Daily Devotional for Monday October 21, 2019

Patience! Plus, a challenging thought in today’s Liveprayer TV Nugget!!!

(Romans 12:12)

***DAILY PERSONAL PRAYER FOR YOU: Dear Lord, please help me to live this day honoring You in my thoughts, words, and deeds. Help me this day to live my life pleasing and acceptable to Jesus. Allow me to use my life to help someone else during this day, and be kind to everyone I come across no matter how they may treat me. Let Christ shine through me throughout this day oh Lord, be glorified through my life! In Jesus name I pray...AMEN!

***THE DAILY LIVEPRAYER TV NUGGET: If you have doubted the Chinese government’s crackdown on Christians and outright persecution of Chinese followers of Christ, look no further than the recent blowback the NBA received over ONE TWEET from someone who is just a team executive! Houston Rocket GM Daryl Morey has a large role with that team, but his power within the NBA as a league is minimal. Yet when he simply RETWEETED support for the Hong Kong protestors, it set off a firestorm that probably cost the league in the neighborhood of 2 BILLION dollars in Chinese TV rights, marketing, and merchandise. Now remember, this is simply an entertainment vessel for the 1.4 billion Chinese people. It has nothing to do with national security or Chinese sovereignty. Imagine how this same government confronted with its’ citizens dedicating their lives and putting their faith in something other than the state! That is why most Christian churches throughout China have been burned to the ground, home churches raided, pastors and congregants jailed, tortured, sentenced to decades in work camps, and killed. Their crime, being a follower of Jesus Christ over being a citizen of the communist state!

On Sunday morning in China, a Christian wakes up and goes to a church service not knowing if they will ever come home again, or return later badly beaten and scarred. On Sunday morning in the United States, a Christian wakes up and has to decide whether to roll over and go back to sleep, or make the commitment to get out of bed and go to church where the only drama is how much over the time limit will the pastor preach!

*Don’t miss the Liveprayer TV program, airing “LIVE” every Monday thru Friday from 11pm EDT to Midnight! For details on viewing options for the Liveprayer TV program, “LIVE” or “On Demand,” go to: https://liveprayer.com/liveprayer-show-about.cfm

Being patient. One of the virtues that I am most lacking would have to be patience. I have a difficult time waiting, sitting back, not moving forward. While God wants us to be active, to be busy about our life and work for Him, there are times and situations that call for us to be patient.

There are times and situations when we just have to wait on Him. It takes spiritual discernment to be able to know whether we should be moving forward on something, getting more involved, or just allowing God to do His work. Again, just as in hearing God's voice, having this kind of discernment requires that close, intimate daily contact with the Lord to know what we should do. From my experience, let me give you a few things I have learned about waiting on God.

In those big decisions in life, where to live, where to work, who our spouse will be, where we should go to college....those major decisions that can dramatically change our life....waiting on God is critical. That doesn't mean we sit in our room with the curtains drawn, waiting for a lightning bolt from the sky. It means we move forward, but slowly, watching the signs God gives us along the way, not trying to force our will into the situation.

God is really good about letting us know when we are headed in the wrong direction, but it requires us to WANT to hear him. So often we want something so bad, we try to make God point us in the same direction. I am not saying that our will and His will aren't the same at times, but they are also different at times. You must be willing to put your will aside and try to see what God wants.

He will guide you, closing doors to show you that is not the right path to walk down, and opening doors to show you that is the path He wants you to walk down. Patience is waiting on God to show us His way instead of simply doing it our way, and hoping God approves.

Of course, there are many circumstances where patience is the only option. These would involve other people. You are not responsible for the actions of anyone but yourself, and you CANNOT change another person's heart. Only God can do that. In those cases where others are involved, patience is your only option because it usually requires God moving on the heart of another. These are the times when your faith is tested.

You must draw closer to the Lord for support instead of pulling away, and trust that He is in control. These are most difficult, because it is so easy to just give up. But trusting God is what this life is about, and being patient while God works out those complicated situations in our life are what makes us strong and mature spiritually.

I love and care about you so much. I will be praying for you today to find the patience you need in your life to wait for and trust God. Patience is actually a test of our faith because we are saying "I trust you God and will wait on you to move". I am praying for you to be patient today in those circumstances that require God to move in your life. Never forget that His timing is perfect and is seldom our timing. Be patient and wait on God!

In His love and service,

Your friend and brother in Christ,

Bill Keller