5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. ² We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments. ³ Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. ⁴ For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. ⁵ And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

⁶ And Jesus Christ was revealed as God’s Son by his baptism in water and by shedding his blood on the cross—not by water only, but by water and blood. And the Spirit, who is truth, confirms it with his testimony. ⁷ So we have these three witnesses^[c]— ⁸ the Spirit, the water, and the blood—and all three agree. ⁹ Since we believe human testimony, surely we can believe the greater testimony that comes from God. And God has testified about his Son. ¹⁰ All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about his Son.

¹¹ And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹² Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.

1 John 5:1-12

Dear God, my wife and I were talking yesterday morning about how to reconcile the impetuous, sometimes selfish and vindictive John described in the gospels with the author of these later letters/books. I told her it was pretty easy in my mind: Age. The John in the gospels was young and he still didn’t really understand what Jesus was teaching them. I think he only began to understand it after the resurrection and ascension. He grew. He suffered. He lost (his brother was the first martyr). He lamented. He celebrated. He experienced life and had you, Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit, to walk him through it all. It shaped him and he because an elder from whom we could learn.

So at this point he has lived a life and seen the difference in people when they come to really know Jesus. He has seen selfishness and self-pity lead to misery. He has also seen grace, mercy, worship, and service lead to life. He has seen the difference Jesus’s and the Holy Spirit’s presence makes in lives. In his own life. The verse of the day from Bible Gateway is actually verse 12. It sums up the argument made in the first 11 verses.

Father, the roots of my life need your living water. Help me to soak in your river this morning. I love you. I worship you. I thank you. You are my God, and I am very grateful for your love, your mercy, and the idea that you will use me however you will to accomplish what you want to accomplish. Help me to be the man you have for me to be.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen