Daily Devotional for Monday November 16, 2020

The Biblical case for not living together!

(1 Thessalonians 4:3-8, 5:22)

********Blessings! Liveprayer is trying to be silenced. Nothing new, we have dealt with it for 22 yrs now! If you have missed one or a few of your Daily Devotionals, it is your email provider blocking us. Hotmail mainly, but some Comcast and others. But OUR GOD HAS THE LAST WORD! Please go to this special info page I set-up to read all of the important details at: https://liveprayerchurch.com/block.cfm

***NOVEMBER FINANCIAL UPDATE: PRAISE GOD!!! We ended October with a shortfall of $55,000. So far, we have covered $10,000 leaving the final $45,000. We have covered $5,000 of that, and I am praying that we can cover the final $40,000 over the next few days leaving us the final 2 weeks of to take care of the $55,000 we require for our November ministry operations.

That is $95,000 by the end of November to go into December with all of our operations current! Looking at the $55,000 we will require for our December ministry operations, we require $150,000 over the final 47 days of the year!!! ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE WITH GOD!!!

Please pray about helping me, whether it is $10, $20, $50, $100, $1,000 or more, and give cheerfully unto the Lord as an act of worship! DON’T FORGET A GIFT OF $1,830 COVERS ONE DAY OF MINISTRY AT LIVEPRAYER!!!

*******As we near the end of the year, please be praying about a special one-time year-end gift to Liveprayer of $1,000, $2,000, $5,000, $10,000 or more since it may help you with your taxes for the current year.

TO GIVE A GIFT TO LIVEPRAYER, you can use your major credit card at: https://www.liveprayer.com/donate.cfm or you can mail your gift to: Liveprayer, 6660 46th Ave. North, St. Petersburg, FL 33709. All gifts to Liveprayer are 100% tax deductible!

***LIVE ON AFTER YOU ARE IN HEAVEN!!! By remembering God’s work here at Liveprayer in your will/estate planning, you can still help me share His Truth with the masses, be here for people in their time of greatest need, and help lead the lost to faith in Jesus even after God has called you home!!! God has led many of our friends in the Liveprayer family to remember His work here in their will. Please pray about this opportunity to continue and partner with me in the Lord’s work at Liveprayer, even after you are enjoying your rewards and the eternal peace of Heaven! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me at: bkeller@liveprayer.com

***DAILY PERSONAL PRAYER FOR YOU: Dear Lord, this nation is under Your judgment for our sin, wickedness, and rebellion. Help me to be courageous as I stand for You in these perilous times. Use me as a beacon of Your light in the darkness of our world today. Though our enemies surround us, the world around me curses You, help me to stand for Your Truth that will ultimately defeat the lies of satan. May the evil of this world become so apparent, people will begin to bow their knee to You in repentance knowing YOU are their only hope and only answer! In the name of Jesus…AMEN!!!

***THE DAILY LIVEPRAYER TV NUGGET: How to make sure you are not just living each day God grace’s you with, but making each day COUNT! Here is a simple but powerful challenge I have for you today, and the great thing is it is something each person can customize to their own life. I want you to take 10 minutes today, that is all, just 10 minutes. Pray for the Lord to open your heart and mind. Get a piece of paper and write down TODAY, ONE WEEK, ONE MONTH. Now, next to TODAY I want you to simply write in one thing, just one thing you want to accomplish before you go to bed in your spiritual life. IT IS TOTALLY UP TO YOU! Read one chapter from the Bible. Set aside 15 minutes to just pray and meditate on the Lord. Email someone a word of encouragement. Call someone you know who needs a kind word. Help a neighbor. The opportunities are endless and it is totally up to you and your life to make this decision. Next, write down one thing you want to accomplish over the next week in your spiritual life. Lastly, write down the one thing you want to accomplish over the next month in your spiritual life. Having these simple but clear goals for today, the next week, and the next month, keeps you focused on the fact that every day isn’t just another day of life, but a gift from God to use your life to grow spiritually in your personal life and be a blessing to God’s Kingdom! THIS IS TOO EASY TO NOT DO. IT IS NOT MEANT TO PUT ANY PRESSURE ON YOU, BUT TO HELP YOU STAY FOCUSED THAT EVERY DAY IS A GIFT FROM GOD AND TO MAKE SURE YOU USE SOME OF THAT GIFT FOR HIM!!!

