Stand Firm in the Holy Spirit

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.

Do you ever feel tempted not to share your testimony
and not to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit?

Bill Keller has written a moving devotional about his
personal experience in that regard. 

Please read on.

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

DAILY DEVOTIONAL   FRIDAY APRIL 7, 2006
( Ephesians 6:11-17, 1 John 4:4 )

Satan will attack where it hurts you the most.  Breaking
news!  Satan doesn't play fair!  Like many boys growing
up, I used to watch "professional wrestling."  This was
before Vince McMahon and the highly polished and
produced sports entertainment of today.  In the old days
of Bobo Brazil, Gorgeous George, and the pioneers of
wrestling, they had what was called a "lights out" match. 
After the last match they would blink the lights and the
two combatants would fight without rules.  There were no
holds barred, anything was OK, it was simply a fight
until one person was left standing.

That is EXACTLY what fighting satan is like, no rules,
no holds barred, anything goes.  He will fight dirty, he
will attack you where you hurt the most in his attempt
to destroy you.  Make no mistake about it, his goal is
to destroy you!!! Jesus told us in John Chapter 10 that
the stated goal of the enemy is to "kill, steal, and
destroy."  His number one objective is to take out those
who serve Jesus.  If you know the Lord as your Savior by
faith, satan can't have your soul but he can do his best
to kill you, steal your testimony, and destroy your
ability to serve the Lord!

Jesus said, "The harvest is plentiful but the laborers
are few."  The biggest reason why there are not more
laborers is the voracious and never ending attacks of
satan.  Most people simply can't handle a confrontation
and don't want to be exposed to the relentless and never
ending attacks in their life.  I understand that.  The
vast majority who do serve, do so from a distance or from
what I call "behind the wall."  Most churches and
ministries are fighting "behind the wall" which affords
them security and protection from many of satan's
attacks.  The problem with fighting "behind the wall"
is that you can only do so much.  The real battles to be
fought and won are outside that wall.

Let me make this real easy to understand.  Have you ever
wondered why today we have more churches, more Christian
TV stations and programs, more Christian radio stations
and programs, more Christian books and magazines, more
Christian music, more ministries of every kind, yet at
the same time we have a world that is more lost and
depraved than ever.

We have the better percentage of two-full generations that
have never even been to church.  We have a nation and
world that for the most part has rejected God, rejected
is Word as Truth, and rejected His Son.  Quite a paradox
isn't it?  The explanation?  Most who serve God are
serving Him in the safety and comfort "behind the wall"
and are simply limited in what they can accomplish.

Listen, I fully understand.   Life is a challenge just
dealing with the day-to-day issues we all have to face. 
Health problems, relationship issues, school or our job,
financial difficulties, raising children, people we love
who die, not to mention the weaknesses and bondages
everyone of us has to confront at times.  On top of that
we all have to find our own personal relationship with
the Lord, make time to pray, read and study His Word,
and be involved in our local church.  Additionally, we
all have gifts and talents God has given us to fulfill our
purpose in life to serve Him.

So as we try to allow God to use our life and serve Him,
along comes satan and his attacks.  He sees someone
serving God and they become a target.  When you make the
choice to serve God not only do you get a bulls-eye
pasted on your back, you now have a very real adversary
who will do everything to discourage you and make your
life miserable.  Satan becomes like the wicked witch in
the "Wizard of Oz" going after Dorothy with everything
she had.  So it is no wonder most people simply don't
have the stomach or will to serve God knowing that they
have to battle satan each step of the way.

When I was being released from Federal Prison in 1992, my
wife and I had nothing left.  Everything we had went to
lawyers and for her to live on the 31 months I was
incarcerated.  God opened the door for me when I was
released to work at TV38 in Chicago and start preaching
in area churches, sharing my testimony and holding
evangelistic meetings.  At this time, I had the
opportunity to go back into the business world.  It
would have been easy to justify going back into that
world.  I had nothing left and needed to survive, so it
made sense to take that option even for a while to "get
back on my feet."

