13B21.    Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24.    “God did not make death.”  For God formed man to be imperishable; the image of his own nature he made him.”  In Genesis God the Creator made only good things.  God is the source of all goodness, then and now.  When we live in God, the source of all goodness, our lives are filled with endless blessings.

Mark 5:21-43.  There follows two stories of two females who needed Jesus to supply their needs: one, an adult who suffered for twelve years without any source of relief; another, a twelve year old girl who needed to be brought back from what seemed to be an apparent death.  Both were helpless.  Jesus said to the synagogue official and, in a sense to us, “Do not be afraid; just have faith.”  It was the woman’s faith that released the curing power from Jesus without Jesus knowing exactly what had happened.   The synagogue official was willing to put his faith in Jesus despite the apparent death of his daughter and the negativity of the mourners.  God is ready to supply for our needs but we must have faith.

2 Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15. Paul tells the Corinthians that they have excelled in every way but there was yet another way in which they should excel.  Paul calls upon the Corinthians to supply monetarily for the needs of the impoverished Christians in Jerusalem.    Just as Jesus, in a gracious act, left the richness of living in heaven to embrace the poverty of living in this world as a human being, so should the Corinthians be willing to share some of their abundance to help those who have almost nothing.  As God supplies for our needs, we ought to be willing to help others in need.