Daily Devotional for Thursday May 7, 2020

Padlocking the doors of the church?

(John 15:20, 16:2; 1 Timothy 3:12)

***DAILY PERSONAL PRAYER FOR YOU: This is the day the Lord hath made, I will rejoice and be glad in it!!! Thank You for this wonderful day my Lord. It is a day like none other. There will never be another day like this day. Let me never take for granted even one day of this precious gift of life You bestow upon me. Let me do something this day to bring honor and glory to You. I love you Lord, my life is Yours, use it for Your glory. Thank You for Your many blessings, so many I can't even begin to count them. In the name of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ I pray...AMEN!!!

***THE DAILY LIVEPRAYER TV NUGGET: Churches are still closed. Pastors and congregants arrested and fined. Less people watching church online each week. Churches across the board claim donations down 2/3, some as much as 90%. Samaritan’s Purse told by NY City Council to get out of New York. Kansas City says all churches must turn over a list of their members including their name, address, phone number, and email address. >From early February when I first began talking about the Chinese Flu outbreak in the Daily Devotional and on the TV program, I warned people about what would be happening to our churches. Sadly, everything I worried about has come to pass. Most churches have been closed for at least 8 Sundays now. Pastors and congregants who have fought the unconstitutional shutdown have been arrested and fined. The novelty of watching church online has worn off for over 60% of the initial audience. Without holding services, church finances are in deep trouble. Franklin Graham’s charity set up an actual hospital in Central Park, charged the city of New York NOTHING, and has been the object of harassment and ridicule from day one for his Biblical stand on homosexuality and marriage. The city council has now asked them to leave...immediately....without even a thank you. The city of Kansas City is asking churches to turn over a list of all of their members. MY FRIEND, THIS IS HAPPENING NOW, IN THE UNITED STATES, IN MAY OF 2020!!! LAST I CHECKED THE US CONSTITUTION GUARANTEEING OUR FREEDOM TO WORSHIP STILL EXISTS!!! The better percentage of the last two generations have never been to church, and the remnant who still does will be a shrinking number once churches are allowed to open up again. By the way, look for churches to be the LAST places allowed to open!!! With a lack of finances and people who won’t return out of fear or just because it is not that important to their life any longer, there will be a huge number of churches shutting down by the end of this year. There will be lots of church buildings around the nation for sale. What will be left will be a true remnant. Out of the ashes REAL NEW TESTAMENT CHURCHES will rise up. The “fake church” will be alive and well in the aftermath of the Chinese Flu. The true Biblical churches will be responsible for boldly and without fear or compromise, to take God’s Truth to this nation and world. These true Biblical churches will be God’s vessel to lead this nation back to our Creator and His Truth if we are going to see one more great revival and harvest of souls in this land. Please be in prayer. The Chinese Flu is God’s warning. We won’t get another one!!!

*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

(*I first wrote this Daily Devotional 17 years ago. How prophetic these words have become!!!)

The day they padlock the doors of the church is closer than you think!!! Impossible you say? If you would have told someone just 50 years ago, that there would no longer be prayer in our schools, they would have called you crazy. If you would have told someone 50 years ago, that crosses and manger scenes would be banned from public buildings, they would have called you crazy. If you would have told someone 50 years ago, that it would be illegal to display the 10 commandments in a courthouse, they would have called you crazy. If you would have told someone 50 years ago, that there would be major efforts to take "under God " out of the Pledge of Allegiance and "In God We Trust" off of our money, they would have called you crazy. However, 50 years later, these are all a reality!

Here is some more reality for you. Things are NOT going to get any better. I am thankful for all of those who love God and work so diligently in the public arena. We MUST continue to fight for the issues that support God's Word. We must never vacate the political arena, and support those who are in public office that support the agenda of God. We have to maintain that voice. But here is the problem. Despite the numbers that Barna puts out, this nation is becoming more Godless every single day! It happened in Europe, it happened in Canada, and it is happening right before our very eyes here in the United States. We are fast becoming a Godless society.

There is now a large percentage of two full generations in our nation that do not go to church. The generation that is in their 20's and 30's has a large percentage that has never been to church. They grew up in homes void of God. They are now having children that are growing up in homes void of God, which means the coming generation will also grow up in homes void of God. On top of that, the vast majority of those in these two generations that DO go to church, are NOT in a committed 24/7 relationship with Christ. They range from the Christmas/Easter churchgoers, to those who simply put in their "hour" each week. Their day in and day out lives really are no different than those who don't go to church at all.

So what is next for our nation? The false religions will continue to grow. The false religions are based on the writings of men and prey on the fact people are looking for God, but use man's sinful condition to lead them into deception. They tell them they can buy their way into Heaven, they will have sex with virgins, they can work to become a god, and numerous other lies. Perverting the things of God that we used to honor will continue to get worse. Marriage has already become little more than a legal date to most people. Sex with people you are not married to, with the same sex, are now the mainstream norm. This will continue to destroy the family and simply create more generations of people totally void of God in their life, meaning the nation will adopt their Godless values and view of life.

IF YOU THINK I AM CRAZY, LET ME SUGGEST YOU READ YOUR BIBLE! IF THIS HAPPENED TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, THAT WERE BORN OUT OF THE PROMISE OF GOD AND WITNESS TO HIS GREAT MIRACLES, WHY DON'T YOU THINK THIS CAN HAPPEN TO US?

The answer my friend is this. We still enjoy amazing freedoms in this nation to share the Word of God. WE MUST TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT! Jesus said that we had to work while it was still light because the night was coming. We have got to stop playing games and get serious, because we have a very real enemy who is deadly serious. Oh how I wish the church was as committed to building the lives of people, to building the Kingdom of God, as it is in building great structures of brick and mortar. It is amazing how a church can find 20 million dollars to build a new building, but not $200 to help pay someone's rent! It is time for pastors to stop worrying about being politically correct and start being Biblically correct! Churches need to take out the theater seating and make people stand up in the presence of God. God's church was never supposed to be a place where people are entertained, but a place where they are trained up to do the work of God.

I love you and care about you so much. The Holy Spirit has prompted me to give you this word. I sense in my Spirit a great sense of urgency, that the time is truly very short now. Jesus is coming back at any moment for His church. We are living in a very evil and dark world. This nation has rapidly deteriorated spiritually right before our very eyes over the past 50 years. BUT GOD HAS ALWAYS HAD A PEOPLE! GOD HAS ALWAYS HAD A REMNANT! I pray today that you will be part of that remnant God will use to bring in this last great harvest.

Now more than ever, those who refuse to bow their knee to Baal need to stand up and be counted. The Bible proclaims that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church. That is because the church is not a building, it is all those people that have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and will follow Him to their death. THAT is the true church, and that is why they can padlock the doors of a building, but they will never stop the work of God!!! GOD WILL HAVE THE LAST WORD!!!

In His love and service,

Your friend and brother in Christ,

Bill Keller