However, that was NOT where God wanted me.  He wanted me
serving Him full time.  Despite the opportunity to make
mid-6 figures again, I chose to trust God to provide.  It
was a huge transition from living on the 62nd floor of
Lake Point Tower on Navy Pier in downtown Chicago to a
tiny one-bedroom apartment in a dangerous part of the city. 
I had my own car since I was 16, but for the first 6
months had to get back and forth to the television
station and to preach by using the trains and buses.

I'll never forget on a very cold February morning while
waiting for the bus, satan came to have a chat with me. 
I was used to him coming after me as I was waiting for
the bus or train.  I would see a nice car and satan
would remind me that I could be back in a nice car in
just a few hours if I would go back to the business
world.

That morning he told me that even though I made the
noble choice to serve God, if I really loved my wife I
would go back into the business world for a year or so
for her.  After all, she had been through so much
herself, stuck by me through all of the legal problems
and 31 months of prison, she didn't deserve to live like
we were.  He told me God would understand since I was
responsible for her care and provision and I would be
honoring my role as her husband.

Never forget, satan is the great justifier.  All he said
sounded right.  Then the Holy Spirit started to speak to
me and remind me satan is a LIAR!  All of a sudden I
realized how dirty, how low, how nasty satan was.  He
knew was committed to serving the Lord so he tried to use
my wife to get me to leave the ministry and go back into
the business world.  My friend, satan will always attack
you where he can hurt you the most!

I love you and care about you so much.  Is satan a very
real enemy?  Yes!  Is satan going to attack you for
serving the Lord?  Yes!  However, God already knew this. 
That is why we have the full armor of God spoken of in
Ephesians 6.  That is why we have the abiding power and
presence of the Holy Sprit within us.  That is why God
promised us in 1 John 4:4 that "greater is He that is
within us (the Holy Spirit) than he (satan) that is in
the world."  We don't have to fear the attacks of satan,
just expect them and know they are part of the price of
serving the Lord.

Know in advance satan is coming after anyone who serves
the Lord.  Fear not because he is a defeated foe, a
toothless lion who can roar but not bite. God has
promised you victory over your enemies and that includes
satan.  Don't let the attacks of satan keep you from
fulfilling your purpose in this life which is to serve
the Lord.  There is NOTHING that satan can do to you
unless you allow him to.  Going back to the "Wizard of
Oz."  Dorothy lived in fear of the witch when all the
time she had the power of the ruby slippers to give her
victory over that wicked witch.  You have the power of
the Holy Spirit that gives you victory over satan!

So live your live without fear, knowing that God is by
your side to protect you and help you withstand the
attacks of the evil one while you faithfully serve Him. 
It is time for those who are serving the Lord to leave
the safety of the "wall" and attack!  WE ARE THE VICTORS! 
VICTORY HAS ALREADY BEEN WON!  WHY ARE WE HIDING BEHIND
A WALL WHEN WE ALREADY KNOW WE HAVE WON!

It is time for the children of God to take back the
territory we have given away and get serious about
battling with satan for the souls of men.  He is going
to attack us anyway so why wait, let's attack him
first!!!  I can only speak for myself but I am not
interested in sitting in the comfort and safety behind
the "wall."  Time is short, the real battles that need
to be fought and won are outside the "wall."

Sixteen years ago I made my choice to serve God and I
have not backed down or retreated one inch, but have
steadily pressed forward.  I already know Satan will
attack where it hurts the most, I am prepared for that. 
Rather than sit back and wait for his attacks, I am going
to attack him first where it hurts him the most, and that
is snatching souls off the conveyor belt to hell and
re-directing them to Heaven!

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 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

God Answers Prayers with "Yes", "Wait" and "No"

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.

I regularly pray to thank God for what he has given
to me.  Sometimes I also ask for things.  God often
redirects me with an answer I don't expect, but the
answer always comes.

Be sure to pray often!

Please read on.

