Caring for the poor

Passing The Buck

1. In the first centuries of Christianity
the poor were fed, clothed, and sheltered
at a personal sacrifice and the Pagans
said about the Christians: "See how they love each other."

2. Today the poor are fed, clothed, and sheltered by the politicians at the expense of the taxpayers.

3. And because the poor are no longer fed, clothed, and sheltered
at a personal sacrifice but at the expense of taxpayers Pagans say

about Christians: "See how they pass the buck."

 

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in." Matthew 25:35

"I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy." Psalm 140:12

"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners." Isaiah 61:1

"The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. But I the LORD will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them." Isaiah 41:17

"He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap;" Psalm 113:7

"When Jesus heard this, he said to him, You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.'" Luke 18:22

"Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow." Isaiah 1:17

"She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy." Proverbs 31:20

"But he lifted the needy out of their affliction and increased their families like flocks." Psalm 107:41

"A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor." Proverbs 22:9

"He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done." Proverbs 19:17

"Yet I am poor and needy; come quickly to me, O God. You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD , do not delay." Psalm 70:5

"But the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish." Psalm 9:18

"Have I not wept for those in trouble? Has not my soul grieved for the poor?" Job 30:25

"He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor." 1 Samuel 2:8

"There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land." Deuteronomy 15:11

"If you mistreat the poor, you insult your Creator" — Proverbs 14:31

God is more happy when I help the poor and the oppressed than when I do my religious duties like praying and going to church. Though these things are important too, without compassion for the poor and oppressed, spending time reading the Bible and praying doesn’t really have a point. If my relationship with God hasn’t changed my heart so that I have compassion on the poor and oppressed, then I’m obviously missing something. It’s like Jesus said to the Pharisees, how they give a tenth of their money and spices to God, but they have neglected the more important matters, things like justice and faithfulness.

If I Were More Like My Master

If I would be more like my Master,
I would leave my footprints in the sand.
I would take away someone's burden,
and lend another one a helping hand.

If I would be more like my Master,
I would be gracious and merciful too.
I would comfort an ailing brother,
and show a lost sister what she must do.

If I would be more like my Master,
I would walk upon the turbulent water.
I would safely reach my destination,
and encourage others how not to falter.

If I would be more like my Master,
I would be free from the battle of sin.
I would show other's true compassion,
and help them with their own fight to win.

If I would be more like my Master,
I would see the hungry people to feed.
I would take and offer whatever I had,
and give them more than they could need.

If I would be more like my Master,
I would spread the Good News all around.
I would speak of God's love and forgiveness,
and that a new life is theirs to be found.

If I would be more like my Master,
I would have a spirit of complete servanthood.
I would humbly assist and aid all who are needy,
just as the Lord, my Master would.   

How to Help the Poor

Have you ever noticed how Jesus seems to walk right into traps laid by the Pharisees and religious leaders? Jesus wasn’t dumb, so I sometimes think He stepped into their traps on on purpose. Why? Because usually, their traps used hurting people as the bait. They knew Jesus was a sucker for hurting people.


And Jesus, crazy God-Man that He is, played along, to show us what the heart of God is really like.


One of these instances is in Luke 6:6-11 where Jesus is teaching in a Synagogue on the Sabbath, and a man is present who had a withered hand. Although the text does not say that the Pharisees brought him, the presence of this man in the Synagogue on the Sabbath is still a trap for Jesus, however the man happened to be there that day.


And curiously, Jesus did not have to help this man right there on that day. He really didn’t have it. It wasn’t life threatening. He could have waited until the meeting was over, and then invited the man over for the Sabbath meal, and then after the sun went down, healed the man then. What would have been the harm in that?


Why does Jesus purposefully seem to run headlong into this controversy? Why did He so deliberately and publicly violate some of the Jewish Sabbath traditions?


I think one reason is because it wasn’t just about healing that one man. Jesus also wanted to teach the Pharisees and the other people who were present about the purpose of the Sabbath, and the purpose of God’s Law in general.

Revealing the Heart of God

Jesus wanted to show all the people the heart of God; not just the one man with the withered hand.


And what is the heart of God as revealed in the Law? The Law was given to help people love each other, and treat each other with fairness and respect. It was never intended as a way of barring people from God, or restricting people’s access to God. it was never supposed to be a way to separate the sinners from the righteous.


In many ways, the Law had come to accomplish the opposite of what God had intended. It had become an instrument and tool of death, rather than a means of restoring life and giving health.


This is part of the reason Jesus asks the question in Luke 6:9 about saving a life or destroying it. The Law can be used in either way, and while many religious leaders used it to destroy life, Jesus wanted to show how to use the Law as means of giving life.

How to Help the Poor

And how does Jesus help the man with the withered hand?


He enables the man to help himself. This man wanted his hand back; not a hand out. He was not looking for a free meal or a free bed, but some help getting his feet back underneath him so he could return to work.


This man had been forced to begging, but Jesus was giving back to him his ability to work.


That is how you save a life. That is how you help the poor. You restore their dignity. You treat them as human. You give them the chance to work and provide for themselves and their family.

Bible Verse of the Day

 “speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord , always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Ephesians 5:19-20

Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord? What do you think this means? Why is it even important?

As I read this I think of that it means to praise God no matter what your circumstances are. I know that sometimes this is hard to do, especially when we question why God may let us reside in certain situations. It is remembering that God is the only one with a pure heart towards you, that desires for you to have a full and abundant life in Him. It is seeing the truth that He supplies what we need to sustain us through whatever it is we face and that He is there holding our hand leading through the storms and celebrations of life.

Why is it important?

