Daily Devotional for Thursday May 9, 2013

We All Face Major Life-Changing Obstacles throughout the Course of our Life

(Matthew 17:20)

***ASK BILL: Pastor Bill, what is a Prophet? Who were the Prophets? What is the purpose of Prophets?

ANSWER: The "Prophet" is a spokesman for God. In the OT, prior to the completion of the Bible, God spoke through the prophet to foretell events as well as lead the people in ways of righteousness. Now that we have God's Word in its complete form, the modern day prophet is not a "Christian fortune teller" as many portray themselves, but a FORTHTELLER. Nothing a prophet says can contradict God's Word. Their purpose is to share God's Truth as found in the Bible and lead the people in the ways of God. The prophet was never and still is not a popular person since they have made a solid commitment to God above all else, and have always been despised by the formal religious community for telling people the raw truth and not being involved in the politics of the church. The true prophet is not able to be bought off and his allegiance is to the Truth of God's Word and building the Kingdom of God. By the way, this is another reason Mormonism is a cult from hell, since they claim to be "modern day prophets" with a "new revelation." That is a DIRECT contradiction to the last verses of the Bible and exposes them as "false prophets," which by definition is someone who leads people AWAY from God's Word and faith in the Jesus of the Bible.

We all face major life-changing obstacles throughout the course of our life. The loss of our job, financial difficulties, the break-up of our marriage or important relationship, a problem with our health, the death of a family member or close friend, or a battle with some sort of addiction are just some of the major life-changing obstacles most everyone deals with over the course of their journey through this life.

HOW WE RESPOND TO THESE LIFE-CHANGING OBSTACLES IS THE CRITICAL ISSUE I WANT TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT TODAY!!!

These are sentinel moments in a person's life that can shape and determine the balance of your days on this earth. You can either allow the obstacle in your life to keep you from fulfilling your purpose of serving and glorifying God with your life, robbing you of the peace, joy and abundance this life can offer, or you can move forward in HIS strength past that obstacle and live in victory.

THIS IS A CHOICE THAT YOU AND YOU ALONE HAVE TO MAKE!!! When you face a major life-changing event, it is YOUR CHOICE to either allow that event to destroy the rest of your life or to move past it and on with your life.

I love you and care about you so much. I want to give you this word of exhortation and encouragement today. No matter what the mountain is that you are facing in your life today, through your faith and God's strength, you can make that mountain disappear!!! If you are a child of God, you have the authority to say to that mountain, "Be gone" and it will BE GONE!

Jesus said that if you have only as much faith as the size of a mustard seed you can cast that mountain into the sea. I tell you, today, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, you do not have to let the mountain in your life crush you but through your faith you can cast it into the sea and keep moving forward with your life.

I will be praying for you today. Praying that you will not allow the life-changing obstacles we all face in this life keep you from God's blessings and fulfilling your purpose to serve and glorify Him with your life. God has a perfect plan and purpose for your life.

Why has God allowed what has happened in your life? I wish I had those answers but I don't. But I can tell you that God will give us the strength to overcome whatever obstacles life can throw at us and still know His joy and peace in the midst of the storms of life!

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

Bill Keller