Daily Verse: 1 Peter 3:15-16

Daily Verse: 1 Peter 3:15-16

But in your hearts revere 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.

It’s difficult to come across a person that has no connection with the one true God and has no intention of ever getting to know him. This person puts on a confident front and acts like they have everything figured out…their foundation being rooted in whatever intellectual facts that are able to put together to support their lack of belief. They appear assured, secure, and solid...yet are they really standing on solid ground? Or do they get pushed to another corner of the “playground” when the prevailing, or popular, winds sweep in a new thought, idea, or information? And are they truly happy? Are they content, at peace? There is a university that has a slogan that is used to explain the campus culture that says “From the inside, you can’t explain it…and from the outside, you can’t understand it”. Faith in God is kind of like this slogan…when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, it is hard to really capture the impact it has on our lives…it is hard to really conceptualize the fact the living God is actively involved in our lives. Yet we can feel it…we can personally understand it…and we are certain of it. But to someone that lacks this relationship with the Lord, it may all seem like a bit of a fairy tale. It is only when a person chooses to reach out to God, truly requesting his real presence in their lives, that they come to understand the real relationship that can be achieved. It may not be instant, it may not be a miraculous “blast” of change in their life…but God will be there and the Holy Spirit will be active in their lives. And from the inside, this person will then be able to understand what was once so puzzling when they stood on the “outside”. My prayer today is that as Christians, we reject the temptation to respond to the lost with anger or argument, and instead continue to respond in gentleness, kindness, and love…so that all may come to know the surpassing joy that is found in or Lord Jesus Christ. To God be the glory!