Well you see this is the one thing the enemy tries to steal from us, our communion (relationship) with our Heavenly Father. He knows when he can break this he can manipulate us in almost every way, he knows that this is our source of strength and life, it is the cutting off of our spiritual oxygen.

So what do we do when life throws us hard times? We trust and try to walk in Him through it, by keeping our relationship intact. The promise God offers in this is that He will remain with and in us and will love us through anything we face.

Walk in love with Him today, it is your life blood in this world.

Faith Does

There’s something that you know God’s called you to do. You’ve been wrestling with this for a while now.

Someone he’s called you to reach out to. Somewhere you just know He wants you to go. Something He’s impressed upon you to do.

And you may be thinking, “I’ve waited this long…what’s another few days?”

Because procrastination is the enemy of doing what God wants. And procrastination often takes the form of “good” things. But don’t let even good things get in your way any longer. Don’t let distractions do what they do best…distract you. It’s just not worth it. The King has called.

Faith does.

But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. James 2.18

50 Ways to Keep Your Heart Alive

Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much a heart can hold. – Zelda Fitzgerald

Most poets, spiritualists, and even some medical doctors believe there is a mind-body-soul connection. Our hearts provide the source of power necessary for this connection. What’s in our hearts, the condition of our hearts and the size of our hearts determine how strong this connection can be and how long it may last.

On a functional level, we need our hearts to distribute blood throughout our bodies. On a spiritual level, we depend on our hearts to give nourishment to our souls. But, it’s an ebb and flow. Meaning, we need to give our hearts a reason a reason to stay alive or they will stop.

Becoming isolated from others, feeling discouraged and losing hope can shut down our hearts in the metaphorical sense. Left unattended for long, our minds, bodies and souls will soon begin to shut down in the physical sense as well.

During times when I feel my heart is shutting down, I rely on these ways to keep it alive:

1. Living simply and remembering there is power in less; not more.
2. Seeing love in my friend’s eyes.
3. Keeping hate from entering my heart.
4. Asking, “What do I want?” And then listening for the answer.
5. Erasing the self-limiting tapes that play in my head.
6. Expecting little and giving much.
7. Forgiving.
8. Watching my brother become a man.
9. Knowing He is not done with me yet.
10. Remembering to play like a child.
11. Feeling an ounce of resurgence after a setback.
12. Enjoying a summer night, a cold beer and a baseball game, all at the same time.
13. Going to bed knowing I didn’t take any shortcuts.
14. Receiving an unexpected kiss from my niece.
15. Savoring the first sip of coffee in the morning.
16. Remembering the depth of my faith when my soul feels raw.
17. Waiting for the good to rise out of the bad. It always does.
18. Realizing I get to choose who I share my heart with.
19. Taking one step forward as a reminder I do have the ability to keep moving.
20. Acknowledging my reality so I can change it if it’s not working.
21. Laughing when a circumstance goes from the absurd to the surreal.
22. Exercising on days when I really don’t feel like it.
23. Understanding my passion to help others is beautiful.
24. Dreaming of what’s next.
25. Appreciating the abundance in my life.
26. Learning to replace my anxiety with peace.
27. Surrendering my plan for His.
28. Falling to sleep with my dogs next to me.
29. Tasting a fresh-cut watermelon.
30. Embracing the fact my life has an expiration date.
31. Understanding it’s not failure I sometimes fear, but happiness.
32. Standing tall in the face of truth – even the uncomfortable truths about myself.
33. Remembering what’s right in my life.
34. Saying, “Yes” to things I want for myself.
35. Experiencing the confidence I possess.
36. Slowing down and doing nothing.
37. Asking for help and then feeling worthy to receive it.
38. Trusting the process three years ago.
39. Giving myself grace.
40. Allowing good things to happen.
41. Realizing I am more than enough.
42. Healing the child within.
43. Singing happily throughout the house.
44. Having a second chance to be a better sister and friend.
45. Hoping the Rangers will win one World Series in my lifetime.
46. Knowing the pain I have experienced does indeed have a purpose.
47. Beginning to love myself more.
48. Realizing life is about doing, not just being.
49. Discovering the unexpected.
50. Living from my heart everyday.

So how's your love life?

So how's your love life? Do you love God? God says we are to love Him with all our heart, mind, body, soul and strength. But not only God; we are to love others. Those who are genuinely born of God not only love the Father, but the child born of Him. Thus Jesus gave His disciples a new commandment: we are to love one another even as He loves us (John 13:34 and 35). It would be time well invested to meditate on the ways He expressed His love toward us, toward others, even toward the one who would betray Him.

And what is it that keeps us from loving like this?

John, the apostle of love, tells us in his first epistle by way of a warning: "Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away . . ." (1 John 2:15 and 16).

Yet the world is so very present, isn't it? So alluring! So tangible! So appealing to our flesh, our ego, our desire to be, to attain, to "make it"! But you have to ask yourself, will it last? Is it worth what you pay in time, in energy, in relationships?

Ours is a culture of concupiscence—a culture that has infiltrated the church. We have a love of softness. We are told, "You deserve it! You earned it. You owe it to yourself to be good to yourself!" Oh Beloved, we hear it and we believe it. We have so loved softness that we have not endured hardship as a soldier of Christ. We have not disciplined ourselves for the sake of godliness.

And part of godliness is loving—as He loved—sacrificially, selflessly. Loving others not just with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. When we love His way, then we assure our heart before Him, and we have confidence in the coming day of judgment, because as He is in this world, so are we. They know we are His disciples by our love—His love unleashed in us to overflow on the world about us.

“If I have not love, I am nothing,” Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:2. Jesus said that the second greatest commandment, after loving God, is loving people. Indeed, if we “live a life of love” as God desires (Ephesians 5:2), we will naturally obey most of His other commands.