Good Monday Morning.  Here’s Today’s Nugget to chew on:

“Friends with Faith”

Mark 2:1-5, 10-12 New King James Version (NKJV)

1 And again He [Jesus] entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. 2 Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. 3 Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. 4 And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.

5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”  10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the paralytic, 11 “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” 12 Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the presence of them all, so that all were amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

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Further Thought:  Today’s passage reminds me of the passage in Proverbs 18:24 that says, There are “friends” who pretend to be friends, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. I was reminded of his passage recently when a man found himself in hot water, so to speak, and a man who said he was his friend.  When a reporter asked the friend what he thought of the situation his friend was in, all the friend would say in support of his friend was that he had hurt him and his family.  Not that he was going to allow the justice system to work, or that he was going to be praying for his friend and those affected. Now, depending on what our friend has done, we may not be able to go out to dinner with them, but we can still meet privately or call to offer our prayers and encouragement. It’s during our darkest times, when we need our friends to stand with us and offer the love of God. You see, it’s only during times of adversity that we get to exercise our faith.

In today’s passage, we have four friends with faith, who refuse to let their friend remain in his current condition. So, the question today is: What are you willing to do to help a friend receive their miracle? Remember the principle in Luke 6:38, “Give and it shall be given unto you…” and in Ephesians 6:8: what you make happen for others, God will make happen for you.

Have a great day, and keep chewing on God’s Word.

Additional references: Romans 12:2, Mark 11:22-26; Proverbs 17:17; 1 Peter 4:8-10; Proverbs 17:6; John 15:12-14; Psalm 84:11; Proverbs 4:20-22 and 1 John 5:14-15

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“2026 Declaring the Goodness of God”