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

DAILY DEVOTIONAL   WEDNESDAY APRIL 5, 2006
( 1 Chronicles 16:11, Psalms 91:15, Isaiah 65:24 )

A recent study of heart surgery patients concludes that
prayer doesn't work!  I almost have to laugh sometimes at
how ignorant man can be.  I'm really not sure whether I
am more amazed at the folly of those who put this study
together, or the fact they spent TWO MILLION FOUR HUNDRED
THOUSAND DOLLARS to do it.  They should have called me. 
Not only would that $2.4 million been used to reach millions
of people worldwide every day for a year with prayer, they
could have seen first hand over that time the fact PRAYER
DOES WORK!

In a recent article for a news wire service, (
http://www.wdcmedia.com/newsArticle.php?ID=879 ) our techs
backtracked over the past 79 months of Liveprayer and
figured out that we have answered over 60 million prayer
requests since we started.  We currently have an archive
of praise reports that is now right at 2 million.  However
it is not numbers that tell me prayer works, it is
TRANSFORMED LIVES!!!!

The greatest proof of the power of prayer is in the very real
lives of those God has touched.  I have praise reports from
people who had diseased bodies and are now completely healthy. 
I have praise reports from people who were given only months
to live....years ago!  I have praise reports from people who
were in bondage to drugs, alcohol, sex, food, and any other
addiction you can name that were delivered and now live their
lives in freedom.  I have praise reports from couples who
were just hours from being divorced and had their marriages
restored.

THE FACT IS THERE IS NO OTHER EXPLANATION OTHER THAN GOD! 
GOD IS STILL A GOD OF MIRACLES AND IT IS ONLY GOD WHO CAN
COMPLETELY TRANSFORM A HUMAN LIFE!!!

That is why I share with you often that your greatest
witness you have to your lost family members, friends,
co-workers, or someone you are just sharing your faith with
is your life!  They can argue issues in the Bible, the
existence of God, who Jesus is, and anything else they want. 
The one thing they can't refute is what God has done in
YOUR life!  You are a living testimony of God's transforming
power.  Your life is the proof that all God says and
promises in His Word is true!

Listen, it is not worth this precious time to get into all
the details of the study but the bottom line is it was
flawed from the start.  Man is a fool to think he can put
God in a box and try to study Him like he does a lab rat. 
Those who were involved with this study clearly have no
clue what prayer is.  Prayer is our communication with God
our Creator.  We pray because God tells us to in His Word. 
We pray out of our dependence upon God.  We pray in faith
believing God for our needs.  We pray knowing that God is
the only answer.  Prayer is not like rubbing a magic lamp
with a genie inside and having our wishes granted.

You can't try to measure prayer based on if your prayers
were answered the way YOU wanted them answered.  The fatal
flaw of this study was failing to recognize that one way
God answers prayer is with NO!  No is just as much an
answer as YES or WAIT.  As we mature in the Lord we see
more of our prayers answered because we evolve from simply
praying for what we want exactly the way we want it, to
praying for our needs and asking God to meet our needs the
way He wants to.  As we grow in our relationship with the
Lord we realize His plan is better than our plan, and we
seek the Lord's will above our own will.

Last year I was in the ICU at a local hospital praying for
a young man who had been accidentally shot.  He was in a
coma, the doctors had little hope he would recover.  I
laid my hands on that young man, prayed the prayer of
faith over his body and believed God that he would be
healed, raised up out of that hospital bed and made whole.

As I was leaving the ICU waiting room a man called out my
name.  He watched the TV program often and asked if I would
pray for his daughter who had overdosed on drugs and had
little chance of living through the night.  I went back
into that ICU, I laid my hands on that girl's body, prayed
the prayer of faith over her for God to clean out her
system, reverse the damage of the drugs, and made whole.

Two days after praying for that young man I got the call
that the Lord had taken him home.  Today, after nearly a
year since this took place, that young girl has fully
recovered and has turned her life completely over to the
Lord.  I prayed over both of these young people.  I poured
out my faith in praying for God to heal them both.  I left
that ICU that day knowing that I had done all God asked me
to do and now it was in His hands.  It was God's will, it
was God's plan for that young man's journey through this
life to be over and for this young woman to continue on. 
The fact is, God answered BOTH of those prayers even though
they both weren't the answer I had desired.

