You’re reading JESUS: LESSONS IN LOVE, by Eric Elder, featuring thirty inspiring devotionals based on the greatest “lover” of all time, Jesus Christ. Also available in paperback and eBook formats in our bookstore for a donation of any size!

Scripture Reading: Matthew 10

I had a chance to go to Israel in 1995 and stand in front of a cross that many believe marks the spot where Jesus died.  As I stood on that hallowed spot, I couldn’t help but drop to my knees and say, “Thank You!” over and over for what Jesus had done for me.

When I finally stood up, I walked back across the room to talk to the man who had brought me to this place.  Although he was my host for the week, he wasn’t a believer.  In fact, he had made it quite clear that he was opposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and to Christianity as a whole.

But as I returned to him from the foot of the cross, I couldn’t help but tell him why I had dropped to my knees.  I couldn’t help but tell him about this Man, Jesus, who loved me so much that He was willing to die in my place for the sins that I had committed.  I couldn’t help but tell him that I was alive because Jesus died.

I was so overwhelmed with God’s love that it drove out my fear.

There’s a passage in Matthew 10 where Jesus tells his disciples to go into the surrounding communities and preach about the kingdom of heaven, heal the sick, raise the dead, and drive out demons.  Jesus told them that even though He was sending them out like sheep among wolves, that they didn’t have to be afraid:

“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.  Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:28-31). 

I remember many times during my trip when fear crept up on me.  I remember walking down a long corridor in an airport in Germany, late at night and all alone, to board the plane to Israel.  At the end of the corridor was a guard behind a bulletproof glass with a gun pointed at me through a tiny hole.  I began to question why I had come when the words from a Veggietales video came to mind.  I began to sing under my breath, “God is bigger than the boogie man…He’s bigger than Godzilla and the monsters on TV…”  God filled me with His peace.

I remember being afraid when I pulled up to the house where I was going to stay.  The people I was going to stay with were relatives of someone I knew here in the States, but I knew they might be openly hostile to Christ.  A wave of fear passed through me as I stepped out of the car to greet the eldest member of this extended family.  In that moment, God reminded me of some verses from the Bible:

“When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’  If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you… Do not move around from house to house” (Luke 10:5-7).  

I happened to remember the traditional greeting meant “Peace be with you,” so I put out my hand and said, “Salam aleikum.”  I didn’t know what he might do.  He took hold of my hand and shook it firmly, saying, “wa-aleikum-as-salam,” which means, “and peace be with you.”  I was suddenly at peace again and knew that I was right where God wanted me to be.

Jesus said, “perfect love drives out fear” (1 John 4:18).  Call on God’s perfect love to fill you today.  As He does, boldly share the love that He’s poured out on you with others.

Prayer: Father, fill me with Your perfect love that drives out fear, so that I can boldly share about Christ with those I love.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.