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God, thank You for being the ultimate example of a friend! You are always there for me. Teach me how to be a true friend to others, not just when it's convenient, but when life gets tough. Guide me as I seek to build friendships with those who love and honor You. In Jesus' name, Amen.

DAILY BIBLE READING: NUMBERS 20-22 MARK 7:1-13 MOSES STRIKES THE ROCK the Lord said to Moses, 8“You and Aaron must take the staff and assemble the entire community. As the people watch, speak to the rock over there, and it will pour out its water. You will provide enough water from the rock to satisfy the whole community and their livestock.” Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with the staff, and water gushed out. So the entire community and their livestock drank their fill. But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust me enough to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land I am giving them!” EDOM REFUSES ISRAEL PASSAGE Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through their country, Israel was forced to turn around THE DEATH OF AARON VICTORY OVER THE CANAANITES THE BRONZE SNAKE ” So Moses prayed for the people. 8Then the Lord told him, “Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole. All who are bitten will live if they simply look at it!” ISRAEL'S JOURNEY TO MOAB VICTORY OVER SIHON AND OG The Lord said to Moses, “Do not be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you, along with all his people and his land. Do the same to him as you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon.” 35And Israel killed King Og, his sons, and all his subjects; not a single survivor remained. Then Israel occupied their land. BALAK SENDS FOR BALAAM BALAAM AND HIS DONKEY the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the roadway with a drawn sword in his hand. Balaam bowed his head and fell face down on the ground before him. “Look, now I have come, but I have no power to say whatever I want. I will speak only the message that God puts in my mouth.” JESUS TEACHES ABOUT INNER PURITY 6Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7 Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’ 8 For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.” 9Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition. And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.”

MARK 2:1-5 JESUS HEALS A PARALYZED MAN four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. 4They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. 5Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.” INSIGHT The men who brought the paralytic man to Jesus for healing were persistent and had gone to a lot of work—carrying him, digging up the roof tiles, and lowering him into the room where Christ was found. So imagine their reaction when Jesus instead granted him forgiveness of sins (Mark 2:1-5). After His authority to forgive sins was questioned by the religious leaders (vv. 6-7), He used the verifiable act of healing the man as proof of the unseen and impossible-to-verify authority to forgive sins (vv. 8-12).

As the men in Mark 2 had confidence in Christ’s ability to heal, we too can have confidence that when we come to God in prayer—with the needs of others or our own needs—He’ll hear us and provide what we need.

By: Bill Crowder

FAITH OF FRIENDS Attending a conference, a woman noticed that her friend—the day’s presenter—didn’t look well. She approached the presenter, who replied, “I’m going to get through this presentation. If I don’t feel better in the morning, I’ll go to the doctor.” The woman didn’t forget about the presenter’s promise. This friend had to leave early, but she asked another friend to check on the presenter.

In the morning, there was a knock at the presenter’s hotel door. The second friend had come to drive her to the hospital. There was no backing out, and—fortunately—she was given life-saving treatments in time. The persistence of friends had evidently helped to save her life.

Persistent friends can be a blessing, just like the men in Mark 2. They’d apparently heard about the healing power of Jesus and that He’d come to their town (v. 1). The people clambered to Christ, and there was “no room left” for the men to get their paralyzed friend to Him (v. 2). They didn’t let a crowd stop them from getting their friend the help he needed, however: “They made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered . . . the man” (v. 4) to Christ who healed him (vv. 11-12).

Let’s bring the needs of others to Jesus through persistent prayer. And as He provides what we need, let’s strive to help and love them well.

By: Katara Patton

REFLECT AND PRAY How has the faith and persistence of friends helped you? What can you do to help someone today?

Healing God, thank You for persistent and faith-filled friends. Please help me to persistently lift others to You. in Jesus name, Amen.

DARING TO IMAGINE I’ve discovered that nobody is naturally a great person. You aren’t born great. No, you become great by attaching your life to a great cause, a great purpose, and a great dream. You need something bigger than yourself to draw you out of yourself!

Ephesians 1:18 says, “May God enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see the hope that his calling holds for you” (NJB). What are “the eyes of your mind”? When the Apostle Paul wrote this, he wasn’t talking about your physical eyes. He was talking about your imagination. He was saying, “I pray that your imagination will come alive, and in faith you’ll be able to see the dream God has for your life.”

God wants to give you his dream for your life. That’s your calling! You will have hope when you understand what God has made you for, what he’s built you for, the vision he has for your life.

If you want significance in your life, if you want satisfaction in your life, if you want fulfillment in your life here’s what you need to do: Stop following your dream and start following God’s dream for your life.

If you can’t imagine your calling, if you can’t dream God’s dream, you are not living the abundant life. You’re just existing. Are you ready to discover God’s dream for your life?

Pray: