Daily Devotional for Saturday October 17, 2020

Defending the faith!!! A MUST READ WITH A VIDEO YOU MUST SEE!!!

(Psalms 50:17, 53; Mark 7:9; Proverbs 1:7; John 3:36; Romans 2:8)

***DAILY PERSONAL PRAYER FOR YOU: Dear Lord, help me to stand strong in these difficult days. I know that in the end, YOU...and YOU alone will have the final word. Give me boldness and courage to stand for You as evil abounds. In the name of Jesus I pray..AMEN

***THE DAILY LIVEPRAYER TV NUGGET: On November 3rd, God will raise one man to power to lead our nation for the next 4 years. The Bible teaches it is God who raises men to power, and God who takes men out of power. Based on what we know, if God raises Joe Biden to become the next President he will oppose God on every spiritual issue of the day. It is also clear, a Biden administration has plans to fundamentally change the way this nation is governed as I have shared previously. It is the Christian vote who put George W. Bush in office 2 times, and it is the Christian vote who put Donald Trump in office in 2016. IT WILL ONLY BE THE CHRISTIAN VOTE IN THE END WHO WILL DECIDE IF HE IS RE-ELECTED IN A FEW WEEKS! IN THE PAST 4 YEARS, DUE TO OLDER SAINTS GOING HOME TO BE WITH THE LORD AND NOT BEING REPLACED DUE TO A LACK OF EVANGELISM, THE CHRISTIAN POPULATION IS DOWN APX. 5% SINCE THE 2016 ELECTION. LIKEWISE, WITH THE GROWTH OF THE “FAKE CHURCH” I HAVE TALKED TO YOU ABOUT, THAT POPULATION HAS GROWN BY AT LEAST 5% SINCE 2016. THAT IS A NET LOSS OF 10%! It is estimated that apx. 40% of Christians DID NOT vote in 2016. A minimum of 10% of those who didn’t vote MUST vote in a few weeks if President Trump is to be re-elected. As I have shared many times, no matter who God allows to rise to power, we have OUR WORK to do in leading this nation back to God and His Truth. NO OTHER GROUP CAN DO OUR JOB FOR US! The difference will be do we have an administration friendly to our cause, or one who will be our enemy! Between now and November 3rd, there will be at least 3 more major issue that arise. So hang on, pray, and be a Godly citizen and vote!

*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

***Action steps: 1) Pray for the nation to turn back to the Lord every morning for at least 5 min. 2) Share the Gospel every day with at least 1 person you know is no saved. 3) Every day share something Biblical with everyone you know via email. 4) Every day encourage at least ONE PERSON you know about the responsibility we have to VOTE in November. 5) GET ONE PERSON YOU KNOW TO DO ACTION STEPS 1-4!!!

***13 years ago, I appeared on a popular local Tampa, Florida TV program with the head of the Muslim advocacy group CAIR, and a legendary atheist strip club owner. Below is a link to that program. It is a classic and worth your time to watch as I defended the faith against these two tools of satan! Today’s Daily Devotional is from May 2004, regarding my TV program where I had as a rare guest, the atheist strip club owner Joe Redner. Both the TV program and today’s Daily Devotional are great examples of defending the faith and declaring God’s Truth to true enemies of the faith!

“The Bleepin Truth” TV Program: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCMBizvHO7I

"The fool says in his heart, 'there is no God.' " Psalms 53:1

Everyone reading this today has family members, friends, coworkers, classmates, and acquaintances who deny the existence of God, reject who Jesus Christ is, and refuse to accept the Bible as God's inspired, inerrant Word that represents Absolute Truth and is our final authority in all matters. These are people who have exercised the free will God gave them to live their lives apart from God and His Word.

Friday night on my television program, I deviated from my normal format which is to take live phone calls from viewers, giving them Biblical counsel for their problems and praying for them. I had as my guest Joe Redner, a Tampa businessman who is also the long-time owner of a famous strip club in Tampa. My purpose for having Joe on my program was to allow him to share his beliefs and why he feels owning and operating an adult establishment is acceptable. I am well aware that Joe has been debating this issue legally and morally for over 30 years and has his "talking points" down pat. I am also very aware that he views Christians as his enemy and the people who are "out to get him."

This was NOT a debate, though I am sure that is what Joe was expecting. The first point I want you to understand is that it is meaningless to try and engage someone who rejects God, Jesus, and the Bible in a debate. The fact is, THERE IS NOTHING TO DEBATE! The mistake most Believers make in dealing with a non-believer is trying to argue with them or debate them. Because the focus of my ministry is to reach those outside the church, preach to the lost as opposed to the choir, I spend my entire life dealing with the Joe Redners of the world. The existence of God, who Jesus Christ is, the Truth of God's Word are not debatable. God has given people the free will to accept or reject God, Jesus, and the Bible. You will never get into a debate with a non-believer and at the end have them say, you are right I am wrong.

Please listen to me carefully. I am not talking about a person that is questioning God, Jesus, and the Bible. Someone who is truly open and willing to listen. I am talking about that person who has clearly rejected God, Jesus, and the Bible. Never forget, for anyone it is the Holy Spirit that must bring a person under conviction. We should study hard and equip ourselves to be ready to defend the faith and share the Truth of God's Word with people. But a person has to be willing to listen to what you have to say, otherwise you are simply casting your "pearls before swine."

The best way to handle a person who has clearly rejected God, Jesus, and the Bible in their life is not to debate them, not to argue with them, but to get them to share what THEY believe and why. I have told you in the past, the non-believer will ALWAYS reject the Bible for what it truly is, since it is the very book that condemns them. Anyone who lives in rebellion to God, MUST dismiss the Bible as "just a book written by men" to justify their rejection of it. Also, the non-believer will ALWAYS have more questions than you will ever have answers. There will never come a time when they say, OK, you answered all my questions, I will believe now.

Because of this, most people stay FAR AWAY from those in their life that they know have rejected God, Jesus, and the Bible. They make sure to never mention their faith around them, since they know it will turn into a confrontation. Don't forget, God says it is His desire that ALL come to repentance and none be lost. That includes Joe Redner and those people in your life who have rejected the Truth. Don't be afraid of them. The Bible says to be "wise as a serpent, harmless as a dove." Rather than debating them or arguing with them, simply engage them in a conversation allowing THEM to talk, not agreeing with their views but prodding them along, forcing them to articulate what THEY believe and why.

Here is what you will end up with. They will give you numerous reasons why they reject God. They will tell you that God would not allow all the pain in the world, allow the bad things to happen to good people, allow all the killing and horrible things that happen every day. They will usually throw in various scientific reasons for rejecting there is a God. Now granted, they NEVER have a better explanation for how this world came to exist, how they came to be, and may even give in a bit that there might be some superior being, but never accept that it is the God of the Bible. As a note, you will often find they had a Christian family member that had a terrible disease like cancer and they watched their loved one die despite the faith of that person. They blamed their death on God and ended up rejecting there even is a God.

Rejecting Jesus as their Savior is a bit easier for them to articulate. Once they reject God, rejecting any notion of a Savior is a logical step for them to make. They will always make the point that people who think for themselves could never believe in Jesus, that people who do are weak and need someone to follow. What is laughable is that THEY are the ones who don't think since there is incredible historical proof that Jesus really did live on this earth, and contemporaneous historical writings of his life in addition to what we have in the Bible. Also, whether they understand it or not, in rejecting Christ they have chosen to follow satan. The fact is you will follow someone, either Jesus or satan.

When it comes to rejecting the Bible as the inspired, inerrant Word of God representing Absolute Truth and our final authority in all matters, the list is almost endless. The normal responses are that it was a book written by men, it is not accurate, nobody could believe those stories, it has been translated over and over for thousands of years, and on, and on, and on the list goes. The bottom line is simple. The Bible is the very book that condemns their rejection of God and of Jesus Christ. In addition, it is the very book that judges their sin. For the sinner, rejecting the Bible is a MUST, otherwise they have to admit that they are wrong and confess their sins to God.

So what is the answer to dealing with people like this? You engage the non-believer, you allow them to articulate their beliefs, what then? First, all throughout you pray for them. NEVER underestimate the power of prayer. Again, never forget, it is the Holy Spirit and only the Holy Spirit that can bring a person under conviction. Second, as they are sharing their beliefs, while not arguing, it is perfectly acceptable to ask them questions, point out what the Bible says, try to help them see the contrast between what they have chosen to believe and what the Truth is. Again, each person has to accept or reject the Truth of God's Word for themselves, you can't force anyone to believe. What you can do however, is make sure they see the contrast between their beliefs and the Truth.

The two big points I always make with the non-believer, with someone like a Joe Redner are these. First, in rejecting the Truth of God's Word, something God gave them the free will to do, it is then up to them to create their own truth. The fact is, if the Bible does not represent Absolute Truth then it is up to each person to decide for themselves what truth is, what is right and wrong. Do you see how absolutely chaotic that is? What is right for one, may not be right for another. What is wrong for one, may not be wrong for another. It is absolute chaos.

The other point is that based on their beliefs, rejecting God, Jesus, and the Bible, life has no meaning. This life becomes meaningless and without any purpose. In the world of the non-believer, there is no explanation why this world exists or why we exist, there is no explanation of what this life is really about other than to do "our best" (though they can never answer the question why should we do our best since it doesn't matter). Saddest of all, they are forced to believe when we die there is nothing else. We simply die and it is over. How sad is this life if this is all there is. This is why the non-believer often lives a very hedonistic lifestyle since in their mind this world is all there is. They MUST try to enjoy every moment since in their mind there is nothing else. The fact is, for the non-believer this life will be the closest to Heaven they will ever get, and for the Christian, this world will be the closest to Hell they will ever get.

Lastly, you make sure you share with them what Jesus has done in your life. How the Lord has impacted your life is something they can't just dismiss. They may laugh at you, they may tell you that you just imagined "God" or "Jesus" did this, but in the end, they can't dismiss the reality of what has happened in your life. They can deny God, Jesus, the Bible for themselves, but they can't deny what Christ has done in your life. Again, all of this is not going to get them to change their mind at that moment, but it will cause them to think. THAT is your goal.

I love you and care about you so much. I want to encourage you today to NOT be afraid of those people in your life who have chosen to reject God, Jesus, and the Bible. Never forget, Jesus died for their sins just like He died for your sins and mine. You can't force them to accept Jesus, but you can still reach out to them in Christ's love and share the hope you have in Him. The three ways to handle this type of person is to pray for them, force them to share their beliefs, and share what Christ has done in your life. Even those with the most hardened heart will at least pause for a moment, and that is all you want to happen. At that point, pray the Holy Spirit will have some room to operate and they will listen to that "still small voice" inside.

I will be praying for you today. Never forget no heart was more hardened towards Christ than that of Saul of Tarsus. But one day on the Damascus Road, Saul met Jesus and become gloriously transformed into Paul, a man who lived one of the greatest Christian lives ever. There is no heart too hard for God! Pray for those people in your life who have rejected God, Jesus, and the Bible. Pray that like Saul, they too will have an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ and confess Him as their Savior. It is God's desire to see ALL come to repentance, that NONE be lost.

If you have read this today, and have been living in rejection of God, Jesus, and the Bible, I want you to know that I care about you. This life is not an accident, it is not a coincidence. There is a very real God who not only created the heavens and the earth, but created you in His own image. He loves you. When this brief life is over, it doesn't end. We will live for eternity. The only decision we have to make is where that eternity will be spent, forever WITH God our Creator, or forever apart from God our Creator.

He loved you enough that He sent His Son Jesus to this earth to die for YOUR sins. The Bible says that TODAY is the day of salvation. I would invite you to go to, www.liveprayer.com/bdy_salvatn.html. Pray to ask God to open your heart, read the words, pray the prayer, and accept today God's free gift to you of everlasting life through faith in Jesus Christ.

In His love and service,

Your friend and brother in Christ,

Bill Keller