Daily Devotional for Saturday February 7, 2015

A True Leader

(Genesis 12:1-7, 13:14-16, 15:18; Deuteronomy 9:4-6; Joshua 1:1-11, 21:43-45)

***DAILY PERSONAL PRAYER FOR YOU: Dear Lord, I come to you today and pray for Israel. I pray for the peace of Jerusalem and the nation of Israel, and ask that you put a hedge of protection around that blessed land and your chosen people. I lift up Prime Minister Netanyahu and ask today that you give him courage, divine wisdom, and favor as he leads his nation and protects that land from enemies who seek to destroy the people of Israel. I also pray for all Jewish people around the world who are facing persecution for simply being Jewish. Lastly Lord, I pray that the eyes of your chosen people be opened to see that the Messiah prophesied throughout the Old Testament was fulfilled through Jesus, and that they come to know Him by faith and enjoy the everlasting relationship promised to all men whose sins are forgiven through their faith in our Lord. Bless Israel oh Lord I ask and pray in the name of our Lord and Savior, the Messiah, JESUS! AMEN!!!

A true leader will speak to Congress and the nation in a few weeks! Sadly, that leader is NOT our President, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu! The reality is, PM Netanyahu has NO CHOICE but to be a true leader or at any second his nation could be wiped off the face of the earth exactly as the enemies of Israel have promised to do! Our government is currently sitting by passively as Iran develops its' nuclear weapons program, a program they would not hesitate to use to annihilate Israel! PM Netanyahu is trying to encourage our Congress to stop President Obama from allowing Iran to fully develop their nuclear capabilities as he tries to protect his nation and people...like a true leader should!

PM Netanyahu is also castigated by many in this nation for not being "reasonable" and giving away some of the land God gave to the children of Israel thousands of years ago to the Palestinians. Would those who propose such nonsense invite a serial killer to live at their home in a spare bedroom? Of course not, so why would they demand Israel gives away one inch of their land to people who want to see them destroyed and wiped off of the face of the earth?

In addition to legally slaughtering apx. 4,000 babies every 24 hours in this nation, perverting God's Holy Institution of Marriage, bowing down to worship false gods and idols man has created in his evil imagination, and being totally sold out to sin of every kind of sin you can name, this nation has also turned its back on Israel. God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:2,3 is still in effect. It is a simple promise to bless those who blessed Israel, and curse those who curse Israel. The policies of this current administration towards Israel are inviting God's curse on our nation!!!

Please, do yourself a favor right now and get your Bible and sit down and spend the next 10 minutes reading the anchor verses for today, Genesis 12:1-7, 13:14-16, 15:18; Deuteronomy 9:4-6; Joshua 1:1-11; 21:43-45. You could spend hours reading all the passages in God's Word that confirm that modern-day Israel is the land God promised to Abraham and gave to His children. You do not have to be a Bible scholar to quickly realize in just the few key passages I have given you today that the land of Israel is indeed the exact land God Himself promised to His children 4,000 years ago, and fulfilled that promise in 1385 B.C. when Joshua took possession of that land.

Having laid the Biblical case to support that the land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people, now you can see why giving away even one inch of that land to anyone else is going against God Himself. No person, no nation, has the right to give away what God promised and gave to the Jewish people. Those who do make themselves an enemy of God! Over and over throughout the Bible and human history, nations have invaded this land, taken it over, only to be defeated in the end. The land of Israel is only 20,330 sq km, slightly smaller than the state of New Jersey. Out of the billions of square miles that exist on this earth, this is the only place on the planet God literally promised and gave to His children. For anyone to go in and try to give a piece of that land away is foolish.

That is why the current "peace plan" the United States has had such a large role in working out will never work and has actually put our nation on the opposite side of God again! Let me be clear. The Gaza Strip belongs to ISRAEL! The West Bank belongs to ISRAEL! Jerusalem, all of it, belongs to ISRAEL! For this nation to be involved in any deals, even under the guise of "peace," that involves giving away the land God gave to the children of Israel is taking on God Himself! Not to mention that this land is being given away to the ENEMIES OF ISRAEL!!!

My friend, one of the problems many have with the Bible is that they can't understand why a God of love would command His children to go to war and "Kill every man, woman, child, and living thing" as He did many times in the Old Testament. The reason was this. God in His omniscience knew that the enemies of Israel, those who came to possess their land, had no desire for peace but the complete destruction and annihilation of the Jewish people. The complete obliteration of the Jewish people was their ONLY goal, not peace. Sadly, there are some people who have no desire for peace, only death and destruction and you either destroy them or they destroy you. That is one of the sad realties of living in this fallen and evil world.

For those who oppose the war in Iraq, they either don't understand or are completely blind to the fact that there are people on this planet whose only goal is the complete destruction of the United States and every person who lives here. That means you and your family too! I am thankful that this current administration understands this fact and that the peace-nuts we see on TV constantly don't have the power to impose their Pollyanna views of life on the defense policies of this nation or we would all be in grave danger. The sad reality is that there are very real people alive this very moment whose very real goal is the complete destruction of the United States. We will either kill them or they will kill us. We are blessed that our forefathers understood the evil that exits in this world or we would not be here today, enjoying the wonderful freedoms and life we do.

Israel also clearly understands the reality that there are people who desire their death and destruction. They don't have the luxury of great oceans on either side as we do and their enemies literally live all around them. That is what makes this current "peace plan" so silly. To actually take some of the small amount of land that belongs to Israel and literally give it to their enemies is absurd and ridiculous. It will only embolden and empower those who seek the destruction of Israel. Again, make no mistake about it. While we and others seek "peace," it takes TWO to make peace. Despite the claims by the Palestinian leadership, their goal is NOT peace but the destruction of Israel.

I have always been amused at why anyone thinks it is necessary to give the little strip of land God gave to Israel away to her enemies, when Israel is surrounded by Arab nations with VAST AMOUNTS of land who could easily assimilate their Arab brothers into their countries. Why do the Palestinians have to live on the land God gave to Israel when there is plenty of land in neighboring Arab countries they could live on? What is wrong with a "peace plan" that gave some of the land in surrounding Arab countries to the Palestinians?

I love you and care about you so much. I want to close today with a powerful promise God made to Abraham 4,000 years ago in Genesis 12:3, "I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." This one verse of Scripture is why what is happening in Israel right now is so critical to THIS NATION! In being part of a plan to give away the land God gave to Israel to anyone, especially her enemies who seek her destruction, puts us on the wrong side of God. We should be seeking the BLESSINGS of God, not His CURSES!

Know that I am praying for you today. Even though most Jewish people have rejected Christ as their Savior, blinded to the reality that He is the Messiah they were promised in the Old Testament, they were, are, and always will be God's chosen people. The promise God gave Abraham in Genesis 12:3 is still in effect today. Our Christian faith is traced back through the children of Israel. The last events of this world will be played out in Israel. That is why we need to pray for and support the Jewish people and God's plan for the land of Israel. Our blessings in life come from following God not being in opposition to God!

Also, be praying for this special group of people God chose to reveal Himself to and carry His message to the world. It was through the Jewish people God brought His Son, the Messiah, the Savior of the world. Wonderful groups like Jews for Jesus have done a great work in bringing the fact the Messiah prophesied throughout the Old Testament, is Jesus! Jesus is the fulfillment of all of those Old Testament prophecies, and despite the fact He was rejected by his own people, today millions of Jewish people have come to know Jesus as their personal Savior by faith. In Heaven there will be no Jew or Gentile, only those who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ!!!

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

Bill Keller