Live in Victory!

Good morning, Happy Souls!

Bill Keller wrote a wonderful devotional today
that I highly recommend to you.  He has given
me permission to copy his e-mails, and I'm sure
he would be happy if you would share this with
people you know as well.

*********************************************

DAILY DEVOTIONAL   THURSDAY DECEMBER 1, 2005
(John 16:33, 1 Corinthians 15:24, Revelation 3:21)

***CHRISTMAS PASSAGE:  "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of
you will come for me one who will be ruler over
Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient
times." (Micah 5:2 NIV)

Living in victory or defeat , it is up to you!!!  I
want you to give you a word of encouragement today
that you don't have to live in defeat, but YOU CAN
LIVE IN VICTORY!  Even more important, you have 100%
control over whether you live in victory or defeat! 
That is right.  YOU, and nobody else holds the key
to whether you live in victory or defeat.  This is a
powerful, life-changing word today so please open
your heart and receive what God is saying to you. 
You don't need to go hear the latest motivational
guru of the day, or buy the latest books and tapes
on being successful, just open your heart and
receive this powerful Truth that living in victory
is up to you and nobody else!

I know that many of you reading these words today
are in a major crisis in your life.  You are facing
what seems to be insurmountable odds in your
finances, in your health, in your marriage, on your
job, with your children, in battling an addiction,
or whatever your situation may be today.  As you
face these very real struggles, you see nothing but
defeat.  Of course,nobody wants to live in defeat,
everyone wants to live in victory.  That is only
common sense.  But you have done and are doing
everything you can to turn things around.  However,
your finances are no better, your marriage is no
better, your health is no better, your job is still
a nightmare, your children are still living in
rebellion to God, you are still in some form of
bondage, you are not seeing any hope in whatever
your battle may be.  So you have every right to
question me when I state that living in defeat or
victory is up to you.

Here is the key to help you.  Living in victory
has nothing to do with the day-to-day circumstances
and challenges we face in our life.  I know most of
you didn't get that one, so let me say it again. 
Listen carefully.  Living in victory has NOTHING to
do with the day-to-day circumstances and challenges
we face in our life.  This is heavy so follow me. 
The fact is, you will ALWAYS have trials and
tribulations, challenges and battles to fight
throughout your entire life.  That is simply part of
living in this sin-filled and evil world we do. 
NOBODY is immune from the trials and tribulations of
life.  NOBODY.  It is part of EVERYONE'S life.  You
can still live in victory regardless what your
circumstances may be.  You can still live in victory
regardless what you are facing in your life today.

YOU CAN LIVE IN VICTORY TODAY BECAUSE OF JESUS!

Choosing to live in victory is the choice you make
when you choose to follow Jesus!  Jesus won the
victory on the cross 2000 years ago, and those who
choose to put their faith and trust in Him, invite
Christ into their heart and life by faith, live in
His victory no matter what may be going on in their
lives.  Remember that great old hymn, "Victory in
Jesus?"  It is true.  You see when you know Jesus,
you understand that in this life you will have
trials and tribulations, that you will have tests
along the way.  But because you know Jesus you have
already won the victory.  This world is not your
home, just a few short years of an eternal existence
with Christ.  No matter what you may have to face
and deal with in this life, it is but for a season
since your eternal home in Heaven is secure and
waiting for you.

The problems of this life are nothing but hurdles. 
You can either let them stop you, paralyze you, rob
you of your peace and joy and abundance, or you can
find a way to get over them.  There is no hurdle in
your life today that the Lord won't help you
overcome.  If your hurdle is finances, Jesus will
help you overcome it.  If your hurdle is a marital
problem, Jesus will help you overcome it.  If your
hurdle is a health issue, Jesus will help you
overcome it.  If your hurdle is a problem at work,
Jesus will help you overcome it.  If your hurdle
is a problem with your children, Jesus will help
you overcome it.  If your hurdle is an addiction of
some sort, Jesus will help you overcome it.  No
matter what your hurdle may be, JESUS WILL HELP YOU
OVERCOME IT!

That does not mean you will never have financial
problems, or health issues, or problems in your
marriage, or an issue with your employment, or
problems with your children, or battle some sort
of addiction, or face a whole host of other
problems.  Just hours before going to the cross,
Jesus told His disciples that in this world they
would have trials and tribulations.  He told them
that so they wouldn't be fooled into thinking that
just because they had chosen to follow Him they
would live without any problems.  That is
impossible since we are living in a fallen world
that for the most part operates in rebellion to God
and His Truth.  But Jesus encouraged them by saying,
"be of good cheer for I have overcome this world!"

That is why today I can say to you, living in
victory or defeat is up to you.  You can choose to
live a life of defeat by rejecting Jesus Christ
and not only deal with the problems of this life,
but live without the hope of tomorrow.  Your defeat
is NOT in the problems of this life but in the fact
that when you die, you will live for all eternity
apart from God your Creator.  By choosing to accept
Christ as your Savior, you have a new strength to
face life's problems, to overcome life's problems,
but most important the hope of tomorrow in knowing
that when your brief journey is complete you will
spend all eternity with God your Creator!!!

I love you and care about you so much.  Living in
victory has nothing to do with the circumstances
you are facing in your life today.  There will
always be problems to deal with, always be hurdles. 
If you think back 10 years ago, you had problems in
your life.  It was God who saw you through those
problems.  If you think back 5 years ago, you had
problems in your life.  It was God who saw you
through those problems.  If you think back 6 months
ago, you had problems in your life.  It was God who
saw you through those problems.  The fact is, there
will always be problems living in this sin-filled
world that we do, but God is there to help you and
see you through whatever those problems may be!

Living a life of defeat or victory has nothing to
do with the day-to-day trials of life, but it has to
do with your relationship with Jesus Christ! You can
choose to live a life of defeat by rejecting Him, or
live a life of victory by accepting Him into your
heart and life by faith.  I will be praying for you
today as you make the choice to live a life of VICTORY!


In his love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller

***If I can help you in any way you can contact me
through my personal email at bkeller@liveprayer.com

***ARE YOU 100% CERTAIN WHERE YOU WILL SPEND
ETERNITY?  The fact is you will die one day.  At
that moment, you will either spend eternity with
the Lord or be cast into everlasting darkness
forever separated from God your creator.  To know
for certain you will be forever with Jesus, go to:
http://www.liveprayer.com/bdy_salvatn.html

***GET YOUR FREE LPeMAIL ACCOUNT!  Never miss
receiving your Daily Devotional again.  LPeMail is
an effective email SPAM filtering application
that most ISP's charge $10/mo, for FREE!  Get your
LPeMail account now at: www.lpemail.com.

***I am excited to let you know that the Liveprayer
Daily Devotional is now available via AUDIO each
day.  Simply go to
http://www.liveprayer.com/DailyDevotionalAudio.html
Also, you can now listen to the Daily Devotional by
phone by calling  toll-free,1-888-382-4662, or
access it on your wireless device by going to:
http://wapdd.com

(C) Copyright 2005, Bill Keller Ministries.
All rights reserved

************************************************

May God bless you as you learn from this message!

Merry Christmas!!

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell