Does Anyone Care

(1 Peter 5:7)

Is anyone listening? Does anyone care? As we start the weekend, a time of
rest for many, we start to dwell more intensely on those problems and
concerns we have in our life. It is easy to get so busy with work and our
daily routine Monday through Friday, that we can forget or push to the back
of our mind many of the problems we are dealing with in our life. But when
the
weekend comes and our lives slow down a bit, those issues become the focus
of our attention. We can't hide from them any longer.

For many of you, those problems that you are facing have been problems for a
long time. You have prayed.. and prayed.. and prayed. You have turned
them over to God, taken them back, and turned them over again. Despite all
of
the praying and agonizing, there are some problems that just don't go away,
and you start wondering if anyone is really listening. Does anyone really
care about what you are facing?

Let me give you this word of encouragement today my friend. The Bible
proclaims that God not only hears our prayers, but answers them as well. It
is His good pleasure to bless his children. We have that precious promise
to "cast our cares on Him, because He cares for us." No matter what your
mind
may tell you, your faith has got to step in and give you the assurance that
God is hearing your prayers, and no matter how you may feel, when all others
abandon you, God is always there...there to love you, to hold you, and to comfort you. HE CARES FOR YOU!!!!!

Don't let those problems you have today ever let you think that God is not
hearing your prayers. He is. Don't ever get to the point where you feel no
one cares. He does. Go through this day with the confidence and assurance
that God knows and understands your situation, and be comforted that He loves
you and will never leave you nor forsake you.

God bless you this day as we walk in the victory won on Calvary's cross. He
is risen!! Because of that, if you know Christ as your Savior, no matter
what may be happening in this life, you have already won. Even though your
life is still playing out, you already know the ending. You win, because HE WON!

Being A Servant

(John 13:4-8)

The first 3 years of my ministry, I spent 51 weeks a year
on the road doing evangelistic meetings in over 500 churches of every
denomination, racial make-up, ethnic background, and size. I am deeply
appreciative for the Lord opening so many doors to give me such a wide range
of experiences. I then devoted the next 4 years almost exclusively
producing programming for Christian TV stations nationwide. Again, God
opened the doors for me to become involved with almost every national ministry
and many of the top Christian music artists. While I still preach in
selected situations and am still involved in producing programming for
Christian TV, for the last 10 months, my time, energies, and focus have been
almost 100% on our Liveprayer.com ministry. You see, the one thing the Holy
Spirit greatly impressed upon me over my years of preaching and producing
television, as I was being exposed to so many ministries and people in God's
work, was this....WE ARE HERE TO SERVE OTHERS. Our job description is very
simple...SERVANT.

Because of the incredible access the Lord gave me to so many ministries,
churches, and people in the Lord's work, I came to realize two very real
truths. One is to always keep God first. There are some very large
international ministries that reach millions of people, yet whose focus is
strictly money. The people are simply an avenue to generate money. Even
though the Lord can minister in spite of wrong motivations, He has always
judged those who used His work strictly for personal gain. We have seen,
even in our lifetime, large ministries that virtually disappeared overnight
when they ceased putting Jesus first. There are many examples in the Bible
of God exercising His judgment on kings and kingdoms that quit honoring him.
I can tell you in no uncertain terms, that this country we live in has been
richly blessed by God, yet if we continue to rebel by killing unborn
children, stopping prayer in our schools, and forgetting God in our daily
lives, we may see God's judgment on the United States in our lifetime.
When we stop putting God first in our life, our church, our ministry, and our
country....He knows how to remove His hand of blessing and allow judgment to
come. Go and read again the life of King Saul to see God's anointed judged
for not putting Him first.

The second truth I have learned is that those churches, ministries, and
people serving the Lord who followed after the example of Jesus...and became
a servant...were richly blessed by God and saw much fruit from their work.
Don't forget, "richly blessed" doesn't always mean the biggest church, the
most people, or the largest bank account. That is the way the world judges
things. God judges by totally different standards. I have been in churches
of 5,000, brand new buildings, and huge offerings. I have also been in churches
of 80, small storefronts, and sacrificial offerings. If those in the 5,000
member church are simply coming to be entertained, or out of guilt, or as a
ritual, yet not growing spiritually or serving people's needs.....and those
in the 80 member church are growing in their personal faith, are out serving God
in their lives, making an impact for the Kingdom....then even though the
world may judge the 5,000 member church a success and the 80 member church a
failure....God says the 80 member church is the success and the 5,000 member
church is the failure. Those who follow Christ are to be servants, as He was
a servant.

I will be praying for you today to always remember in everything you do to
keep God first and to be a servant. I love you and care about you so much.
I spent 12 years of my life living in rebellion to God, living to be served
by others. By the world's standards I had everything you could ever want in
this lifetime. Yet I was never happy, never at peace, and there was no lasting
joy. God mercifully broke me, took everything away so that I had to be
totally dependent upon Him. These last 8 years I have tried each day to be
a servant to others, to selflessly share Christ's love with others who were
hurting. As I have been fulfilling the purpose God gave my life, to serve
and glorify Him with my life, I have found peace, joy, and happiness above and
beyond anything I had ever imagined. Before I had so much, but actually had
nothing. Now I have only a little, but in reality have everything that
matters in life.. God gave us this life not to be served, but to be a
servant.

God Is Still On The Throne

(1 Kings 22:19)

God is still on the throne. Probably one of things that comforts me more
than anything else during a problem or crisis, is the fact the God is still
on His throne. He didn't get off to take a nap, or go watch the Super Bowl,
or hit the refrigerator. He is there, in total control of all that is going
on. That, of course, begs the question, why does He allow some of the terrible
things to happen if He is really on the throne? Remember, God does not
cause evil or encourage it, but at times allows it to happen as He did in
the
case of Job. It was only with God's permission that the devil was able to
do
what he did to Job. Why does God let bad things happen? Men much wiser
than me
can argue that one. I just accept that they do happen from time to time,
and that gives me even more encouragement, knowing God is there watching it
all
unfold, already knowing the ultimate outcome.

That leads me to the great verse that assures us God will not give us more
than we can bear. He knows our breaking point. Those two truths...God in
control at all times, and Him never putting on me more than I can handle,
get me through the difficult times. Many of you are facing difficulties in
your
life today. Unexplained problems. Circumstances that seem to be out of
hand. Pressures that are becoming intolerable. Now is the very time to
make your faith real, to look to God and ask Him to strengthen you, encourage
you, and give you peace. He knows how to make the heavy burdens lighter, the
crooked paths straight. Don't buckle when the hard times come. Be
strengthened by them. Let them be times of testing, and honing, and
sharpening your faith.

I love you deeply and care about you. I realize that life can be difficult.
I also realize that in those difficult times we can grow in out faith, we
can learn to depend on God, and we can become real people of faith. Let the
difficult times make you know God in a deeper, more intimate way. Learn to
trust the Truth that He is on His throne in control of all things. Take to
heart His promise that He will not put on you more than you can bear. Learn
how to walk through the storms of life victoriously. Be comforted that He
will never leave you, never forsake you, never let you down.

Whatever you are facing today, know this to be true. God is on His Throne.

Working together for God

(1 Corinthians 3:9)

Working together for God. One of the first lessons I learned early in my
ministry is that there is no person, NO PERSON, who can do God's work alone.
Not only can no person do God's work alone, God never intended for us to
even try. God has given each of us unique and special gifts for which to
serve
Him. Some people are more gifted than others, but there is no one that has
all of God's gifts. Some of the most successful sports teams in history
have been teams where there were no real superstars, but teams where
everyone did
their job and played their role. In a movie, there may be some actors that
are more prominent than others, but it takes the entire cast to make the
movie successful. More than that, it takes the behind-the-scenes people
such as make-up artists, set designers, writers, producers, and technical
people all
working together to make a successful movie. The point I want you to
understand is that God's people must work together for significant things to
happen in the lives of people.

As an evangelist, it is always a wonderful moment when someone comes to the
alter at the time of invitation to accept Christ as their Savior. After one
service early in my ministry, there were hundreds who made that commitment,
and afterwards I was feeling a sense of personal pride for the souls that
had just been won for Christ. Well, the Holy Spirit got hold of me real
quick
and we had a little meeting. Not quite a woodshed meeting, but close. God
showed me clearly that when a person makes that commitment, the evangelist,
the one who gives the invitation, is just the last piece of the puzzle.
Over
the years, many people had prayed for that person. Seeds were planted in
many cases over a lifetime by family, friends, Christian media, street
preachers, books, articles, and just a variety of ways that God shows
himself to this unbelieving world. We often never see the fruits of our
prayers or
work for God, but our obedience is used as building blocks in the lives of
people, that at the right time, at that right moment, are realized, as the
Holy Spirit brings it all together in a person's heart and they make the
most important decision we can make in this life...by the grace of God and
through faith, accept Christ as our Savior.

