Be Prepared

Daily Reading: 1 Peter 3

But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. (1 Peter 3.15)

Devotional Thought: Are you familiar with the motto: "Be prepared"?  The Apostle Peter was.  He wrote that we are to be prepared to share the reason for our hope. 

Are you prepared to share your hope, to display how the Lord works through your struggles?  I have friends, who know my past and current struggles, ask me about the peace and the joy that I have.  I certainly have stumbled over my words answering those questions, but I have found that - if I am willing - he is faithful to give me just the right words.  Time and again, I've seen these words of Jesus fulfilled in my life: "Do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say...  For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you" (Matthew 10.19-20).

One of the hardest things about sharing is revealing our weakness.   Others will not be curious about our hope if we have no troubles.  When we first come to a saving faith, we are called to fully claim our new identity in Christ, but I believe we need to always remember our humble roots, lest our hearts become proud, and we forget the Lord our God (Deuteronomy 8.14).  Instead, we should do as Peter says, "In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy" (1 Peter 3.15). 

The hope within us has nothing to do with our abilities, strengths, goodness, or intelligence.  Rather, it is a "living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1.3).  Know that, and you will be prepared to share the reason for your hope!

Jenny Wade

Prayer: Less of me, more of you. May my ongoing testimony bring you honor and glory, Lord. Keep my heart from pride and help me to always acknowledge that any strength and righteousness of my own come only from you.  Amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 63.1-7

1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.

3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.

4 So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.

5 My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,

6 when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night;

7 for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.