*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!!!

If there is one recurring theme in most of my Devotionals, it is this. Our way does not work, and there is always a huge price to pay when we rebel against God. God's way does work, and there are always many blessings when we obey Him. That brings me to today's topic, is it OK for a man and woman who are not married to live together? The short answer to this question has two letters, and the first one is an N. But as important as the answer is, let's look at WHY living together is NOT part of God's plan.

The Biblical case for not living together is built in two areas, avoiding sexual sin and not giving people the impression that your life is in blatant rebellion to God. The Bible is crystal clear about sex. It is a gift from God to be enjoyed by a man and a woman in the bonds of marriage. PERIOD! If you are married and engage in sexual acts OR THOUGHTS with someone other than your spouse, you have committed the sin of adultery. If you are not married and commit ANY sexual acts it is called fornication and is defined as sin all throughout the Bible. If you are not married and have exual thoughts about someone you have committed the sin of lust.

Are these high standards? ABSOLUTELY! God has called His children to live UP to a high standard, unlike the world that calls people to live DOWN to no standard at all. Like in all things, God's plan for sex is designed so that we can know the peace, the joy, and the abundance of this life. His ways are NOT designed to deprive us of the enjoyment that this life can offer, but to INSURE the enjoyment that this life can offer.

Those who follow God's way in regard to sex know the incredible joy it is when that most intimate of all activities is shared with the person that God has given you to be your partner for the rest of your life. Those who rebel and do it their way, know the pain and heartache of the consequences of their rebellion. Break-ups, children out of wedlock, lifetime diseases, depression, financial problems, low self-esteem, the list is endless. My friend, there is ALWAYS a huge price to pay when we do it our way and rebel against God. A bigger price than we ever dreamed of. So the first reason it is NOT God's plan for a man and woman to live together is to avoid sexual sin.

The second reason is also very important, and that is to avoid the appearance of evil. When someone sees two people living together, they automatically assume that they are also having sex. Even if they are not, it is what people who know them will think. The greatest testimony that we have is not what we say, but how we live our lives before this world. Our lives are the only Bible many people will ever read. As children of God, we are on-call 24/7. We are called "ambassadors of God." Even the most stone-cold heathen knows that God says sex outside of marriage is a sin. So when anyone sees people who are supposed to be Christians living together, it just adds to the impression that Christians are nothing but hypocrites. Living together destroys a person's testimony to this lost and unbelieving world.

Lastly, let me deal with a couple of answers that I get every time this issue is addressed. The first is, "We are getting married." Maybe you are, and maybe you are not. I deal daily with couples that are living together and were getting married....for the last 5 years! Living together is nothing more than a long date. There is NO COMMITMENT!

Get married, then you can live together with God's blessings! The other is, "We want to see if we are compatible." I am sorry, but that is what the dating/courting experience is all about. Getting to know one another. Spending time to see if you connect with one another. Taking the time for God to confirm to both of you that this is HIS plan for your lives. Building that spiritual foundation together. And please, don't give me the lame excuse many try that, "we want to see if we enjoy each other sexually." If you ever trusted me at all, trust me when I tell you this. Get married, do it God's way, and you will thoroughly enjoy that aspect of your relationship. GUARANTEED!

I love you and care about you so much. While this issue may seem obvious to most, it is a battle that many are struggling with. Many who are reading these words today are in this very state. My only question to you today is this, DO YOU WANT CONSEQUENCES OR BLESSINGS IN YOUR LIFE? God has given you His perfect plan for living together, it is called MARRIAGE.

I will pray for you today. I fully understand that it will not be easy emotionally, financially, and in many other ways to quit living in sin. But God will ALWAYS help us, God will always make a way for us to follow HIS plan. It all boils down to this choice. Are you going to live your way, in rebellion to God and deal with the consequences of your rebellion? Or, are you going to live God's way, in obedience to God and enjoy His blessings? If you are living together, you are in rebellion to God's way. PERIOD. NO EXCEPTIONS.

In His love and service,

Your friend and brother in Christ,

Bill Keller