This ties in with what I am talking about today. We must all work together.
We must be faithful to use the gifts God has blessed us with to further His
Kingdom. We must use the strengths and gifts of others to see the fruit of
our work for God. Here at Liveprayer, we are touching tens of thousands of
lives every single day. It takes the talents of the men and women who are
on our live video feed 24 hours a day praying for people's needs, giving them
hope when they are hurting. It takes our prayer warriors who faithfully
pray for this ministry every day, as we are going right into the front door
of the
enemy's headquarters on the Internet and taking it back for God. It takes
the gifts of our technical people to keep the website, the live video, the
mailing of our daily devotional, all of those functions operational 24 hours
a day, 7 days a week. It takes the Godly wisdom of our ministry team that
responds in a personal way to thousands of special prayer requests
we get daily via email. It takes the resources of those who God has blessed
to
support this work and keep it growing. I never forget for a second that God
has brought together many, many talented and wonderful people to make this
ministry work each and every day, to be a beacon of light and hope to people
worldwide. I am in awe of how God has raised up Liveprayer to touch so many lives daily.

My prayer for you is that you never forget that it takes all of us working
together to make things work in the Kingdom of God. I pray that you will use
your talents each and every day to help further His work at home, school,
work, in your church, community, and all the places God has placed you. When
God's people work together, there are no limits to what can be accomplished
in His name and for His glory!

Epaphras

(Colossians 4:12)

We all need an Epaphras in our life. One of the best things about the
Christian journey is that we do not have to walk it alone. Nor did God
ever intend that we try. Today, I am going to give you one of the best
pieces of advice I know of. Find at least one, preferably more, mature
Christians to help you pray through the difficult times in your life. You
CANNOT carry the burden alone. God has given us brothers and sisters in
this life to help us along the way. We all come to those difficult times
when we need the prayers of others. None of us are immune from life's
trials and tribulations. We have to have people in our life that we can
call upon, who will pray for us during those difficult times.

The biggest reason we don't have others praying for us is because of our
pride. We are too proud to admit we are having a problem. I understand
that some issues are very private. I am not saying you have to go into all
of the details. Remember, God knows what is going on, and just having
someone calling out your name before the Lord can help more than you know.
Prayer is our most effective offensive weapon. Not having others pray for
us is like being in war and not putting the bullets in our gun. God gave
us the tools to fight with; we need to use them.

Let me encourage you today. Get serious about recruiting several people to
have in your life who you can count on to pray for you in times of trouble.
There is a power in prayer that is greater than anything you can imagine.
Prayer reaches right in to the throne room of God. It is our ability to
communicate directly with the creator of the universe. You may not be able
to call the White House and talk to the president, but you can talk to
God any time you want. We only know a bit about Epaphras, but we know he
was a person who prayed for others. I want to encourage you today to have
an Epaphras in your life that you can count on to pray for you. We all need
special people who will stand in agreement with us to see victory over those
challenges we all face in this life.

I love you and care about you so very much. Know that I am here to pray for
you. Liveprayer.com has become an Epaphras in many people's lives, and we
are honored to be here to pray for you in your hour of need. Never hesitate
to contact me with your requests so that I can be in agreement with you.
You are special and God loves you very much. He never expected you to have
to go through the tough times by yourself, so use the resources He has given
you and find renewed strength to see victory in whatever battles you may be
facing. Prayer does work!

A summary of what this life is really about

(Ecclesiastes 12:13)

If you accept the Bible as
God's inspired inerrant word as I do, then Solomon was the wisest man that
ever lived. Over the years, I have carefully studied his life, the things
he said, trying to gain some wisdom myself. As a man, like all other men,
Solomon made many mistakes and gave into the temptations of this world on
many occasions. It doesn't make me feel any better, but it does help when
I make mistakes to know that even the wisest man who ever lived also made
many mistakes in his life. I have torn apart the Book of Ecclesiastes many
times and have spent countless hours reading Solomon's summation of this
life.
It is actually a pretty negative book until the next to last verse. As only
the wisest man who ever lived could, in 6 words Solomon summed up what this
life is all about. "FEAR GOD AND KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS".

This may sound like an oversimplification, but it really isn't. The
original Hebrew word for fear is not the type of fear you have when you are
afraid,
but literally means to be in awe, in reverence. That should always be our
attitude towards God. Awe and reverence. Keeping his commandments refers
to the Ten Commandments. Jesus in John 13:34 gave a new commandment that "we
love one another even as He loved us". My friends, if we can do this
throughout our life, then we have really accomplished as much as is
possible. You see, this world remembers those who led great armies into war,
leaders
of empires and nations, those who have amassed tremendous wealth, and people
who are responsible for accomplishing incredible feats. But I tell you
today that the acclaim of the world is nice..but is temporary. I would rather
have the acclaim of God...because that is for eternity. Solomon at the end
of
his long and distinguished life on this earth, summed it all up by saying
that
to get the acclaim of God, fear Him, and keep His commandments.

I love you, care about you, and realize many are facing incredible obstacles
in your life. This word ties in nicely with the past few that have talked
about remaining focused on the thing above as opposed to the things of this
life. I pray today that you will focus, possibly take a long hard look at
your goals and priorities, and see if fearing God and keeping His
commandments are part of your top goals and priorities. If not, you have
no excuse after reading this word today. What really is our ultimate
objective in this life, as short as it really is? It should be to fulfill
the
purpose for which God gave life to us, and that is to serve and glorify Him. If
fearing Him
and keeping His commandments is how to fulfill His purpose for our life,
then
should not that be our 1 goal and objective? For many years I can
honestly say it was not for me. But I praise Him each day, because now that
is what
I live for. I pray today, that today you will make the commitment if you
have not already done so, to let that be your 1 goal and objective as well.

All Alone

(2 Timothy 4:16)

It is almost unreal to think that someone who is living with their family, going to school or work every day, going shopping, in church, literally always being around many people most of the time could be all alone. But that is where many of you are at in your life today. Surrounded by many people but all alone. Some of course have actually been abandoned by a parent, spouse, or someone close to you and you are feeling the pain of that loneliness. There are very few hurts and pains in this life that can equal the pain and hurt of loneliness.

Today, I want to let you know the Bible says Jesus will never leave you or forsake you. You see, even though you may feel the pain of loneliness, you really are never alone if you know Jesus as your Savior. He has promised to be with you. He has promised to never leave you. What a precious truth, that as long as we have Jesus, we are NEVER alone! I want you to understand today that though you may feel alone, you are not. Walk in the confidence of knowing Jesus is there with you. He will love you, care for you, and never leave you. Start living in the confidence that the Lord is always with you. YOU ARE NOT ALONE. JESUS IS ALWAYS THERE!

I love you and care for you. I realize that many of you are in pain today because of your battle with loneliness. I pray today that you will let the truth of Christ’s presence comfort you.

I am excited to let you know we are now making it possible for you to dedicate a day of Liveprayer’s ministry in honor of someone you love. I want to encourage you to go to our website, www.liveprayer.com , and on our home page click the Liveprayer Dedication button. This will give you all of the information. What a wonderful way to honor the memory of your loved one by letting their memory live on in the lives we touch each day on Liveprayer.com.

I pray the Lord will bless you in a wonderful way today. Never forget, that you are never alone and that you and God are ALWAYS a majority.

Getting Away With God

(John 10:40)

Getting away at least once a month for a half day is
critical to your relationship with the Lord. So much of our time with God
is on a tight schedule, we get into a rut of doing it the same way every
day. Once in a while, we need to break the routine, get away for at least a
half
day, and just spend time alone with God. Jesus, who was 100% God while
being 100% man still, in His role as a human, needed the fellowship with
God. Many times in the Gospel accounts of His life, we see Him getting away
alone
by himself. If Jesus needed this intimate contact with God once in a while,
how much more do we need it?

In any relationship, you must take some time to nurture that relationship.
I have talked some this week about our daily relationship with Jesus, but
once in a while, we need to take a half or full day just to be alone with
Him.
Why? Because we get very clever in getting in "our time with God" each day
to the point it can get stale and very meaningless. It becomes an exercise
like going to the gym. That is fine, but we get so comfortable we sometimes
don't take the time to listen to God. This 1/2 day or full day become a time
to take inventory on your life, see where you are at, where you want to be.
More important is where God wants you to be. We can get so busy, we start
missing His voice.

I want to challenge each one of you today. In the next 45 days, find a half
day or full day and just devote it to talking with God. Let Him minister
to you. He will talk to you. Most important, you will take time to make
sure you are on track. We all want to follow Him and serve Him. Sometimes
it takes some time alone with Him to really hear. I know we are all very
busy with our lives, but let me ask you this question...are you too busy for
God?

Getting Ahead of God

(Acts 19:36)

How many times do you get into situations in your life, get into difficult circumstances, and ask yourself why you didn’t wait? How many times do we get ourselves into trouble by acting in haste? I have a special word for you today . . . wait. Especially when you are in the midst of making major, life-changing decisions like where you will live, your job, an important relationship . . . wait. I have come to learn over the years, that we can often get ahead of God. For most people, we have a very strong self will. Our love of God, our desire to serve and please Him is not the question. We simply get ahead of God because we are so strong-willed, we get something in our head and charge ahead without really considering all of the ramifications of our actions.

I am not saying that we should quit making decisions, or quit trying to follow the path God may be leading us down. What I am saying is that we need to exercise some patience. There is nothing wrong with making a decision, then taking a day or so to pray about it, maybe get some counsel from people we trust, to take one more look at all sides of the decision before we act. Again, it often comes back to that issue of our will versus God’s will. WE want something very bad, and rather than fully explore if it is also something God wants, we act. To be honest, we don’t really want to know God’s feelings, since we want it so bad, we are afraid maybe it ISN’T what God wants. So to avoid having to directly rebel, we jump into it to insure we get what we want.

Okay, okay, I can already hear the moans and groans as the Holy Spirit is pinching many of you right now. That is called conviction. My prayer for you today is twofold. First, that those who are already in too deep because of getting ahead of God will confess to the Lord you acted without really considering His view, and seek God’s help in a plan to get out of the mess you find yourself in. We serve a loving God who not only loves you, but cares about you, and if you call out to Him, He will help you. I think of the father of the Prodigal son. How easy it would have been for that father to simply tell his son you made your decision, now live with the consequences of that decision. That is not what he did though. He welcomed him back and restored him to the family. God will do that for you if you ask Him. My second prayer is for you to realize in future decisions how important it is to not make rash, hasty decisions, but be patient and make sure this is what God wants and not only what you want. After all, whose life is it, yours or His?

I love you and I care about you deeply. I try to not only encourage you, but warn you to hopefully avoid some of the pitfalls there are out there. To try and help you avoid having to go through some of the difficulties that occur by our not following the Lord’s plan for our life. God has promised us not only life, but a life of abundance. However, to enjoy that life, we must be willing to give our lives completely and totally to Him. Let our decision be not what we want, but what He wants. Trust me, He loves you and only wants the best for you. So, the next time you are in the midst of a decision, simply take a second before acting, and ask yourself, is this what I want? Or is this what God wants for me? Don’t lead God, but let God lead you.

When Is Sin, Sin

(Matthew 15:19, James 1:15)

One of the common questions I get daily is when does sin
become sin. In the sexual area people often ask, if as long as there is no
intercourse, is it still sin? Let me use this analogy to clarify this issue
for you. Just like life begins at conception, sin becomes sin at
conception. The Bible tells us that sin actually starts in our heart. From
the heart it progresses to our head. Lastly, it is manifested in our
actions. We don't just fornicate. The lust starts in our heart, then
travels to our brain where it is nurtured, and then is actually committed
with our bodies. That is why Jesus said that if you lust in your heart, you
have already committed the act. You see my friend, you can't play games
with sin. You can't try to straddle the fence between committing sin and
not committing sin, it just doesn't work that way. Sin is not something to
see how close you can get to, but it is something to stay as far away from
as possible.

The best way to stay away from sin is by working on the path sin takes. As
the Bible tells us, it starts in our heart. David prayed, "create in me a
clean heart Lord". That should be our prayer as well. We need God to make
our heart clean and pure, since that is the place sin is born. The good
news is that God is in the heart-changing business. He will help you to
clean up your heart and make it a heart tender towards the things of God.
Sin then goes into our mind where it grows. We have talked before about
Romans 12:1 and the renewing of our minds, how important it is to watch
what we put into our minds each day, and cleaning out some of the old junk
that is already there from our past. We do that by being in the Word of God
daily, using it as a spiritual cleansing agent. Purifying our heart,
cleansing our mind is a process. It doesn't happen overnight. It happens
each day as we pray and read the Bible. It happens as we are in church feeding
our Spirits, serving God. When our focus is on the Lord, on the things of
God, on His Word....it guards our heart from the evils of this world and it
keeps our mind clean of sin.

Let's talk plain for a minute. I have told you about the high cost of sin,
how we end up paying and paying and paying for the sins we have committed.
That is why the Lord has tried to show us a better way to live. He loves
us. He doesn't want to see us suffer and go through so much pain. This
life was never intended to be a time of pain, hurting, and failure. It was
to be a season of joy, peace, and victory as we served and glorified our
God. As you turn away from sin, clean it out of your heart and mind, you
find the abundance that the Lord promised us in this life. It is time to
quit playing games with God. Quit trying to "be good and not sin" because
if you are at that level, you have already lost. Long before you try to
control your physical actions, you have already sinned. The goal is to root
it out of your heart and mind. Then your flesh has nothing directing it on
a sinful course.

You can count on my prayers. I love you and care about you. Don't be
discouraged by these words today, but be challenged. Many of you have been
fighting a losing battle of beating sin by keeping your actions under
control. We both know that never happens. Hopefully, you will understand
now that it never can happen, because the sin has already taken place, and
the flesh is simply responding to the sin in your heart and mind. ***THIS
THEN BECOMES THE KEY. ROOTING SIN OUT OF YOUR HEART AND MIND.*** Once you
understand this fact, then, and only then, will you be able to start getting
victory over the sin in your life. Again, I will be praying for you. God
will strengthen you and help you. Remember, Jesus Christ died on a cross
2000 years ago to give you victory. Start living in that victory today!

The Unquenchable Thirst

(John 4:14)

My wife dragged me to the grocery store last week.
After spending 15 minutes getting all of the things I like, I took them to
the cart and was promptly told why everything I had chosen was no good.
Having no real argument to keep my Twinkies, ice cream, M+M cookies, and
other items of equal non-nutritional value, I took everything back. In the
process, I found myself in the soft drink isle. It was incredible to look
at the number of various brands of soft drinks, 40 kinds of bottled water,
numerous specialty teas, on and on they went. This was in addition to an
isle where they had about 100 different kinds of juice drinks, not to
mention good old milk. I started to think about how much we drink every
day. Of course from a physiological standpoint we need a certain amount of
fluids each day. But I was just thinking about how much we drink, and
drink, and drink, and yet are never really satisfied for very long before we
need to drink some more.

Sin is also an unquenchable thirst. Once we start on a road of sin, we can
never get enough. Even when we are tired of it, we still continue. You see
my friend, when you are involved with the things of this world, you will
never find real satisfaction. There may be a temporary joy, but it is
quickly gone and replaced by emptiness. The bible says we have ALL sinned
and fallen short of God's glory. We all know what it is to sin. We all
know the temporary "high" sin gives us. But we also know the emptiness when
that short-term high passes, then the guilt, and the shame. Sin comes at a
very expensive price. For the little bit you get, it can end up costing you
everything.

My appeal to you today is on a very practical, common sense level. All I
ask is that you are honest with yourself. When you have sex outside of
marriage, whether it is in an adulteress relationship or fornication, there
is usually a 5 to 10 second climax involved. All I want you to do is weigh
what it takes to achieve that 5-10 seconds of pleasure, and ask yourself if
it is worth it. Is that 5-10 seconds worth how you feel afterwards? Or
what about those fighting the sin of alcohol, or drugs, or gambling. When
the buzz, the high wears off is it worth it? I don't care what the sin is,
the results are the same. There are a few seconds of enjoyment, but at what
price? This doesn't even factor in the consequences down the road.
Unwanted pregnancies, disease, becoming addicted to a certain sinful
lifestyle, losing all of your money, divorce, losing your children, public
shame, destroying your career, the potential disastrous consequences are
endless. All of that for a minimal amount of pleasure from whatever sin
you choose to engage in.

I bring a message like this today because I really do love you and care for
you. Having lived my life for may years in absolute rebellion to God, I can
personally attest to the high price of sin. I can also personally tell you
that when we surrender and live life God's way, under His plan, dedicated
to Him, we find a peace, happiness, joy, and contentment that isn't
possible chasing the things of this world. The things of this world, no
matter how much you get, keep you wanting more. There is a perfect peace in
serving God. A perfect peace when you are fulfilling your God-given purpose
to serve and glorify Him with your life. Jesus spoke of drinking and never
being thirsty again. That water is available to you today. If you are
tired of paying the high price of sin, if you are tired of never being
satisfied, Jesus says come to me, all you who are burdened, and I will give
you rest.

I realize that turning from sin is not easy. But God can give you a
game plan, people to hold you accountable, and the strength to be victorious.
I will be praying for you today. Sin simply doesn't make sense. It is like
paying $42,000 for a $1 hamburger. If I am going to pay $42,000, I want a
piece of the farm and the animals. Sin is a bad deal all the way around.
Count on my prayers today that the Lord will quicken this message to your
hearts and help you realize what a bad deal sin is, and how God has
something so much better for you. Sin always leaves you wanting more, but
following Jesus gives you perfect satisfaction.

