set you free from this hurt and pain you have experienced in
your life.

In a prison, they have a central lock that can automatically open all of the
cell doors in a given area. If you have ever been in prison or watched a
prison movie you know what I am talking about. There is the loud buzz,
followed by the clanking sound of all of the cell doors automatically
opening. Today, many of you are in prison from the hurts and pains in your
life. Today, the cell door is going to open and you are going to be FREE!!!

The key to unlocking that door is FORGIVENESS. As simple as this may seem,
it can be one of the most difficult things in this world to do. Forgiving
someone who has hurt us deeply is one of the hardest things to do in life.
It is not something that we can even do in our own strength, but must be
done in the strength we get from the Lord.

I realize that many people right now are saying, "NO WAY, not after what
that person did to me." As a Christian, it should be our goal to be like
our Lord every day. What were some of the last words Christ spoke from the
cross? What was his last act before dying that horrific death? He asked
God to forgive those who had crucified Him!

When we sin, and we all sin every day, what do we do? We go to God and ask
Him to forgive us. We do so with the full assurance that He will forgive us
because He has promised to in His Word. In Colossians 3:13 the Bible tells
us to "forgive as the Lord forgave you."

God's Word is clear that just as Christ forgives us when we sin against Him,
we must forgive those who sin against us! That is the key to unlocking the
prison door and being free once and for all from the hurt and pain you have
experienced in your life. FORGIVE the person or people who have hurt you in
your life!

The other problem I deal with each day is people not being able to forgive
themselves. Listen, the Bible tells us that we have "all come short of the
glory of God." We are all sinners. We all make mistakes. When you go to
God and confess your sins, the Bible promises us that He not only forgives
us but cleanses us from all unrighteousness. He not only has forgiven us,
but He has forgotten the transgression. God acts like it never happened.
The point I'm trying to make is that if God has forgiven you, if God has
wiped the slate clean, if in God's mind the sin never existed...then you
need to forgive yourself.

I love you and care about you so much. I realize that this is a difficult
word for many of you to hear today, but this is going to literally change
the lives of those who will receive it...and do it! I want you to take a
moment right now, stop what you are doing, and take out a piece of paper and
a pen. Literally write down the name of the person or names of the people
in your life who have hurt you deeply. Now, pray this prayer,

"Dear Father, I come to you today, thanking you that you love me so much. I
thank you that you are not only a God of love, but a God of forgiveness.
Thank you for forgiving me of my sins. Father, I come today and pray that
you will give me YOUR strength to forgive those who have hurt me in my life.
Right now, this moment, I forgive (name/names). I not only forgive them,
but Father, I ask that you bless them. They need you in their life and I
pray that they will come to have a personal, intimate relationship with your
Son. Thank you for giving me the strength to forgive and thank you for
setting me free from the pain in my life. In Jesus precious name I pray,
AMEN!"

I will be praying for each of you today to pray this prayer. It is time to
forgive those who have hurt you, and it is time to forgive yourself if need
be. Put the hurt and pain of your past behind you once and for all and move
forward with your life. God still has much left for you to do and by
forgiving those who have hurt you, you are now free to do all that He wants
to do in and through your life for His Kingdom!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email at
bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

***THIS IS A MUST READ FOR EVERY PARENT AND GRANDPARENT, AS WELL AS FOR
YOUNG ADULTS!!!

Friends with benefits. Let me share a fact about satan with you. Satan
cannot create, he can only imitate and pervert. However, satan is very good
at re-packaging an old lie to make it look new. It would be like getting a
present on Christmas morning, carefully taking off the shiny bow on top,
tearing open the nice wrapping paper, opening the box inside to find a pair
of athletic shoes. After your initial excitement wanes, you begin to look
closely at the "new shoes," and come to realize they are the same athletic
shoes you have been wearing for the past year. They aren't new, they were
just packaged to look new. That is exactly what "friends with benefits" is.
An old lie with a new name.

Friends with benefits is what the young adults today call a friend that they
are having sex with. It is nothing more than a new label for sexual sin.
In some circles, it refers to a person you are having oral sex with.
Another common term young people use today is "hooking up." It means
getting together for sex. Hooking up is meeting someone for no other reason
than sex, often not even knowing the other person's name.

Let me be very clear, there is nothing new about "friends with benefits" or
"hooking up." They are simply the newest names for having sex with someone
you are not married to. It is called FORNICATION. Fornication is a word
that means ALL sexual activity outside the bonds of marriage. That includes
oral sex and any sort of touching. If you are having sex or engaging in
sexual activity with someone other than the person you are married to, it is
fornication! It is clearly defined as SIN in the Bible. To see how God
feels about this issue, you should get a Bible concordance and look up the
word "fornication" and read all of the various scriptures in God's Word that
address this sin.

