Daily Devotional for Wednesday January 8, 2020

A disease that could end the world?

(Romans 5:12, Matthew 24:36)

***DAILY PERSONAL PRAYER FOR YOU: Lord, Thank You for creating me with a plan and purpose, making my life so meaningful. Give me the ability this day to appreciate the fact You can use my life to advance Your kingdom. Let me do my best today in the strength You give me through the Holy Spirit to be the best servant I can be. In the name of Jesus...AMEN!!!

***THE DAILY LIVEPRAYER TV NUGGET: Something to be praying about. The President stated at an event with evangelicals last Friday that he wants to see prayer back in school. Whether he could deliver that deserves healthy skepticism, yet based on his 3 years as POTUS I am fairly certain he will try. There is also a move by many Republicans in Congress to ask the Supreme Court to review overturning Roe and return the issue to the states. Many people falsely state that if the SC overturns Roe abortion would be illegal. That is NOT TRUE! It simply returns the issue to each state to decide. So these are 2 issues that I know people have prayed about in the past, but please make them part of your daily prayer time during 2020. WE ARE SEEING PRAYERS ANSWERED AND REAL MEASURABLE MOVEMENT IN THE AREA OF PRO-LIFE, RELIGIOUS LIBERTIES, THE SPREAD OF SEXUAL PERVERSION, AND OTHER ISSUES CHRISTIANS CARE ABOUT. So let’s join in prayer and believe God for prayer to be available in our schools again and for Roe to be overturned and the abortion issue returned back to the states to decide! AMEN!!!

*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

SARS and the end of the world. This is a Daily Devotional from 17 years ago! Sadly, it is relevant today due to an outbreak in China that seems to be very similar if not the same problem. Thankfully, this outbreak 17 years ago was closely monitored and kept under control. Whatever this similar issue that is going on today is also being carefully tracked kept quarantined to the best the Chinese government has been able to control it.

In the coming days and weeks we will see how much of a problem this outbreak in China becomes and I will keep you updated should it start to spread and possibly endanger people outside of the current population under scrutiny.

In 2003, people were proclaiming that the SARS epidemic was part of God's judgment that was ushering in the end of the world. These are the same people who during 1999 made convincing arguments that Y2K would be this catastrophic worldwide nightmare. These are the same people who were talking about the nuclear war that would ensue because of our military action in Iraq in March of 2003.

They began to make the case that SARS was some sort of plague on man that will wipe out a huge percentage of the world's population. The one common bond all of these doom and gloomers share is that they sell truckloads of books and tapes every time they find a reason that the world is coming to an end.

I remember several times in late 1999, writing Devotionals to try and calm people down who were in such a panic over Y2K. They were taking all of their money out of the bank, buying gold, purchasing boxes and boxes of dehydrated food, and spending a fortune on special waterless toilets and generators. I tried to explain that the predictions of worldwide disasters made no sense at all. But there is a hunger in many people for these world-ending disaster scenarios.

The biggest selling Christian books are about end time prophecy. Most people want to know the future, and there is no shortage of men and women who will tell them (if you buy their books or tapes), even though Bible prophecy is VERY SUBJECTIVE. The wonderful thing about prophecy is that these are future events, so you really can't tell someone what they say is wrong.

Will there be an end to the world? ABSOLUTELY! The Bible clearly teaches that. Is Jesus coming back? YES! However, the Bible also teaches that ONLY God knows the exact time and moment that will occur. ANY MAN OR WOMAN THAT CLAIMS TO KNOW WHEN JESUS IS RETURNING, OR THAT THE WORLD IS COMING TO AN END, IS SOMEONE TO RUN FROM!!!

While it can be interesting to try and put current events, nations, and people into end-times scenarios, it is a very dangerous thing to do. Speculation is one thing, but anyone that tries to make definitive statements tying specific events, nations, and people into Bible prophecy do so at their own peril, since over the course of the last 2,000 years many have played this game and failed miserably.

Prophecy experts were convinced in the late 30's that Adolph Hitler was indeed the anti-Christ and the end of the world was playing out before their very eyes. Based on the events of that day, that would have been an easy case to make. It is also a great example of why playing that game is so dangerous since they were obviously very wrong.

The reason SARS was not part of some end of the world scenario is because it was a sickness, no more or less than any other sickness that befalls mankind. To put all sickness and disease in the proper context, you have to understand that God created man in perfection. Man was NEVER to get sick, and NEVER to die. Death became the byproduct of his sin in the Garden of Eden.

Once sin became part of the world that we live in, sickness and disease, the breakdown of the human body unto death, were now part of the human condition. It was sin becoming part of our world that led to man's body getting sick, being ravaged by disease, that would eventually lead to physical death.

I love you and care about you so much. My word to you today is this. SARS was NOT part of some end of the world scenario as many claimed in 2003, but simply another disease that has been part of this sin-filled world that we live in. One day however, at a time only God knows, He will bring an end to this world as we know it. That is a very real future event. Our job is to be personally prepared for that event and to do our best each day to help others be prepared as well.

That is why I harp so often on doing all that we can to share the hope and love of Christ with this lost and hurting world that we live in. You see, the one thing we DO KNOW FOR SURE, is that when this brief journey is over we will live on for eternity. The only question is will you spend that eternity with God or apart from Him.

I pray today that you will open your heart to the Lord and be prepared for your eternal home with Him. If this very moment you are not 100% sure that if you die you will be with God, please take a moment and pray, ask Him to open your heart, and read the words at this link: https://liveprayer.com/salvation.cfm

There is no greater decision that you will make in this life than to accept Jesus Christ into your heart and insure you will spend eternity with Him. One day Jesus will return as He promised. One day the world WILL come to an end. One day you WILL die. All of these events WILL happen. Make sure today that you know for 100% certainty where your eternal home will be, and go out and share with as many people as you can how they can join you in Heaven with God your Creator for all eternity!!!

In His love and service,

Your friend and brother in Christ,

Bill Keller