Daily Devotional for Wednesday May 20, 2020

What could be worse than being an enemy of God?

(1 Corinthians 15:1, 58,16:13; 2 Corinthians 1:21; 24, Ephesians 6:11,13)

***DAILY PERSONAL PRAYER FOR YOU: Father, bless me this day to have the courage to stand up for YOUR TRUTH in my daily life. Give me boldness to proclaim YOUR TRUTH when I am with those who mock and demean our faith in Christ and for following the teachings of the Bible. No matter what they may say, let me be not afraid to stand for You. In Jesus name...AMEN!

***THE DAILY LIVEPRAYER TV NUGGET: Well, that didn’t take long! Just a couple of months into people working from home, some things never change. Most meetings are now being conducted over Zoom or some other virtual meeting program. Some people who are attending these virtual meetings are upset because there are people who have in the background, pictures of weddings and/or families. OH NO! WEDDING PICTURES!!! PICTURES OF FAMILIES!!! HOW OFFENSIVE!!! LOL!!! I wish I was making this up. That great globalist organization the United Nations is giving “guidance” to stop using the terms husband, wife, boyfriend, and girlfriend. Apparently these terms upset some people who reject traditional relationships. Also, the United States recently took a stand by rejecting language in a coronavirus response by the United Nations agency the WHO. The language encouraged a push for more abortions in countries around the world. So now in mixed company, traditional marriage, the traditional family are seen as offensive to some. The organizations so much of the world depend on for basic daily living promote an overtly Godless agenda. Christians are being forced more and more each day to take a stand for their faith, or sadly, sit in silence as our faith is chewed up and spit out by the non-believing world we are currently part of. What are you doing at those moments when YOU are confronted???

*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

***TODAY’S DAILY DEVOTIONAL IS DEDICATED TO CHRISTIAN APOLOGIST AND DEFENDER OF THE FAITH RAVI ZACHARIAS WHO GOD HAS CALLED HOME. RAVI’S LIFEETIME OF SERVICE TO THE LORD IS COMPLETE AND HE IS NOW ENJOYING HIS ETERNAL REWARDS. WELL DONE THOU GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT!!!

You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God." James 4:4

I want to ask yourself a very simple and straightforward question, are you God's friend or God's enemy? There are only two possible answers to this question. You are either God's friend or His enemy, you can't be both. One of the most sobering passages in God's Word is today's anchor verse found in the 4th chapter of James, the 4th verse. You don't need to be a Bible scholar or have any advanced theological degrees to understand this verse of Scripture. This very simple yet powerful truth clearly states that if you are a friend of the world, you are an enemy of God!

I realize that this word today is going to upset many, make most uncomfortable, but it is time you decide if you are God's friend or not. You make that decision with every choice. All throughout the day we have to make choices. Each time we make a choice, we are choosing to be God's friend or God's enemy. When you make a choice in rebellion to God, you have become His enemy. My friend, I don't know if there is anything as horrible than to be an enemy of God. What person in their right mind would honestly want to be an enemy of God? Yet, every time we choose to rebel against Him, that is exactly what we become.

Let me tell you another way you become a friend of the world and an enemy of God. Listen carefully, since this is how most people become an enemy of God and they don't even realize it. The Bible tells us in James 4:17, "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." This is known as the sin of omission. This is the sin most followers of Christ are guilty of. The reason so many fall into this sin is simply because they don't have the courage to take a stand for the Lord. They refuse to take a stand for the Lord in their personal life, they refuse to take a stand for the Lord with their family and friends, and they refuse to take a stand for the Lord where they work, go to school, recreate, and out in the marketplace. When you refuse to take a stand for Christ you have become a friend of the world and an enemy of God!

Do you think that is kind of harsh? Well, answer this question for me then. How come those who love the world and live in rebellion to God, His Truth, and Jesus Christ never seem to have a difficult time taking a stand for what they believe? Those who promote the sin of homosexuality certainly have no problem taking their stand. Those who promote the slaughtering of innocent babies certainly have no problem in taking their stand. Those who produce and distribute pornography certainly have no problem in taking their stand. Those who destroy people's lives with gambling certainly have no problem taking their stand. Those who promote the different cults and false religions and are leading people's souls to eternal damnation certainly have no problem in taking their stand.

WHY IS IT THAT THOSE WHO OPPOSE GOD AND LIVE IN REBELLION TO GOD HAVE NO PROBLEM TAKING A STAND FOR WHAT THEY BELIEVE, YET CHRISTIANS, THOSE WHO CLAIM TO BE FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST, HAVE SUCH A DIFFICULT TIME TAKING A STAND FOR THE LORD???

Listen, I know that taking a stand for Christ in the year 2020 is not popular. The reality is it has NEVER been popular since we live in a world that has rejected our Lord! You are subjected to ridicule, scorn, hatred, you are called every horrible name in the book, and will be attacked, even physically. Who wants that? I sure don't, I know you don't, and I am certain even Jesus in His humanity didn't. However, Jesus was ridiculed, scorned, hated, called every name, attacked, even tortured and then crucified for taking His stand for God! You see, our Lord knew that you were either a friend of this world or a friend of God. You can't be both. He chose to be a friend of God in the choices He made each and every day, and He chose to be a friend of God when it came time for Him to take his stand for God. He is our example and the one we are to emulate.

The reason a sin like homosexuality is now accepted in our culture is because those who support this sin refuse to back down, while the followers of Christ have chosen to be a friend of the world. The reason cults like Mormonism and Scientology are growing is because those who support these cults refuse to back down, while the followers of Christ have chosen to be a friend of the world. The reason a false religion like Islam has over 1 billion followers around the world is because those who support this false religion refuse to back down, while the followers of Christ have chosen to be a friend of the world. The reason you have the blasphemous, anti-God trash on TV 24/7 is because those who run the TV networks refuse to back down, while the followers of Christ have chosen to be a friend of the world.

GOD SAID THAT A FRIEND OF THE WORLD IS HIS ENEMY!!!

I love you and care about you so much. What are you, a friend of this world or a friend of God? You can't be both. You have got to decide where your allegiance lies, and you don't have the luxury of sitting back and doing nothing since that makes you a friend of the world and an enemy of God by default. Those who love this world are bold, fearless, and hold nothing back in promoting their Godless beliefs to the masses. The fact they receive little opposition or resistance only emboldens them in promoting their rebellion to God and His Truth.

I will be praying for you today. Praying that God will speak to your heart that if you are a friend of this world you are His enemy. You can become a friend of this world and God's enemy by simply sitting back and doing nothing. While those around you who hate God are boldly taking their stand, if you are God's friend you will take your stand for Him. If those who hate God are willing to lay everything they have on the line for sin, why can't those who love God lay everything they have on the line for righteousness?

I say to you today child of God, RISE UP! Today is the appointed day for you to once and for all decide whose friend you are. I say take your stand now for Christ. I pray today for God to give you a spirit of boldness, of fearlessness, of strength, of might, as you take your stand for Christ. May God watch over you and protect you as you go forth in your daily life proclaiming the Truth of God's Word and that Jesus Christ is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Let the world never doubt you are not its friend, you are a friend of God's!!!

In His love and service,

Your friend and brother in Christ,

Bill Keller