I get emails daily from people, young and old, asking how "far" they can go
with a boyfriend or girlfriend. I often remind them how the Bible says we
are to run from temptation, not run to it. Listen, if you are trying to
find "the line", you have already crossed it. You are only playing
mind-games with yourself. It is like the moth that flies near the light.
Ultimately, the moth gets too close and is killed. You have to stop sin at
its root, in the heart. Once you let it go from your heart to your head, it
is already too late. Once you let it leave your head and actually start to
act out the sin, your are done.

Let me explain why fornication is wrong in very real, practical terms.
First, it is a perversion of God's plan for sex between a man and woman.
God's plan was for one man, one woman, one lifetime. Sex is part of that
relationship between a man and woman. When you have sex outside of that
special union, you are opening up very special, intimate emotions that just
don't work outside of marriage. It is a very special part of the marriage
experience and by perverting that plan, you cheapen it, you compromise it,
and it is never as special as God intended it to be.

Of course, in addition to that side of the fornication issue is the reality
of sexually transmitted diseases. That is a very real byproduct or
consequence of this sinful activity. Then you always have the possibility
of the woman getting pregnant. Again, this opens the door to a plethora of
consequences from abortion, to having a child out of wedlock, to two people
who God never intended to be married getting married for all the wrong
reasons which almost always ends badly for both people, to any number of
other consequences that can dramatically change your life.

THERE ARE ALWAYS...ALWAYS...ALWAYS...CONSEQUENCES FOR
SINFUL ACTIVITY. At some level, you will have to deal with the consequences
if you choose to commit the sin of fornication.

This issue perfectly illustrates the choices we have. If we choose to do it
our way, give in to our physical urges and engage in this sinful activity,
not only do we pay a very high price for choosing to rebel against God's
plan, but the fact is, what we get for that choice is very little. I can
personally attest that it is not in any way shape or form worth the price
you have to pay. However, if we obey God, do it His way, this can be one of
life's great blessings. Sex is NOT bad. God created it. Enjoyed in the
context God created it to be experienced, it is wonderful.

You see my friend, God gave us each free will. We can choose to do it our
way and deal with the consequences of our rebellion, or do it God's way and
know the blessings of obeying Him. Often, the blessings we seek in this
life are there for us, if we will simply be faithful and obedient. We hold
the key to many of our blessings by simply being obedient and doing it God's
way, instead of rebelling and trying to do it our way.

I love you, and care about you very much. I know this is a difficult issue
for many of you, and many are in the midst of struggling with it right now.
God's timing is always perfect, and it is NO ACCIDENT you are reading these
words today. God is clearly speaking to you. Again, it is your choice. I
can assure you that as long as you live in disobedience, in rebellion,
continue to sin in this area, you will continue to struggle, have to deal
with the various consequences of this sinful activity, and it will keep you
from the close, intimate, daily relationship with Christ He wants to have
with you.

I will be praying for you today. Friends with benefits is simply the same
old lie from satan with a new name. I know for many this is a major bondage
in your life. With the strength God can provide and making it a priority,
you can overcome it and see victory. From my own life I can tell you this.
If you listen to God, do it His way, it not only works, but it is
incredible. Why settle for the scraps this world offers, when we can enjoy
the feast our God has prepared for us.

There is a "friend with benefits" whose name is JESUS. The benefits are the
forgiveness of your sins and life everlasting. He is a TRUE friend, with
eternal benefits!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email at
bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

DAILY DEVOTIONAL SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 10, 2005
(2 CORINTHIANS 5:20)

***AS WE SPEND THE NEXT FEW DAYS REMEMBERING THE HORRIBLE EVENTS OF 9/11,
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO PUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE UNITED STATES THAT
DAY IN THE CONTEXT OF OUR FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST. I WAS NEVER SO THANKFUL TO
GOD FOR THIS MINISTRY AS I WAS ON 9/11. WITHIN 10 MINUTES OF THE PLANES
HITTING THE WORLD TRADE CENTER, WITHOUT EVEN UNDERSTANDING FULLY WHAT WAS
HAPPENING, WE HAD MOBILIZED A WORLDWIDE PRAYER EFFORT INVOLVING OVER 1
MILLION PEOPLE.

WAS IT AN ACCIDENT THE OTHER PLANES THAT WERE TO BE FLOWN INTO BUILDINGS ON
THAT DAY WERE GROUNDED? NO!!! IN THE FOLLOWING DAYS, OVER 2,000 THAT WE
KNOW OF, ACCEPTED CHRIST AS THEIR SAVIOR. EVEN IN GREAT TRAGEDY, GOD IS
WORKING! PLEASE PRAY AND READ THE WORDS GOD WROTE THROUGH ME ON THAT
DAY...SINCE THEY HAVE AS MUCH RELEVANCE NOW AS THEY DID ON THE DAY THAT THEY
WERE ORIGINALLY WRITTEN.

THE DATE OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 IS A DATE THAT WILL FOREVER LIVE IN UNITED
STATES HISTORY. IT MARKS THE DAY WHEN THE REALITY OF THE END-TIMES BECAME
PART OF OUR EVERY DAY LIVES. MAY GOD BE MERCIFUL TO THIS GREAT NATION AND
ITS' PEOPLE AS THESE EVENTS UNFOLD. PLEASE MAKE SURE THIS GETS POSTED IN
YOUR CHURCH, AT YOUR WORK, AND YOU SEND IT TO YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS.

(Originally sent on September 12, 2001)

It is 10pm on Tuesday night, the 11th of September as I write this
Devotional. I am absolutely drained as I type these words. I have been in
prayer the last hour, asking God to speak through me to help put this
watershed day in US history in some perspective for you. First of all,
thank you for joining me this morning in what turned out to be an incredible
prayer effort. Less than an hour after the events of the day began to
unfold, I sent a special call to prayer to over 700,000 worldwide that make
up the subscriber base of this Daily Devotional.

Many forwarded it on to family and friends, and within a few hours, we had
mobilized over 1 million around the world to be in prayer for the families
of those who lost loved ones, for the injured, for those brave men and women
in the rescue teams, the talented people in the hospitals, for our nations
leaders, and finally, for those who planned and carried out this horrific
attack on innocent people. I know God heard our prayers and has been working
in a mighty way throughout this tragic day. Additionally, we were flooded
with tens of thousands of emails, many expressing fear over what happened,
many wondering if the end is now upon us, most asking simply, why did God
allow this? Let me take this time to deal with these questions, and put
this days events in perspective for you.

Why did God allow this to happen to innocent people? There is never a good
answer when these tragedies occur. To try and understand however, you must
step back and look at the big picture. God made man and all creation
perfect. When man sinned in the Garden of Eden, that perfection was
spoiled. He was now born with sin and his environment was tainted by sin.
The fact is, we live in a world where evil abounds. It is rampant
throughout every aspect of creation. As part of this world, we are subject
to the evil actions of sinful men around us.

Could God stop an event like this from occurring? Of course. Why doesn't
He? Only God knows that answer, but the Bible teaches us that there will
come a day in time when He will end this world as we know it. Don't
forget, we are bound by time and space. We measure our lives with time.
God is not bound by time and space. The Bible tells us that a thousand
years are but a day to God. So while we may wonder why it takes God so long
to clean things up, we forget that God has no conception of time. His
creation will come and go quickly in light of eternity, even though it
seems like a long time to us.

The fact is, all throughout human history, people are born and they die.
Many die tragically, seemingly innocent of anything other than being in the
wrong place at the wrong time. Nobody who got on those hijacked planes
today, nobody who went to work at the World Trade Center today, nobody who
went to work at the Pentagon today, thought they would never make it back
home. The Bible clearly tells us that tomorrow is promised to none of us.
That is why we must make the most of today, and treat it like the precious
gift it is.

We must find ways to serve Him, even if that is simply being kind to someone
you meet along the way. We should never take for granted our daily time
with the Lord in prayer and the Word, since that is the only relationship we
take with us into eternity. Never take your life for granted, since you
never know when and how it will end. Until God steps in and wipes this
creation away as He has promised to do one day, there will be evil in the
world, and innocent people will tragically die.

Is this the start of the end times? Only God knows for sure. In my
spiritual gut, I believe today was a VERY big day in the overall end time
events. Any time someone tries to take a specific current event and match
it up with a passage of Scripture, be VERY CAUTIOUS of that person. That is
an extremely dangerous game. My gut instinct about what happened today is
in this context. There is no doubt that the United States has played a
special role in God's overall plan. This nation was blessed from its
founding and used by God to bring millions and millions of souls worldwide
to the Kingdom.

I have shared in the past how I was very concerned that in the last 40
years we have squandered our blessing through the moral decay we have
allowed this nation to undergo. The destruction of the family, abortion,
compromising the Word of God, have led to the United States to be much like
Israel in the Old Testament. I have warned you, and have no doubt that
without dealing with these issues immediately, God will eventfully take His
hand of protection and blessing off of our great nation, just like He did at
times with Israel.

The Holy Spirit quickened in me this morning as I watched what happened,
that "God allowed this to happen to our great nation." Only God knows the
day and time of the return of Christ, but the Bible says it will be in the
twinkling of an eye. The Word of God clearly tells us that we are living in
the last days. Today's event for me was simply more confirmation of that.

The question many are asking is, "What can I do?" Pray and serve. Today
is a wake up call for all of God's children to realize how serious this
battle is. We have it way too easy here in the United States. We have the
freedom to worship God any way that we want, we face minimal if any
persecution, we have the resources of the greatest nation in the world. Yet
despite all of that, the majority of God's children here are spiritually fat
and lazy.

We pay very little cost to be called a child of God. I think about those
early Christians, how they sat in the Roman prisons, waiting to be fed to
the lions. They knew that there was a price to be a Christian, and were
happy to pay it. I think about how a handful of common men after our Lord's
death, burial, and resurrection turned the world of their day upside down
with the Good News of Jesus Christ. How? They were sold out and committed
to share the Gospel with everyone. They knew the price of being a Christian
was their very life. It no longer belonged to them, but belonged to God.

I pray that today will be a wake up call in your life that being a Christian
has a price attached to it. So many are focused on this brief time here,
instead of the eternity that awaits each of us. They forget that their role
here is to be a servant, not be served. I take this message today to the
masses, because the majority of the spiritual leaders of our day have no
vision, they have no leadership skills, they have no fire to send the people
of God out into this sin-filled and evil world and proclaim that Jesus
Christ is the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords!!!!!!

My word for you tonight is quit waiting for your pastor, or some evangelist,
or a TV preacher, or anyone else to do great things for God. THAT IS WHY
GOD HAS RAISED YOU UP IN THESE LAST DAYS. TO DO GREAT THINGS FOR HIM. No
football player ever won the Super Bowl, no baseball player ever won the
World Series by sitting in the stands. You have to get out on the field and
work hard every day, give it 100%, and expect God to use you to share the
hope and love of Christ with this dying world.

I PRAY TONIGHT THAT YOU WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN, THAT EVERYONE WHO DIED
IN THIS TRAGEDY TODAY WILL BE A REMINDER TO YOU THAT THE ENEMY IS OUT TO
KILL, STEAL, AND DESTROY, AND THAT GOD HAS CALLED YOU!!!!...YOU!!!...FOR
SUCH A TIME AS THIS!!!!!!

I love you and care about you so much. I am not afraid of the events of
today, I am challenged by them. I see them as an incredible opportunity to
share Christ with a world that is hurting, lost, and looking for answers.
We have the answers for this world, and they are in a personal relationship
with the Lord Jesus Christ. Bad things will happen to good people in this
evil world until God brings this world to an end. We ARE living in the end
times according to Scripture. We each have a responsibility as a Christian
to be about our Father's business until either Christ comes or God tells us
our work here is over and calls us home. May we never forget that we must
work while it is still light, that night is coming. May you and your family
be richly blessed during these extraordinary times in which we live.

My friend, let me take this time to ask you if you died today, are you 100%
sure that you will spend your eternity with Jesus? If you can not answer
that question yes, or you are not sure, please go to
www.liveprayer.com/bdy_salvatn.html . Pray and ask God to open your heart
before you read this information. This is the most important decision that
you will make in this life. I am praying for you.


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email at
bkeller@liveprayer.com

***ARE YOU 100% CERTAIN WHERE YOU WILL SPEND ETERNITY? The fact is you will
die one day. At that moment, you will either spend eternity with the Lord
or be cast into everlasting darkness forever separated from God your
creator. To know for certain you will be forever with Jesus, go to:
http://www.liveprayer.com/bdy_salvatn.html

[danausmc]

***THIS MESSAGE TODAY HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH POLITICS. IT IS ABOUT THE
SPIRITUAL STATE OF OUR NATION AND STAYING GOD'S HAND OF JUDGMENT AND WRATH
UPON OUR LAND FOR OUR GROSS SIN AND WICKEDNESS. MAY WE TURN OUR HEARTS BACK
TO HIM BEFORE HIS MERCY AND PATIENCE RUNS OUT!

Why "hope" when you can "know." Last Monday, President Bush failed God in
the single most important act of his Presidency, and the one job God allowed
him to rise to the highest office in our land to perform. Despite many
failures during his first term in office in dealing with the key spiritual
issues our nation faces, God gave President Bush a reprieve in order for him
to deal with the single most important spiritual issue facing our nation
today..the Federal Government's legalized slaughter of over 4,000 innocent
babies every single day. As he has continued to do over the course of his
Presidency, last Monday, President Bush failed God once again by nominating
Harriet Miers to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, and possibly
the last real hope of staying God's hand of judgment on this nation was
forever lost.

Since I began in full-time ministry over 15 years ago, I have been sounding
the warning to this nation that God's judgment would be upon us if we
continued to legalize infanticide. I am very well aware of the gross
wickedness that exists in this country. Runaway and unbridled gambling and
sex industries. Making a mockery of God's Holy Institution of Marriage.
Promoting lifestyles in complete rebellion to God and His Word. Murder,
stealing, and other crimes against our neighbor. A total lack of compassion
towards the widows, children, and the poor. However, nothing this nation
does on daily basis compares to the fact that each day we slaughter over
4,000 innocent babies with the full approval of the United States
Government, and it is this sin that is going to one day very soon bring down
God's wrath and judgment on the United States!

For those who have been following the Daily Devotional since we started in
August of 1999, you will remember that from the very beginning I have been
sharing this message with you. In 2000, we mobilized a great prayer effort
of over 1 million people to pray for God to allow a man to rise to the
Presidency that would honor Him and Biblical values, that would take a stand
for righteousness. Clearly, George W. Bush seemed to be the man best suited
to do this, and I will never forget as we remained in prayer over 30 days
AFTER the election during the agonizing recount and legal maneuvers where
President Bush was eventually declared the winner. As I wrote back at that
time, it was a war in the heavenlies for the soul of this nation and having
a man in the most powerful office in the land that could lead this country
back to God's values and principles.

Sadly however, during his first 4 years in office President Bush failed to
lead this nation in the key spiritual issues that face our land. He took no
bold stand on overturning Roe. He did nothing to stop the flood of legal
actions that were trying to, and eventually succeeded in many states in
redefining God's definition of marriage. He did nothing to stem the growing
tide of gambling and pornography that is destroying the this nation from
within. He got involved in discussions to actually give away Israel's land
to its enemies. Lastly, it was becoming clearer he was more interested in
pleasing man instead of God and loved the "office" more than the job God
called him to do.

Despite these glaring failures, God gave President Bush and this nation a
reprieve in 2004. I am certain today that reprieve was for the sole purpose
of being in power today to have the ability to change the make-up of the
Supreme Court and insure that Roe vs. Wade is overturned, taking the Federal
Government out of the business of killing babies and sending that issue back
to each individual state to decide. God orchestrated it so that not only
would President Bush be in power to make the changes on the Court necessary,
but He gave him a majority in the House and Senate to insure that those he
nominated would be confirmed no matter what the opposition had to say or
tried to do. It would be the same thing as being in a card game and having
a royal flush. There is absolutely NO HAND that can stop you from winning.

In recent months, the great moment those who love the Lord have been praying
for for the last 32 years was finally upon us. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
announced her retirement and shortly thereafter, Chief Justice William
Rehnquist died. So we had a man in the Oval Office who claimed Christ as
his Savior, a majority in the House and Senate, and the opportunity to
appoint TWO people to the United States Supreme Court that would shift that
Court back to upholding the Biblical values on which this nation was
founded, including the overturning of Roe vs. Wade. It was the moment so
many had been praying for, working so hard for, and investing so much money
for. It was time to shift this country BACK TO GOD and hopefully stay His
wrath for our gross sin and wickedness.

With the retirement of Justice O'Connor, President Bush nominated John
Roberts to take her spot on the Court. Even though there were many other
men and women with outstanding judicial track records and a history of
rulings that honored God, Robert's judicial philosophy and track record
indicated that he too would be in this mold. When Chief Justice Rehnquist
died, it seemed the perfect opportunity to elevate either Justice Scalia or
Justice Thomas to Chief Justice, insuring the court would have a strong
leader on the key spiritual issues facing our land. Surprisingly, President
Bush opted to nominate Roberts for Chief Justice and he was easily confirmed
by the Senate. Having Roberts as Chief Justice, however, really only
replaced the judicial philosophy of deceased Chief Justice Rehnquist, so the
key would now be the person to replace retiring Justice O'Connor.