I love you and care about you so much.  The reason I felt
the need to address this today is because of the incredible
amount of press this flawed study has generated.  Obviously,
those in the world who deny God, reject His Son, and live
in rebellion to the Bible will CLING to studies like this
no matter how flawed they are to help justify their sad
choice.  They find a false peace in anything that questions
the existence of God, His Word, or that faith in Jesus is
man's only hope for redemption.  Studies like this simply
give sinful men contentment in living their life in
rebellion to God and the Bible.

The only way anyone could conclude prayer does not work is
to not understand what prayer is.  Based on the conclusion
of this study, it is apparent they expected every heart
surgery patient who was prayed for to be healed.  In
trying to scientifically measure the human effect of prayer
they forgot the most important component of prayer...God! 
The fact is God does answer...100% of the time.  The only way
prayer doesn't work is when you don't pray!!!

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 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

Stay Busy Doing the Lord's Work

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.

Did your Mother ever warn you against the dangers of
idle hands?  Today's devotional is a good reminder of
that lesson . . . with the further suggestion to use
extra time for the Lord.

Please read on.

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

DAILY DEVOTIONAL   MONDAY APRIL 3, 2006
(  Romans 7:18, 25, 8:8,13, Galatians 5:17, 6:8,
1 John 2:17 )

The battle with the flesh, the allure of this world, versus
the desire to please God.  I believe that by God's grace, I
just summed up the struggle every Christian faces each day
in those first 16 words.  The never ending battle with our
flesh, fighting the allure of this temporal world that we
live in for this brief season, overlaid with our desire to
honor, please, and follow God.  It is the classic struggle
of giving into our will and desires or surrendering to God's
will and desires.  It is those many choices we all make each
and every day to either honor God or rebel against Him.  It
is walking in the flesh or walking in the Spirit.  This is a
battle that EVERY follower of Christ fights every day.  It
is a battle that the men and women of God in the Bible
fought, it is a battle that every follower of Christ these
past 2000 years has fought, it is a battle that you fight,
and it is a battle that I fight.

Throughout the Old Testament, we don't get much instruction
on fighting this battle we all face each day.  We are given
the Law, the commandments from God Himself and told to
follow them or there would be consequences.  We read the
Biblical accounts of men and women from Adam and Eve through
the prophet Malachi 400 years before the birth of Jesus.  We
clearly see the struggles many of them had in following the
God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob versus giving into the
lusts of their flesh and the desires of this world.  We
also clearly see the blessings that came from following God,
as well as the great price paid when living in disobedience
to God.

As we read the Gospels, we hear Jesus laying down those
classic challenges to "pick up your cross and follow me,"
that "whoever loses his life for Me gains it," and "what does
it profit a man to gain the whole world yet lose his soul." 
Jesus preaches the message of giving your life completely
to Him, of surrendering your very life to follow Him.  This
was a foreign thought in His day just like it is a foreign
thought today.  The world clearly teaches that you should
have all the money, pleasure, and things that it can offer. 
It is the eat, drink, and be merry mindset.  So many come to
faith in Christ having lived many years according to the
world's philosophy that says "deny thyself no pleasure,"
when they are now being told by God's Word to deny your very
life and give it to Jesus.

It is in Paul's letters that we get the most insight into
the practical application of how to fight this battle we
each fight every day.  Paul was dealing with the reality
of bringing people to faith in Christ that were used to
dealing with life in a carnal way and were now being asked
to deal with life in a spiritual way.  That really is the
bottom line to this war we are each in.  A battle between
living life in the flesh and living life in the Spirit. 
Walking after the desires of our flesh and the temporal
things of this world that can have such a hold on us, and
having a deep desire for the things of the Spirit and
keeping our focus on the eternal things of God. Paul even
details this classic struggle of the flesh versus the
Spirit in those verses in Romans 7 where he states that,
"for what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do."

Many of Paul's writings dealt with this struggle between
our carnal nature and our spiritual nature to help us
understand it.  So today, I want to do my best to help you
with this battle we all face.  Whether you have been saved
for 2 minutes or 70 years, whether you are seeking God for
what you are to do to serve Him or you are a highly visible
man or woman that has served God faithfully for many years,
please understand that NOBODY is immune from this battle of
the flesh versus the Spirit and it is a battle you will
fight until this brief journey though life is complete.

The most effective way I have found to fight this battle
each day, and most important to WIN this battle, is through
my relationship with Christ.  You have got to understand
that when Christ died on the cross, He died so that you
could live in VICTORY, not defeat.  His victory on that
cross 2,000 years ago insured you would be able to live in
victory too:  victory over death, victory over this temporal
world, and victory over sin.  The key to you seeing victory
each and every day is to walk in the victory Jesus won on
the cross, and that means walking with Him each day.

This is why I implore you so often to be in the Word, to be
in prayer every day.  Our walk with Christ is not an hour a
week on Sunday morning.  Our walk with the Lord is literally
24/7/365.  If we are to live in victory over the flesh, over
our carnal nature, deny the temporal pleasures of this world,
we have got to have the strength that only comes from Christ
and that is why being in His Word and in prayer each and
every day is so critical The closer you are to Christ, the
stronger you are to withstand the temptations of this
world  The way you become closer to Christ is through the
Word and prayer.

The other way you keep walking in victory each day is by
staying busy.  Did your mother ever tell you that an idle
mind is the devil's workshop?  Sadly, most days I end up
dealing with pastors or people in the ministry who have
fallen into sexual sin.  One of the things I have noted
over these many years is that a common element to most of
these stories is the church or ministry was doing well and
the person who fell had lots of free time on their hands. 
The reality is, when you are growing a church or a
ministry, finding enough hours in the day to sleep is a
huge challenge, let alone finding the time to get involved
in a relationship outside of God's will.

However, with success often comes a season where things are
not as frantic every day, there isn't as much pressure, and
there are now free hours during the day that didn't use to
be there.  It is often in those seasons when things are
going well that most pastors or people in ministry tend to
fall.  Look at David. It was during a time of rest, of
relative peace that he fell with Bathsheba.  So it is
critical to live in Christ's victory over the flesh to stay
busy, to have things to do.  There is nothing wrong with
being busy throughout the day.  The more you have going on
in your life, the less time you have to be tempted by your
flesh and by the things of this world.

Of course, the best way to keep busy is by serving the
Lord.  After all, our purpose in this life is to serve and
glorify God.  So while we have many things to do in our
life, when you need something to do to stay busy, find
ways to serve God!  Jesus said the harvest is plentiful but
the laborers are few.  There is so much work to be done, and
too few willing to do the work.  So I would encourage you to
make the time and effort to look at your daily schedule and
try to find places in your week that you can devote to
serving God.  You will not only be fulfilling your purpose,
but taking another step in winning the daily battle of
honoring God with your life.

I love you and care about you so much.  The battle we face
with our flesh, with the allure of this world we live in,
versus our desire to please God with our lives is something
every follower of Christ has to fight every single day. 
Please don't underestimate satan and his goal to kill,
steal, and destroy YOU!  He knows your flesh is weak.  He
knows you love the things of this temporal world.  He also
knows you love the Lord and want to please Him.  That is
why he attacks you.  He wants you to fall, to see your
testimony ruined, to bring shame upon God through you.  He
is waiting for you to get away from the Lord by not praying
every day, by not reading the Word every day, and by not
serving Him.  He knows the further away from the Lord you
get, the easier a target you become.

I will be praying for you today.  Praying that you will walk
in the victory that Jesus won on Calvary's cross 2,000 years
ago.  He died so that you could live your life in victory
and not defeat.  By putting your faith in Him, you have the
assurance of spending all eternity with Him when this brief
journey is over.  It also assures you that you can live THIS
LIFE in victory as well.  Victory over the desires of your
flesh.  Victory over the temptations of this temporal world
we live in.  Victory by living a life that is pleasing and
acceptable to the Lord and fulfilling your ultimate purpose
in bringing glory to God through your life!

The battle lines are drawn.  It is a battle each follower
of Christ must fight every day.  The lusts of our flesh
and the things of this world versus pleasing God with our
life.  May you stand in VICTORY today as you defeat the
flesh, say no to this world, and please God with your life!

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 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
Bill Keller