Daily Devotional for Wednesday August 17, 2011

Paying the Price to be a Christian

(Mark 6:14-29)

Paying the price to be a Christian. I have always admired and tried to pattern my ministry after the prophets of the Old Testament. These were men of God who weren't very popular, hated by the established religious leaders, shunned by most of the people, men who couldn't be bought, who refused to compromise their message for fame and fortune, and who understood their calling in life was to faithfully and obediently deliver the Word of God to the people. Men like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Micah, and Jonah. John the Baptist was another in that line of great prophets whose only goal in life was to faithfully serve the Lord no matter what the cost.

It costs most people in the United State virtually nothing to become a Christian. Let me explain. Of course, we know Christ paid the cost for our salvation when he gave His very life on the cross. He paid in full the cost of our salvation. However, when we accept the Lord as our Savior by faith, we literally give our lives to Him. The Bible says that we are bought with a price and that it is no longer our life any longer, that it belongs to Christ. Getting saved is literally an act of surrender where we give our very life to the Lord. We belong to Him.

The question I have for you today is how many really do that? How many people really give their lives completely and totally to the Lord? What price do you pay to be a follower of Christ? Most can't even pay the price it takes to get up on Sunday morning and go to church! There are many places in the world where accepting the Lord is literally a death sentence. People understand that by accepting the Lord as their Savior they are possibly going to lose their life. They know going in that the price to become a follower of Christ could be their life! I wonder how many people would come forward to accept Jesus while they played "Just As I Am" knowing that accepting Christ could very possibly mean getting killed?

WE LOVE THE BENEFITS OF BECOMING A CHRISTIAN, BUT NEVER EXPECT TO HAVE TO PAY ANY PRICE FOR BEING A FOLLOWER OF JESUS!

Most of the Old Testament prophets put their very lives on the line every time they spoke, "thus sayeth the Lord," since it was rarely a popular word and would upset someone. In declaring the Word of God they called out those who lived their lives in rebellion to God and His Word, which often included the political leaders of the day as well as the rich and powerful whose god was this temporal world. In declaring the Word God gave them to speak, they would call out the religious leaders of the day who were more worried about profiting off of God and living a life of ease and luxury.

***I find it interesting that thousands of years later the hard Truth of the Word still calls out those who live in rebellion to God's Truth, still calls out the political leaders of the day, still calls out the rich and powerful whose god is this world, and still calls out the religious leaders of the day who have made a business of the Gospel !!!

In reading about John the Baptist and the Old Testament prophets, they didn't have buildings. They went to the people. They didn't have huge staffs, since they were servants of God, not men who were being served. They didn't have all the luxuries of the day, since their desires weren't for the things of this world but the things of God. However, I don't ever read about any of them starving to death or walking around naked or going without since God always provided what they needed, and they trusted Him each day for their provision.

John the Baptist knew that by telling King Herod the truth about taking his brother's wife he would possibly be signing his death warrant. But John wasn't worried about his life, only about obediently delivering the Word of God. I think about Stephen in Acts 7. Again, here was a true man of God not worried about his life, only delivering the Word of God faithfully and without compromise. He knew that by telling the truth to the Sanhedrin they would probably kill him. But he wasn't going to compromise or water down the Truth even if it cost him his life. As they stoned Stephen to death, Jesus rose and stood to welcome Stephen into Glory for his faithfulness!!!

On this day in August 2011, right this very minute, there are brothers and sisters in Christ in many places around the world giving their very lives for the faith. The disciples of Jesus who ran to save their lives the night our Lord was taken by the Romans, were all eventually martyred for their faith in Christ except for John. Hundreds of thousands of men and women over the years have obediently laid down their life for the cause of Christ. These heroes of the faith knew their citizenship was not of this world, but a better one. They were not bound by the temporal things of this life, but by the high calling of the Gospel, even unto death!!!

I love you and care about you so much. What price do YOU pay for your faith? Most won't ever be asked to pay the ultimate price and give their life for the Lord, but my question to you today is would you? That is only a question you can answer. The fact is Jesus gave His life for you, would you be willing to give your life for Him? If you would, then what have you got to lose by speaking up for the Lord and serving Him each day? If you are willing to die for Christ, than taking the ridicule, scorn, harassment, and whatever else you may have to face for standing for and serving Christ should be easy.

In my personal life, I still remember vividly the first death threat I received after Liveprayer was about 1 month old. It stunned me. It didn't seem real. It did cause me to sit down and decide if I was really ready to possibly die for the cause of Christ. Over the past 12 years, I have received an average of 8 death threats a month. I've been told there are several fatwas issued by Muslim groups calling for my death. I don't fear death since I know where my eternal home is. I also know that as long as the Lord has work for me to do, NOTHING will happen to me. The Lord will watch over me and protect me until my work here is finished.

I will be praying for you today. Pray that you will sit down for a few minutes with the Lord and look at what price you pay to be a Christian. More important, what price are you willing to pay to be a Christian? It is a legitimate question since a huge reason we have so much apathy in the Body of Christ is there is little to no price to pay. Trust me, that is going to change very soon. Real persecution of Christians is coming to this nation, and you will have to decide one day if you really want to be called a Christian or not. Like in other parts of the world, simply being identified as a follower of Christ may cost you your very life.

This message today is to prepare you to be part of the true remnant of Christ when playing church, playing Christian will no longer cut it. We are going against a very real foe who is NOT playing games and is deadly serious about taking souls to hell. To fight such an enemy and be victorious, we have to be even more committed and willing to pay whatever the price, even if is our lives, to serve the Lord. The freedom and prosperity of the United States has made Believers here weak. That is why we have very little influence in our culture. Now it is time to rise up, take our stand for Christ, and be willing to pay whatever price we have to to be called a Christian!

***As we head into the last 2 weeks of August, please be in prayer with me for the operational finances we need to bring in right away. We ended July $25,000 short of covering our July operational budget, and have made up $10,000 of that in the first 16 days of this month leaving us still $15,000 short to cover the balance of our July operations. Also, we still need the final $30,000 of the $150,000 I asked the Lord to deliver by the end of April so we could catch up all basic operational expenses we are in arrears. That is $50,000 we need right away, plus the $40,000 we need for our August operations for a total of $85,000 we need over the next 15 days to have all of our basic operational expenses covered.

I am asking you to pray, pray hard, about allowing God to use you to help me today. Obviously anything you can do is greatly appreciated, but I desperately need 1 or 2 people who are willing to make the sacrifce of $5,000 or more right away to help me cover the last $15,000 of our July budget. by Friday. You can overnight a check today to our office in St. Petersburg, or wire your gift to our bank. If the need wasn't critical, I would not bother you. If you can help me with a special gift of $5,000 or more, please let me know right away at: bkeller@liveprayer.com

Please take a moment and pray for theses needs to be met, and for what the Lord is speaking to YOUR heart to do to help me today. As we prepare to take advantage of new doors the Lord is opening for us to have a highly visible place in the marketplace to help lead this nation back to God and His Truth, I'm simply asking you to pray today and seek the Lord what He is calling you to do to help me to cover the $85,000 balance to insure all of our basic operational needs are met by the end of the month. Never forget that God will honor your heart as you obey His voice. Will you help me today? Will you please take a minute today, and pray, seek the Lord what He is asking you to sacrifce.

Also, on the 31st, we celebrate the 12 year anniversary of Liveprayer. If you have not given to His work for a while, or never given at all but God has blessed you through Liveprayer, please pray about sending a gift of $12, $120, or $1,200 this month. That is $1, $10, or $100 for every year Liveprayer has been sharing His Truth and the hope and love of Jesus Christ with the lost and hurting around the world. It is friends like you who have enabled us to

TO GIVE A GIFT TO LIVEPRAYER, you can use your major credit card on our secure server at: www.liveprayer.com under the "Donation" link, you can give using your PayPal account using my email address: bkeller@liveprayer.com,or you can mail your gift to: Liveprayer, 6660 46th Ave. North, St.Petersburg, FL 33709. All gifts to Liveprayer are 100% tax deductible.

Know that you and your family are in my prayers each day. Thank you for your love, prayers, and support as we take our stand in these last days. The time is very short, our time is now!

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

Bill Keller