"He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will also cry himself and not be answered." - Proverbs 21:13One night in prayer, the Lord pressed upon me this Scripture, which rather shook me at the time. I have never 'shut my ear' to the poor and have often been filled with compassion for them and done this deed here or there on their behalf, but, as the Lord Jesus so often does, He revealed to me my neglect in the caring of those less privileged, my unmoved heart and my terrible poverty in my religion (James 1:27). I immediately came under conviction for not doing more than I was able.
There is an awful promise to be considered in this passage. Do we wonder why so many of our prayers remain unanswered and our praying rendered so ineffective? Could it be that we neglect the poor and continue to lavish ourselves in North American normality? The latter part of James 1:27 reads: "...to keep oneself unstained from the world." In it's context, this accurately defines our sickly condition.
Let us be pricked to the heart! "For as much you do to the least of these brethren, you do to Me." (Matthew 25:40) Am I moved for Christ's sake?
Dear Lord, help me to love others as I love myself.
Let me not live selfishly by filling up on wealth.
May I see You, Jesus, in every soul I see,
May I always remember You hanging on the tree.
2 comments:
Hey Eli!
I like this, it's so true. I find myself always wanting the latest thing, like an ipod, and buying stuff I don't need. I find it hard sometimes to know where to put my money though, because poverty here is not quite like poverty in the rest of the world. I guess we can keep giving to things like Voice of the Martyrs. Do you have any other ideas of where to give money? They say if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. I'd love to hear some suggestions on the topic!! Thanks again Eli, it's a challenging word......
Voice of the Martyrs is a good investment. Often the Lord will prompt us to give our money away to people or ministries at different times. The best thing we can do is adopt a selfless attitude, a listening spirit and a willingness to give up THE LORD'S money whenever and wherever He tells us.
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