Daily Devotional for Tuesday May 8, 2018

One of Satan's Lies So Many have Bought Into

(Numbers 32:23; Proverbs 26:26; Ecclesiastes 12:14; Luke 12:2; 1 Corinthians 4:5)

***DAILY PERSONAL PRAYER FOR YOU: Dear Lord, help me to always be prepared to serve you in any way that I can. My life belongs to you. I am ready, willing, and able to answer your call as I go through my life each day. Use me for your glory. I am yours! In the name of Jesus I pray...AMEN!

"There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known." Luke 12:2

Years ago, the city of Las Vegas rolled out a multi-million dollar national ad campaign designed to go back to its adult only roots. For many years known as "sin city," Las Vegas spent the 90's trying to market itself as a family-friendly vacation paradise. As we moved into the new millennium, they decided to go back to their adults only roots. The slogan of their ad campaign was, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas," and is a deceptive lie straight from the pits of hell itself!

Las Vegas in the year 2018 is a far different place than what mobster "Bugsy" Siegel envisioned in the mid 40's when he built the Flamingo. By the late 80's, the organized crime influence over Las Vegas was replaced by the corporate gaming giants that now control the billions of dollars flowing into Las Vegas each year. To support the ever growing gaming industry, Las Vegas has actually become one of the fastest growing areas of the nation. Outside of the strip you have a vibrant, active community made up of people no different than in any other town you might visit.

However, what gave birth and life to Las Vegas exists is simple, sin. What drives the Las Vegas economy and the only reason it exists is gambling. I have done entire Devotionals in the past on why gambling is a sin. It is a horrible use of the resources God entrusts to us, it is putting your faith in "luck" or "chance" instead of in God, it promotes greed, and it is a horrible witness to the lost in the world who we are supposed to be witnessing to. While there is no verse in the Bible that says, "thou shalt not gamble," it is clearly a sin for the above reasons and is not something a follower of Christ should be involved in.

The problem with sin is once you open the door and allow it into your life, you end up becoming involved in many different types of sins. Gambling is not the only sin associated with Las Vegas. You also have drunkenness, every type of sexual sin imaginable, they have made a mockery of God's Holy Institution of Marriage, in addition to a plethora of other sins that truly earned Las Vegas the moniker, "sin city."

Let me explain why that marketing slogan was a lie from the pits of hell itself. The message it sent to adults is that you could come to Las Vegas, do whatever you want, and nobody would ever know about it. For people already pre-disposed to sin, this was like a special invitation to come and sin and nobody would ever know about it. Here is why that was a lie straight from the lips of satan, the father of lies himself (John 8:44)....GOD KNOWS!!!

My friend, there is NOTHING you do that God does not see. You may be able to do things in secret that no other man will ever know about, but God knows. If you think that you can go to Las Vegas or down the street and do things in secret that nobody will ever know about, you have bought satan's lie hook, line, and sinker. Never forget, you don't sin in a vacuum. There are ALWAYS consequences for sin. Satan conveniently forgot to tell you that there would be a price for your sin, a high price!!!

SIN IS NEVER FREE AND ALWAYS ENDS UP COSTING MORE THAN YOU EVER WANTED TO PAY!!!

I love you and care about you so much. I will be praying for you today to recognize that satan will always try to entice you to sin. He is the great justifier. He will always help you come up with excuses to sin and make sinning as convenient as possible. He is great at opening the door to sin, making it look so wonderful if you will only come inside.

If you need a little push, he will even give you a great lie like "don't worry, nobody will ever know." Sadly, once you walk through the door and into sin, that door slams shut. You can't go back and act like you were never there. On top of that, there will be consequences from your sin.

That is why you must stay connected to the Lord each day through prayer and the Word. You need to be an active member of a local church where you can be fed spiritually and find fellowship with other believers. You need to find ways to serve the Lord with your life.

All of these are ways to stay in that daily, intimate fellowship with Christ that gives us the strength to not fall into satan's traps, helps us to flee from sin instead of running to it, and keeps us focused on the Lord. He loves you so much and has a wonderful plan and purpose for your life if you will only faithfully serve and follow Him each day.

The lie said, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." The truth is, "There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known." Luke 12:2

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