Daily Devotional for Friday May 15, 2015

The Sign of the Times

(Matthew 16:3,4)

***DAILY PERSONAL PRAYER FOR YOU: Dear Lord, help me to be a blessing to someone I meet today. Help me to not be so self-absorbed that I miss the opportunity to be a good witness for you. Today, I yield myself to you. Use me for your glory! In the name of Jesus...AMEN!!!

The signs of the times! As I have done faithfully for 16 yrs now, I have shared with you from the issues we face daily the spiritual state of our nation and what it means from a Biblical perspective. Jesus stated, "You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah."

-President Obama hosted a meeting of "religious leaders" at Georgetown University on poverty. His view on the church is that it is to be a social agency more than a spiritual community, something he learned at Rev. Jeremiah's church over 20 years and as a community organizer in Chicago. Sadly, that is where too many of our churches are at, focusing on social issues like poverty while neglecting the Gospel, and getting in bed with the government for the funds they can get.

Jesus told us that we would always have the poor, and part of the churches job is to care for the elderly, widows, orphans and poor amongst us. However, that is done in conjunction with the preaching of God's Truth from the Bible and leading the lost to faith in Jesus! Too many pastors view themselves as "community leaders" instead of spiritual leaders!

NOT ONE WORD was mentioned about the real answer to the root cause of ALL of our societal ills, that being the breakdown of marriage and the family. This would require men of God to lead from the pulpit and teach what God's plan for marriage and the family is, and that the government is NOT the answer!

During his comments, President Obama chastised churches for talking too much about abortion and gay marriage and not enough on poverty. First, he is as unqualified to tell churches what to do as he is in leading this nation. The reality is most churches DON'T talk about abortion and gay marriage! Over 50% of "churches" make a mockery of God and His Word by actually supporting the killing of babies and perverting God's Holy Institution of Marriage!

-Pray for God to bring rain to California. They are in the midst of a 4 year drought and have a Governor who if pressed, would pray to a rock. I have no idea why the many pastors in California have not orchestrated a huge statewide prayer effort for the Lord to end that drought.

-As always happens in due time, one of the critical facts I have shared with you over these past 16 years now has been confirmed in a recent Pew Research study that showed a sharp decline in people who identify themselves as Christians. They show the percentage of Christians declined over the past 7 years from 76% to 70%. As I have shared with you in the past, anyone can claim to be a Christian, but as someone who probably has a better handle on this issue from the incredible numbers of people we have dealt with daily over the past 16 years, I believe apx. 5% of our population is truly born-again, Bible-believing followers of Jesus Christ.

THAT IS STILL NEARLY 3X THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO CHOOSE TO ENGAGE IN PERVERTED SEX WITH PEOPLE OF THE SAME SEX, YET THEY HAVE A VOICE AND HUGE PLATFORM IN THIS CULTURE WHILE WE ARE CONDEMNED, MARGINALIZED, AND PERSECUTED!

On the rise in this study are followers of the false religion of Islam and people who claim to be atheists or agnostics. All of these results simply give empirical evidence to what I have told you over the past 16 years that the vast percentage of the past 2 generations have never been to church, that Islam and cults are in the rise.

-The United States has been accused by the United Nations of human rights violations! We are accused of police brutality, using the Ferguson, Missouri incident as an example, discrimination against Muslims and stopping them from building mosques, discriminatory voter ID laws, predatory lending practices on mortgages, suspending blacks from schools, and underpaying women. All of these issues raised are absolutely not true!

We were applauded for promoting same-sex marriage, pushing for rights of transgendered people, President Obama's illegal executive action on immigration, trying to close Guantanamo Bay prison that houses the worst terrorists, Obamacare, expanding food stamps, and fighting climate change. It sounds like President Obama will be the perfect candidate to run the UN when he leaves the White House!

By the way, the one thing this nation should be condemned for regarding human rights violations is the fact we slaughter apx. 4,000 innocent babies every day. However, that didn't seem to be a problem for the UN, as it is not for the President, the vast percentage of the media, and most in this nation!

-The House of Representatives passed an anti-abortion bill banning all abortions after 20 weeks due to the "pain" science has proven the child feels from that stage on. Of course all of those in the baby killing business are outraged, and while the bill may get through the Republican controlled Senate, it is guaranteed to be vetoed by our "baby killer in Chief" President Obama.

-The only thing I have to say about the ridiculous "deflategate" controversy regarding Tom Brady and the New England Patriots is that it amused me the NFL has punished Brady primarily because he refused to turn over his text messages and emails in their investigation of what happened to the footballs used during the AFC Championship game versus Indianapolis the Patriots won handedly this past January.

Follow this with me on this. Attorney General Eric Holder became the first AG in US history found in contempt of Congress for not turning over documents subpoenaed by Congress, and suffered ZERO punishment. Lois Lerner of the IRS who punished conservative groups was held in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over her emails, and suffered ZERO punishment. Hillary Clinton ran a private email server as the Secretary of State in order to keep 100% of her emails from any sort of Congressional oversight, and will suffer ZERO punishment.

However, a stupid football player is suspended 4 games and will forfeit apx. $2 million in salary, his team is fined $1 million and 2 draft choices, when in the scheme of things their "crimes" are meaningless compared to the national security issues and lives lost and ruined by those in the government who will suffer no consequences for their "crimes!"

-The White House is advocating for men who choose to engage in perverted, unnatural, unhealthy sex with other men to donate their blood, ending a ban on blood from those who choose to engage in homosexual activity. These people are absolute fools! I guess they want the AIDS epidemic to spread to become an epidemic again?

-It is National Police Week. After the disgusting demonization of our police across the nation in the past year, please take a moment and pray for the Lord's guidance and protection over the brave police officers who put their life on the line in your community.

I love and care about you so much. These are simply a few of the current daily signs to a lost and hurting nation in spiritual freefall to turn back to our Creator and His Truth, or we will face His ultimate wrath and judgment as the children of Israel did many times for their sin and rebellion!!! I wake up every day with the knowledge and understanding that we can still be like the people of Nineveh and that 2015 will be a year of victory as our verse for the year states, "But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!"

Let me share the lyrics of this wonderful song of hope with you as my gift to you today:

I don't know about tomorrow I just live from day to day I don't borrow from its sunshine For its skies may turn to gray I don't worry o'er the future For I know what Jesus said And today I'll walk beside Him For He knows what is ahead

I don't know about tomorrow It may bring me poverty But the one who feeds the sparrow Is the one who stands by me And the path that be my portion May be through the flame or flood But His presence goes before me And I'm covered with His blood

Many things about tomorrow I don't seem to understand But I know who holds tomorrow And I know who holds my hand

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

Bill Keller