Faith Without Works Is Dead

(James 2:17)

So often when we are going through a difficult
time, people tell us to have faith. Just trust God. They say it as if God
was some magician who snaps His fingers and automatically makes everything
OK. While God has that power, and while God will use that power at times,
God normally works through people and events. We rarely get in a mess
overnight and rarely are going to get out overnight. Part of the "getting
out" process is learning how to become totally dependent on Him. It is
learning how to make our faith real. It is learning how to work in
conjunction with our faith. True faith, Biblical faith, requires action.
It is easy to say the words, but putting your actions behind the words is
what real faith is all about.

One of the greatest examples from God's Word of someone putting their
actions to their faith was David. He not only had the faith that he could
go out on the battlefield and defeat Goliath...He actually did it! You see
my friend, if we really believe something, then our natural response is to
put actions to that belief. While most thought David was being foolhardy to
go out and face Goliath, in David's mind that was the only logical thing to
do. After all, His faith told Him that God would defeat this Philistine
giant, David was simply going to be God's instrument. That is what our
faith demands....ACTION. it is not simply good enough to say I believe. If
you really believe, then the only logical step is to step out and live that
belief.

Why we don't put actions to our faith simply boils down to the fact that we
really don't believe what we claim to believe. The true test of our faith
is our willingness to step out and back up those words with our actions.
One of the most difficult things to do for each one of us, and the one area
the church has always had a major problem teaching, is taking our faith and
making it real in our day-to-day lives. Saying we believe is one thing, and
then living in opposition to that makes me question how much you really
believe in what you claim. The bottom line is if you really believe it, you
live it. The translation of our faith in Jesus Christ into our everyday life
becomes one of the real tests of our walk with the Lord. The world clearly
understands this concept. One of the biggest reasons people in the world
reject the message of Christ is because they hear Christians profess one
thing and then live in opposition to that profession. The visible hypocrisy
becomes a major stumbling block to many people.

How do we do a better job of putting actions to our faith? It is a process
that builds day upon day, month upon month, year upon year. Look at the
basis of David's faith when he went out to fight Goliath. He told Saul that
in the past when guarding his father's sheep, he had to defend them from a
bear and lion. In both cases the Lord gave David victory. He said it so
perfectly when he told Saul that the same God who gave him victory over the
lion and bear, is the same God who would give him victory over Goliath. I
say to you today, that the same God who has given you victory in the past,
is the same God who will give you victory today. It is upon that foundation
that you should boldly walk out your faith each day...put actions to your
faith each day.

I love you and care for you so much. I will be praying for you today that
you will begin to put action to your faith. Make your faith come alive in
your day-to-day activities. The Lord will help you to have more faith each
day as you watch Him work in your life. Your faith will grow, giving you
even more courage to live each day for Him. My friend, this becomes one of
the benchmarks of our Christian experience. It is simply not enough to
believe. It is simply not enough to say that you have faith. Real faith,
Biblical faith, REQUIRES action on our part. it requires us to live out our
faith each and every day. I will be praying today that you will make your
faith real each day, as you live your life for Jesus.

Pride And The Fall

(Proverbs 16:18)


I have come to realize that the majority of people who are getting these devotionals every day, are very intelligent, mature, and gifted. Many are what society would call overachievers and
successful.That is why today, I want to give you a warning from God’s word to help you from having to endure some of God’s “tough love” we read about in Hebrews 12. First of all, there is nothing wrong with being ambitious, driven, people of achievement. The trouble comes when our priorities are out of place and our efforts are more focused on what the world expects from us and not so much what God expects. Let me remind you, the gifts, talents, and intelligence God gave you was for the ultimate purpose of serving and glorifying Him. There are so many ways God uses us and in may cases, He allows us success in “the world” in order to serve Him better. Again, I am in no way condemning success in the world we live in. We need more driven Christians who are successful in order to use all of the resources,.finances, man power, influence, and creativity .to further the Kingdom. I am only trying to get you to stop for just a second to revisit where your priorities are and if you are overachieving in the world and underachieving for the Lord.

The Bible, history, and daily life all give us unlimited examples of people who are successfully falling. That fall can ultimately be traced back to their ego and pride. It is one of Satan’s greatest plots against God’s most gifted children. It is an easy trap to fall into. At a certain point, you think all of your success is because of you, and forget it is only because of God. You start to believe you are in total control of the “world” you have created, being reminded how little control you really have when your spouse leaves, your children are in trouble, people close to you die, you find out you have major health problems, and a multitude of things you have absolutely NO CONTROL over. God blessed me in so many ways, but after a period of so much rebellion, He took mercy on me and allowed me to fall, in order to build me back into what He wanted. You see, that is where pride, the “first sin”–since it was because of pride Lucifer was cast out of heaven–become deadly. We end up in control of so much of the world we live in, and are so good at it, we start to act like we can do a better job at being God than God can. As much as you may think you are, you are not omniscient, you are not omnipotent, and you are not omnipresent. You are not God!

I was led to write this Devotional today, because there are many successful people who need to hear this warning today. There are many students reading this Devotional that need to learn early how to prioritize their life. Success in the world is tremendous, but at the expense of being successful for God, it is not worth it. Why trade success for a day, when you can be successful for eternity? I love you, care about you, and sometimes have been criticized for not being more upbeat; more pleasant in the thing I write each day. The trouble is, I am one of the most upbeat people you will ever know, and what I write is all based, not on my words, but on His. Too many want to read the promises and gloss over the warnings. It is like driving down the street and going through the green lights and ignoring the red lights. You may do it a few times, but eventually it will catch up with you and the results could be deadly. You are committing spiritual suicide by not heeding to the many warnings God has placed in His Word to protect you, mostly from yourself.

I will be praying for you today. This is a great warning for everyone, but there are some who need this word desperately today. My prayer is that you adopt a plan I have been using for the years. On my mirror in the bathroom, the first thing I see every morning is the verse out of John, “Without me you can do nothing.” My prayer every morning is that I never forget that without Him, I am able to do nothing that will stand the test of eternity. I have found that when I humble myself before Him, it become much easier to humble myself before people.

May His blessings be with you in abundance today as you serve in His strength.

Honoring Our Father

(Ephesians 6:4)

Today is the day the world celebrates Father's Day.
In our busy lives, it is good that we are forced to take a moment and
recognize our dads. I had a wonderful father who unfortunately passed
away when I was 16. Even though I missed sharing those young adult years
with my dad, it was his love and nurturing in the early years of my life
that helped build the spiritual foundation in my life. After praying about
the direction of today's Devotional, the Lord has directed me to use it as a
special encouragement to the dads out there. How often do we take what dad
does for granted? There are Godly men out there who are the spiritual heads
of their homes. They work hard to provide the income needed to sustain day-
to-day life. They love and honor their wives. They realize their children
are gifts from God and help nurture and mold their lives. These dads
realize that serving God is their divine purpose and being the head of their
home is their first and most important ministry. Today is a day to make
sure dad knows just how much we love and appreciate him.

For those dads out there that are working hard to be the kind of dad I just
described, know that you are in my prayers. Know that each day as you spend
that special time alone with the Lord, He will encourage you, prepare you,
and make you adequate for that day. You are on the path God wants you to be
on as you strive each day to serve Him, making your wife and children your
number one priorities. Balance is one of the biggest hurdles you face each
day, and I pray the Lord will help you find that perfect balance between
work, home, serving Him, and relaxing. The other big hurdle is being able to
give God control. Having so much responsibility each day, letting go and
really trusting God at certain times is not easy. Just remember, in John
15:5 it says "without me you can do nothing." God has given you great
talents and great gifts, but without the Lord's strength and He being in
charge, it won't make any difference. Make your faith real daily as you
learn to trust Him more each day.

I recognize today that there are also many dads who aren't the kind of dad
I described. Unless someone is totally committed and surrendered to the
Lord, overseeing the responsibilities of marriage and children often
suffer. Without the Lord leading your life, getting caught up in all of the
traps of this world happens frequently, and life really never makes much
sense. The importance of being a husband, a father, doesn't have the
significance it should. That is why so many men have left the home,
abandoned their children, and continually are caught up in every kind of sin
imaginable. To those dads I want you to know that if you are tired of
running from God, tired of the pain, tired of the heartache, tired of
nothing working...this is the perfect day to turn it all around. Even
though this is a day we celebrate our earthly fathers, there is a Heavenly
father who loves you so much, and if you call out to Him, he will help you
straighten your life out. For those wives, ex-wives, and children of dads
who haven't been the Godly dads the Bible talks of, pray for your dad. Know
that deep down he is hurting, and only surrendering to Christ will change
that. God loves your dad more than you do, and He is the one who can change
your dad's heart. I'll pray with you for your dad.

I want you to know that I love you and do care about you. Jesus told His
disciples just hours before going to the cross that in this world there
would be troubles. He didn't want them to think that just because they had
been with Him they would be immune from life's problems. But He encouraged
them by telling them, "be of good cheer, for I have overcome this world."
For you dads out there today, let me encourage you by telling you...if you
keep Jesus first in your life, He will help you overcome the trials of this
life, and allow you to see victories in every area of your life, in your
marriage, in your children, in your career, and in your service for Hi. If
you will simply trust Him and operate in His strength, you will know
blessings and joy above and beyond anything you ever imagined. Please know
that I will be praying for you today, and if you need any special prayer to
be the man, the husband, the father, the servant God has called you to
be, please don't hesitate to email me at bkeller@liveprayer.com . God has
given us many great examples of how to be a true father. Follow Him each
day, and He will mold you and make you into the father He has raised you up
to be.

Is Homosexuality Really A Sin

(1 Thessalonians 4:3)

Is homosexuality really a sin? If you accept the Bible as the inspired,
inerrant Word of God, this is a resounding yes. Not out of some homophobic
fear, or out of ignorance and intolerance, but because God clearly defines
this activity as sin. There is a vast amount of scripture referring
directly to a man/man or woman/woman relationship being sinful. Rather than
using those passages, I chose today to use a passage from Paul's letter to
the church at Thessalonica. It is here that the Bible simply states that
fornication is a sin. Just in case you thought today's Devotional was going
to be a tirade against homosexuality, you are wrong. You see, homosexuality
is clearly a sin. But as per the definition of fornication, sexual
relations between two people who are not bound by marriage, anyone who
engages in sex outside of a Biblical marriage (one man, one woman) is
committing sin. There is absolutely no gray; it is very black and white.

While we are quick to point to homosexual behavior as sinful, and we
acknowledge adultery as sinful, we also must understand that any type of
sexual activity between two people who are not married is just as sinful.
Having sex with a schoolmate, someone you work with, or whoever the other
person may be, is a sinful act. I am working hard to drive this point home
because many in the church, many good people who know Christ and are saved,
are also living a sinful lifestyle when it come to their sexual activity.
Like every other aspect of our life, we must come under the Word of God and
abide by God's plan for our sex life, just as we must do that in our
finances, our health, and every other area of our life. If you haven't
gotten the message yet, living together without being married is just as
much of a sin in God's eyes as those living in a homosexual lifestyle.

What this ultimately means is choosing what you want for your life, God's
blessings, or the heartache and pain of living in rebellion to what God has
ordained for our life. I do not have to even ask those who have been
involved in illicit affairs and sexual activity outside of the bounds of
marriage the consequences of those choices. I read the thousands of emails
daily. Abortions, broken homes, children without a traditional family unit,
pain and heartache when things "don't work out", and on and on and on it
goes. As I have pointed out so many times, God has given us free will to
make our own choices. He has given us the instruction manual on how to live
life His way. When we choose His way, there are blessings and peace and
contentment. When we choose our way there is pain and heartache and
destruction. Again, it is your choice, but God loves you and has tried to
show you His way in very plain and simple terms via His Word.

I really do love you and care about you. I am so glad God gives me the
opportunity to share each day a word that will challenge you and encourage
you to be all that He has raised you up to be. The Christian life is one of
balance and one of obedience. We can do so well in some areas, yet fall
short in others. My goal is to get you to do an entire inventory of every
aspect of your life. Note those areas where you are doing well in following
God's will and those areas you need to work on. God will help you,
strengthen you, and guide you when you are open and willing to do it His
way. I pray today that you will open your heart and find the strength only
He can provide you to rise above the desires of this world, and make your
heartfelt goal each day to die to self and live for Him!

You only have 24 hours left

(James 4:14)

You only have 24 hours left. One of the biggest problems we have in this
life is taking each day for granted and assuming there is always going to
be tomorrow. This is a very common mindset for those under 30. The brevity
of this life, the fact that tomorrow is not promised to any of us, never
seem to be much of an issue. Every day when I read the paper and watch the
news, there are stories of people dying in all kinds of ways. I can't help
but wonder if they were ready to die. The answer, of course, is I don't think
any of us are really ready to die. But that doesn't change the fact that we
all one day will pass from this life into eternity. Therein lies the real
question. Are we ready for eternity? The Bible clearly teaches that
eternity is going to be spent either with God our creator or forever
separated from Him. Only through a personal faith in Jesus Christ will you
be with God. I would urge you right now, that if you have never accepted
Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Savior, accepted Him into your
heart by faith, then please go to my website, www.liveprayer.com and click on "Salvation".

For those who do know Jesus and know that when this life is over you will be
in Heaven, I go back to the point of today's Devotional...how we all forget
about the importance of today and live like tomorrow will always come. For
the sake of helping you focus, let's say that you actually knew that you
would die in 24 hours. Take a minute and think about what you would do with
that last 24 hours here on earth. Common sense says that you would probably
spend that time with those who God has given you to share this life with.
Family, of course, possibly some close friends. But in addition to that,
what would you do? I imagine that you would probably try to take care of
loose ends in regard to your will, finances. Additionally though, what
would you do with that time? No doubt there are people who you may have had
problems with, possibly even family members, and your relationship with them
has been broken. I am sure you would get hold of them and try to reconcile
with them. There are probably people in your life that at one time or
another you hurt a great deal. Contacting them to just say how sorry you
were is no doubt something you would want to accomplish. I am sure there
are many other things that you can think of that you would want to do in
those last precious hours.

For those of you who have been reading my Devotionals for a while, you know
me well enough by now to know that I am not into fear and intimidation.
That is not my objective today. I pray every day one specific prayer, that
in this time God gives me to share with you, He will allow me to take this
spiritual journey we are on and help me translate it into the very real day-
to-day life we live here on earth. Making our relationship with the Lord a
reality in our daily life is one of my main objectives. The reality of
daily life is that accidents happen. Tragedy strikes. Disease is part of
our human condition. TOMORROW IS NOT PROMISED TO ANY OF US. While we are
to plan for the future and set goals, we can never lose sight that we are here
to serve and glorify God with our lives. When our work here is finished,
and only God knows when that is, He will call us home. We are like
missionaries in this world, here to do a job, and we never really know when
our job is over and we get to go home. If we understand that, we will start
being more aware of how important it is to maintain our relationships with
other people, not to hurt others...and when we do, be quick to apologize, and
love those God has given us to share this life with each and every day. If
you hear nothing else today, hear this. Spend today getting a hold of your
parents, children, siblings, and friends you are close to...and simply tell them
how special they are and how you are thankful each day to have them in your
life. NOW is always the perfect time to tell someone you love how much they
mean to you.

I love you and deeply care about you. I pray that today you will take a few
minutes from your busy life to focus on the fact that we live each day by
the grace of God. It is truly a gift from above. Not only should that
motivate us in our service to Him, but in our relationships with those God
gives us to spend this time on earth with. In accordance with that message,
let me tell each of you how richly my life has been blessed these last 10
months. Sitting down each morning, asking for God's anointing, and allowing
the Holy Spirit to guide my fingers as I write these Devotionals has been
one of the greatest joys of my life. To be able to share the love of
Christ, encourage you in your daily relationship with Him, be here to pray
for you in your time of need, has been the greatest privilege God has given
me in almost a decade of ministry. You will never know how much I really do
love you and care about you. Even though we have never met, it is possible
because of Jesus. There is a spiritual bond that connects us tighter than
anything this world could ever produce. I just want you to know it is an
honor to do the little I can each day to help you in your journey. Know
that as long as the Lord sees fit, I will be here for you, so never hesitate
to email me and I will do my best to help.

Being Accountable

The importance of being accountable. There is little argument that our
lives are accountable to God. Everything we do, everything we say, we will
one day have to answer to God. I don't want to gloss over this point,
because it is very important. The fact that we don't see anyone actually
giving an account for his/her life on Court TV doesn't mean it won't
happen. The Bible clearly tells us that this is a very real event that we
each will face one day. However, I wonder how many of us really are thinking
in the course of a day, as we make decisions and live our lives, about this
very fact. I submit to you today that we would probably not do many of the
things we do, or say many of the things we say, if we were really focused on
the Biblical fact that one day we will stand before our God and give an
account for our lives. Using this Biblical premise, let me then address the
point of today's Devotional.....the importance of being accountable.

Every single one of us SHOULD HAVE someone in our life that we are
accountable to, someone that we have to answer to, someone who will hold
us accountable as we live our life each day. My friend, this is
absolutely the most effective mechanism I know of to living a life that will make
the Lord proud of us. It is the greatest form of self-protection we can
have. You see, our greatest enemy is ourselves. Anything we can do to
protect ourselves from ourselves will go a long way to living a life that is
pleasing and acceptable before God. Let me say right here, that this is
something YOU must believe in and be wholly submitted to for it to work. If
you aren't committed to it, it WILL NOT work. It requires our humbling
ourselves and being 100% honest before those we are going to be accountable
to for it to work. Again, we are going to one day stand before God and be
accountable for our lives, so why not start that process now.

This will require much prayer to find that person you can be accountable to.
Trust me, God will help you and lead you to that person or those persons.
Each one of us has different areas of weakness, and we should start out
focusing on those critical areas of our life. We need to share our
innermost thoughts and secrets. We need to share how we fall into
temptation. I speak often of having a battle plan to win the battles. The
person you are accountable to will help you formulate a viable plan to see
victory, and then be responsible for holding you to that plan. Just as you
are being held accountable by someone, you should have someone in your life
you are holding accountable. It is an investment in someone's life, but
that is what the essence of this Christian journey is about. Sharing your
life with others.

I really do love you and care about your life. The only reason we would not
embrace being accountable to someone is because we are involved in
situations that we know are wrong...and we are not ready to let them go.
God is speaking to you loudly today. It is time to let go of those things
in your life that are not pleasing to God. One day, you will stand before
God and you will give an account for your life. God will help you turn from
sin, He will help you overcome the enemies in your life, and He will give
you the tools to live a life pleasing and acceptable to Him that you can be
proud of when you stand before Him on that day. He has placed people in our
life to hold us accountable and to help us stand for Him each day. He will
use you in people's lives to hold them accountable and help them to stand
for Him. This is not a word for you to ignore today, but embrace. I can
trace all of the problems of my life to not being accountable to anyone and
not worrying about that day I would have to stand before God. I am thankful
for those men in my life today that I am accountable. Without them, I could
never do the things I do for the Lord. Trust me, God never expected us to
walk this journey alone, and when we try, we are like that traveler on
the road to Jericho...we become easy prey for the enemy to attack and
destroy.

I will be praying for you today. I know there are many of you out there who
are accountable to no one, and you are in a great deal of trouble today
because of it. The first thing you need to do is to go to God, repent, and
ask His forgiveness. Then you need to pray about a battle plan to eventually
overcome the problems your sin and rebellion have created. Go out and find
someone who will hold you accountable. There are usually NO overnight
solutions. You didn't get into the problems you have overnight, and you
normally aren't going to get out of them overnight. But as you faithfully
follow God's plan each day, as you are held accountable each day, God will
lead you to victory. One day we will all stand before God and give an
account for our life. Having someone in our life now to hold us accountable
will help us to stand strong, so on that day we are not ashamed to be before
God.

Telling The Truth Of God's Word

(Matthew 22:29)

Growing up as a sports fan, my favorite announcer was Howard Cosell. Howard
was famous for "telling it like it was,", according to Howard, of course.
Because he was bold enough to say what he felt, Cosell was a very
controversial
figure. Throughout the Bible, those who "told it like it was" in regard to
God's Word, were also very controversial. Steven was stoned for telling the
truth of God's Word. Paul went through many of his great trials for telling
the truth of God's Word, no matter how unpopular that was. The Old
Testament
prophets were often killed for telling the truth of God's Word to a society
that wasn't interested in the truth, but only their own pleasures. Today,
many of God's spokesmen are shunned or ignored by much of society for having
the courage to "tell it like it is."

Ten years ago, the first 3 years of my ministry was spent in over 500
churches
of all denominations doing evangelistic meetings. One thing I can say I
have
never done is candy-coat or hold back the truth of God's Word, no matter how
difficult it may be for some people to hear. I have always been a direct
person, and the last place we need political correctness is in the pulpit.
Over the years I have counseled with, and spent endless hours in prayer over
so many of God's people in desperate troubles, simply because they were
ignorant of God's Word. The Bible has direction for every facet of life and
God's plan for how we can live a joyous and victorious life for Him. I am
convinced that a lot of the problem stems from the "soft, warm-fuzzy,
feel-good
non-offensive" teachings so many are exposed to each Sunday. So many of
God's
people are just not prepared to deal with real life in relation to their
faith
in Christ.

Let me say up front that I apologize if from time to time I make statements
that offend you. I try to write each morning under the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit and give you what God has for you that day. If I give my
personal opinion I will always tell you, although I mostly try to give you
what God says from His Word. Because of space, I sometimes don't elaborate
scripturally the way I should at certain times, and I'll try to be more
diligent in that regard. What I can promise you is that each day I will
share what God wants me to say from His Word, and not only challenge you,
but encourage you to be all He wants you to be. Now more than ever, the
Lord
needs strong men and women who are capable of helping Him lead those in the
darkness into His marvelous light.

I love you, I care about you, and I promise that each day I will do my best
to help motivate you to give God your best each and every day. The real
challenge I give you today is to understand that God's Word is not always
pleasant to hear, not always pleasant to follow, and not always what we want to
do. But God knows us, loves us, and has put His Word there as a road map so
that we can know His peace, His joy, and live a productive life of service
for our Lord. Never be afraid to challenge the things I might say or
demand
scriptural back-up, since that is the test of truth. Not did a man say it,
but did God say it. I deeply appreciate the opportunity God has given me to
share His love with you each day. I am more determined than ever to
challenge
and encourage you to surrender your life 100% to Him, so you will know the
ultimate joy of this life that comes from living for the Lord.

May you have a blessed day and may His Word be forever a reminder that there
is right and wrong, that there is ultimate truth, and that we don't have to figure out this journey all by ourselves. Simply follow His precious Word.

Praying With Your Family

(Acts 1:14)

Each day I try to do my best to encourage you and
give you practical guidance to help translate your faith into your everyday
life. Today is one of those core areas that is critical to the spiritual
life of a family. Men, you are REQUIRED to take the spiritual headship of
your home and make prayer part of the daily life at your house. You should
pray with your spouse EVERY day alone, and the two of you should be praying
with your kids EVERY day. Does this insure you have no problems in your
marriage or with your children? NO. But it must be part of our everyday
life to commit the issues we are facing to the Lord in prayer, to be
thankful for all God does for us each day, and to openly express our dependence
on Him. For those single moms, during this season you need to be the
spiritual leader in your home and it is up to you to make time each day to
pray with your kids. There is nothing greater you can do for your marriage
and in the life of your family, than that daily time of prayer together.

This is not a matter to debate. The Bible clearly tells us to pray one for
another. How much more should we pray together as husband and wife...as a
family unit? It becomes like everything else in our life, a matter of
priorities. It is amazing how much we can accomplish when it is something
we want to do. However, there always seems to be reasons why we can't do
the things necessary to maintain our focus on the things of God. I am not
talking about 5-hour long prayer meetings, though there may be times when
that is greatly needed...even 15 minutes praying about the issues you are
currently facing. There is no better lesson for your kids than to see God
answering prayers in their life, and not answering in some cases. It helps
prepare them for the real world they are living in and helps them to learn
to be dependent upon God each day. For a husband and wife, you share the
most intimate thing possible physically, yet for some reason you can't share
in the most intimate thing spiritually. That never has made sense to me.

Trust me, I realize that this is a big step for many. Let me leave you with
this challenge. Take the next 4 weeks. Make 5 minutes each day to pray with
your spouse alone, and another 5 to pray with the children. With your
spouse, each of you take a few minutes to share your needs, then the
husband or wife lead in prayer for those needs. Before you end, each of
you just take a minute to pray for your spouse, that God will bless them
richly that day. Same with your kids. Take a few minutes to have each of
your children share the needs pressing, then either dad or mom lead in
prayer. Then both the mom and dad should pray over each child for God's
protection and blessings. A sidenote, keeping a prayer journal is a great
way to look back after 6 months and see God's faithfulness. Simply write
down the request and date...and then the answer when it comes and the date.
MAKE THIS A PRIORITY TO DO EACH DAY FOR THE NEXT 4 WEEKS. Trust me when I
tell you that it will change your relationship with your spouse and children.
OK, for those who have a spouse that isn't saved and isn't going to go for
this, here is the plan. Spend a few minutes either at night or in the
morning when your spouse is sleeping to lay your hand on them and pray for
them. Then, gather your kids and have your prayertime with them with your
spouse.

I love you and care about you. Praying with your spouse each day, praying
with your kids each day, doesn't make your home immune from the trials and
tribulations of this world. It will, however, keep your home focused each day
on the Lord and who is in control. The journey of faith we are on is a
24/7 experience. Not one hour on Sunday, or every now and then. Can you
see how much harder it becomes to be involved in sin when you are focusing
on the Lord each day personally, and then with your spouse, and then with
your kids? God will honor those who honor Him. It is time we quit being so
lazy, quit waiting until we are in the midst of crisis to call out to the
Lord. The reason we are weak and ineffective in our Christian lives is
because we are lazy and do nothing to strengthen ourselves for the storms of
life. When they come, we are lost and have no idea how to fight. A good
soldier is always in training, so that when it is time for battle, they are
prepared. The Bible tells us that our enemy is not of flesh and blood...it
is a spiritual battle we are in. Subsequently, it is critical that we are
training daily to fight those spiritual battles, both in our personal life and in the lives of those God has given us in this life. I will be praying
today that you hear this word and act upon it. It could be the difference
between seeing victory or defeat in your marriage and the lives of your
children. God is placing the weapons you need to fight with in your
hands...use them.

Giving God The Praise

(Luke 17: 11-19)

Giving God the praise for what He has done for you. How often do we come to
God, ask for a certain need, the Lord fills that need, and we don't even
take the time to say thank you? Think back just over the last year of your
life. Think back on those prayers that He has answered. What was your
response when the answer came? A moment of thanksgiving? Relief that God
has come through again? How quickly did you forget that answer to prayer
you needed so badly and start focusing on the next problem you wanted God
to handle for you?

