Thought for the Day Throughout Scripture, God expresses His love and concern for the poor: If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth (Deuteronomy 15:7). I know that the LORD will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and the right of the poor (Psalm 140:12). The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor... (Luke 4:18 AMP). The Lord is interested in every soul. His nature is to seek and help the poor, and He commands His children to do likewise. When we treat the poor with equity, we honor God. In giving money or material things to the needy, or reaching out with His love in other ways, it creates opportunities to lead people to Christ by demonstrating His love to them. The Greek meaning of the word, salvation includes deliverance from sin, sickness, danger, lack, and poverty. Jesus came to save us from our sin and its effects upon us both in this life, as well as eternity. He came to redeem us not only from our sin, but our sickness and poverty as well. For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). As Gods children, we are promised abundance in both material things as well as spiritual things, which are far more valuable. The Lord wants to bless us so that we can bless others. How can we give to others if we ourselves are poor? We must learn how to receive Gods blessings so that we can pass them on to others. Helping the needy, the poor, the sick, or prisoners is the same as giving to the Lord Himself and He shall reward us. To ignore or reject them is to reject Christ, for which He will reject us. And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal (Matthew 25:40-46).
Posted on: Mon, 21 Apr 2014 08:02:15 +0000
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