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JOHN 12:26 Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am, And the Father will honor anyone who serves me.

What would it look like to follow God today? Honor God right now by asking Him to reveal how He wants you to follow Him. End this time by giving Him thanks.

PSALMS 55:22 Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.

What concerns do you need to surrender today? Name those concerns and imagine literally handing them over to God.

God, Thank You for showing me what it means to be loved by You. Thank You for seeking me and speaking to me. You are never far away, and You hear me when I call out to You. Thank You for showing me unfailing love and kindness. What a life-changing experience it is to be known by You! in Jesus' name, Amen.

DAILY BIBLE READING: GENESIS 31-32 MATTHEW 9:18-38 JACOB FLEES FROM LABAN LABAN PURSUES JACOB God had appeared to Laban the Aramean in a dream and told him, “I’m warning you—leave Jacob alone!” God has seen your abuse and my hard work. That is why he appeared to you last night and rebuked you!” JACOB'S TREATY WITH LABAN 45So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a monument. 46Then he told his family members, “Gather some stones.” So they gathered stones and piled them in a heap. Then Jacob and Laban sat down beside the pile of stones to eat a covenant meal. 47To commemorate the event, Laban called the place Jegar-sahadutha (which means “witness pile” in Aramaic), and Jacob called it Galeed (which means “witness pile” in Hebrew). JACOB SENDS GIFTS TO ESAU JACOB WRESTLES WITH GOD “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.” Jacob named the place Peniel (which means “face of God”), for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared.” JESUS HEALS IN RESPONSE TO FAITH she thought, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” 22Jesus turned around, and when he saw her he said, “Daughter, be encouraged! Your faith has made you well.” And the woman was healed at that moment. “My daughter has just died,” he said, “but you can bring her back to life again if you just come and lay your hand on her.” “Get out!” he told them. “The girl isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.” But the crowd laughed at him. 25After the crowd was put outside, however, Jesus went in and took the girl by the hand, and she stood up! 26The report of this miracle swept through the entire countryside. JESUS HEALS THE BLIND “Do you believe I can make you see?” “Yes, Lord,” they told him, “we do.” 29Then he touched their eyes and said, “Because of your faith, it will happen.” 30Then their eyes were opened, and they could see! a demon-possessed man who couldn’t speak was brought to Jesus. 33So Jesus cast out the demon, and then the man began to speak. THE NEED FOR WORKERS Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. 36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. 38So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”

GENESIS 32:22-28 INSIGHT We might think the story of Jacob is about his deception. He twice cheated his brother Esau, which forced him to flee from his family (Genesis 27:41-45; 28:10). God stepped in, however, and Jacob is remembered as a pillar of faithful persistence. God met Jacob in a dream (28:12-17), a dramatic intervention that prompted him to declare, “The Lord will be my God” (v. 21). Two decades later, he still feared his brother, who’d sworn to kill him (27:41), but again God intervened (32:1). Jacob understood the significance of his first encounter with God at Bethel (28:16-19), and he understood this meeting too. “This is the camp of God!” he said (32:2). Jacob’s sins were obvious, yet his persistent faith was in the one true God. His name was changed from Jacob, the supplanter (25:26; 27:36) to Israel—one who struggled with God and overcame (32:28). Today, God will also help us be persistent in our faith as we hold on to Him.

By: Tim Gustafson

HOLD ON TO GOD At our school district’s championship wrestling match, children as young as eight grappled on gym mats, deploying clever holds to wrestle down their opponents and win. An ancient sport, wrestling demands a savvy combination of takedowns, escapes, pins, and other point-winning maneuvers to come out on top. One little third-grade girl—a crowd favorite—was simply faster than all her opponents, using swift moves that seemed to trick her rivals into defeat.

Jacob used tricky moves to get the best of his twin brother Esau, “wrestling” Esau out of his birthright to their father’s inheritance (Genesis 25:33) and life blessing (27:27-40). But stealing the blessing kept Jacob on the run, forcing him to flee his father’s household, depend on his cunning father-in-law, and live in fear of his brother’s wrath.

Later, he found himself alone, wrestling all night with a man who was God Himself. “Let me go,” the man told Jacob, “for it is daybreak” (32:26). But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me” (v. 26). Finally Jacob was seeking a blessing of his own, holding tight to God even until his name was changed to reflect his changed heart.

No tricky moves were needed to gain this rich blessing from God—only persistence. Jacob was learning to live in relationship with God. It’s a persistent and honest hold—a winning move God will reward.

By: Patricia Raybon

REFLECT AND PRAY What does it mean for you to hold tight to God? How has spiritual persistence blessed you?

As I hold on to You, dear Father, please help me in my spiritual persistence. in Jesus' name, Amen.

GOD CARES ABOUT YOUR MENTAL HEALTH Rejection is one of the most painful experiences known to man—whether it’s rejection for who we are, or for something we’ve done. As Dr. Curt Thompson puts it, “Everyone is born looking for someone looking for them.” We long to experience acceptance and connection, and when we don’t find those things, it hurts.

Today’s verse is Mark 12:10, where Jesus says, “Haven’t you read this passage of Scripture: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.’”

The verse Jesus references is Psalm 118:22, and here he is applying it to himself. Jesus is intimately familiar with the experience of rejection. Isaiah 53:3 even prophetically describes Jesus as “despised and rejected by mankind.”

But today’s passage also shows us that rejection doesn’t have the last word. It didn’t for Jesus—and it doesn’t have to for us either.

In Jesus’s day and age, the construction of a new building involved carefully examining stone after stone to find one that was exactly right. That stone became the cornerstone, which was the guiding standard for what the entire building would be like. It provided stability and structural integrity for everything that came afterward.

Spiritually speaking, the stone the builders rejected—the one that didn’t look right to human beings—has become the pattern for the entire building. Jesus, the cornerstone, is God’s beloved son—and in him, we also can experience God’s love and acceptance.