Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. Matthew 7:20
Yesterday we talked about divine appointments and I gave you an example of a time when the Lord had provided me with a beautiful appointment. But we need to remember that there are no coincidences with God. Every encounter that we have with people, is a divine appointment.
We have a tendency to take our eyes off of heavenly things and focus on this world and all the responsibilities, trials, deadlines, that it demands and we lose site of our purpose.
In 1 Peter 3:15 we are told to be prepared to give an answer for the hope that is in us, but to do it with gentleness and respect.
Over the last three weeks while my precious husband and I were in and out of hospitals, we came upon person after person of faith. We had nurses, technicians and family members of room mates professing Christ as their Lord and Savior, but why? You do not typically come across person after person after person who are willing to openly discussing their faith.
In this day and age, people are timid about discussing their faith. There are typically rules in the work place that prohibit it. It is thought of as politically incorrect and potentially offensive to discuss your faith in public, so people shy away from being open about it.
My husband and I are not bashful about our faith. If you know us at all, you know that we love the Lord and that He is in control of our lives. You also know that we are not perfect, but simply sinners saved by grace ; ) And when you are so sick that you are literally relying on God to take away your pain or infection or illness, you are even less shy in talking about Him.
Once people know that they can talk to you openly about their faith it is amazing what they will share. By the end of our hospital experiences (my husband was released just yesterday) we had quite a few new followers on our blog, are praying for one of our nurse who is taking her granddaughter to see her daughter who is in the military, praying for a young lady whose brother needs the Lord, praying for the son of another young lady who just needs the Lord to guide him, praying for a young man who prayed to accept Christ while we were in the hospital together, praying for this young man’s family and his continued discipleship and many others.
We, even in the face of trial, should be prepared to give an answer to people as to the peace and hope that we have. They will know us by our fruit. People will see the peace and hope that we have and that they may be lacking and will want to inquire as to it’s source.
God arranges for us to be in the presence of people who need Him. He allows for us to be used by Him to introduce others to Himself. But, we have to be open to sharing Him. We have to be rooted in Him so that we actually possess the peace and trust that they are longing for.
Are you prepared to give an answer? Do you even possess the kind of peace and hope that I am talking about?
If Jesus is Lord of your life, then the Holy Spirit has already provided you with the peace and hope that I am talking about. You just have to be connected to Him through prayer and the study of His word and trust Him and His promises, in order to exhibit it. If you need help in growing in Him or trusting, please reach out to me at admin@forgiven-n-loved.com and let me pray with you.
If Jesus Christ is not your personal Lord and Savior then you are probably longing for the kind of peace and hope that I am talking about. I pray that you would go to our Life Preserver page and pray the prayer that is outlined there and then shoot me an email at admin@forgiven-n-loved.com and let me know so that I can be in prayer for you and help you to grow in the knowledge, peace, hope and love of the Lord.
If you are sound in your faith and have full peace, hope and trust in Him then I pray that you would be prepared and hungry to give an answer today.
I pray that today we would heed King David’s words and “Oh magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together. Psalm 34:3
