Avoid Cheating

Good morning, Happy Souls!

Bill Keller wrote a devotional today that I
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.


Have you ever been tempted to cheat?  Did you imagine
that no one would know.  Cheating can wreck lives
worse than many sins.  Please read on.

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL   THURSDAY MARCH 9, 2006
( Proverbs 13:5, Hebrews 13:18 )

Cheating dishonors God.  One of the early lessons
most learn as a child is that cheating is wrong. 
Period.  It is not something that you can debate
or make exceptions for, it is always wrong 100%
of the time.  One of the breakdowns in our society
these past 40 years is the attitude of people
towards cheating.  The sad reality of the world we
live in today is that cheating is not only accepted,
but condoned as long as you don't get caught.
Today, I want to deal with this whole issue of
cheating and challenge those who love the Lord to
be men and women of honor, not dishonor which is
what a cheat is.

News broke Tuesday about a book coming out next week
by two writers from the San Francisco Chronicle that
catalogs and documents the use of steroids and other
performance enhancing drugs by baseball superstar
Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants.  Bonds has
been suspected for many years of using steroids to
enhance his performance on the field.  Never before
in baseball history has a player had their
productivity increase after the age of 35 like
Bonds.  Steroids not only makes an athlete stronger,
but just as important, allows their body to recover
quicker keeping them on the field each day playing
at their highest level.

The upcoming book, "Game of Shadows," uses as one of
its many sources, interviews, cell-phone records,
answering-machine tapes, and documents from Bond's
long-time mistress.  Sadly, Bonds not only cheated
in playing baseball, but he also cheated on his wife
and family.  The fact is, Bonds was already a
baseball superstar, possibly even a Hall of Famer
prior to his involvement with steroids.  Cheating
has not only tarnished his career, but will
undoubtedly cause great pain to his family and others
in his life.  Remember this, when you cheat, you will
eventually be caught.

"You have set our iniquities before you, our secret
sins in the light of your presence." 
(Psalms 90:8 NIV)

I know in my own life the pain I caused myself, my
wife, and others close to me when I made the
decision to cheat many years ago.  It was 1988, I
had the opportunity to get involved in a scheme to
trade the stock market on inside information.  Even
though I knew it was illegal, Satan, the great
justifier, told me that nobody was really getting
hurt and I wouldn't get caught.  Sadly, we forget
when we listen to satan, we are listening to a LIAR! 
John 8:44 calls him the "father of lies."  He is
always there, quick to lie to us to help us justify
why it is OK to cheat.  Of course, less than a year
later my cheating was exposed and I would eventually
spend 31 months of my life in Federal Prison. 
( http://www.weeklyplanet.com/2003-12-04/cover.html )

Never forget my friend, that your secret sins will
be exposed one day.  What you do in the dark so
nobody else can see will eventfully be seen in
the light.  If you are cheating at work or at school,
if you are cheating on your taxes, if you are
cheating someone out of money or property, if you
are cheating on your spouse, if you are cheating at
a game, if you are cheating in any way you will
eventually be caught.  As I share with you often,
sin always carries a big price, a price much
greater than we ever dreamed we would have to pay.

This is a huge issue in our society today since we
now have the largest percentage of two-full
generations who have never been to church and have
grown up in homes void of God and Biblical Truth. 
We have so many children growing up in busted,
blended, unstable homes where basic values like
honesty are not being taught or reinforced. 
Subsequently, we live in a culture now where
cheating at every level is pretty much acceptable,
again, as long as you don't get caught.  Baseball
knew Barry Bonds was cheating, but until now when
documented, irrefutable proof was put forth, they
simply ignored it and let it happen.

The heart of all the recent high-profile corporate
scandals from Martha Stewart to Enron to WorldCom
to Tyco to Adelphia are all about this same
thing, cheating.  Again, the stance of our society
today is that cheating is not only acceptable but
often encouraged...as long as you don't get caught,
then every one acts outraged and incredulous at
how people could do such a thing.  This is another
reason why now more than ever, the people of God
have got to rise up and take a stand for
righteousness.  We can start by living our lives
each day with honor and integrity.

I love you and care about you so much.  As followers
of Christ, it has to be our desire, our goal to be
like our Lord.  Jesus was truth!  (John 14:6,
John 8:32, 36, Hebrews 6:18)  To be like Jesus, we
have to be people of truth.  Don't forget, satan is
a liar.  When we lie, when we are dishonest, when
we cheat, we are not acting like Jesus but like
satan.  We live in a world that is lost in sin,
listening only to the lies of satan, so it is no
wonder why people cheat.  They don't know how to
live any other way.  That is why those who know the
Lord have got to rise up and be counted in these
last days and lead people into righteousness.

I will be praying for you today.  Praying that you
will take some time today and evaluate your life. 
Are you cheating in any area of your life?  If
you are, STOP NOW before it destroys you.  God is
speaking to many of you through this message today. 
He is trying to get your attention by tapping you
on your shoulder.  Trust me, the next time He taps,
it may be with a 2x4 on the back of your head, or
maybe a steel pole for those like me who have extra
thick skulls.  A tap on the should can be
convicting, but it is better than the pain of that
2x4 or steel pole.

Barry Bonds is only 6 home runs from passing Babe
Ruth and 48 from passing Hank Aaron to become the
all-time home run king in baseball history.  Even
if he does set these records, he will always be known
as a cheater.  Rather than enjoy the adulations as
one of the greatest to ever play the game, he will be
scorned and rejected by most who will only remember
him for being a cheater.  Pray for Barry Bonds and
his family today.  I have no idea where he is with
the Lord, but now more than ever, he needs Christ in
his heart and life.

While you may never be as famous or as well known as
Barry Bonds, you are known by your family and friends,
by the people you go to school with, work with,
recreate with, and go to church with.  Do you want
to be known as a person of honor and integrity,
someone who lives a life that exemplifies what being
a man or woman of God is supposed to be like?  Or
will you cheat in different areas of your life, get
caught, and be known by those people in your life as
just that, a cheater?  The choice is yours.  You can
dishonor God by being a liar and cheater, or honor
God by being a man or woman of honor, integrity, and
the truth!!!

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:
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(C) Copyright 2006, Bill Keller Ministries.
All rights reserved


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May God bless you as you learn from this message!

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2006 Donald W. Mitchell