Devotionals from my Bible app: Live Prepared (1 Peter 3:15)

 Note before sharing the devotional: in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination on September 10th, and in the midst of the (admittedly unexpected) intense grief I've experienced, despite confidence of his salvation, I felt it was time to spend at least the next several days sharing recent Scriptural devotionals from my Bible app, YouVersion, with you. The call is to preach the Gospel. Honestly, I haven't been doing it that much lately. This is a first step of many to try to correct that. Life is short. At my current age, and in part because of the ups and downs of my health condition, I am far more aware of this truth than ever before. And yet, even now I still have been guilty of forgetting and taking life for granted. So here goes: 

For your own sake, receive Jesus Christ as your Lord, King, and Savior. Ask Him to come into your heart. Dare to trust Him with your whole life, including every aspect of your life. He died for you. He died for me. He may not have technically been assassinated like Kirk was, but He was crucified, which, to find a modern Western society comparison, is very similar to being lynched. He was 100% innocent. He did not get a fair trial. When He was flogged, He wasn't just beaten severely; He had chunks of flesh ripped out of His midsection to the point where many of His internal organs were visible. And then He had to carry a rough, splintered, heavy wooden cross (equivalent to the weight of a billiards or pool table), all while also wearing a crown of thorns that was piercing His head all around. The Sanhedrin didn't care; the Romans didn't care. But He did it anyway. And the fact that He was still able to carry a heavy, splintered wooden object the size of a pool table goes to show that, as the Bible says, He did indeed lay down His life when the punishment of His Father in heaven, and the wrath of God on all humanity, was satisfied. Lesser men, if they had gotten flogged the same way Jesus had gotten flogged, would've died right then and there, and if not, they certainly would not have been able to carry a rough, rugged, splintered, pool table on their backs. They would've died trying. But Jesus didn't die then; He only died once He laid his life down upon knowing that God's wrath was finally satisfied, after three whole hours of abandonment after all the other punishments had been handed out. After all that was done, He rose again from the dead on the third day. He conquered death, so that you and I can live and have that eternal life. Most importantly, Jesus chose this path willingly because He loves you, and because He loves me. He wants you to be in heaven with Him for eternity (in other words, the best place ever, for a very very long time). But you have to reject sin, repent, turn to Him, and let Him be King of your life. And for some, this may require dying a death similar to Kirk's. But heaven awaits afterward, for all those who truly trust and surrender to Jesus totally and completely.

And part of that is reading the Bible and getting to know Jesus personally this way. As such, here is the devotional for today:


Live Prepared


Pause and think of the people who, at a moment’s notice, have to be ready for anything. Maybe your list includes first responders, the military, athletes, teachers, parents, pilots, surgeons, or pastors.


But does your list include you?


As followers of Jesus, we are called to…

“…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.”

1 Peter 3:15 NIV

We can’t expect people to observe what Jesus has commanded unless we are also observing His commands ourselves.


Do we want people to learn about God’s love? Then we need to show God’s love to people. Do we want people to learn about Jesus’ compassion? Then we need to be compassionate. Do we want people to give generously? Then we need to be good stewards of our own money. Do we want people to study God’s Word? Then we need to study it for ourselves.


When you give Jesus control over your life, you allow His love, joy, and hope to transform you. As this happens, your life becomes an act of worship that reveals His hope within you.


When you live like Jesus, people are drawn to Jesus in you.


As you worship Jesus with your life, you will be able to honestly say that Christ in you is your hope and glory—and people will believe it because they see the evidence.


They might not like who you are or agree with what you believe, but they won’t be able to find a logical reason to hate you when your life is centered around loving people the way Jesus loved you.


So as you go about each day, aim to live with gentleness and respect toward everyone. And let Jesus’ joy, love, and hope permeate your heart, mind, and relationships.

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; 1 Peter 3:15, NKJV

Note after sharing the devotional: just a couple days after the assassination, I had a phone call (scheduled prior to the assassination) with a person on the other side of the political aisle, but otherwise a fellow worker for the kingdom. Ahead of this call, I remember having some nervousness about the small potential that the assassination could come up in conversation. With God's help, I assuaged the nervousness by writing down a prepared statement ahead of time to truthfully, concisely, and diplomatically answer the proverbial question: 

• What you do think about the assassination? I think it's absolutely horrible. 
• Do you think Charlie Kirk was a martyr? Yes, I do. 
• Why? Two reasons: 1.) many say he was an American martyr, a MAGA martyr, and I would agree with that. 2.) More importantly, he was a Christian martyr for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Regardless of whether or not you agreed or disagreed with his views, he preached the Gospel and lived the Gospel, and he knew that because he was a sinner his salvation was not by works but only by faith in Jesus's finished work on the cross. As such, I firmly believe that he heard the words from Jesus, "well done, My good and faithful servant."

1 Peter 3:15 (But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;) was that day's devotional verse, from this devotional, and it helped put me in a decent enough frame of mind to handle that potentially uncomfortable conversation should it arise. It never came up. Proverbial bullet dodged uncomfortable situation avoided. It was a nice phone call. We caught up and ended up praying for each other on the phone. God showed up ahead of the call and then again during the call. Praise the Lord, indeed.

Prayer: Jesus, make me more like You. Please get rid of any behaviors or thought patterns that don't reflect Your character or heart for people. Make me bold, brave, and courageous -- but keep me humble, kind, and gentle. Let the way I live reflect Your hope and love. And when the opportunity arises, help me to share my faith with genuine joy. Amen.