Daily Devotional for Friday July 19, 2019

The world we are living in for this season. Part Three of Three

(John 15:19, Galatians 6:9)

***DAILY PERSONAL PRAYER FOR YOU: Dear Lord, open my eyes to see this world clearly, and show me what You want me to do to serve You in these times we live. You and You alone will have the last word Lord. Let me see this lost world through Your eyes and with Your heart and help to lead the lost and hurting to find Your hope, strength, peace, and salvation! In the name of Jesus I pray...AMEN!

“...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 is Part Two of a very different 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 THREE TOMORROW!

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!!!

*Kindergartens across California are pushing a curriculum that attempts to normalize the mental health issue of people who are confused as to which gender they are. It is the same “brainwashing” of children that began 20 years ago to normalize to children at the earliest ages the choice of engaging in sex with someone of the same sex.

*China gets many thing very wrong. However, the Chinese government does treat transgenderism as what it is, a mental health issue!

*On the topic of mental health, many mental health organizations are recognizing an addiction to social media as a current mental health issue. The lobbyists at the big tech firms fought this public acknowledgement for many years now, but there is simply an overwhelming amount of empirical evidence that a certain percentage of the population have an unhealthy addiction to social media. Not surprising, the primary group making up the bulk of those with this problem are young adults from 10-25. Like all addictions, it is an unhealthy focus on using social media that leads to harm in many other aspects of their lives.

*Israel Folau is credited by experts as being the greatest rugby player in the world today. He is from Australia where rugby is a very popular sport. Folau is also a dedicated Christian. He recently spoke out about the sin of homosexuality on Instagram which created a huge backlash within the Australian media.

Sadly, like most democratic countries in 2019, the Australian culture has totally bought into the lies of the LGBTQ community. In response, the team Folau played for voided his $4 million dollar contract and he is currently in a legal battle to have his contract re-instated. Every day there are brothers and sisters in Christ worldwide who are paying for their faith in some form, manywith their very lives!

*Now that sports gambling has been legalized in the United States, look for the next form of easy access gambling to be made available via media companies. There is no argument the ratings for college and professional football are driven to the levels they are because of gambling. Whether it is betting on the outcome of the game itself, or over the past 5-6 years the increased gambling on different players that make up a fantasy team, it is a natural progression for media outlets to offer their viewers the ability to make bets directly through them.

*The pro-life movie “Unplanned,” has been effectively banned in Canada. Movie theater ownership is limited, and the few entities who control the “screens” have decided NOT to show the movie in their theaters. Pro baby-killers in Canada put lots of pressure on the theater owners, claiming the movie was nothing but pro-life propaganda and grossly distorted the abortion industry. Of course that is not true. However, despite much criticism one smaller chain of theaters did open up their screens last weekend and had a big turnout of movie goers. Amen!!!

*Iraq, where many of the oldest Christian churches could be found, has all but eliminated Christians and their churches from the country. Sadly, during the time of the Isis caliphate, Christians were slaughtered or fled for their lives and their churches were burned down. Especially sad was when Isis took over modern day Mosul which is Biblical Nineveh. They killed the Christians who weren’t able to flee and burned their churches to the ground. They even desecrated what was believed to have been the tomb of the prophet Jonah. So sad!

I love you and care about you so much! 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.

BE OF GOOD CHEER MY FRIEND. WE HAVE WATCHED OUR CULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES AND MOST CULTURES WORLDWIDE BECOME MORE GODLESS WITH EACH PASSING YEAR AS BIBLICAL TRUTH IS BEING REJECTED. DON’T FORGET THAT GOD IS STILL ON HIS THRONE!!!

I CAN IMAGINE THE FRUSTRATION OF THE EARLY CHIRSTIANS AS THEY SOUGHT TO BRING THE GOSPEL TO THE EVIL WORLD OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. WE ARE HERE TODAY BECAUSE THEY PERSEVERED AND REFUSED TO DO NOTHING WHILE LOST SOULS WERE DYING AND GOING TO HELL FOR ALL ETERNITY. THIS IS ALSO OUR MANDATE FROM OUR LORD. SO LET US NEVER BE WEARY IN WELL DOING, KNOWING THAT IN DUE SEASON WE WILL REAP IF WE FAINT NOT!!! (Galatians 6:9)

In His love and service,

Your friend and brother in Christ,

Bill Keller