Daily Devotional for Saturday January 18, 2020

If Paul was alive today, he would be a football fan!!!

(1 Corinthians 9:24; Galatians 5:7; Philippians 3:14; 2 Timothy 4:7,8)

***DAILY PERSONAL PRAYER FOR YOU: Dear Lord, please help guide me through this day with your joy in my heart. Even though the day may have its ups and downs, the normal challenges of life, give me Your joy throughout every second today. No matter what my challenges I will praise You. No matter what my victories I will praise You. Help me to praise You in the valley and on the mountaintop and have Your joy in my heart at all times. In the name of Jesus I pray...AMEN!

***THE DAILY LIVEPRAYER TV NUGGET: Many people point to 1962 as the year when the spiritual decline in this nation began in earnest. A decline that clearly has left the United States in the year 2020 as a post-God, post-Christian nation! As Christians have prayed and worked tirelessly to fight the war on life, for the most part we have accepted that the banning of prayer in our public schools 60 years ago was a done deal. Well, just as we have seen more victories and real movement in the life area last year, we have some Christian leaders who have not given up on bringing prayer back to our schools and are taking advantage of a pro-Christian President and administration to push for yes, bringing prayer in our schools! In signing an Executive Order on religious liberty Thursday, it provides new guidance regarding prayer in public schools! It protect the rights of students to pray and discuss God in their schools and champions and reinforces the freedom of religion guaranteed to us in the Constitution as one of our most important rights! President Trump stated, “we will not allow anyone to push God from the public square, and won’t allow Christians to be bullied.” As I have stated many times, the best hope Christians can have for our political leaders is that they don’t actively work to hurt us, and if we have a season where we can actually get some help from our government, let’s take full advantage of it. It doesn’t replace the work only we as Christian leaders can and must do, but should encourage us to work that much harder!!! 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

This is a special time of year for football fans as the NFL season culminates in a few weeks with the Super Bowl. There is always something special for football fans about Championship Sunday that will culminate in this year's Super Bowl. For the 3-31/2 hours a game lasts, the players are competing, using their God-given talents and abilities to try and help their team win. We are also just had the college football bowl games and National Championship last Monday with LSU defeating defending Clemson. As I’ve watched some of the games recently, I began thinking about another sports fan, Paul.

Paul made several analogies between the Christian life and sports in his writings. Most had to do with the training an athlete undergoes in preparing to compete. This weekend I saw another analogy that I am sure Paul did as well. During the course of the game, these athletes are competing, using every bit of their talents and abilities to do the best they can. As the game goes on, some step up and perform heroically helping their team to win. IF AN ATHLETE CAN USE ALL OF HIS TALENTS AND ABILITIES TO WIN A GAME, HOW MUCH MORE SHOULD A CHILD OF GOD USE THEIR TALENTS AND ABILITIES TO SERVE OUR LORD?

Let me challenge you today my friend. If an athlete can go out and train, practice for endless hours perfecting their skills, go out on the day of a game and give everything they have to win a game that in light of eternity is meaningless, the child of God should train harder, practice harder, and never give less than everything we have since those people we reach for Christ can escape everlasting separation from God and enjoy eternity with Him.

The performance of an athlete during a game may determine who wins and loses that particular game, but the performance of those who serve the Lord can determine if a person spends eternity with the Lord or is forever separated from Him. While what that athlete does may be important for that moment, what the servant of God does is important for all eternity!!!

I want you to understand today that what you do for the Lord has eternal significance. The way you live your life each day, sharing your faith in Christ with others, allowing God to work through you to bless someone else is greater than hitting a home run in the World Series or scoring the winning touchdown in the Super Bowl. Even though star athletes get paid millions of dollars for what they do on the field, the child of God is paid in things more precious than silver and gold for what they do for the Lord. You can't put a price on the peace and joy only God can give you. You can't put a price on God's blessings.

God's rewards for those who are faithful in serving Him are far greater than all the riches of this world!!!

I love you and care about you so much. I will be praying for you today to NEVER forget how important what you do for Christ each day really is. You may not be performing on prime time television, or be on ESPN, but nothing any athlete does in their sport can compare to what you do when you are serving the Lord. They are providing entertainment to those who they reach, you are providing the words of LIFE to those who you reach. Even though man looks at the athlete as a hero, God looks at those who serve Him as a hero.

The next time you are watching a sporting event, enjoy the special talents of those who are playing the game. But never forget God has given you special talents too. He has given every one of His children gifts and talents to serve Him with. Exercise your gifts and use your talents to share the hope and love of Christ with the lost and hurting in your life. There may not be a stadium full of people cheering as you faithfully serve our Lord, but there is an angelic host rooting you on and Jesus is on His throne waiting to welcome you into Glory when your race is finished!!!

In His love and service,

Your friend and brother in Christ,

Bill Keller