Daily Devotional for Monday December 2, 2024

Don’t let anyone or anything steal your joy! and, “Be alert and of sober mind!”

DAILY DEVOTIONAL MONDAY DECEMBER 2, 2024

(1 Peter 5:8,9)

***PERSONAL MESSAGE FOR YOU FROM BILL KELLER: God's Word tells us to have a SOBER mind. That means a mind free from anything that will keep you from thinking straight, from being able to process the challenges each day brings, and making prayerful, God-led decisions throughout the day!

***DAILY PERSONAL PRAYER FOR YOU: Dear Lord, today I give You my burdens, my trials and tribulations. Instead of wasting precious time worrying about the trials of life, this day, show me how to serve You. Use my life today for Your Kingdom and be glorified through my service. Thank You for loving me enough to taking my burdens and my faith is in You today to work all things together for my good. No matter what life brings my way, I will always praise You!!! In the name of Jesus...AMEN!

***THE DAILY LIVEPRAYER TV NUGGET: God is the creator of all things good and perfect. Satan takes the perfection of God and perverts it, EVERYTHING! Even most people with hardened hearts, who hate God, have a soft spot for the Christmas season. We are all aware of the God-haters attempts to cleanse our culture of anything to do with God, such as the never-ending attempts around Christmas to remove public displays such a nativity scenes. However this Christmas, anything to do with this season is under attack in an attempt to ruin the “joy” this time of year brings out in most people! Never let anything take your peace, your joy, and that extra special joy we carry in our hearts during this most blessed time of the year!!!

*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

***DECEMBER FINANCIAL UPDATE: AMEN! Thanks to the help of many in the Liveprayer family, we cleared up the balance of our September shortfall and the first $15,000 of our October ministry operations. So as we head into December we still require the final $40,000 to clear up October, the $55,000 from November’s ministry operations, and the $55,000 for December’s operations.

That is a total of $150,000 to end 2024 with all of our ministry operations current. OUR GOD IS ABLE!!!

*******As we are now 31 days left until the end of 2024, please be praying about a special year-end gift to Livprayer! For many, a gift to God's work here will help on your taxes since you are either going to give the money to the government to waste, or to Liveprayer to get HIS Truth out to the masses and save souls!!!

The Bible teaches us to “give according to our ability to give.” For some that may be $10 or $20. For others it may be $50 or $100. Still others it may be $200, $500, $1,000, $10,000 or more. GOD WILL BLESS YOUR GIFT NO MATTER WHAT THE AMOUNT!!!

ALSO, DON'T FORGET A GIFT OF $1,800 COVERS ONE DAY OF MINISTRY AT LIVEPRAYER!!! I received this email recently, “Pastor Bill, My wife and I have just sold our last rental and God told us to tithe $1,800.00 to pay for a day of your ministry. Not looking for accolades, just that you know when you receive the check. Rest assured that we will still be making our regular weekly tithes."

TO GIVE A GIFT TO LIVEPRAYER, you can use your major credit card at: http://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!

*STOCKS! A great way to help Liveprayer is by donating stock. The transfer can be made in a way you get the full credit for your donation without having to pay any of the taxes you normally would on gains your stocks may have enjoyed. Contact me for information about this incredible way to help God's work here at Liveprayer: bkeller@liveprayer.com

*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

***Here are the social media sites where you can find Liveprayer and what is posted there: Facebook (1, 2, 3), Twitter (1, 2, 3), GAB ( 2, 3), Parler (2, 3), Clouthub (1, 2, 3), Rumble (2), TPN (2, 3), Gettr (2, 3), Telegram (2, 3), ROKU (1, 2). WE ARE ALSO NOW ON Sovren Media (2, 3), Mr. Pillow Mike Lindell's Frankspeech (2), Truth Social (2,3), and Frank Social (2,3). *Content posted: 1) Liveprayer TV “LIVE" Mon-Fri 11p-Mid EDT 2) Recent Liveprayer TV programs for “On Demand” viewing 3) Liveprayer Daily Devotional

***THE AUDIO OF THE TV PROGRAM IS NOW AVAILABLE ON MAJOR PODCASTING PLATFORMS!!! APPLE/I-TUNES: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/liveprayer-with-bill-keller/id1696186297

***ALEXA! You can now listen to the audio of the TV program on your ALEXA. The first time you need to tell ALEXA to "enable Liveprayer." After that, simply say, "Play Liveprayer"

***Please watch and share the exciting new Bill Keller Docudrama at: https://www.liveprayer.com/bill.cfm

***How you can help Liveprayer! 1) Pray for Bill and the ministry team each day. 2) Encourage people you know to sign-up for the Daily Devotional at: https://www.liveprayer.com/signup.cfm 3) Share the TV program with people you know: https://liveprayer.com/liveprayer-show-about.cfm Here are the social media sites where you can find Liveprayer TV ‘live”, Liveprayer Facebook, Liveprayer Twitter, and the Liveprayer Church ROKU channel. For ON-DEMAND viewing, Liveprayer GAB, Liveprayer Rumble, Liveprayer TPN, Liveprayer Gettr, Liveprayer Telegram, Liveprayer Sovren Media, and Liveprayer on Mr. Pillow Mike Lindell's Frankspeech and Frank Social and Liveprayer on Trump's Truth Social. 4) Pray about helping Liveprayer with a gift at: http://liveprayer.com/donate.cfm

***REVIVAL TOOL!!! Do your part in helping to bring revival to our nation each day in less than 15 minutes and without costing you one penny! Join others by making this part of your daily routine! Visit the Liveprayer Revival Tool and share it with others at: www.liveprayer.com/revival.cfm *ALSO, THE DAILY REVIVAL TOOL IS MY WAY OF DISCIPLING YOU TO HELP YOU GROW IN YOUR FAITH. SO IT SERVES A DUAL PURPOSE! HERE IS A SPECIAL LINK THAT GIVES YOU THE PAST 30 DAYS OF THE REVIVAL TOOL VERSE FOR THE DAY, DAILY TASK, AND PRAYER: https://liveprayer.com/bill/revivalcheck.cfm

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

This time every year is a special anniversary for me personally. 22 years ago, I made the decision to stop drinking alcohol. I am asked daily about how a Christian should deal with alcohol. There is one school of thought that says it is OK to have a drink as long as you don't get drunk since the Bible does NOT say having a drink is a sin, only being drunk is. The other school of thought is complete abstinence. Ultimately, this is a personal choice each person must make for themselves.

During the 10 years I was running from God, I drank, heavy at some times. I know what it is like to be drunk, drink so much you get sick, and have a hangover the next day. I have had all of these experiences. For the first 4 years of my ministry, I chose to follow the path of complete abstinence. When I went into the ministry I made the decision that drinking was not something I could do if I was serious about serving the Lord.

However, starting in 1996, I decided having a drink once in a while was not that big of a deal, so usually 2-3 times a month I would have a snifter of Cognac after dinner. I never drank in public, only at home. I was never drunk. It was simply a choice I had made several times a month to have a drink.

I will never forget in December of 2002. After dinner as I was relaxing, I went to get a drink and poured the last snifter out of a bottle of Remy Martin VSOP. As I sipped the last few drops I remember thinking to myself, drinking alcohol is something in my life that I would be better off not doing. I spent a few minutes in prayer and simply told God that I really didn't want to drink any more, and actually asked him to take the desire and taste away. 22 years later, I have not had a drop.

I quit drinking, not because I feared going to Hell, or that I was an embarrassment to God, but because it was simply the best choice for my life. I chose to quit drinking because I felt it was the best for me. For those of you who choose to have a drink, I am certainly not going to condemn you. I will say that as I have matured spiritually, it clearly does seem that abstinence is the best choice. However, that is something you and the Lord need to spend some quiet time chatting about.

Jesus drank wine. Fermented grapes, NOT grape juice. In that culture at that time, there was no Perrier, or even tap water. Wine was used in that day much like we use water today. Jewish scholars have reported that the day in day out wine drank in the days of Jesus had a very small alcoholic content.

I am not here to lay a guilt trip on anyone who has a glass of champagne on New Year's, or a glass of wine with dinner, or a beer every now and then. I have never been one to condemn people for the decisions they make, just try to point them to scripture and let the Holy Spirit deal with them. As I say so often, you cannot force someone to do something. It takes God moving on a person's heart to make someone change.

A scripture in the Bible that supports abstinence from alcohol I often use is 1 Corinthians 6:19. In context, this verse is dealing with our bodies in sexual matters, but it is also appropriate for use in the area of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. Rather than preach to you on the issue of alcohol, let me refer you simply to that one verse and ask you if you feel it is right to pollute the temple of the Holy Spirit with something like alcohol that can be harmful to you and alters your state of mind.

I am going to let you pray on that question and work it out with the Lord. For Christians, alcohol also becomes a stumbling block for those in your life who are not saved. Not only is it harmful to your temple, but it can also be a bad witness to those people in your life who don't know the Lord. Never forget, your strongest testimony is how you live your life before others.

One of the big problems with alcohol is that it can end up being a bondage for many. Like any bondage, God is able to deliver you whenever you are serious about quitting and ready to let Him help you. I will be in prayer today for you or anyone you know who is in bondage to alcohol. GOD IS STILL IN THE DELIVERANCE BUSINESS!

I love you, and care about you so much. I will be praying for you today as you spend time with the Lord and seriously consider your choice in regard to drinking. With the Holiday season in full swing, New Years in a few weeks, and the fact most people will be around alcohol, this is the perfect time to come to peace over this issue. God loves you so much, and only wants the best for your life. May the Holy Spirit guide you and lead you in your choice regarding alcohol.

In His love and service,

Your friend and co-laborer in His work,

Bill Keller