1 John 5:18-21

1 John 5:18-21
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

 I can't help but be stopped sometimes and wonder how dramatically different my life is from the life of someone in Syria.  I'll be driving along or stretched out on the couch and it'll suddenly occur to me that someone three years ago had a life like mine, and now Aleppo is a bombed-out ghost town and so many people have fled with the clothes on their backs, if they are lucky.  And for what, I wonder?
  We don't have to look far to see the presence of evil in our lives.  The devil is at work, and he is ripping at our society, both in large & violent actions and in the every day neglect we often inflict upon one another.  He works in scandals large and in the shredding of every relationship that falls apart through bitter words and addictive behaviors.  The devil is at work.
  Peter tells us to resist the devil and he will flee from us.  Jesus shows us that love conquers the devil's power.  John's vision in Revelation reminds us of the fate of evil, but we still deal with it in the here and now.  We cannot escape it, we can only close our eyes, breathe deeply, and remember that NOTHING can separate you from the love of God, and that this world will one day be redeemed by the awesome power of God.