Daily Devotional for Wednesday March 20, 2019

Recent major events and news stories in the United States and around the world shaping the culture we live in! Part Two of Three

(John 15:19)

***DAILY PERSONAL PRAYER FOR YOU: Dear Lord, help me to never forget how each life is from You and precious. In this culture that puts little value on a human life, let ME stand for You and the fact ALL LIFE IS FROM GOD! May I find courage and strength to never waiver or fail to speak up for this most precious of all gifts! In the name of Jesus I pray. AMEN!

Part Two of Three

“...but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world...” John 15:19

The world we are living in for this season. Today starts a very special 3-PART Daily Devotional series on recent major events and news stories in the United States and around the world that are shaping the culture we live in today. DO NOT MISS PART TWO TOMORROW AND PART THREE ON THURSDAY!

It is critical for Christians to clearly understand the culture around us so that we can be the Lord’s agents of change as He has commanded us to be. May the Lord guide us each day by His Spirit as we faithfully serve Him!!!

*Christian brothers and sisters in China are facing incredible persecution. Let me put it in context for you. While Christians in China wake up on Sunday and go to a home worship service, since virtually all but “state approved churches” have been razed to the ground, they go to that service with the very real possibility of being arrested and put in prison, beaten, or even killed. Here in the US, the biggest decision for many Christians on Sunday morning is to get out of bed and go to church or sleep in.

The Chinese government stated recently that “one more Christian is one less Chinese.” They seek to control the hearts and thoughts of their citizens, and clearly state they want to rid China of as much Western influence as possible. Of course if they understood Scripture they would realize that Christians are the best citizens a country could ask for. Don’t forget that the NT was written during the evil and brutal reign of Rome when Christians were being persecuted and killed in great numbers, yet, still followed the Word in their responsibility to be good citizens to the human government in power.

Please remember to take a moment from time to time and pray for those brave followers of Christ in China. They are paying a price for their faith that very few in this country will ever be forced to!

*The major social media and internet organizations are looking to censor and even silence speech they disagree with. Never forget, they are virtually all based or connected to Silicon Valley outside of San Francisco, one of the most liberal areas of the country. During the first decade of their existence as they were consolidating incredible power with their platforms, there was very little censoring of speech or any sort of real, constant, purposeful, targeted discrimination based on a certain view or opinion of issues.

During the 2008 and 2012 election of Barack Obama as President, social media played a large role in the Obama election strategy. To the horror of the major players in the internet world, it was Donald Trump’s campaign that utilized social media and the internet to a great advantage. That really began the open and public campaign by the social media and large internet platforms to use the hoax of Russia interfering via the internet to help the Trump campaign, something that has NEVER been proven despite the false narrative promoted by the media, to clamp down on speech that they clearly disagreed with. That included political views from a conservative perspective, traditional values when it comes to social issues, and of course a Christian/Biblical worldview.

After a year of playing games, they have pretty much dropped all pretenses of any fairness and have taken the position that they own the platform, they make the rules, and if you don’t like it...tough! Legally they are right. I remember telling people a year or so into Liveprayer, around the year 2000, that there would come a day when every type of evil will be available online but Liveprayer would end up being an underground operations.

We aren’t there yet. This is why even though we have a presence on Facebook and Twitter where our Daily Devotional and nightly TV program are posted each day, we invest NO DOLLARS for advertising any platform, and virtually from day one have always had our own servers so we had 100% control over our website and email infrastructure that sends out our Daily Devotional worldwide every morning and handles the apx. 40,000 emails for prayer we receive, pray over, and send personal responses to each day.

*Satan always looks to destroy anything good...ANYTHING! Sadly we have watched a great organization with a huge presence of God for decades, the Boy Scouts, under attack. It was first attacked to accept “gay scouts,” even though technically there is no such thing as anyone who is “gay,” just people who CHOOSE to engage in perverted sex with someone of the same sex. After that, it was to accept “gay scoutmasters.” That is just what I would want as a parent. My pre-teen or teen-age son camping out with a man who chooses to engage in perverted sex with other men! After that, the mythical “transsexual.” Mythical since there is no such thing, only people who are so mentally confused/ill they don’t know if they are a male or female. The last straw of course was allowing girls in the boy scouts!

For decade after decade, cub scout and boy scout troops met mostly in local churches. God was a huge part of the scouting experience. As God became less and less a part of scouting, and the social pressures to pervert scout troops, it has become a shell of what is used to be and another once great American institutions satan set his sights on and has effectively been destroyed.

*Please be praying for the people of Venezuela as they deal with the nightmare this once wealthy and beautiful country has become due to decades of socialist/dictatorial rule. Pray for our brothers and sisters to find His daily sustenance and the strength to be strong in their faith during this difficult time. May the Lord deliver soon the Venezuelan people.

Also, many people in Nebraska have been decimated by the horrible floods in that state. Pray for those who have lost loved ones and those who have seen all of their worldly possessions destroyed. May God be merciful on those dear people as they regroup and rebuild their lives.

*Democrats in the House and Senate have voted down very simple bills designed to protect the life of babies who were attempted to be aborted late in the pregnancy, were actually delivered alive, and then killed! What kind of nation in one breath can ask God’s blessings and in the next vote to not just slaughter a baby in the womb, but now out of the womb!

In this religion of social justice that Biblical Christians are at war with, never doubt their most cherished issue is killing babies. Doubt me? Apx, 4,000 innocent babies are slaughtered in this nation daily. The largest killer of innocent babies Planned Parenthood takes in apx $1.5 BILLION annually and they aren’t the only baby killing organization, just the biggest.

MILLIONS ARE SPENT ANNUALLY IN LEGAL EFFROTS TO PROTECT THE ABILITY TO KILL AS MANY INNOCENT BABIES AS POSSIBLE!!! VIRTUALLY ALL OF THE MEDIA NOT ONLY SUPPORTS BUT OPENLY ADVOCATES FOR THE KILLING OF INNOCENT BABIES!!! ONE ENTIRE POLITICAL PARTY IS IN VIRTUAL 100% SUPPORT OF KILLING INNOCENT BABIES!!! SUPPOSED CHURCHES AND PASTORS SUPPORT THE KILLING OF INNOCENT BABIES!!!

*Over a quarter of a century in various debates, interview settings, and discussions, I have been challenged by people who reject the Truth of the Bible about David actually killing a literal bear and a literal lion. I was told they are just allegories. They are not real events that happened, just good stories with a moral to them.

No, David actually did kill a real lion and a real bear. The actual moral of David defeating these savage beasts is that with God, all things are possible. With God, you can do things most people would never dream of doing. As God shows Himself strong in various situations you face in life, it builds your faith for similar situations that might have great meaning...like going into battle and defeating the giant Goliath!

God is no respecter of person. The same God that allowed David to have victories over his enemies, build his faith in order to defeat even bigger enemies later in life, is the very same God who has already given you victories over your enemies in the past and has helped to build your faith for that day ahead when you will have even bigger foes to defeat!!!

I love you and care about you so much! Please, don’t miss Part Three tomorrow where I will be dealing with a whole range of issues currently in the news that are shaping this culture we are living in. This is a challenge to stay educated about the world we live in but are not part of, in order to the best ambassadors of Christ we can be as we share His love and hope with this lost and hurting world.

Don't miss Part Three of Three tomorrow!

In His love and service,

Your friend, brother, and co-laborer in Christ,

Bill Keller