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  NOVEMBER 24, 2005
( 1 Thessalonians 5:18 )


On this day we celebrate as Thanksgiving, we have
so much to be thankful for.  I want to point out
an aspect of this great verse in Paul's letter to
the church at Thessalonica that is usually
overlooked and almost never preached on.  While we
are so thankful today for all of God's blessings,
this verse requires a great amount of maturity
because it says give thanks in ALL things.  How
quickly we run over those words without ever
thinking about the true meaning.  In this society
where we are so focused on winning, so focused on
the positive, so focused on things being in a
state of perfection....God tries His best to help
us be realistic about this sinful world we live in.

Aside from our own sinfulness, we live in a world
that is infested with sin in every nook and cranny
of our existence.  Jesus, trying to prepare His
disciples for the reality of living in this world
without Him, trying to make them understand that
despite the close intimate relationship they had,
told them that in this world they would have
problems and things would not always be perfect. 
This verse tell us that every day we should give
thanks in "all" things.

Spiritual maturity comes in when you understand that
this verse is actually telling you to give thanks
not only for those things you look at as good, but
also the bad things that happen to you as well. 
That is hard for us to understand why we should be
thankful for those terrible things that happen to
us along life's journey, but we have no way of
knowing the mind of God, we have no way of
understanding completely His plan or purpose, we
just can't comprehend all of the things God does in
the situations we live through.  It is hard to
imagine giving thanks for things like marriage
problems, divorce, the death of a loved one,
financial difficulties, health problems, strife with
friends, problems in your local fellowship,
difficulties on the job, and any other bad things
we experience in life.  Hard to imagine.

But when you realize that God is still on the
throne, that He is still in control, then you by
faith, have to thank Him and trust even in those
bad situations.  He is working on your behalf and
will not let you down. As painful as the experience
must be, we have to thank Him because He is often
perfecting us for work in the future.  We give
thanks out of obedience, and out of faith that God
knows what He is doing in allowing those bad things
we live through in our life to occur.

I realize that today would be a great day to just
say some warm and fuzzy things to make us feel good. 
It is a holiday, many are with family.  The Christmas
season is upon us.  We have so much to be thankful
for.  But the job God gave me was not to give you
something each day to just make you feel good, but
to challenge you to a closer daily walk and to help
you grow spiritually.  Many problems that I see
each day occur because people have been given too
much "feel good" talk, and not adequately prepared for
the reality of this life in relationship to their life
in Christ.  When the storms come, they just aren't
equipped to handle the onslaught.

The one thing that I will never do is hold back,
compromise the Word of God, or tell you something
just to make you feel good.  I will tell you the
truth, God's Truth right from the Bible, in an
attempt to help you be prepared for living a
victorious and productive life for Christ.  In
these last days, He needs bold, mature, fearless
men and women to do the work necessary here on
earth.  It is no accident that you are getting these
Devotionals, and no accident that you read them. 
God is speaking to you through these daily writing
to sharpen you, prepare you, encourage you to be
all He has called you to be.

I love you and care about you so much.  I am so
grateful for you.  Your love and prayers have been
an inspiration to me personally and to our people
here at Liveprayer.com.  We are pressing forward
each day.  Thank you again for standing with me,
for praying,  for giving, for helping us add people
to our Daily Devotional list and letting others
know about Liveprayer.com.  My thoughts and prayers
are with you this day.  I am truly thankful for
you.  For those traveling may His mercies be with
you as you go to and from your destinations.  For
those of you going through the fire today,
remember...give thanks in ALL things!!!

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!

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell

Pray for Your Enemies to Live Better than a Billionaire

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   SUNDAY NOVEMBER 20, 2005
(Matthew 5:44)

There was once a man named Saul of Tarsus.  To the
early Christians he was an evil man.  He sought to
kill those who followed Jesus Christ.  One day on
the road to Damascus, God visited Saul.  Saul of
Tarsus became Paul, one of the most powerful
Christians that ever lived.  A man God used to
write a good portion of the New Testament and plant
many of the early churches that still exist today.
I have no doubt that those in the early church
followed the example of Jesus and PRAYED FOR SAUL!!!
Be like Jesus, and pray for your enemies.

Praying for your enemies.  I am about to give you a
quick spiritual test. What is your attitude towards
your enemies?  We all have those people in our life
that we just can't get along with.  We all have
those people in our life that don't like us.  We all
have those people in our life that do not wish us
well.  What is your attitude towards those people?
It is easy to like your friends, but how do you feel
about those who do not like you?  On the ladder of
spiritual maturity, this is a very big rung.  How we
feelabout and deal with those people in our life that
are NOT our friends, is a major indicator of our
spiritual growth and maturity.

Of course, our perfect example in this area is
Jesus.  How did He handle those who were involved in
His death?  He loved them, He forgave them, and He
prayed for them.  This becomes the standard that we
must work to achieve in this area.  We must love
those who hate us.  We must forgive those who mean
to do us harm.  We must pray for those who are out
to get us.  You see, the Bible says the Lord will
fight for us, that the "battle is the Lord's."  The
reason God fights for us is that we can get so weary,
so worn out, that we become ineffective for God.  We
become so distracted in fighting those who oppose us,
we lose sight of our mission which is to serve and
glorify Him with our lives.

I realize today that you have people in your life
that wish only the worst upon you.  Love those
people today, pray for them.  Anyone that has
allowed bitterness to become such a stronghold in
their life needs our prayers.  Those who allow
bitterness and hatred to creep into their life are
to be pitied.  They are hurting themselves, so out
of that hurt, lash out on those around them.  Pray
for them.  Pray the Lord will grant them peace.
Pray the Lord will take the hatred and bitterness
from them and replace it with peace and joy.
Love them.

How?  In our own strength, it is NOT POSSIBLE to
love or pray for our enemies.  That is when we need
to tap into the strength only God can give us.  In
our own strength, it is virtually impossible to
love and pray for our enemies.  But when we let God
take over, when we call upon His strength, it is
possible.  AND THIS IS WHAT THE LORD IS CALLING YOU
TO DO TODAY!!

Make a list right now of everyone in your life that
means you harm.  Make a list of your enemies.  My
suggestion is that you call each one, or meet with
each one and tell them you love them, forgive them,
and are praying for them.  If communicating with
them is not possible, at least sit down each
morning, and pray for them.  THIS IS WHAT GOD IS
CALLING YOU TO DO TODAY!!!!

I love you and care about you so much.  I realize
that these are difficult words to hear, and even
more difficult to put into action.  Trust me,
there is a key of freedom attached with what I am
telling you today.  A freedom that you cannot
begin to understand.  This is a test, a spiritual
test.  I will pray for you today that you pass it
with flying colors.  It is no accident that you are
reading these words today.  God is clearly speaking
to you.

Take a few minutes right now and pray for all of
those in your life that are not your friends, those
who are against you.  Pray for their souls and then
pray the Lord will bless them and open their hearts
to His love. God is calling you today to rise above
the day-to-day emotions of life.  Realize that the
wars we fight are not of this earth, not of flesh
and blood, but are spiritual.  Pray for your enemies
today, and be like Jesus!!!

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!

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell

Expand Your Spiritual Library and Readings Better than a Billionaire

Good morning, Happy Souls!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly hope so. I know that I am!

While visiting in South Florida, my son took me to a class in developing your Christian faith that he helps facilitate. Most people who attended were newly reborn Christians. They had that bright light in their eyes that makes it such a joy to work with those who have found Jesus.

The subject was baptism, an area that many people feel is pretty cut and dried. The session began with a multi-media presentation of the basic points about baptism, and then the class broke up into round table discussion groups where a moderator raised questions, encouraged everyone to participate and shared deeper knowledge.

Our discussion leader was Tim, and he immediately impressed me. He was excited to play this role. You could feel the fire of the Holy Spirit within him. He showed an astonishing knowledge of the Bible. Since baptism is a Christian rather than a Jewish practice, I naturally expected that we would be only hearing about the New Testament. But Tim pulled in material from the Old Testament with equal avidity and grace. Without any notes, he could refer to chapter and verse in an unerring way. He also cited books that he had read about baptism and referenced powerful metaphors to help explain the Bible's injunctions about baptism. He surprised most of us with reference to the appropriateness of baptism by sand. We ended in extended prayer. It was both a holy and a wholly satisfying experience.

Tim's ability to access biblical verses made me realize that perhaps I should expand my reading to non-biblical texts that focus on Christian topics of importance to me. Although I doubt if I will ever have the memory that Tim displayed, I could certainly begin to have integrated and more detailed views of what the whole Bible says about various important subjects.

Yesterday, I wandered over to the religious books section of Barnes & Noble and was immediately impressed that it was one of the largest sections in the store (even bigger than best sellers, dieting, relationships and self-improvement). I was fascinated by what I found. There are texts for finding texts. And of course, there are books on every possible Christian subject.

A thought hit me: Why not give Christian books as gifts for Christmas this year? What could be more appropriate?

But what books? I'm not familiar with these texts.

I realized that I need to speak with my minister and seek some guidance.

But I also think I'll ask Tim. I'll bet he's read quite a few books and knows which ones are best.

Let's make it a New Year's resolution, also, to expand our spirituality by adding books and reading them that help us understand the Bible better.

Can a billionaire do any better? I doubt it.

A billionaire can certainly afford to buy all of the in-print books in the world. But that doesn't mean that the billionaire will have read and understood those books. And while the billionaire is doing her or his reading, contemplating and praying, he or she runs a large risk of being distracted by some minor matter related to vast wealth. I would rather be solely focused on God.

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

N.B. As you can tell, I'm experimenting with color. Let me know what you like and what I should change about my use of color. Many thanks to Linda Grace for her suggestions which I am following!

Please let me know what else you would like to learn, and I'll do my best to help in future blog entries.

Thanks so much for your support of this blog. I'm delighted that so many tens of thousands of people have made this blog part of their regular reading habit!

If you like this blog, please let others know who might also enjoy it. E-mailing your favorite post to them is a great idea.

Thank you to my many friends, students, clients and blog readers who are spreading the good word about this blog.

If you are visiting today because someone invited you, I'm delighted to meet you! Let's stay in touch.

Remember to also visit

Be More Successful than a Billionaire at http://bemoresuccessfulthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Create Your Own 2,000 Percent Solutions at
http://2000percentsolutions.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Mansions Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoymansionsbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Football Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoyfootballbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/ and

Be a World Hero Better than a Billionaire at http://beaworldherobetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/.

I am available to you as a speaker on these subjects. You can find my background at http://livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars.blogspot.com/2005_08_30_livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars_archive.html/.

May God bless you.

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell