Saturday, November 6, 2004

Developing a Bountiful Eye

God has always placed a premium on helping the poor. Let the following passages soak in a bit.

Blessed is he who considers the poor;
The LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.
The LORD will preserve him and keep him alive,
And he will be blessed on the earth;
You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies.
The LORD will strengthen him on his bed of illness;
You will sustain him on his sickbed.
(Psalm 41:1-3)
The blessing of the Lord — deliverance, preservation, strength and healing — belongs to those who help the poor.
“He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD,
And He will pay back what he has given.” (Proverbs 19:17)
When we give to the poor, we are lending to the Lord. How we treat others bears a direct relationship to how our heart is toward the Lord. Remember the dividing of the sheep and goat nations in Matthew 25:31-46? How we treat Jesus’ brethren is exactly how we are treating Him.

The Apostle John said, “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also” (1 John 4:20-21).

Whenever we give to the poor, it is the Lord who will repay, and He always pays back with interest — good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over (Luke 6:38).
He who has a bountiful eye will be blessed,
For he gives of his bread to the poor. (Proverbs 22:9)
Develop a bountiful heart. If you sow bountifully, you will also reap bountifully. You see, there is a flow to blessing. The more you let it flow through you to others, the more you will experience its energizing current. It is the love of God in action.
He who gives to the poor will not lack,
But he who hides his eyes will have many curses.(Proverbs 28:27)
You do not come out a loser when you give to the poor, only when you turn away from them. Give to the poor and you will not lack, for God will take care of you.

Faith point: Faith works through love (Galatians 5:6). The NIV says, “faith expressing itself through love.” Or as the Amplified Bible has it: “faith activated and energized and expressed and working through love." Remember the poor by your faith expressing itself through love.



Healing Scriptures and Prayers

Healing Scriptures and Prayers
by Jeff Doles

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Available in paperback and Kindle (Amazon), epub (Google and iTunes) and PDF.

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