Much of Jesus’ ministry was directed to the poor and the helpless. The Early Church followed His example. When the met with Paul, they recommended that he remember the poor. They even created a group of seven individuals to make sure to feed the widows so they could continue to preach the Gospel. They never wanted to sacrifice people for the ministry, nor did they want to sacrifice the ministry for the people. They understood that the Gospel is all about giving of yourself to other people, so they did all they could to find the balance in helping people spiritually and physically.
Today, we still have the poor with us, but helping them isn’t always at the front of our minds or ministry. Nearly 3/4 of the population of earth lives on less than $10 a day. Millions of people in these poor countries are offered jobs, but when they show up, they are captured and are forced into the sex trade. Christine Caine’s A21 organization is one of the leaders trying to stop this. There are other organizations as well like Daughters of Cambodia. I have friends who are out right now trying to raise awareness of the sex trade there and are working to create one in the Philippines. Some are working to eradicate the orphan crisis, and others the homeless crisis. What are we doing to for our part as individuals? We must return to our spiritual roots, take the blinders off our eyes and remember to help the poor once again.
Here are some Bible verses on helping the poor.
1. God always blesses those who are kind to the poor and helpless. They’re the first ones God helps when they find themselves in any trouble.
Psalms 41:1 TPT
2. Give your love of justice to the king, O God, and righteousness to the king’s son. Help him to defend the poor, to rescue the children of the needy, and to crush their oppressors.
Psalms 72:1, 4 NLT
3. In everything I showed you [by example] that by working hard in this way you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, “It is more blessed [and brings greater joy] to give than to receive. ”
ACTS 20:35 AMP
4. Happy are those who are concerned for the poor; the Lord will help them when they are in trouble.
Psalm 41:1 GNT
5. God’s righteous people will pour themselves out for the poor, but the ungodly make no attempt to understand or help the needy.
Proverbs 29:7 TPT
Photo by doorkeepers on Unsplash
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 