The Apostle John received something from the Lord Jesus that he shares with Christians in his first epistle. We are little children. John may be, in a sense, a sort of spiritual father to the church. This tenderness for the flock in his care is what he learned from God, and John shares it with the children of God.
Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. (James 4:14) Daniel chapter 10.
Normalness in the Christian life is often bitter, often sweet. Failure and success often hinge on motivation.
Bitter age gives way to glory, but we live in this present bitter age and it has tainted me, and probably you too.
— 1 Corinthians 3:12-15 "Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire."
Have you ever felt fake? Have you consistently felt like your profession of faith was not genuine? Have you ever examined yourself to see if you're in the faith? Should you maybe consider doing that?
Everyone was "born at a young age." How old you are should increase your awareness of how much you needed from others to get to where you are now.
Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? Because their evil king rages and plots in vain.
"It's not the parts of the Bible that I don't understand that bother me, it's the parts I do understand." -Mark Twain. "I wasted time, and now time doth waste me." - Shakespeare. "I do not believe in a fate that will fall on us no matter what we do; I do believe in a fate that will fall on us if we do nothing." - Ronald Reagan. All examples of chiasmus.
