Witness Your Faith

Good morning, Happy Souls!

Bill Keller wrote a wonderful devotional yesterday
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.

Read on.

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

DAILY DEVOTIONAL   FRIDAY JANUARY 13, 2006
( 1 Peter 3:15 )

Challenging what men and women of God have to say,
challenging what you SAY you believe.  Witnessing
our faith to others is probably the most important
thing we have been COMMANDED to do, not suggested to
do, in which we often fail.  The reason is simple. 
We are afraid of how the person we witness to will
react.  Will they be mad?  Will they be offended? 
Will they get physically violent?  WILL THEY
CHALLENGE WHAT WE TELL THEM?

BINGO!  That my friend, is the number one reason we
don't witness like we should.  We are actually
petrified that we will be challenged and forced to
actually explain why we believe what we say we
believe.  Don't feel bad, because the fact is a
large percentage of pastors, church leaders,
conference speakers, teachers, evangelists and those
who run Christian ministries are equally as timid in
sharing their faith in Christ because they are never
challenged nor forced to defend their faith!

Let me ask you a question.  When was the last time
you were in a church service, the pastor was
preaching, and someone in the congregation stood up
and challenged something he just said?  How about
the last time you were at some conference.  There is
an auditorium full of people and in the middle of
the message, someone stood up and asked the speaker
to explain what they meant.   How about when you
attended a great crusade with tens of thousands
of people.  As the evangelist is going through the
message, someone came to the front and tells the
evangelist he is wrong about what he just said.
Have you EVER seen this happen?

I am not suggesting that people be rude or
disrespectful.   The point I am making, however, is
that pastors, conference speakers, teachers,
evangelists, those you see on TV or hear on radio,
are allowed to speak and say whatever they want
without ever being confronted or challenged.  In
many churches, the pastor shows up on Sunday
morning, enters the building through a special
entrance, goes into his office surrounded only by a
few of his staff, enters the sanctuary through a
special door by the podium, climbs into the pulpit
and delivers his sermon, exits the sanctuary through
that special door, goes back to his office, leaves
the building through the same special entrance he came
in by, and is gone.  Even if there is interaction with
the people, it is rarely not confrontational nor does
anyone question anything he said in his sermon.

When you are dealing with conference speakers,
teachers, evangelists, leaders of Christian ministries,
those who are on TV or the radio, their interaction
with the people is even less.  It is like going to a
rock concert.  The lights are turned off, the stage
lights come on, and all of a sudden the "star" appears
on stage.  They "perform" and then are gone.  No
contact with the people, never challenged regarding
anything they say, they just "appear," "perform," and
"disappear."  Because so many of these people spend
their entire lives in the "Christian trough," having
no real contact with the world outside of the church,
they could go their entire ministry without EVER
being challenged on ANYTHING they say!

One of the reasons pastors, conference speakers,
teachers, evangelists, ministry leaders are satisfied to
stay within the "trough" is because they never have to
be challenged in what they say or in what they believe.
This is also true of most Christians.  The reason most
people don't share their faith with their unsaved
family members, their friends, their neighbors, those
they work with or go to school with is because they
really don't want to be challenged in what they say or
believe.  This is not only a violation of God's Word,
but keeps you from growing in your faith since it is
through having to share your faith, being challenged
in what you believe, that you grow and become 100%
confident in what you SAY you believe in.

I am not talking about being obnoxious and getting
into arguments with everyone you meet.  I am simply
talking about sharing your faith in Christ and being
prepared for people to challenge you, forcing you to
actually articulate what you believe.  In witnessing
to those who deny Christ, deny the Bible, even deny
God, I allow the person to speak.  Rather than argue
with them, I keep asking them questions about their
beliefs, forcing them to have to articulate what they
really believe.  After you get past their "talking
points" on why they don't believe, they are usually
lost when they have to explain why they reject Christ,
the Bible, and even God.  That is the beauty of the
Christian faith.  Our faith makes sense, logical
sense, and is easy for someone to understand even if
they don't accept it.

The Bible tells us to, "Always be prepared to give
an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason
for the hope that you have."  (1 Peter 3:15) Don't
ever be afraid of being challenged regarding your
faith, look forward to it.  When you have to explain
your faith, it forces you to solidify in your own
heart and mind exactly what you believe.  It will
force you to actually dig into the Word of God and
find out what God says, not what you "feel" about
an issue.  The end result is that you begin to have
a new appreciation for God's inspired, inerrant
Word, that represents absolute truth and is our
final authority in all matters.  YOU ACTUALLY HAVE TO
REALLY BELIEVE WHAT YOU SAY YOU BELIEVE TO DEFEND IT!!!

I can assure you as someone who writes daily to a
worldwide audience of over 2 million people, over
1/3 of those people not Believers, as someone who 5
nights a week takes phone calls unscreened and
"live" on a TV program broadcast only on secular
stations with an audience that is 90% non-Christian,
you better not only know what you believe but be
able to articulate it and support it with the
authority of God's Word or you will be eaten alive. 
It forces me to stay in God's Word and on my knees
daily seeking His wisdom.  As I sit here typing these
words today, I know, that I know, that I know, that I
know.  Despite the enemy and his lies, there is not
one ounce of doubt in my heart and mind that ALL of
God's Word is true exactly as He wrote it, and JESUS
IS LORD!

I love you and care about you so much.  I will be
praying today for those pastors, as well as
conference speakers, teachers, evangelists, and
those in leadership in Christian ministries to make
it a point to find opportunities to share your faith
with those who are lost, outside of the church,
people who don't know who you are, as a way of not
only fulfilling what God has called all of His children
to do, but to test and sharpen your faith in Christ. 
I will be praying for all of you who know Christ as your
Savior to become more bold in sharing your faith in
Christ with those people God has placed in your life who
are without hope and lost in their sin.  In sharing your
faith with others, in being confronted and challenged,
it will force you to take a real stand for the Lord and
for the Truth of God's Word.