Much of our prayer life is taken up with asking God for this and that, like
He is some kind of genie in the bottle we send our wishes to. Don't get me
wrong, God has told us to bring our needs to Him, to come to Him in prayer
with our problems. It is His pleasure to bless His children. I am simply
trying to focus you today on your response to those answered prayers. Like
the 10 lepers in the verses today, 9 never even bothered to come back to say
thank you. Are you like the 9....or the 1 who returned to give thanks?

So often we take for granted God's blessings, His love for us. The logical
question is how do I show my appreciation to God for what He has done for
me? Start with loving Him. Loving Him means to obey Him. You obey your
parents, not so much out of fear, but because you love them and don't want
to disappoint them. You are thankful for all they do for you, and the best
way
to show that thankfulness is to obey them and do what they have asked you to
do. So is our relationship with our heavenly Father. The greatest way to
show Him how much we love and appreciate all He does is to obey Him, and live
our life in a way that is pleasing and acceptable to Him.

I love you and am praying for you. Make sure you spend a few extra minutes
today giving God the thanks for all He has done for you. No matter how many
trials you may be facing, there is still so much to be thankful for. I
often
think I am having things rough. Then I read the problems others are facing,
and I realize how richly God has been blessing me. The best way to show
your
thanks to Him is by the way you live your life today. He is worthy of our
praise
and our lives dedicated to His service. Praise Him today!!!

Pray for One Another

(James 5:16)

The Bible tell us to pray for one another. It is a great honor to intercede on someone’s behalf. To take their name before the throne of grace. It is not only something we should do, but something God has commanded us to do. Often times, we get bound in our problems and concerns, that we forget the hurts and pain of others. It is amazing how it works, but so many times when I have taken the focus off of my own problems, and concentrated on others, lifting their need to God, my problems seemed to work themselves out.

We all get to those times in our life when we need the prayers of others to sustain us through difficult periods. That is why it is so important every day to be sensitive to the needs of those around us, and intercede on their behalf during our time with God each day. We are all walking through this journey called life together. Somehow, the journey becomes easier when we
are concerned about the problems of others..praying for them. In turn, they are concerned about our needs and praying for us. It works when we are holding each other up; sustaining each other.

Let me challenge you, today, to look at those in your life today. See what they are dealing with and help ease their burden by praying for them. It is a great thing to pray for others. Never take it lightly. God is moved by the prayers of His people. You can be part of helping someone through a tough time as you pray for them. I want to pray for you today . . . .for your needs. Feel free to email me with your request and as a point of contact, email me your picture. I want to hold you up before God today and stand with you for the needs in your life. I know the power of God and the miracles He can work in the lives of people. Take this opportunity to allow me the privilege of lifting you up to Him today by sending me your most urgent prayer request and picture to my personal email account at bkeller@liveprayer.com.

I love you and care about you. These are not empty words. Not only do I spend hours each day making sure every prayer request that comes into this ministry is answered, but I take time each day to lay my hands over a disc of every email name in our system . . . .praying the Lord’s blessings will be with you and your family. I pray today that we never forget how important it is to pray for one another as the Bible commands us to do.

Adultery

A message to those committing adultery. Early in my marriage, when I was
not walking with the Lord, I was involved in several adulterous affairs. I
thank God daily for His love and mercy, and for His forgiveness. I thank God
daily for my wife and her commitment to our marriage, and unconditional love
that allowed her to forgive me. I confess this to you today so those who
read this will know that I understand this subject. Adultery is simply an
act of gross selfishness. There is NO excuse for it, no way to even try and
justify it. It is an act of total rebellion towards God. It is sin, and
trust me my friend, God cannot, and will not, bless sin. When you commit
this act, you are sinning against God, your spouse, yourself, and you are
contributing to the sin of the other person. There are NO winners in an
adulterous situation. EVERYONE LOSES. For whatever moments of pleasure
there are, you pay an incredibly high price. So why are so many involved in
this activity?

The reasons for committing adultery are endless. All of them added up
together still aren't justification for this blatant act of disobedience.
Do you realize the time and effort that it takes to be involved in an
adulterous relationship? If that same time and effort were put towards your
spouse, it would do wonders for your marriage. If you took all of the time
of planning it takes to be together with that other person, put forth the
same energy you do to please that other person, were as kind, considerate,
and affectionate as you are with that other person, with your spouse, do you realize how much better your marriage would be? Do you realize that when
you are involved in an adulterous relationship, how much communication there
is with the other person? If you put even half of that communication in
your marriage, it would be dramatically better.

Here is reality my friend. There is no future with a person you are
involved with in an adulterous relationship. It will never work out, if for
no other reason, God is never going to bless such a union. Whatever
problems exist in your marriage that even cause you to consider committing
adultery, they are fixable with the effort of both spouses and God's involvement.
For whatever reason there may have been, you chose to commit to marry that
person, now you need to make it work. For those who are yet not married,
maybe now you can see why it is SO IMPORTANT to not rush into marriage, to
stay pure so you aren't forced into marriage, and to be equally yoked so there
is spiritual harmony and communication in a marriage. Most problems stem
from the marriage starting on a bad foundation. Marriage is SERIOUS.
However, if you find yourself in a marriage that was started on a bad
foundation, Jesus Christ will help you rebuild that foundation on the Word
of God. But you have to be willing to put forth the effort. Trust me, you
may think things will be better in a new relationship, but ultimately, after
a period of time, there will be problems. So don't compound them by
fighting against God. That is a battle you will lose every time.

I love you and care about you so much. I know many of you are hurting. For
those spouses who are in pain today because your spouse has cheated on you,
let me encourage you. You are NOT responsible for his/her actions. Your
spouse has the same free will you have. Your most effective weapon is to
pray for them and commit them to God, since only He can change their heart.
My wife learned how to really trust God 100% during that period in our life
many years ago. It will help you to make your faith real. The Lord will
help you overcome the pain and hurt, and actually be able to forgive your
spouse and move forward in your relationship. For those who are currently
involved in an adulterous relationship, let me challenge you. STOP TODAY.
I know that it will be difficult, but it is the first step to getting your
relationship with God back, and your life back. Anyone who is honest knows
that life becomes almost not worth living under those conditions. God will
always help you when you are trying to follow His way. Whatever problems
exist in your marriage, adultery is not the answer. Honest open
communication with your spouse, allowing God to be an active part of your
life, working at the commitment you made to your husband/wife....this is
what it is going to take to make your marriage all that God wants it to be.

Because of the sensitive nature of this issue, know that I will be spending
time in prayer for those of you who are dealing with this issue in your life,
both those who are committing adultery and those who have a spouse cheating
on them. My prayer is that you will find that intimate personal
relationship with the Lord you need to overcome the circumstances you are
facing in your life. No matter how hopeless things may look, there is
ALWAYS hope in Christ. Get right with God, then get right with your spouse.
It is the only answer, and God will help you when you follow His Word.

Keeping Your Temple in Shape

(1 Corinthians 6:19)

Yesterday afternoon, I had 2 minutes
left on the treadmill and began wondering why I was putting myself through
this agony, 3 afternoons a week...10 minutes of abs, a complete cycle of
weights to hit all the muscle groups, finished by 30 minutes on the
treadmill. One hour of torture that I DO NOT like. So why do it? I have
been very blessed to have been one of those people who could eat pretty much
whatever I wanted and never gain weight. All my life I have played
sports...basketball, tennis, baseball, and football. Two years ago when I hit
40, I realized that I couldn't just play and stay in shape, but had to
structure a regular work-out program. Again the question, why? Because
even though this life is brief, I want to be as physically fit as I possibly
can in order to serve the Lord.

There are enough spiritual hindrances to our service, without having
physical barriers as well. Does this mean God can't use you if you aren't
in tip top shape? Of course not. But imagine if you are in the best shape
possible, how much more you can accomplish. I have to admit that with the
schedule I keep, I HAVE to be in top shape to keep up. We have to use
wisdom to not overextend ourselves, because that defeats the purpose too.
The Bible clearly tells us that our bodies are the temple of the Holy
Spirit. We are responsible for doing our part to keep our "temples" in the
best shape possible, so we can maximize the extent to which God can use our
lives. This is a specific word to everyone today to ask God how you can get
in and stay in the best shape possible. Many of you have simply neglected
this area of your life, and this word today is a wake-up call.

I am not going to say anything more. You get the message loud and clear,
and now it is up to you to either heed this word from the Lord, or ignore
it. I have to remind myself each day I go to the gym that this is part of
my responsibility in serving Him, to keep myself in the best possible
physical shape I can. Of course, exercise is only one facet. We also must
be cognizant of what we are eating. What we put into our bodies is critical
to staying in shape. Illegal drugs, alcohol, cigarettes...all pollute the
temple of the Holy Spirit. If you want the best scripture for not doing
these things, it is I Corinthians 6:19. Would you smoke pot in church?
Would you have a beer in church? Would you smoke in church? No??? Why???
Because it is a holy place. It is a temple where we go to worship God. Our
bodies are "our temple" and that is why we shouldn't be involved in these
activities, since they defile the temple.

I love you and care about you. While I try to cover the spiritual side of
life, I MUST deal with the practical side of life as well. God has a great
plan and purpose for each one of our lives. The better we maintain our
bodies and keep our "temples" in good shape, the better we are able to
serve Him. I will be praying today that you take this word to heart. I
speak of game plans often, and if anyone has a better game plan to stay in
shape rather than hitting the gym several days a week, I am open. I am
still waiting for the workout pill, but until then, I guess good old
fashioned sweat will have to do. I have found that time in the gym is a
great time to pray though. Trust me, whenever you strive to do what God
wants for your life, He will help you make it happen. There is much work to
do. God has raised us up to serve Him. Get serious about getting in the
best shape possible, so that you can run the race at maximum efficiency and
fulfill that plan He has for your life.

Driving Out The Demons - Part II

Yesterday in our devotional I talked about "wanting," and "being serious" about driving out the demons in your life, whatever they may be. Once you get to that point, then it becomes an issue of how to do it. Don't ever forget, this is a war, a war for your soul. Once you accept Christ, it then becomes a war for your life. Never lose sight of the fact that satan's goal is to "kill, steal, and destroy." Once he loses your soul to the Lord, his next objective is to destroy your life so that you are ineffective as a worker for God. Most people allow those demons in their life to totally incapacitate them from serving God in any way, thus helping satan accomplish his goal. To be totally effective, you have got to drive out those demons in your life once and for all.

When you go into any war, you must have a battle plan. You just can't go in
without any kind of plan of attack. So it is when your goal is to drive out
those demons in your life. YOU MUST HAVE A PLAN. Let me give you a perfect
example. Many men I counsel dealing with a demon of pornography, especially
on the Internet, have been given this battle plan. Pray to God for strength. Then, get a small New Testament bible and put it in your pocket. 24-hours a day, 7-days a week, have that Bible with you. When the pangs of lust come upon you, pull out that small bible, open it to any page, and just read for 2-3 minutes. The Word of God is powerful and will quench those lustful thoughts immediately. Does this mean you've driven out that demon? NO!!!!! You must keep fighting...daily. Eventually the lust attacks will slow down and you will get back in control of that area of your life. Not a complicated plan, but effective. The point is, no matter what demon you are fighting, you must put together a plan to gain victory!!!

The Bible tells us that the Lord will never let us be tempted beyond that
which we are able to bear, that He will always prepare a way of escape. Our problem is that we often refuse to take the avenue of escape provided. God will help you and show you a battle plan to conquer your demons. You have to be ready to implement the plan and see it through. You cannot take this lightly. This is literally a life or death struggle you are in. Be confident. Be bold. God is on your side, and if God is for you, who can be against you? He already has won the victory. Now we must walk in that victory He was already won for us.

I will be praying for you. Never hesitate to email me if you want me to
stand in agreement with you for victory over your demons. You are
important to me. Your needs are important to me. God has placed me
in your life at this moment to minister to you in your hour of need. I
will be praying that the Lord gives you strength to conquer those demons in
your life and live a victorious, fruitful life for the Kingdom of God!

Driving Out The Demons - Part I

(Matthew 17:14-21)

Everyone of us has certain demons in our life that
we need to drive out. For many it is a battle with alcohol. For some it is
drugs. Many battle with pornography or other sexual addictions. The demon
in many lives is lying (read what the bible says about lying). Still others
battle demons of suicide, depression, greed, and bitterness. The point is,
no matter who you are, how long you have been a Christian, everyone...
EVERYONE is fighting some demon today.

I want to encourage you today. Sometimes you feel like giving up. Sometimes
it is just easier to give in than to fight. Let me tell you right now, if
you want victory over your demons, you can have it. To be very honest with
you, many have learned how to live with their demons, coexist with them, and
really aren't ready to get rid of them just yet. They know they need to,
but just haven't been ready to get serious about getting them out of their
lives once and for all.

Having said that, let me tell you that when you are ready, God is waiting
to give you the power. The power of your faith in God, coupled with His
limitless ability, can destroy and conquer whatever the demons might be in your life. Nothing is impossible for God. There are too many testimonies of
people overcoming exactly what you are fighting today...normal people, people no smarter or more special than you are. These are just people that
one day decided enough was enough, exercised the faith God gave them, and
allowed God to drive them out of their life once and for all.

In tomorrow's devotional, I will conclude this with some practical real life
advice on overcoming the demons in your life, no matter what they may be.
For now, the big question you have to ask yourself is..."how serious am I
about getting victory over the demons in my life?"

I love you and pray for you every day. I want you to take a few minutes right
now and ask yourself if you are really serious about driving out those demons.
Nothing will happen until you are...but once you are, God can help you see
victory.

How to Stand Up to Sin

(1 Corinthians 10:12)

Each day we make many decisions, many of them regarding whether to follow Christ or give in to sin. Standing in the face of those decisions always seems easy beforehand, but when the pressure is on and it is time to make your choice, how can you avoid falling? As you now, I not only try to give you spiritual guidance each day, but realize that we live in the real world. Translating your Christian faith into actual day to day living is my number one goal. It is nice to talk about all of these great spiritual concepts, but making them real in our daily life is the true test and what I hope to accomplish. That is why I stress that to win those spiritual battles in your life, you have to have a battle plan. A real life plan of action that you can work at each day to see victory. So let’s talk about how to stand up to the sin we face each day in our life, from a practical standpoint.

It starts with the basics. Time each day in prayer. Time each day reading the Bible. Belonging to a local church. Finding ways to serve God each day. These become the cornerstones to our day to day life that strengthen us and enable us to say no to sin when it comes knocking at our door. When you are praying each day, when you are reading the Word of God, when your focus is on serving others, when you are being fed spiritually at your local
church.....working together gives you the spiritual focus and strength to avoid sin. To be honest, it is impossible to be sinning when you are serving. It is impossible to be serving God and satan at the same time. Jesus even said no man can serve two masters. When you are following Christ, sin has no room in your life.

Now you understand why so often I keep hammering home how important it is to be praying, reading the Word, in church, serving God. When you are involved in sin, these are the things you stop doing. None of us are immune to sin. We all must constantly be on our guard since it is the enemies desire to destroy us. All the more reason we must be diligent, faithful, committed, disciplined to our daily relationship with Christ. This journey is 24/7. We must always be on out toes, always prayed up, always focused on what it is God wants us to do. The second you let your guard down, you have opened yourself up to the enemy getting into your life. This is not to make you live in fear, because if you are walking with Christ, there is nothing to fear.

I love you and care about you a great deal. You can count on my prayers that you will realize the seriousness of your daily walk and time with the Lord. Remember, it is the only thing you will take into eternity from this life. It is what keeps you strong and able to stand up to sin’s temptation. Make it a priority in your life to do the things each day that enable you to stand up to sin.

God's Plan For Our Life

Acts 26:16-18)

Does God really have a plan for our life? One of the most asked questions I
get daily, and have throughout my years of ministry, is whether God really
has a plan and purpose for our 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 are into science will tell you that the
incredible perfection of creation could never have just happened, and while
some forms of life may undergo a sort of evolutionary process to a small
degree, all of this did not just "happen" and work itself into perfection.
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 some accident." He said it would be the
equivalent
of taking an expensive, finely-tuned Swiss watch apart, throwing the
thousand
some pieces in the air, and having it land in perfect working order. 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 text 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 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 and position us exactly where He
wants
us. He will open doors, close doors, and lead us to the very place, at the
very time. As you are surrendered to Him and His plan, there are no
accidents where you live, work, go to school, recreate, who your neighbors
are, or the people that are in your life. God strategically places us as His
instruments, so we can do our part of fulfilling His master plan.

The key, of course, is to be surrendered to Him. If we rebel, if we don't
listen, if we do it our way and not His way, then, of course, His plan will
never be fulfilled. That becomes our choice each day, to live our life our
way or His way. When we do it our way, we then bear the burden of coming
up with our own plan each day. It is amazing how we try, try, and try, and
it
never seems to work out. We may be successful in one area of our life, but
miserable in others. You see, when we operate under God's plan, He takes
into consideration ALL areas of our life. Our work, finances,
relationships,
service to Him, recreation, He has ALL aspects of our life covered. That is
why some people may have a great plan for their finances and be very
successful by the world's standards, but total failures in their marriage
or as parents. Or some may have a great home life, but are always struggling
financially. The point is, when you are operating under your plan, it will
never all work, all the time. There is a fatal flaw...it is your plan, not
His.

I will be praying for you today to open your heart and really talk with God
about whether you are operating day to day under your plan or His. Surrender
is the first step; that takes faith and trust. God will never let you down,
He will never disappoint you...just love and bless you daily. He does have a
plan for you. Now it is up to you to open your heart and life, and let Him
fulfill it just as Paul did.