Daily Devotional for Monday September 22, 2008

How God can Use the Economy as an Instument of His Judgment on the United States

(Psalm 75:7; Romans 2:2; 2 Chronicles 7:14; 1 Peter 4:17)

***THE GOVERNMENT MOVES 1 TRILLION DOLLARS OF BAD DEBT OUT OF FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS ON TO A GOVERNMENT CREDIT CARD! IN LIGHT OF THE ECONOMIC ROLLER COASTER OF THE PAST WEEK, I WAS LED TO SHARE WITH YOU A SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM THIS PAST MAY, ON HOW GOD COULD VERY EASILY USE THE ECONOMY AS AN INSTRUMENT OF HIS JUDGMENT ON THE UNITED STATES. IN SPITE OF THE 800 POINT RUN-UP IN THE STOCK MARKET LAST THURSDAY AND FRIDAY, ALL THE GOVERNMENT DID WAS MOVE 1 TRILLION DOLLARS OF DEBT FROM MAJOR CORPORATIONS AND PUT THAT DEBT ON THE US TAXPAYER, SO NOTHING HAS FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGED! AT THE TIME I WROTE THESE WORDS, I RECEIVED MANY EMAILS FROM PEOPLE TELLING ME THAT WHAT I SHARED WAS HIGHLY IMPROBABLE. AFTER WHAT WE EXPERIENCED LAST WEEK, I THINK EVERYONE CAN NOW SEE HOW PROBABLE THIS SCENARIO COULD BE, AND WHY WE NEED TO TURN BACK TO GOD AND HIS TRUTH BEFORE HIS GRACE AND MERCY RUNS OUT.

How God could use the economy as an instrument of His judgment on the United States. God's judgment can come in many forms. Most people think of God's judgment as what we read about in the Book of Revelation when His wrath is poured out on the world in the final days through devastating natural disasters that will affect huge percentages of the world's population. We also think of how God judged the children of Israel in the Old Testament when He allowed their enemies to take their land and enslave them.

However today, I want to take a look at another form of God's judgment that is also in the Bible, but one that most people never really think about, and that is the economy. I personally feel that using the economy is not only the most likely form of God's judgment on this nation, but would be easily the most devastating since it will affect the lives of each person in some way.

The first issue to discuss is why would we even be talking about God's judgment on the United States? My friend, you don't need to be much of a Bible scholar to know that this nation is not only due God's judgment, it is OVERDUE God's judgment. In the Book of Deuteronomy the Bible warns," If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed."

As I have told you many times, the promises in God's Word are true but so are the warnings. This nation was founded on the Word of God and the hope of Jesus Christ. God blessed this nation abundantly, but over the past 232 years we have squandered those blessings and now live in complete rebellion to God and His Word. Just the fact we have abandoned God and have turned to the false gods and idols of this world, is enough for God to pronounce His judgment on this nation!

Sadly, in addition to worshipping the false gods of the world, we are living in utter rebellion to the Truth of God's Word. Sexual sin is rampant. Men treat other men in the most inhumane ways imaginable. People worldwide turn to drugs and alcohol for strength. Human life that can only come from God is no longer respected or valued. The greatest example of that is the fact that we legally slaughter over 4,000 innocent babies in this nation every 24 hours. That fact alone demands God's judgment on our nation!

As you read through the Old Testament, we see the children of Israel turn from God to the false gods of the world. We see them living in rebellion to God in every way imaginable. At some point, God says enough is enough and pours out His wrath and judgment on Israel. That judgment came in many forms, but usually it was allowing the enemies of Israel to take their land and the children of Israel into captivity. Sadly, it was only AFTER the judgment of God fell that the people would repent and turn back to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

PLEASE HEAR ME CLEARLY. IF GOD SPARED NOT HIS CHOSEN PEOPLE FROM HIS JUDGMENT, WHY WOULD ANYONE EXPECT THAT HE WILL SPARE THIS WICKED AND APOSTATE NATION HIS JUDGMENT???

My personal belief is that God's judgment on this nation will come through the economy. I remember distinctly back in he mid 80s when I was running from God and very heavily involved in trading some stocks, but mostly commodities and futures, how precarious the whole economic system really was. Now you have to remember, this was back in the mid 80s when the United States was clearly the dominate economic power in the world and the US dollar was the gold standard all currency was judged by.

Fast forward just 20 years later and the world's economic landscape has dramatically changed. China is clearly the dominate financial power today, the booming economies of the UK, Japan, and the United States have been replaced by India and many Middle Eastern nations, and the floundering US dollar is no longer the monetary standard the world looks to. The weak dollar, sagging US economy, and what is now clearly a global economy in 2008, has all made the possibility of God using the economy to judge this nation even more likely.

This is not complicated to understand. I know economics can be intimidating, but this is actually very simple. Anyone who drives understands the pressure of gas at nearly $4 a gallon. With China, India, and other nations using so much of the world's energy resources, it wouldn't be a stretch to see gas at $10 a gallon. With the population of the world growing at the current rate, most people have no idea how precarious the food supply is becoming. We walk through our grocery stores with shelves stocked full of food, but it wouldn't take much for you to see many of those shelves empty.

The US financial markets have always been more tenuous than most people understand. For the most part, they are one big ponzi scheme, lots of hype with very little of substance to back-up any of the numbers you see. We have already seen the effects of this with the Internet bubble bursting in 2000, the failure of Enron and WorldCom, and the current nightmare the housing market is going through. If foreign money ever pulled out of the US markets, it would cause stocks to tank, sending a ripple effect that would be felt thought the brokerage and banking industries as hundreds of trillions of dollars could be wiped out in days.

The point I am trying to make today is that it would not take much, a few tweaks here and there for our economy to unwind and this nation to experience a time far worse than even the great depression of the 1920s. God would not have to do much to use the economy as a form of His judgment on this nation and it would affect every man, woman, and child alive. Most people would be reduced to living like some people in other parts of the world, simply living from day to day trying to acquire the basic needs of life to survive.

I love you and care about you so much. I am not trying to scare you today, but to prepare you. Prepare you that life as we know it at this moment could change very easily and very suddenly. Now is the time to get serious about your faith and become bold in sharing that faith with others. I know God's judgment is coming, I know we are living in the last days, and I know Jesus is coming at any moment. That is why I have worked so tirelessly, especially these past 9 years since Liveprayer began, since I know that God has raised up this ministry for this moment in human history.

A great revival is about to be unleashed on this nation and the world. It won't be a revival of people chasing miracles, but a revival of souls as the lost come to repentance and turn to Jesus. They won't need signs and wonders to excite them, they will already be moved as they see the world around them crumbling and realize that they need something bigger than themselves to hold on to. There will always be those with the hard hearts who will curse God with their last breath, but hundreds of millions of souls will bow their knee and confess Christ as their Lord and Savior by faith!

Never fear. If you are child of God, no matter what form God's wrath and judgment on this nation takes, we have nothing to worry about since our citizenship is not of this world. We have a Heavenly home awaiting us. Our only job during these few years is to do all we can to bring as many people to Heaven with us. This is the time, now is the moment, our opportunity to make our lives count for Christ is at hand. May we be found faithful as we take our stand for Him in these last days.

Also, I know from our daily emails for prayer that many people have already been feeling the effects from the economic slowdown we are experiencing. Many have been hurt by the problems in the housing sector. Many hurt by the increased cost of gasoline. Many simply struggling to meet their monthly needs. Please know that I will be praying for you today and for the Lord to not only meet your every need, but bless your finances and give you FAVOR as you are faithful and obedient in that area of your life. Amen!

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