Daily Devotional for Wednesday July 22, 2020

Driving out your enemies!!!

(Numbers 33:50-56)

***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: Shame on Andy Stanley and other pastors like him. Andy Stanley sent notification that his church would not hold service for the rest of the year. THE REST OF THE YEAR!!! Listen, I have enjoyed his father Charles Stanley’s bible teaching over the years, as I have enjoyed Andy. However, this is the most irresponsible thing a Christian leader could possibly do! The world that hates us has already figured out they can shutter our churches since only a few brave pastors fought back their unconstitutional decrees to shut down back in March. Across the nation, apx. 50% of our churches remain closed today! In the scheme of things, maybe this ends up being the best for the church moving forward, since it will cause a shaking out of the gutless churches with only the strong standing. That is in God’s hands. I can tell you this, for the moment we are in this acquiescence is NOT the examples the flock needs! They need to see strong,, focused leaders who will not bow their knee to baal...OR THE STATE!!! Do you see now how the evil government of China has been able to effectively wipe out the public church? Andy is sending the exact wrong message to the flock since they are already confused, somewhat afraid of what is coming, and are looking to their faith to guide them thru these perilous times we are living through. The coming together to worship together is critical for many reasons, but one is the strength we get from fellowshipping with other brothers and sisters in Christ, that we are not alone. THAT FELLOWSHIP IS NEEDED NOW MORE THAN EVER AND THEY ARE LOOKING FOR A SHEPHERD TO LEAD THEM, NOT A HIRELING WHO LEAVES THEM TO THE WOLVES OF SATAN TO DEVOUR!!!



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On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho the LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'When you cross the Jordan into Canaan, drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places. Take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess. Distribute the land by lot, according to your clans. To a larger group give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group a smaller one. Whatever falls to them by lot will be theirs. Distribute it according to your ancestral tribes. " 'But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live. And then I will do to you what I plan to do to them.' " (Numbers 33:50-56)

Driving out your enemies. God's Word is full of His precious promises. They are the words we cling to in our time of need, knowing they are true. God's Word is also full of His warnings. I want to share with you today that the warnings in the Bible are just as true as the promises. We often like to ignore or skip over the warnings, but they are there to alert us to danger, to protect us. Today, I want to share with you a warning from the Word today found in the 33rd Chapter of Numbers. It is a warning for YOU today to drive out the sin in your life!

This passage of Scripture is actually a command from God to the children of Israel. He commanded them to drive out the inhabitants from the Promised Land and to destroy all of their carved images, idols, and high places. Why? The children of Israel had just been in the wilderness for 40 years after leaving Egypt. They were spiritually "weak." God knew they were not strong enough to co-exist with the unGodly inhabitants in the land and commanded His children to "drive them out."

This is a good lesson for new Believers. A person who comes to the Lord must be discipled, be accountable to an older man or woman of the faith who can help guide them in their journey of faith. It is critical for a new Believer to read and study the Bible, pray, be part of a solid Bible preaching and teaching church where they can be spiritually fed, and to fellowship with other Believers who can help them to grow as a follower of Christ.

God also instructed them to destroy the carved images, the idols, and the high places. These all represented Israel's past sins. God was telling the children of Israel that the things standing between them and God had to go. The same is true in your life. The Bible tells us that He is a "jealous God." If you have a lust problem, destroy your pornographic magazines and tapes. If you have a problem with alcohol, pour the booze down the drain. if you have a problem dabbling in the occult, burn your Ouija board, tarot cards, and horoscope books. God has no desire to co-exist with the sin in your life!

After the commandment God gives His children the warning. In verse 55 God says, "But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live." He goes in in verse 56 to say, "And then I will do to you what I plan to do to them." God was giving the children of Israel a clear warning about getting rid of the sin in their life. God is giving YOU that same warning today!

The question becomes, how bad do we want the sin out of our life?

When someone comes to me and asks me to pray for them to be delivered, I ask them point blank if they really want to be delivered. That may sound like a stupid question, but it really isn't. Do you know there are some people who really don't want to be healed because it means their check each month will stop coming? Do you know there are drug addicts and alcoholics who really don't want to be delivered because that would mean they could no longer get high or go out drinking?

Do you know I deal every day with people in bondage to gluttony, lust, smoking, gossiping, gambling, homosexuality, who deep down really don't want God to deliver them because they love their sin so much. You may think I am being really insensitive, but let me ask you, how insensitive was it for Jesus to have to go and be nailed to the cross, bleed and die to break the bondage of drugs, to break the bondage of alcohol, to break the bondage of gluttony, lust, smoking, gossiping, gambling, homosexuality, and every other sin you can name?

God is warning you today to get rid of the sin in your life. Drive it out! The Bible says, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you!" That doesn't mean you can invite him over once in a while and reminisce about old times! Resist means to have nothing to do with him. Period!

I love you and care about you so much. God has clearly commanded us in His Word to drive our the sin in our life and destroy anything that has to do with that sin. He warned us that if we don't, our sin will be a constant problem in our life. The sad fact is, too many have learned how to co-exist with the sin in their life rather than drive it out once and for all. Their response is that if God wants to take that away He will. WRONG!!! God already took it away when He sent Jesus to die on the cross. SIN IS DEAD! It is only alive in you because you let it live!!!!

I tell you often, God can't and won't bless sin. God blesses righteousness! My word for you today is that it is time to get serious about the sin in your life. Heed the Word of God and drive it out once and for all and destroy everything to do with that sin. God wants to bless you today, bless you above and beyond all you can ask or think. The choice is yours. Do you want your sin or do you want God? Heed this warning from God to you today and drive out your enemies!!!

In His love and service,

Your friend and brother in Christ,

Bill Keller