December 26

First Letter by John - 1 John 1:1-4; Walking in Light of Righteousness - 1 John 1:5-10, 2:1-17; Warning about Antichrists - 1 John 2:18-28; Living as Children of God - 1 John 2:29, 3:1-24; Distinguishing Unbelievers from Believers - 1 John 4:1-21, 5:1-12; Assurances in Christ - 1 John 5:13-21

For everything in the world - the cravings of the sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does - comes not from the Father but from the world. 1 John 2:16

What is the first question we [men specifically] typically ask someone when we meet them? What do you do? How do we measure a person's success? Too often, what we do and what we have define us in the eyes of people...in the eyes of the world. That's why we miss that the carpenter who wanders with a group of fishermen is really the Christ. Or that the homeless stranger we pass by is an angel...or, at the very list (really, at the very most), is a son of God.

What we have and what we do is not who and whose we are. God knows our value. Man's measure is wanting and flawed. Forgive me Lord when I apply man's measure instead of yours. And Lord knows I do this.