In nominating Harriet Miers, the person who would become the swing vote on
the court and break any 3-3 deadlocks, President Bush failed God in the one
moment for which he was put into office. Sadly, in his last debate with
Senator Kerry prior to the 2004 election, President Bush stated that
overturning Roe was NOT one of his objectives or goals. Despite stating
prior to the election he would pursue a Constitutional Amendment to define
marriage the way God does, as a man and woman, after he was elected that
pursuit was dropped. Unfortunately, he played the key role in the "Roadmap
to Peace" which gave away part of the land God gave to the children of
Israel to those who want to see Israel wiped off the face of the earth. His
administration has done nothing to slow down the spread of gambling and
pornography that is destroying the moral fiber of this nation. Despite all
of these failures, stepping up to the plate and putting someone on the
Supreme Court who would stand for Biblical values and honor God was now in
his hands....and he has failed!

I am not going to get entangled in the endless debate that is now taking
place about Miers nomination, I am simply going to give you the bottom line.
Miers has NEVER been a judge so she has ZERO judicial track record on the
key spiritual issues facing this nation. There are dozens of men and women
out there who have a long and established judicial track record on these
very issues. These are men and women who have shown themselves to be
brilliant jurists and have time after time taken a stand for Biblical values
and for God. In the end we are being asked to "trust" President Bush that
Miers will be make such rulings. Maybe she will, maybe she won't. WE DON'T
KNOW, PRESIDENT BUSH DOESN'T KNOW, AND EVEN HARRIET MIERS DOESN'T KNOW!

We are being asked to "hope" when we have men and women as qualified, most
more qualified, who we KNOW right now how they will rule based on their past
performance. My friend, the spiritual state of this nation is at stake.
This will most likely be the one and only opportunity we will ever have to
see the Supreme Court turned back to the values on which this nation was
founded. This is not a game, the very soul of this nation is on the line.
However, we are being asked to trust the judgment of a man who has done
nothing but fail God on the key spiritual issues God allowed him to rise to
power to deal with, when we could know with 100% certainty had any one of a
dozen others been nominated!

Just so you understand. Whoever President Bush nominates will be confirmed
because he has the majority in the Senate. Like the analogy I used
earlier, he is holding a royal flush, so there is no way he could lose.
Would
the Democrats be upset? Of course! Who cares? Can they stop his nominee?
No! This is why so many worked hard to elect the people they did, so they
had the power to affect this type of change. All of those who voted for
this President and those in the House and Senate, all of those who have
worked tirelessly for so many years, all of those who have given tens of
millions of dollars over the years, have all waited for this moment. Sadly,
instead of basking in the victory we should be enjoying, we are now being
told to "trust" and "hope." You don't "hope" you are saved, you "know" 100%
you are saved because God said so. Likewise, we shouldn't have to "hope"
for Miers to follow God in her rulings, when we could "know" 100% God would
have been honored had any number of others been nominated.

I am very well aware of those prominent people who have come out to support
the President for this choice. I could care less about their support since
they have no more clue how Miers will rule on the bench than the President
does. I will share this one FACT with you that speaks VOLUMES to me. She
was at one time the head of the State Lottery in Texas. As gambling
continues to spread through this nation, I can tell you from the daily
experience we have here at Liveprayer, the biggest gambling problem that
destroys people lives every day is not casinos, or sports betting, or
horses, or poker...it is the LOTTERY!

How someone who professes to be an "evangelical Christian" and follower of
Christ could accept the leadership of something that doe nothing but destroy
lives tells me much about her lack of willingness to take a stand for God.
Of course, her supporters point out that the lottery is legal in Texas.
Well guess what, ABORTION IS LEGAL TOO! Just because something is "legal"
doesn't mean we are to support it! If she didn't have enough conviction to
turn down heading the Texas State Lottery that is destroying people's lives
every day, why should anyone have "hope" she will take a stand against
killing babies and be the deciding vote to overturn Roe?

I love you and care about you so much. President Bush has become a textbook
case of why we must look to our spiritual leaders to lead in spiritual
matters, and not look to a political leader no matter what they claim their
faith to be. In the end, they are politicians and their office will always
come before their faith. Due to the weak and ineffectiveness of the
spiritual leaders in this nation over the past 40 years, we have sunk into
such a moral and spiritual decay that we were forced to rely on a political
leader to help turn this nation back to God. Sadly, that has not happened.
If that is to happen, it must be through courage and leadership of those men
and women God raises up whose only "office" is SERVANT OF GOD!

Rather than sit back and hope and pray for a politician to guide us, rather
than hope and pray for the Supreme Court to set the spiritual tone, it is
time for those who know Christ as their Savior to rise up and make an impact
in our land through bringing the hope and love Christ to this hurting and
lost nation. Sadly, I am afraid that we are so far gone spiritually that it
will take the wrath of God being poured out on our land for there to be a
true revival. We are not only due God's wrath for turning our backs on Him
and following other god and living in complete rebellion to Him, we are OWED
His wrath! I can only imagine that His cup is overflowing and the time of
His judgment on our nation is near.

But be of good cheer, because we know that in the end God's wins. We have
the assurance that those who know Jesus as their Savior will be spending
forever with Him. God has commanded us to be busy about His business until
He returns. So my challenge to you today is to continue to pray for Present
Bush and our leaders as we do every day here at Liveprayer, pray for Harriet
Miers that as she takes her place on the Supreme Court, she will allow God
to guide her rulings, and pray for God to continue to be merciful to our
nation. If we will turn our hearts back to Him, we don't have to "hope" for
His blessings, God has given us the complete assurance that we will KNOW His
blessings!


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

***I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at
bkeller@liveprayer.com

***ARE YOU 100% CERTAIN WHERE YOU WILL SPEND ETERNITY

[danausmc]

The coming persecution of Christians....IN THE UNITED STATES! Several weeks
ago, I read about three 15-year-old high school girls in Indonesia who were
beheaded simply for being Christians. Indonesia is the world's most
populous Muslim nation and killing Christians simply for being a follower of
Christ is a common practice in many parts of that country. The reality is,
in November of 2005 there are MANY places on this planet where it costs to
be a Christian, and that cost is often a person's life! I submit to you
today that there is coming a day when Christians will be persecuted for
their faith, even unto death, right here in the United States of America!!!

For those of us who have lived our lives in the United States, we have
enjoyed tremendous freedoms to live and share our faith in virtual peace.
The fact is we have never even begun to experience and can't even comprehend
what many of our brothers and sisters in Christ in other parts of the world
have to endure to simply be a follower of Jesus Christ. Actually, we should
be ashamed of ourselves. We can go out and start a church and nobody is
going to bother us. We can go out and preach the Gospel and nobody is going
to bother us. We can set up Internet sites, create TV and radio programs,
write books, make movies, produce music, all to share our faith in Christ
and for the most part nobody is going to bother us. In fact, there is very
little we can't do in November of 2005 here in the United States to live out
and share our faith in Jesus Christ.

In a way, all of this freedom has made us "soft Christians." I firmly
believe after 15 years of evangelistic ministry that all of the peace and
freedom we have as Christians in this nation make us not really appreciate
our faith in Christ. Instead of our faith being the most important thing in
our life, it is simply just part of our life like belonging to a country
club, or having a hobby we enjoy. The main reason is that we pay no price
of any kind to get saved since Jesus already paid that price. But it costs
us nothing after we are saved to be a Believer in Christ here in the United
States. Most who come to know Christ have that "born again" experience and
grow very little in their faith because they put virtually nothing into
their relationship with Christ. Even the basics like praying and reading
the Word each day, going to church, are too great a sacrifice for most who
call themselves Christians in this nation!

I wonder if a group of men armed with automatic weapons came into your
church on Sunday, told the congregation they had 5 minutes to denounce
Christ and leave the sanctuary or proclaim Christ as their Savior by staying
with the understanding that those who stayed would be killed, how many would
be left in the pews? I wonder if you were with 20 people who were taken at
gunpoint by a man who said he would kill anyone who claimed to be a
Christian, and then started asking each person one by one if they were a
follower of Christ, when he got to you what YOUR answer would be? The sad
truth is, most Christians are afraid to share their faith in Christ with
others simply out of the fear of being laughed at, mocked, and verbally
challenged!!!

These may sound like unrealistic scenarios but they actually happen all the
time in countries around this world. People are beaten and tortured for
their faith in Christ. People are put into prison for years, for decades,
for being a follower of Jesus. Many people every day are martyred, killed
for proclaiming that Jesus Christ is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
We are too busy to pray, yet brothers and sisters in Christ in some places
today are risking their lives to pray. We are too busy to read the Bible,
yet brothers and sisters in Christ in some places are beaten and put into
prison just for having a copy of God's Word. We have no use for Christ's
church, yet brothers and sisters in the Lord in some places are killed for
having a church service. My friend, we have it so easy here in the U.S., we
take our faith for granted and instead of it defining who we are, it is
shuffled far down our list of priorities and simply part of our life like
the Tuesday night bowling league we belong to.

Please, I am so tired of hearing Christians whining about being persecuted
in this country. Because we can't pray in public schools we are being
persecuted? Because the town hall won't put up a manger scene we are being
persecuted? Because a department store like Wal-Mart won't say "Merry
Christmas" we are being persecuted? That is not persecution, that is simply
part of living in a society that has chosen to live in rebellion to the God
of the Bible and reject His Truth and Son Jesus Christ! Should we speak up
about these issues? Sure, but please don't say we are being persecuted.
Being persecuted is when someone takes a machete and chops off your head for
no other reason than you have identified yourself as a follower of Christ!!!

However, there is coming a day, sooner than any of us think when we will
endure that type of persecution right here in the United States! Impossible
you say? NO, very possible. We have taken our faith for granted, taken the
great freedoms we enjoy for granted, and there will come a day when we won't
have those freedoms any longer and we will have to decide how important our
faith is to us. At that time, it will COST to be a Christian. It will COST
to pray. It will COST to read the Word. It will COST to go to church. It
won't cost money but the potential of being beaten, tortured, thrown in
jail, and even killed. On that day, I wonder how many will be left willing
to pay the cost? Will you?

I love you and care about you so much. I pray today that this word will
cause you to think, cause you to evaluate your faith. It is easy to say I
would die for Jesus, but would you really? Let me challenge you today. If
you would die for Jesus, will you live for Jesus? I am actually going to
follow up today's Devotional with one by that very name tomorrow. I don't
want to let go of this theme since it is critical. If we really love the
Lord as we claim, then He should be the top priority in our life. Christ
should be such a burning passion in our heart that we should be actively
involved in trying to help everyone we know come to the saving knowledge of
Jesus Christ.

When you accepted Jesus into your heart and life by faith, you gave Him your
life. Not just for an hour on Sunday morning, but ALL of your life! The
Bible says it is no longer your life, that it belongs to Him. If you really
believed that your life is no longer your own, you would live like it was no
longer your own. You would be fully and completely surrendered to Christ
every moment of every day. It would not be about you, it would be about
Him. It would not be your desires, it would be His desires. It would not
be you that lived, but yea, the Christ that lives within you!!!

Sadly, it is going to take real persecution in this nation for God's people
to be One. When persecution comes, we won't be divided any longer by
Methodist, Baptist, Catholic, or Pentecostal, we won't be worried any longer
if this person speaks in tongues or that person chooses to worship quietly,
it won't matter if the color of your skin is black, white, yellow, or red,
only if you know Jesus. All of the ways we have found to divide ourselves
will be gone and we will be bound simply by the blood of our Lord, one in
Him. Those God raises up to lead His people in these days of persecution
will be true servants, since there will be no money in serving the Lord,
only sacrifice. Those who want to lead in these days of persecution won't
have people paying to hear them speak, only people coming to lead them to
their death.

But be of good cheer. The Bible proclaims that our citizenship is NOT of
this world We are citizens of a different world and are simply passing
through this one. Those who know Christ as their Savior understand that
this life is but for a brief season and that we have the assurance of
spending all eternity with Him. They don't live in fear of death, since
death has no hold on the Believer. Our purpose in this life is to serve and
glorify God with our lives and that will be the only goal of those who
follow Jesus.

In closing, let me leave you with this thought and challenge. Every day,
somewhere on this planet a brother or sister in Christ is literally giving
their life for their faith. These are courageous men and women of God who
in spite of death have chosen to follow Jesus. I pray that their lives will
encourage YOU today, challenge YOU today. God has blessed us in this nation
to have a season with great freedoms to live our faith and share our faith.
Instead of taking those freedoms for granted, causing us to take our faith
for granted, let us use those freedoms to proclaim to this lost and dying
world that Jesus Christ is "the way, the truth, and the life," and that
nobody comes to the Father except thru Him.


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

***If I can help you in any way you can contact me through my personal email
at bkeller@liveprayer.com

[danausmc]

The real prosperity Gospel. How many times have you turned on Christian
television and heard a message on "prosperity?" On the screen was a man or
woman wearing thousands of dollars worth of clothes, tens of thousands more
in jewelry, speaking from a million dollar set or a multi-million dollar
building. Their message was about prosperity and how God wants you to have
a mansion, drive new luxury automobiles, wear the finest clothes, eat the
most sumptuous food, vacation in far-off lands. They tell you from God's
Word that you are the "head and not the tail," "the lender not the
borrower," that "God owns the cattle on a thousand hills," "all the gold
and silver belongs to Him," and the "wealth of the wicked is laid up for the
righteous."

As you sit there watching, you start to get into their message. They tell
you that you are the child of a King and you deserve to live like royalty.