Always Be Ready

00:00 - Speaker 1I was in Detroit, michigan, and I'd been to a conference. It was a seriously hectic, wonderful conference and I got to Detroit late in the evening on Friday and so I was asleep before I hit the pedal. I mean, that was out and it's 12.30 in the morning. Okay, got this 12.30 am Two huge black guys came busting through my door. I had the latch you know broke right through that. 00:27 - Speaker 2Welcome to the Ignite with Barry Meguiar podcast, where Barry's book and passion for spreading God's love are guaranteed to ignite your life. Now listen in and prepare to have your life ignited. 00:42 - Speaker 1Hi everybody, welcome back to Ignite. I have a great story for you. There's a scripture that we all know, that I practice and I have for many years, and that is from 1 Peter 3, 19,. I think it is where he says always be ready to give a clear presentation of the hope that's within you. Always be ready at any moment. 01:02Of course, the theme of our ministry is move everybody every day closer to Jesus. That's everybody, not just one a day. Some ministries say find somebody today to share your faith with. Okay, how do I pick one Out of all the people I'm going to be with today that are and 80% of the people around us are lost, out of all the people I'm going to be with today that are lost and headed for hell? How am I going to pick one? And how do I pick the right one? And what about all the others? I don't pick, we just forget about them. I mean, just let them go to hell. I mean, seriously, it doesn't make any sense at all. There's nothing scriptural about that, even though we've heard that all our lives, that, even though we've heard that all our lives. No, no, move everyone every day closer to Jesus. I didn't say get them saved. That happens on regular occasion. For the most part, it's a team sport, and you just want to move everybody every day closer to Jesus, and I often tell people who are in crisis don't waste it, don't waste it. What are you talking about? I'm in crisis here. Don't waste it. Don't waste it. What are you talking about? I'm in crisis here. Don't waste it. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ and you share your faith, he promises everything in life. Work together for good. And you know my story. I have all kinds of stories about how I went through hell, but I never lost my faith and I use every one of those experiences to share my faith. Okay, and so it's a big point I want to make. I have a great story for you. I'm going to show you a prop very quick, because I'm just walking by to come to my studio right now. 02:37Bill Fetter is a great author. He's a great friend of mine, car guy we see each other often at events all over the United States and boy he chronicles from Bible time to now how Satan does the same thing over and over and over and over again, like creating the problem, getting you to give up your freedoms and then solving the problem he created. And then he owns you more. But the scriptures he uses and the life accounts of the bad guys the other side throughout the ages, is spellbinding. He has so much information but in the midst of it, what do we do? 03:10And he just brought up this book, the Silence of Consent. Okay, he didn't know I'm doing this. This is not embedded content, but it is. I love everything Bill has written. But the silence of consent is basically saying when you don't say something and you know you should, it equals consent. It says basically, I endorse what you're saying. If I stay quiet and you're saying something wrong and I don't say anything about it, then it really endorses it. It really does. There's a great scripture, of course, that says when you know what you should do and you don't do it, it's sin. So, anyway, that's a long way around to go and say when you least expect it, expect it. 03:54And I had one of those moments. I got to tell you I was in Detroit, michigan, last Friday, ok, and I've been through a conference and it was was. It was a seriously hectic, wonderful conference. And I got to uh, to, to uh Detroit late in the evening on Friday and I thought I got tonight I'm going to get a good night's sleep and I'll be out running. I have a really big weekend coming up. So I I was asleep before the before I hit the bill. I mean, I was out and it's 1230 in the morning. Okay, got this 1230 AM, two huge I'm not being racist here, just saying what they are Two huge black guys came busting through my door. I had the latch, you know, broke right through that and came rushing in. There's a foot on my bed. I wasn't laughing at the moment, okay, and looking back now it's kind of funny. At the moment I was in shock. I wasn't. 04:50You know, I did think about this, karen and I have not had fear for decades. We don't fear anything because we know when you live for God's purpose this is important when you live for God's purpose Romans 8 it gives us this. I think it's the second most luxurious promise in the Bible After John 3, 16,. He says for now, until you get to heaven, I'm going to make everything in your life work together for good. Wow, that's the end of fear. I don't have to fear. 05:19And so when I was dying in the hospital, when I had a joint venture part. I mean, you know the stories. I've been to the wall, to the brink, several times and I've never had fear and I've just always wondered how God was going to get me out of this fast carrier. I have to say, okay, god, what do you have to do now? Here we go again. But when things go wrong, you start looking around. At this time I didn't have a chance, but I did look back. Really, just a couple of days ago I was thinking in this experience I didn't have fear. They could have killed me in an instant. It certainly would have looked like they were going to, but they're right at my foot on my bed. What do I do? I said what are you guys doing? 05:57As it happened, I had Karen and I were in Dallas and she went back to Arizona and I went to Detroit and both our bags went to Arizona. So they shipped it back and it arrived like 11 o'clock at night and my driver said I will go and get it for you and bring it to the hotel and tell them to wait for you to call them the next morning. And so they started talking about my bag and I said my bag. Well, why would you? They didn't call me, they didn't knock on the door. They tried their key and when it was locked they just barged right through the door and they didn't even have my bag. I said where's my bag? Oh, it's downstairs. Nothing about it makes sense at all. And they were frustrated and mad and yelling at me and I'm saying why, go on, just bring me my bag. 06:49So then I get a call from the desk manager from her home. She calls me to tell me it was all my fault, what. It's 1 o'clock in the morning. I'm 82 years old. I just had two guys break into my room and she's telling me it's your fault, because your driver told us to had to bring in that bag up to your room immediately. Well, he didn't say that. 07:15Obviously that was not true and what I tried to tell her wasn't true. She started yelling at me oh my goodness, this is so bizarre. So, um, I I tried to go back to sleep and kind of did and finally talked to the manager the next morning and then she was wonderful and she was horrified and she moved me to another room, get me into a different environment. She said your room's paid for anything I can do for you and I said that's. All it takes is a sorry, you know, and things happen. It's really a matter of how you respond to what you do and what you do in the afterlife. You're doing everything wonderfully. I just love what you're doing. I appreciate you, in fact. Can I give you a hug? And she kind of yeah, and so I hugged her. It was not what she was expecting. 08:04Okay, there's three options there. One I'm 82 years old. If I'd had a bad heart attack, I gotta tell you I could easily had a heart attack and died. That would have been a problem for them to explain, right? If I was one of my friends who has a permit to carry pizza gun by the side of their bed, there's no question. You got two big guys coming right at you at 1230, you're going to shoot them dead. That could have happened like that. Third option is I got attorneys. If I want to make an issue, I can sue them for a whole lot of money. They have no defense. They broke in to a resident's guest room who was 80 years old at 1230 in the morning. I think I got some legal palpability there, so that's got to be going through this manager's mind and everything. Instead I'm hugging her and saying God bless her. 09:00And when I got up at 530, I was leaving my room at 530. I'm going to fly home. I got because she said is this? I said it's not your fault. She said it is my fault. She says these people work for me. There's going to be consequences and you know, for the time she told me that on, uh, on Saturday morning, it bothered me and and I just think, and I know that this is not right. 09:25So when I left her a message on Monday morning, I said thank you, I had a wonderful stay. And because you all even come back and please don't fire anybody on my behalf, please, please don't do that. I feel terrible with that. It was a learning experience for everybody. So let's just take this for what it is okay and I love you and God bless you. Bye-bye now. That was just a natural reaction. What it is okay and I love you and God bless you. Bye-bye now. 09:50That was a just a natural reaction. We want to move everybody. You seize the opportunity to move everybody every day close to Jesus. Then I'll quit. 10:01Just think of the turmoil when I talked to the operator at 530. She answered bright and cheery. I think everybody was told treat him really30,. She answered bright and cheery. I think everybody was told treat him really good. So she was bright and cheery. And when I told her I want to say thank you, I'm going to come back. Oh, mr McGuire, you're going to come back. 10:23I mean, from all she heard, she never guessed that I would be saying that, the point being, throughout that hotel, I suspect there was a lot of commotion about how they made such a horrible mistake and how this curse is a Christian, and he loved on them and said God bless you and don't let anybody be fired. Do you know what the testimony of that is? I'm thinking about it now. I didn't do it for that reason at the time, but thinking about it in the days since I think everybody in that equation I moved every one of them closer to Jesus. Praise God, take the bad stuff whatever it is and use it to move everybody every day closer to Jesus. I mean that's what we get to do and look how much fun it is. All right, just to encourage you. See you next time. 11:02 - Speaker 2If you enjoyed today's episode, let us know, and don't forget to subscribe, rate and review to help us reach more listeners. Remember sharing your faith ignites your faith. See you next time on the Ignite with Barry Meguiar podcast.