Are You Ready?

^"But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. 'Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.'  But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander."  1 Peter 3:14-16 (NIV)

^"If with heart and soul you're doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you're still better off. Don't give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They'll end up realizing that they're the ones who need a bath. It's better to suffer for doing good, if that's what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That's what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others' sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God."  1 Peter 3:13-18 (The Message)

Be ready to give account for the hope that is in you!  Are you ready?  Do you know how to give your testimony?  Do you have a testimony?  Of course you do!  If you do not have one prepared or do not feel comfortable telling the story of how you came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, then you have work to do.  We are to be prepared.  It occurred to me as I was writing my testimony in the blogpost, "How did I get this way...", that the words I was writing were exactly the words I had been telling to whomever would listen for the last 32 years.  Somewhere along the way someone had told me to think through my testimony and even write it down.  This made telling it easier because I had already prepared in my mind what I needed to say.  If you have never done this, then you need to!  What is your testimony?  Think it through and write it down and then share it!  The more practice you have the better you will be at telling it...And in scripture it says,  "He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.'"  Mark 16:15 (NIV)

Dear Lord,  Thank You for the free gift of salvation!  Help us to be prepared and ready to give an account of the hope that is within us today and everyday.  Let us not shy away from the opportunities that present themselves to us for sharing that hope with a lost world.  Help us always to be courteous and gentle when we share.  Help us to keep a clear conscience at all times making sure that we makes thing right with anyone we may have hurt or offended.