The Money You COULD have SHARED with the POOR...

Poverty is a continual problem to the poor. (What should we do?)

Proverbs 21:13 (5 translations)
“If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor,
he too will cry out and not be answered.” NIV

“He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor
Will also cry himself and not be answered.” NAS

“Those who shut their ears to the cries of the poor
will be ignored in their own time of need.” NLV

“Whoever ignores the poor when they cry for help
will also cry for help and not be answered.” NCV

“If you stop your ears to the cries of the poor,
your cries will go unheard, unanswered.” MSG

Other Proverbs verses concerning “the Poor” –

v14:20 “The poor are shunned even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends.”

v19:4 “Wealth brings many friends, but a poor man's friend deserts him.”

v19:7 “A poor man is shunned by all his relatives - how much more do his friends avoid
him! Though he pursues them with pleading, they are nowhere to be found.”

v18:23 “A poor man pleads for mercy, but a rich man answers harshly.”

v19:17 “He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord,
and he will reward him for what he has done.”

v29:7 “The righteous care about justice for the poor,
but the wicked have no such concern.”

Only the merciful find mercy, Matt 5:7; (the unmerciful rich man, who has no ear for the cry of the one who is without support and means of subsistence, will also remain unheard when he himself, in the time of need, calls upon God for help. see also the parable of the unmerciful servant, Matt 18:23ff.)

In Mark 14:7 Jesus said: “The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want”

Deut 15:7-11 “If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. 8 Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs. …
10 Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to.
11 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.”

Taking a Break…

Today is Monday and I am taking the day off. (I am taking tomorrow off too; call it a “Sabbath”). Since ministers, hospital staff, police and rescue personnel, (also restaurant and mall employees) usually work on Sundays, they have to take other days off instead.

I confess that I have not done very well with taking “time off”; and my family would probably say that I haven’t done that well with “vacations” either. Part of the problem comes from the strong “work ethic” that was instilled in me by my father. Our Heavenly Father sure has given us a lot to work on, and yet He is the one demanding that we take a break every week! Add to that the underlying pressure in our American culture to “produce or perish!” (All this can be rather confusing…and tiring.)

In Mark 2:27 Jesus said, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath”.
“The Sabbath was made for man, as a day of rest and refreshment for the body and of blessing to the soul.” (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

When the Lord God rested on the 7th day, it wasn’t because He was “tired”. He was just “taking a break” from His work. He was being “refreshed”, and that sure sounds very appealing to me! (I’d better get to work now on taking my break…)

The Work of Christmas

"Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." Luke 4:16-21

(A litany from Howard Thurman, heard in church one Sunday. . .)

“When the song of the angels is stilled,when the star in the sky is gone,when the kings and princes are home,when the shepherds are back with their flocks,the work of Christmas begins:

to find the lost,to heal the broken,to feed the hungry,

to release the prisoner,to rebuild the nations,to bring peace among the people,

to make music in the heart.”

Prayer: May the prophecy of Isaiah continue to be fulfilled in our world today. Lord help me to be a channel of blessing to others in the name and spirit of Jesus.