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
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***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 2006, Bill Keller Ministries.
All rights reserved

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

May God bless you as you learn from this message!

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2006 Donald W. Mitchell

Knowing God's Will

Good morning, Happy Souls!

Bill Keller wrote a wonderful devotional yesterday
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.

Read on.

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

DAILY DEVOTIONAL   THURSDAY JANUARY 12, 2006
(Psalms 143:10, Matthew 12:50,  Romans 12:1)

Are you in the will of God?  Without a doubt one of
the most common emails I get each day are from people
concerned whether they are "in the will of God" or
not.  They are concerned if they are where "they are
supposed to be."  This should be a concern of every
follower of Christ since it is our desire to serve
and glorify the Lord with our lives, to please Him. 
Being in the will of God is important in being a
loyal follower and servant of the Lord.

Before I could deal with this issue today, I had to
lay the foundation yesterday in the Devotional on
hearing the voice of God.  Obviously, if we don't
know how to "hear God's voice," it makes following
Him very difficult.  We need to be able to hear God
to insure we are in His will and where He wants us to
be.  Don't forget that the 4 most common ways we hear
God is through His Word, through our time in prayer,
through others, and through our circumstances.  God
speaks to us in all these ways and is ALWAYS
speaking to us.  It is up to us to always be listening!

When it comes to being in the will of God, I find that
most Believers ARE!  They are right where God wants
them to be for this season of their life.  Most who are
seriously trying to follow Christ are not living in
wanton and purposeful rebellion to the Lord and are
trying their best to honor Him with their lives each
day.  God knows your heart my friend.  He knows your
desire is to please Him.  The message I want you to
hear loud and clear today is to be at peace.  Unless
you are purposely living in rebellion to God, you
are right where He wants you for today!!!

Who else but satan is planting those seeds of doubt
in your mind?  Remember my friend, satan is a LIAR! 
He wants you to believe that you are out of God's
will, that you aren't where God really wants you and
doing what God really wants you to be doing.  Satan
is so nasty that he will even lie to those serving
the Lord that they are out of God's will in their
service!  Please, don't listen to the lies of satan
and let him rob you of your peace and joy in serving
Christ.  God wants you to be free as you serve Him
each day, not bound up in confusion over whether you
are in the will of God or not.

Listen to me, here is the key.  It all goes back to
the same things it takes to be in tune to hear God's
voice as He speaks to you throughout each and every
day, and that is your intimate, daily time with Him
in the Word and in prayer.  When God wants you to do
something for Him, He will tell you.  He tells you
through passages of Scripture that you read.  He
tells you through that "still small voice" as you
pray.  It is God who gives you the inspiration to
serve Him.  Where do you think you get the passion
for the things you care about?  FROM GOD!  God
gives each of us the passions and desires we have
in our life.

He may give one person a passion for the lost
around the world, and out of that passion give them
the desire to serve Him by taking missionary
journeys.  He may give another person a passion for
communications, and out of that passion give them
the desire to use the broadcasting industry to
serve Him.  He may give yet another a passion for
the poor, and out of that passion lead them to serve
him by working with people who are struggling simply
to have the basics of life like food, clothing, and
shelter.  It is out of the passions and desires that
God gives each of us, that He guides and directs us
in our service for Him.

As we begin to pursue the things we are passionate
about, God will open and close doors along the way
to guide us.  He will bring people of similar
passions into our life.  Opportunities will arise at
church or through a ministry or some organization for
us to serve Him.  God will guide our steps, put us
on the path He wants us to be on as we keep our
hearts open to Him and are yielded and available for
His service.  God has called all of His children to
serve Him. As we step forward to serve the Lord, He
will use us to further His Kingdom and for His glory.

I love you and care about you so much.  I know that
many of you are struggling with the question of being
in the will of God, of being where God wants you to
be and doing the things God wants you to do.  Let me
give you the assurance that unless you are willfully
living in rebellion to God and His Word, you are for
the most part right where God wants you to be!  God
is always tweaking us, moving us a little to the
left, a little to the right, but for the most part
you are right where God wants you for this season
of your life.  So have peace over that truth!

However, that is why it is so critical to stay tuned
into the voice of God each and every day.  You never
know when God may be saying it is time to change. 
Change jobs, change where you live, get involved in
some new hobbies, start going to a new church, start
serving Him in some different capacities.  Like any
good soldier, we have got to be ready at all times
for new orders to come down from our Commander. 
But don't fear, God will clearly and over time show
you when it is time for change.  He will confirm
it to you in many different ways and clearly open
and close doors in your life as additional signs to
guide you.

Listen my friend, there is NOTHING in this lifetime
more exciting than being in the center of God's
perfect will.  It is that sweet place of
indescribable peace and joy that makes waking up
each day something you look forward to.  You go
through your day with great ease, not like you are
carrying a baby grand piano on your back.  You have
the channel with God's voice open at all times and
your choices, your actions, are all guided by the
Spirit of God and not by you.  It is that special
place where you know deep down inside that you are
fulfilling your purpose as you serve and glorify
the Lord with your life.

Let me encourage you today to never forget that God
loves you so much.  He DOES have a specific plan
and purpose for your life.  The fact is we often
don't know exactly what that plan and purpose is. 
But we have the assurance that as long as we are
living in obedience to the Lord, doing our best to
follow His Word, and are yielded to His Sprit, we
will be right where God wants us to be and doing
the things God wants us to be doing.  Your life
matters!  You are part of God's plan!  As you wake
up each day and give your life afresh to the Lord
you will be in His perfect will!!!

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 2006 Donald W. Mitchell