"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."
John 14:27
A man in Kenya answered a persistent knock on the door of his home. A gun wielding, vindictive terrorist demanded of him, "Are you a Muslim?"
"No," came the steady reply. "I am a Christian."
That answer brought swift death through a spray of bullets to head and chest as his wife looked on in horror.
The very word "terrorist" can instill fear. The sight of a weapon, angry, snapping eyes and the diseased soul of the perpetrator - all a nightmare. Yet, can anything separate a Christian from his loving Savior?
NO! Romans chapter eight reminds us: "Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword" separate us from the love of Christ Jesus? (verse 35) Even death brings life - better life, eternal life, where sorrow, disease, pain and death are NO MORE.
We really do have the peace that passes all understanding as the courage of Christ even helps us stare down the barrel of a gun.
Perhaps I will never hear such an ominous knock on my door in Painesville, but each day, I must prepare for such an event. Not in fear or trepidation, but in stalwart faith and the courage of the saints who have gone on before me.
"I am a Christian." Hallelujah!
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