Have Faith in Jesus Rather than Yourself

Bill Keller wrote a devotional today that I recommend to
you for your consideration.  It has food for thought.  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.

There are many potential traps for the successful.  If
you think you've got it all figured out, you're in trouble!

I would like personally thank Jesus for healing my ailing
right shoulder that has been very painful for 18 months.
I was scheduled to go the doctor on Monday, but on Sunday
I listened to two healing services . . . and during the
prayer for healing in the second one my pain, stiffness
and loss of movement all disappeared.  Thank you, Jesus!

Please read on.

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DAILY DEVOTIONAL   WEDNESDAY JUNE 7, 2006
( Matthew 19:16-22 )

(16) Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what
good thing must I do to get eternal life?" 

(17)"Why do you ask me about what is good?"  Jesus replied. 
"There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life,
obey the commandments." 

(18)"Which ones?" the man inquired. Jesus replied, " 'Do
not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not
give false testimony,

(19)honor your father and mother,'and 'love your neighbor
as yourself.'"

(20)"All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do
I still lack?" 

(21)Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell
your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have
treasure in heaven.  Then come, follow me."

(22)When the young man heard this, he went away sad,
because he had great wealth.  (Matthew 19:16-22 NIV)

When we encounter Christ, what do we do?  Today's passage
of Scripture is that powerful story of the rich young
ruler.  It is a story I have incorporated into my personal
testimony that I have shared with millions over the past
16 years through live appearances, television and radio
broadcasts, print interviews, and over the Internet.  What
makes this encounter between the rich young ruler and
Jesus so moving is that it does not have a happy ending. 
When forced to choose between Jesus and the world, sadly,
this rich young ruler chose the world.  Today, many of you
are being confronted by Jesus, and just like this rich
young ruler, you have to choose.  Jesus, or this world.

The encounter between this rich young ruler and Jesus is
the same encounter people have with Christ everyday.  No
doubt this was a man who was very successful by the
world's standards.  He had all you could ever want in this
life.  However, deep down, he knew something was missing
in his life.  He had obviously heard about this teacher
named Jesus and approached Him one day, asking the Lord
what good deeds he must do to receive everlasting life.
This makes sense since successful people are usually very
goal oriented.  They are used to performing.  So it only
makes sense that even in spiritual matters, they are
looking for the bottom line, what do they have to do to
succeed.

This is why a cult like Scientology flourishes and appeals
to successful people, especially people in the
entertainment industry.  It is a cult strictly based on
works and money.  Successful people are used to buying
their way into the best clubs, the best restaurants,
buying the best cars, the best homes, the best of whatever
this world has to offer.  They understand the mentality of
work hard, achieve a goal, and purchase whatever you want. 
So when it comes to the spiritual side of their life, they
are ripe candidates for a lie from the pits of hell like
Scientology that tells a person that with enough good works
and enough money, they are assured of being part of the
spiritual elite, just like they are part of the elite in
this life.

Jesus shared with this rich young ruler some of the
commandments and the young ruler affirmed he had followed
those commandments.  Then Jesus shared with this young man
the price of following Christ.  He told this young ruler
to go sell all that he had, give it to the poor and then
come follow Him.  Now I have heard many people over the
years incorrectly use this passage of Scripture as an
indictment against having wealth.  That is NOT what Jesus
was saying.  Christ in His omniscience knew that as long
as this rich young ruler had all of his possessions, he
would never put Jesus first in his life.

You see my friend, when you have been blessed with lots of
material possessions, lots of money, the trap so many fall
into is thinking they are sufficient unto themselves, that
they don't need anyone else, even God. When you have the
ability to do whatever you want, go wherever you want to
go, buy whatever you want to buy, you get the false sense
that you are in control.  While having money and
possessions does give you a certain amount of control over
your life, there is still so much that you are NOT in
control of and never will be.  Your faith and trust is in
yourself and in your money, not in God.  In most cases, it
is not even the money as much as it is the power, the ego,
the pride that comes with having wealth and possessions. 
Those things are actually more difficult to let go of than
the money.

The sad ending of this encounter comes in the 22nd verse
when the Bible says, "he went away sad."  The bottom line,
He rejected Christ and chose the world.  When it came time
to make his choice, he chose his money and possessions
over Jesus.  This story is personal to me because there
were many times, not just once, during the decade of my
life that I was running from God and enjoying all of the
success this world could offer, when I had this same
encounter with the Lord.  In my case, He was not even
saying sell all I had.  He was simply saying, leave the
business world and come and follow me.  Time after time,
Christ gave me the opportunity to turn from the things of
the world and surrender my life to Him.  Time after time,
I chose the world over following the Lord.

I was blessed that God loved me enough to allow things to
happen in my life that caused me to finally surrender to
Him.  Sadly, it took losing everything, including my
freedom for that to happen.  How much easier my life would
have been if I had only listened to the Lord earlier.  A
short version of my testimony is on my website at
www.liveprayer.com under Founder's Testimony.  Also, here
is a link to a story done by a secular publication a year
ago that gives a very fair and detailed account of my
life, http://www.weeklyplanet.com/2003-12-04/cover.html .
We don't know whatever happened to the rich young ruler. 
I pray that at some point before he died, he did make the
choice to follow Christ.

I love you and care about you so much.  I know many of you
reading this today are like the rich young ruler.  You
know deep down inside that something is missing from your
life.  You have heard about Jesus.  In many cases, you have
done your best to follow God's commandments but I am here
today to tell you that isn't enough.  You see my friend,
you will never be good enough to earn everlasting life, that
is God's gift to you.  You can't earn it, you can't buy it,
it is only available by faith in His Son Jesus Christ. 
When you ask Christ into your heart and life by faith, you
are surrendering your life to Him.  The Bible proclaims that
it is no longer your life, but His.  He gave His life in
payment for your sins, and you in turn give your life to
Him.

Like the rich young ruler, like Bill Keller many times,
you can choose to reject Christ and hold onto your life. 
But think about it, what are you holding onto?  The reality
is, your life will be over one day, sooner than you think. 
At that point you will pass from this short journey into
eternity and those who don't know Christ as their Savior
will spend that eternity forever separated from God your
Creator.  What you do when you reject Christ is forfeit
the treasure of eternal life with Christ for a few days
of whatever scraps this world can offer.  Clearly not a
wise choice.

Today, you are having an encounter with Jesus just like
that rich young ruler did we read about in Matthew 19. 
You have a choice to make today, since the Bible
proclaims "today is the day of salvation."  Will you
choose Jesus, or go away sad.  If you want to choose Jesus
today, pray and ask God to open your heart, then read the
words at:  www.liveprayer.com/bdy_salvatn.html .

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

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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