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DAILY DEVOTIONAL     WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 20, 2004
(1 Peter 3:15)

***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.


***THURSDAY'S DEVOTIONAL.  As a follow-up to the Devotional today on the
attacks on Christians by non-believers, the Devotional on Thursday will look
at an even bigger problem, those who claim to be followers of Christ but
live in rebellion to Him and His Word.  Don't miss the abomination of the
homosexual clergy and churches tomorrow!


A Believer in a non-believing world.  For Christians, especially those
living in the United States, the verbal attacks by non-believers on those
who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ is more open, more bold,
and more intense today than ever before.  I want to look at some of those
attacks to help equip you to handle them better the next time a family
member, friend,  co-worker, someone at school, or a total stranger confronts
you regarding your faith in Christ.

Let's start with my favorite one, Jesus.  I am always amazed at how those
who reject Jesus Christ for who He is, love to cite Jesus and claim to know
what He stands for despite having never really read  and studied  His life
and ALL He taught!  Jesus had one mission in life and that was to die for
the sins of mankind.  He came to bring man salvation, everlasting life for
those who would put their faith in Him.  Those who reject Christ and live in
rebellion to Him talk about Jesus being for peace and the poor, and if you
are a true follower of Christ you have to be against all wars and working
with the poor.

Does Jesus like war?  Of course not, no reasonable person does.  But Jesus
also knew that war would be part of this lost world until God decides to
bring it to an end and the Prince of Peace Himself returned.  We as a nation
have every right and  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.

As for the poor, Jesus said that we would always have the poor among us.  He
said very little other than to point out our responsibility to the poor.
Talking about the poor is simply a smokescreen non-believers use to deflect
attention from all of the REST of what Jesus said on issues like sin and how
we are supposed to live our lives in accordance with the Word of God.  They
are quick to cite what Jesus said about peace and the poor, but never
discuss what He said about following God and living a righteous life.

As long as we are talking about Jesus, whenever the issue of homosexuality
comes up one of the classic statements of a non-believer is that Jesus never
said anything about homosexuality.  While there is no record of the question
being presented to Him, there is no doubt that He would have responded by
reaffirming God's creation intent of heterosexual monogamous marriage. Only
this expression of human sexuality is blessed by God.  Jesus, when
questioned about marriage, responded by referring to God's plan for marriage
(Matt. 19:1-12; Mark 10:1-12).

Of course the two great lies of the homosexual community is that 10% of the
people are homosexual and that people are born "gay."  The fact is, less
than 1% of the people will EVER engage in sex with someone of the same
gender.   Also, despite spending hundreds of millions of dollars in the last
decade to prove people are born gay, they are no closer today than when they
started.  Who you have sex with is a CHOICE!  You are not born to commit
adultery, that is a choice.  You re not born to have sex with children, that
is a choice.  You are not born to have sex with animals, that is a choice.
You are not born to have sex with someone of the same sex, that is a choice.
Like all sin, if you choose to do it long enough it may seem natural, but it
is still a choice.

That brings us to the issue of same-sex marriage.  God's definition of
marriage found in Genesis is one man, one woman, for one lifetime.  God
didn't create Adam and Bruce, He didn't create Eve and Lucy, He created Adam
and Eve.   One man, one woman.  Non-believers always ask what is it going to
hurt you if people of the same sex get married.    First, not only is it a
perversion of God's Holy Institution of Marriage, but it destroys God's plan
for the family which is the foundation of our society.  I wish you could
read some of the 40,000 prayer requests Liveprayer receives every single
day.  The deterioration and destruction of God's plan for the family is the
number one problem in our culture today.  Having people of the same sex
marry is not only a perversion of God's plan for marriage, but you now have
these same sex couples raising children, further destroying God's plan for
the family.

Probably the one issue that I have the most difficulty understanding is how
ANYONE could support the slaughter of an innocent baby.  Of course the
non-believer quickly states that it is NOT a baby.  It is just a mass of
tissue.  I heard one tortured explanation recently where I was told that
until 22 weeks and there is a functioning brain it is not a baby, just a
mass of tissue and having an abortion is no different than  removing a
kidney!  How sad.  At the moment of conception there is a life, a life that
can ONLY come from God.  At that moment it is a living being and it is
MURDER to end that life.

The other big issue raised by non-believers is the audacity of Christians to
think that they are right and everyone else is wrong.  How could God ( a God
many of them don't even believe exists) send billions of people to hell,
when many good people follow Buddha and the host of false religions that
exist in the world.  The fact is, Christians ARE right, because God is
right.  It is God, not man, that revealed Himself to His creation and called
on man to follow Him.  It is God who gave us His Word to live by.  It is God
who gave us the plan of salvation through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.  It
is also God who gave man the free will to accept Him and His truth, or
reject Him and His truth.

I love you and care about you so much.  As a follower of Christ, we are
challenged daily by family, friends, those we work with, go to school with,
and even total strangers who have rejected our Lord and the truth of His
Word about our faith in Christ.  Never forget, the foundation of our faith
is based on the inspired, inerrant Word of God, representing absolute truth
and our final authority in all matters.  Of course the non-believer will
always dismiss the Bible as a book written by men.  They have to try and
minimize what it really is to justify their rejection of it.  The fact is,
they are right.  It is a book written by men...UNDER THE INSPIRATION OF GOD,
THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE!!!

You will often hear a non-believer state that only the weak need Jesus, that
it is a crutch to get through life.  Actually, it is those who are REALLY
weak who reject Him and live in rebellion to the Lord since it takes true
STRENGTH to follow Christ and to live according to His Word.  Anyone can
follow the desires of their flesh like an animal, it takes commitment and
resolve to be a follower of Jesus.

Never forget my friend, you will never change the heart of a non-believer by
having all the answers.  The reality is, nobody has all the answers and the
non-believer will ALWAYS have more questions than there are answers since
some things only God knows for sure.  But you can open their heart to Christ
in how you live your daily life, by being a vessel of His love and grace,
and by being available when they hit those potholes in life we all hit along
our journey.  That is when you will have a real opportunity to share with
them that Jesus is the only real hope and answer there is.

I will be praying for you.  Praying that you will not allow those who reject
Christ and the truth of God's Word to intimidate you into silence, or make
you fearful of standing up for the Lord.  God has called His children to be
the salt of this earth and the light of the world.  May you proudly and
boldly proclaim to this lost and unbelieving world that Jesus Christ is the
way, the truth, and the life, and that everlasting life is only found
through faith in our 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 address@hidden

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©Copyright 2004, Bill Keller Ministries. All rights reserved



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