Daily Devotional for Monday October 6, 2014

How Do We as Followers of Christ Respond to the Attacks on Our Faith

(Psalms 51:12-13; 1 Thessalonians 2:19)

***ASK BILL: Pastor Bill, when we pray the prayer to accept Christ by faith, does that mean we are saved if we mean it in our hearts even thought we may sin again?

ANSWER: IF you mean it in your heart when you pray by faith, the Bible says you are saved since we ALL sin. First John, written to Believers says that if you say you don't sin you are a liar. God's promise to His people is in 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

How do we as followers of Christ respond to the endless attacks on our faith? Christmas is only 11 weeks away. Over the weekend after watching a football game, a re-run of a major network sitcom came on the same channnel, taking the great Christmas carol "Joy To The World" and turning it into a sleazy sex song! Outraged? Of course, as a follower of Christ you should be outraged that a major TV network that would never DARE or even think to lampoon a sacred song of the Christian faith, changing the Christ-honoring lyrics of this classic Christmas carol into a sleazy sex song! (For the record, they would never DARE to do such a thing to a sacred song of Islam!!!)

The real issue I want to address today is how do we as followers of Christ respond to these types of attacks on our faith. I'll leave the boycotts and the email campaigns to those who do that for a living. God bless them and I pray for them, but in all candor, those efforts bear little fruit. They are like fighting a forest fire with a squirt gun and never address the heart of the matter which is what I want to deal with today. A TV program making a mockery of this cherished carol heralding the birth of Jesus is nothing but a symptom of the real problem, and that is a world which lives in complete rebellion to God and His Truth.

My friend, just like you can't force your unsaved spouse to accept the Lord, just like you can't force your unsaved child to accept the Lord, just like you can't force your unsaved family members to accept the Lord, just like you can't force your unsaved friends to accept the Lord, just like you can't force your unsaved business associates to accept the Lord, YOU CAN'T FORCE A WORLD THAT LIVES IN OPEN REBELLION TO GOD AND HIS WORD TO ACCEPT OR EVEN RESPECT THE LORD! THOSE WHO REJECT JESUS CHRIST ARE ONLY DOING WHAT COMES NATURALLY TO THEM!

Satan is becoming more bold in his open rebellion to Christ, since there is now the better percentage of two-full generations who have never even been to a church and don't accept the Truth of God's Word. As those numbers continue to increase, you will see satan becoming even more bold. Did you ever think you would have "churches" that promote, glorify and celebrate those who commit the sin of homosexuality? Did you ever think you would see the raw and unbridled displays of sexuality that exists in everything today?

Did you ever think that God's Holy Institution of marriage would be reduced to nothing but legal dates, and the very definition of marriage legally perverted? Did you ever think you would see successful movements to take God out of the schools and every area of public life? Did you ever think you would live in a nation where we legally slaughter 4,000 innocent babies every day? THIS NATION AND THE WORLD WE LIVE IN IS IN A SPIRITUAL FREE FALL AND EVERY DAY IS BECOMING MORE OPEN AND VOCAL IN THEIR REBELLION TO GOD, HIS WORD, AND JESUS CHRIST!!!

There is only one answer. It is not emails or boycotts. This is not the first and won't be the last program to mock Christ, our faith, and Biblical Truth. The only answer is evangelism! Until a man's heart is changed, he won't change. You will never see a person really change until their heart is changed. You will never see this nation or world change, until the hearts of the people are changed. That is not something one man or one organization can do, or was ever supposed to do. That is why the Lord commanded ALL who know him to share the Gospel. ALL who know Christ as their Savior are required to tell others about Jesus!

IF YOU, A FOLLOWER OF CHRIST WON'T TELL THEM ABOUT JESUS, WHY WOULD YOU EXPECT THOSE WHO LIVE IN REBELLION TO OUR LORD TO???

I hate to break this to you, but the major television networks are not afraid of Christians. They could really care less what Christians think, otherwise, they would never even consider, let alone do the things they do to mock and demean our faith. If you never watched them again, though they know you will, if you never did business with their sponsors, though they know you will, they could care less since the majority of the people in this nation and world do NOT follow God's Word or have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

One of the frustrating things to me is to see the boldness, the fearlessness, and the tenacity of those who follow satan, versus the timidity, the cowardice, and the quit in those who follow the Lord. Have you never read the Bible? WE WIN! We can't lose! The victory has already been won! We are the ones who are supposed to be bold and fearless and tenacious as we bring Christ to this lost and hurting world! In case you forgot, the followers of Christ are the ones who will rule and reign with Him for all eternity. It is the followers of satan who will be spending their eternity in the Lake of Fire!!!

I love you and care about you so much. I will be praying for you today. Praying that you will open you heart and really hear God's voice today. EVERYONE CAN DO MORE IN SHARING CHRIST WITH THE PEOPLE GOD ALLOWS TO COME INTO YOUR LIFE EACH DAY! God will guide you, open doors, give you the opportunities. It is up to YOU to make it a priority each day to share your faith in Christ. He loves you and wants you to tell others about His love.

Let me ask you a personal question. Do you make it a priority each day to share you faith in the Lord with at least one person? I am just asking. Only you have to answer that. If all those who know the Lord would make it a priority each day to share their faith with at least one person, this world would be dramatically different overnight!

You can't really blame the secular networks for what they do. You can't really blame the movie industry for what they put out. Your can't really blame the music industry for the horrible songs they produce. You can't really blame the Internet for the Godless content most sites contain. You can't really blame the advertising industry for playing on man's sinful nature to sell their products. This is a world that lives and operates in compete and total rebellion to God and the Truth of His Word. They have rejected God, rejected His Truth, rejected His Son, so they are simply doing what comes natural to them.

I tell you often my friend, this is a war for the souls of men. This is not a game since those who die without Christ will spend eternity in hell. Satan is very serious about taking as many souls into the Lake of Fire with him as he can. The followers of Jesus Christ have got to get even more serious about helping those destined for eternal punishment, know that Jesus loves them, died for their sins, and wants to have an eternal relationship with them. How do they hear that message? FROM ME AND FOR YOU!

The world sees nothing wrong with turning "Joy to the World" into a sleazy sex song. They find it clever and amusing. That is because they don't know the true joy that great Christmas carol is declaring. May every man, woman, and child who sings that great carol this Christmas season, especially as you sing it on Christmas Eve Sunday, be reminded of those who don't have that joy because they don't know the One who came that first Christmas. May singing "Joy to the World" encourage you to make sharing your joy in Christ with someone each and every day a priority!

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

Bill Keller