Daily Devotional for Friday March 14, 2014

The Spiritual State of Our Nation - Part 5 of 5

(Jonah 3:5-10)

***ASK BILL: Pastor Bill, I would like to know why Moses was punished and not allowed to enter the promise land?

ANSWER: One word, DISOBEDIENCE! As I share often, our acts have consequences. Moses struck the rock twice, instead of speaking to the rock as God had told him. While God used his life in a mighty way, there is a price to pay for rebellion, and for Moses, it was not being allowed to enter into the promised land.

PART FIVE OF FIVE THE SPIRITUAL STATE OF OUR NATION

"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. Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God." Deuteronomy 8:19, 20

The answer! In wrapping up this 5 part series on the Spiritual State of our Nation, it is only fitting that part 5 is THE ANSWER! It is clear we have a nation in spiritual freefall, living in complete and utter rebellion to God and His Word. That can only last so long before the grace and mercy of God is replaced by his wrath and judgment! In order to survive, this nation must have a "Nineveh moment!!!"

I shared with you last November how the Lord has told me that this year, 2014, would be the year that we see the spark of a real national revival and our nation slowly begin to turn back to God and His Truth. My burden is that as the Lord reveled this to me, He also revealed that he would be using Liveprayer, our major internet presence and TV program that is currently seen "live" 2 hours every Mon-Fri on non-Christian stations in 30 states and soon to be all 50, as vehicles to help bring this to pass!

Here is a link to that prophetic November Devotional: http://www.liveprayer.com/ddarchive3.cfm?id=5387

Will we be like the children of Israel or the people of Nineveh? The United States is at a fork in the road. We will either experience the full wrath and judgment of God like the children of Israel, or we will see God stay His hand of punishment for a season and millions get saved like the people of Nineveh!

In the Old Testament, while the priests of the day sat in their beautiful homes, dressed in the best clothes, eating the most sumptuous food, living like royalty by compromising with the politicians of their day and telling the people things to make them feel good for a few minutes in order to keep the money rolling in (sound familiar?), the prophets lived in caves, dressed in meager clothes, ate cow dung, and were scorned, ridiculed, hated, and dismissed by the masses as fools.

Why? Because the prophet couldn't be bought by the politicians of the day. The prophets called out the priests for their compromise and using God for their own commerce. The prophets had the guts to not care about people being upset with their message, since their only loyalty was to God and the message He gave them to preach. No matter how unpopular their message was, no matter how may times they were beaten, thrown in prison, spat upon, they never wavered.

Sadly, many times in the early history of Israel, they turned their back on God. They engaged in every kind of sin you can name. They forsook God for the false gods and idols of the world. The prophet saw the judgment of God coming. The prophet warned the people of his coming wrath if they didn't repent. There was a remnant, those who refused to bow their knee to baal. However, this remnant was mostly silent.

The masses of the day rejected the warnings of the prophet. As the prophet warned, God's wrath and judgment was poured out on the children of Israel. I have no doubt they were oblivious to what was about to happen. I also have no doubt that as they suffered the judgment of God they remembered the warnings of the prophet that they tuned out and ignored!

The hope for this nation lies in the account of what happened in Nineveh. God sent a very reluctant and rebellious prophet to Nineveh. God had to deal with Jonah in a harsh way before he was willing to deliver God's Word to the people. However, once he was obedient, the people not only heard his warning of God's pending judgment, but they responded!

The Bible tells how they repented of their sins, they turned to the God of Israel, and millions were saved as God stayed His judgment for a season. AMEN! My Bible says God is no respecter of person. If God stayed His hand of judgment on the people of Nineveh, God will stay His hand of judgment on the people of the United States! The key is, will we respond to the warnings from the prophet as the people of Nineveh, or will we respond to the warnings from the prophet as the children of Israel?

I love you and care about you so much! I asked the Lord why me? Why Liveprayer? We don't have buildings, a huge staff of people, millions of dollars of resources like so many churches and ministries. Why us??? God told me specifically it is because after 22 yrs of ministry, 15 yrs online, 10 yrs on TV, we have been faithful!!! I can't be bought. I will never be silenced from telling the Truth no matter who the audience is. After over 2 decades God knows my heart and that He can count on me to give it everything I have no matter what the obstacles may be, right down to my very last breath of life!!!

The Bible says that the people perish for lack of vision. Sadly, those who are in a MUCH better position, with all the assets necessary, only have a vision for building their own kingdom. Their vision is to raise millions of dollars and not men and women of God. Their vision is the things of this world and not the things of God! Their vision is sustenance instead of souls!!!

But!!! Just like in Israel, there is a remnant, those who are faithful to the Lord and won't bow their knee to baal! Today, Liveprayer will gather that remnant and give them a voice as they rise up! I have faithfully delivered God's Truth for over 20 yrs, every day here at Liveprayer for 15 yrs and on TV for 10 yrs. However, I can't do this alone. I need you, the remnant, to rise up and help me!

Several years ago, right before God began to unleash His judgment on this nation thru the economy, the Lord led me to launch the Jonah Project. Most dismissed it at the time, but in hindsight, it was God trying to prepare His people for what was to come.

Jonah Project: http://www.liveprayer.com/jonah/

Take a few minutes and go to the Jonah Project webpage. There is a 7-8 min. video that will play when you get there which lays out the vision of the Jonah Project. Again, as you will see, it was God preparing His people for action as He began to unleash His judgment on our nation. Pray, SEE the vision, get signed up, and be part of this last days remnant who is going to call this nation to repentance and to turn back to God and His Truth. Please, share this with your friends, family, those you go to church with!

When my work is over, I want to proudly bow before our Lord knowing I had run the race, I hadn't compromised, I hadn't sold out, I had been faithful to the Gospel, and the furit of my labor are the tens of millions of lives impacted worldwide for the Lord and the 800,000 souls we know of who came to know Jesus by faith! We now take on the greatest task the Lord has given us, to be an instrument in His hands to bring a true national revival and help lead our land back to our Creator and HIS Truth!!!

All of this has only been made possible by friends like you, the remnant, who have stood with me in prayer and making the sacrifce to give to enable this ministry to do the work we have been called to. I ask again, "will we respond to the warnings from the prophet as the people of Nineveh, or will we respond to the warnings from the prophet as the children of Israel?" The literal soul of this nation and whether God allows us to exist is at stake!!!

In His love and service,

Your friend and brother in Christ.

Bill Keller