Daily Devotional for Tuesday March 5, 2013
The Importance of Communication
(John 16:29-33)
***ASK BILL: Pastor Bill, what is your theological background?
ANSWER: I recieved my theological training through Liberty University in the late 80's. It is so sad to see how they have sold out for money by inviting cult members like Beck and Romney to speak there. Despite that, it is still a great place for young Christian men and women to prepare for a life of serving the Lord. For the record, I am NOT a Baptist or part of any denomination, and after 20 years of ministry have always held a Biblical position on issues like the gifts of the Spirit that some denominations over-emphasize and others de-emphasize.
I have always been a firm believer of talking straight, plain, and not holding back. The majority of conflict I see in marriages and other relationships is caused by a lack of communication. For some reason, many people are reluctant to have the "difficult conversation". The problem is, the longer you put off having that conversation, the more difficult it becomes.
I have watched lives ruined simply because people would not communicate with each other. Listen, this is not a test run. God has given us this precious thing called life. We get one shot. It is too short, too precious to be wasted by not sharing the things that bother us...especially with those we love the most.
It is incredible how people tend to get into a pattern in their life. One day they wake up, and they realize things aren't right. They just aren't the way they should be. But rather than sit down with your spouse, your children, or your parents, you simply suppress how you feel and stay quiet. Days turn into weeks. Weeks turn into months. Months then turn into years. The next thing you know, you have grown "apart" from the ones you were closest to.
Many people live in the same house with other people, but are like strangers. We communicate on a daily basis as little as possible, and never...NEVER...about unpleasant things. Husbands and wives get involved in things like pornography, gambling, drinking and start to build a secret world that they refuse to let their spouse be part of. They become distant. Communication becomes only sbout those things necessary to get through the day. Young adults get involved in activities they shouldn't be involved in and shut out their parents from their life. Communication is minimal.
My friend maybe it is time to sit down with your spouse...your parents whoever you may be having conflict with and get things out in the open. Tell them how you feel. I am a firm believer that many things can be worked out with honest and open communication. It does not make sense to go around miserable, holding inside the way you feel.
Sit down and talk to those you love and begin to work ut whatever problems there may be in your relationship. Blending two or more lives together is always difficult because we are each so uniquely created. Without communicating, it is impossible. Things will not change by magic; they won't all of the sudden be OK. As a matter of fact, they will only get worse until you sit down with that person you love, and talk through whatever the problems may be.
I love you, and care about you so much. I will be praying for you today as you pray over this Devotional. We don't talk more because we are afraid of what the outcome may be. We live in pain; we live knowing things aren't the way they should be because of the unknown consequences if we sit down and openly talk about our feelings.
Listen, pray, and ask God to go before you. Let your faith be real as you trust God with the outcome. Make plans to sit down and have that "difficult conversation" with the person in your life you need to resolve some issues with. There is no day like today. God will strengthen you and be there with you. Count on my prayers.
***Praise God, the Lord is moving!!! We ended February with a shortfall of $35,000. Thanks to the sacrifice of many the past several days, we made up $15,000 of that shortfall..AMEN!!!... leaving us still $20,000 short of covering our February shortfall. It is critical for the re-launch of the TV program in April all of our operational expenses are current by the end of March. Will you please pray today for this need to be met and make the most generous sacrifce you possibly can? I will be in prayer today for God to move on the hearts of our friends and see this ENTIRE AMOUNT covered before the end of the week so we can begin to work on the $40,000 for our March operations!!! Over these last 14 yrs, God has always moved on the hearts of one or two key people to help us in an emergency, and I am asking 2-3 people to pray about making a special one-time gift of $5,000 or more to help me today. If everyone else will give as God leads you, $10, $20, $50, $100, $1,000 or more, we can bring in the final $20,000 we need for our February operations in this short month.
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.
Thank you for taking your stand with me as we bring HIS Truth to this lost world and the hope and love of Christ to the lost and hurting!!!
In His love and service, Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller