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PRAYER God, it's when I seek You that I find You. So today, help me to intentionally draw near to You. Give me the courage to shift my attention off of my circumstances and onto You. I want to rely on You completely by coming yo You first-above anything else. In Jesus' name, Amen.

DAILY BIBLE READING: NUMBER 4-6 MARK 4:1-20 DUTIES OF THE KOHANITE CLAN DUTIES OF THE GERSHONITE CLAN DUTIES OF THE MERARITE CLAN SUMMARY OF THE REGISTRATION PURITY IN ISRAEL'S CAMP PROTECTING MARITAL FAITHFULNESS if she has not defiled herself and is pure, then she will be unharmed and will still be able to have children. NAZIRITE LAWS THE PRIESTLY BLESSING 24‘May the Lord bless you and protect you. 25May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. 26May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.’ PARABLE OF THE FARMER SCATTERING SEED The farmer plants seed by taking God’s word to others. 15The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away. 16The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. 17But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word. 18The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, 19but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced. 20And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”

JOHN 4:16-21 JESUS AND THE SAMARITAN WOMAN 21Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. INSIGHT Jesus loves us so much He made a way for us to be with Him forever by dying on the cross for our sins (John 3:16; Romans 5:8). All we need to do is believe in Him and come to Him in repentance. Christ says to “love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:12; see 1 John 4:11). We exhibit this love by being “devoted to one another” and honoring others “above ourselves” (Romans 12:10), by not harming each other (13:10), and by “[carrying] each other’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2). This love is beautifully described in 1 Corinthians 13 as “patient, . . . kind, . . . not self-seeking, . . . not easily angered” (vv. 4-5). It “does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth” (v. 6). This love is possible only through the Holy Spirit’s work in us—transforming us to be more like Christ (Romans 5:5; 2 Corinthians 3:18) and enabling us to truly love others.

By: Alyson Kieda

SCHOOLED IN LOVE Woody Cooper stood in the loud mob the day Dorothy Counts, a Black girl, enrolled in his all-White high school in North Carolina. Taunting her, some boys yelled racial slurs and threw trash at Dorothy, but Woody didn’t rebuke them, even staying silent when a woman cried out, “Spit on her, girls!” He later asked himself, Why didn’t you at least say something? She was just another student coming to school. Haunted for decades by his sin of omission, especially after seeing himself in a news photo from that day, Woody finally reached out to Dorothy forty-nine years later to apologize.

As Woody learned, showing love and support for another human being isn’t just being brave; it’s also making a choice to be like Jesus. John the apostle taught this lesson to churches burdened by false teaching about Christ and His love.

“We love because He first loved us,” John wrote. “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar” (1 John 4:19-20). John recalled this great command: “Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister” (v. 21).

Woody and Dorothy reflected that love as they became close friends. They spoke at churches and schools together. On the night before he died, she came to see him. “I loved him,” she said, “and I know that he loved me.” That’s the Jesus way. It can be our way too, as God brings us together in His transforming love.

By: Patricia Raybon

REFLECT AND PRAY When did you fail to love like Christ? How can you better show His love?

Please guide me to love like You, Jesus. in Jesus' name, Amen.

WHOSOEVER SHALL CONFESS I AM THE WAY “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” ‭‭John‬ ‭14:6‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Jesus Christ is the Way. He is the only Way. Your heart is yearning for something that carnal things cannot satisfy. Jesus Christ is the only Way to God the Father.

Jesus Christ is the Truth. John‬ ‭8:32‬ ‭KJV‬‬ declares, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Jesus Christ breaks every cycle. There is no bondage that He cannot crush. There is no generational cycle that He cannot destroy. Surrender to Him and He will lead you through every aspect of life. Christ will lead you through the valley.

Surrender to Christ and He will loose and break every stronghold. “And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.” Isaiah‬ ‭10:27‬ ‭KJV‬‬

What stronghold has you bound? What bondage has your heart imprisoned? There is no entanglement that can keep you away from the Love of Christ. Let His Love free you. Let His Blood release you from the bondage and entanglement of the past. His Blood is more powerful than your sin. He is the Way — surrender to Him.

JOHN 14:6 Jesus told him, " I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me."

JOHN 8:32 And you know the truth, and the truth will set you free.